As Love Shifts (26 page)

“That is an immense task, but I can get you the book.” His mother walked over to a line of cloth bags at the side of the cave and looked through them. Within a few moments, she retrieved a book and returned, handing it to Ever before she went back to make the tea.

Ever flipped to the glossary and then opened to the indicated page. She sat in silence, reading and looking at the various photos. “Holy shit. I never realized that an eye was that complicated. How the hell can I rebuild something that has so many intricate parts that have to work perfectly together?”

With a heavy sigh, she closed the book and put it on her lap. His mother handed her a cup of tea, taking the book back and putting it away. When she returned, she gave him a smile and sat down. “You can make your own tea if you want it. You are not a guest here.”

He chuckled. His mother was always very good at that distinction and had never treated her children as if they were helpless. “I’m not all that thirsty. How are things going with the animals?”

“We released the birds and smaller animals last night after we saw the trees that Ever had grown for them. You created a nice little forest around the perimeter of the houses that will work well for them. We are hesitating with the larger creatures because their habitat is going to be so limited. The foxes will probably be okay because they can hold up in the fallen trees, but the deer have no protection. It looks like we should have held onto the chickens a bit longer. Two of them got super-sized and cooked last night.”

“Yes, they did, but we also grew more from eggs supplied by the two we ate. Ever made a bunch of eggs large enough to supply an entire family a meal with a single one. Her talents are quite remarkable.”

She nodded. “That is good to hear. Why didn’t you make the trees larger then?”

“Logistics. We were worried about a government helicopter flying over and taking note of large, full forest in an area that was ravaged by high winds and floodwater only weeks before. It would look a bit suspicious. With smaller trees, we can say that we managed to rescue some before the storm and keep them with us until they could be replanted. Now that we have gotten a good portion of personal items out of storage, we put dirt on the floor to make it look reasonable. The existing trees would easily have fit in the back storage area. If I hadn’t run out of saplings, I could get away with doing more.”

“Why don’t you send someone out to look for trees that have sprouted or maybe even small ones that survived the storm? You could also collect pine cones and acorns.”

“Good point. I will have to do that once the snow melts.”

“What snow?”

Chirrot grimaced. He hadn’t even thought to come up and warn his family of the impending storm. “Mick called. He said that most of the southern states were underwater after getting hit with a hurricane. He said that a large snowstorm is coming across the country bringing heavy snow and low temperatures. It should hit us in the next day or two.”

She glared at him. “Nice of you to send some warning to us. We will have to make preparations for such an event. We will need wood for our fires and more food for the animals. Now I wish we hadn’t allowed any of them to go free. We sent them out into a world that will soon be buried with snow and the food supplies will be limited.”

She was right and it had been thoughtless of him not to come tell his family. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I will make sure that food gets put out for them.”

“I would hope so. Now if you will excuse me, Ever, I need to go make some plans to keep us safe and warm.”

Chirrot stood as his mother walked out of the cave. “Shit. I didn’t even think about it.”

Ever stood and gave him a slight smile. “You have been kind of busy helping us.”

“I know, but it should have occurred to me to come tell Mother about it. Are we going to be able to spare more food for the animals? I know you were worried about the rations running out before spring.”

“I am worried, but we can’t let the animals starve either. I can prompt them to recreate, but unfortunately, just like Kris’s eye, I can’t create them from nothing. I’m not that magical.”

He had to grin at her rogue comment. “I think you are the perfect combination of magical and woman. Let’s go see what we can round up to placate my mother’s anger at me.”

* * * *

They returned to the bunker, again raiding the food supplies for the animals. Ever was a bit worried when she saw how much was already gone. Far more had been eaten then she realized, but she would not allow the deer and other small animals to starve either. She filled a box with supplies and then grabbed some of the empty buckets. As she considered the empties compared to what had been purchased, she realized that quite a bit had been removed. Had those inside been hording the existing supplies or had they been taken up to the houses outside? Granted, they had grabbed a few buckets of things themselves, but it hadn’t been a large unreasonable amount.

“What are you contemplating?” asked Chirrot.

“I’m not sure. It just seems that far too much is missing without empty buckets to indicate that it has been consumed. I will have to come back down later and take inventory to see what exactly is missing. I was thinking that we could fill the empty buckets with the fish scraps from last night to feed the meat-eating animals for a few days. If it is going to get really cold, it could even be frozen for future use.”

“That’s a good idea. Let’s go up and see what scraps are left.” He grabbed the box of food and Ever shoved the handles of the empties over her arms so she could bring eight of them outside. As they walked around the fire pit, they found a lot of wasted and half-eaten food. It would be good for the animals, but it also meant that they were not taking full advantage of what they had. They managed to stuff all eight buckets and then they brought them back to the caves to be used.

Heading back to the house, Ever looked up at the threatening gray sky. The temperature was falling and she feared that the snow would soon follow. Outside the house, Kris and Liam were splitting wood as the children, under the careful eye of Demetri, gathered it to stack it for the fire.

Kris looked up hopefully. “Well?”

She sighed heavily. “I found the part in the book, but never realized how complicated the eye is. It has many parts that I have no idea how to replicate properly. There are nerves and veins and fluid that has to be kept in proper balance to supply sight. I’m so sorry, Kris.”

He put the ax down, walking over and giving her a hug. “I appreciate you trying. I’ll live. Liam reminded me this morning that I lost my eye for a worthy cause and it is nothing to be ashamed of. It would have been nice to have it back, but I’m learning to live without it. I can still swing an ax.”

“So I saw.” She leaned up to his ear. “It was an incredibly sexy sight.”

Kris chuckled. He was in a much better mood this morning. “Thank you, my sweet.”

“You are quite welcome.”

“How is your mother doing, Chirrot?”

“Okay. She is rather ticked at me for not letting her know about the impending storm at an earlier time.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I guess I kind of figured that we all know, so someone would have passed the word to your family. We have to establish better lines of communication.”

“That would be a great idea.”

“Why were you collecting fish scraps?” asked Liam.

“To bring to the caves as animal feed. I hate to say this, but there was a lot of waste. The food should have been brought inside and put in the cooler. Instead it was left out here to rot.”

“I guess that is another issue that needs to be addressed,” said Kris.

Demetri leaned around the house and looked into the distance. “Here comes trouble. You were right, Ever. He made it back.”

She walked over to stand beside Demetri. Mick was walking toward them like a wanderer who didn’t have a care in the world. Demetri put his arm around her shoulder and Chirrot stepped up on her other side. She could feel Kris and Liam standing behind her like she was the center of their world and they were going to protect her against it.

Mick walked up to them. A deep frown on his face. He got close enough to lean in and give her a kiss and she turned so it landed on her cheek. “Mick, glad you made it back.” Demetri’s fingers had tightened on her side and Chirrot’s on her shoulder.

“I don’t believe we have met.” Mick held his hand out to Chirrot.

“Mick, this is Chirrot. He is shifter and my fourth mate.”

Chirrot took the offered hand and shook it. His gesture was congenial, but his stern almost-threatening expression wasn’t. “Nice to meet you, Mick. Your brothers have spoken of you.”

Kris and Liam walked around to stand at their brother’s side. “I’m glad you made it back. We were worried about you, Mick. Tell us how your journey went,” said Kris.

A child grabbed onto her leg and then a second before she could even look down and see who they were. Avia and Lash stared up at her with questioning eyes. “Who is he, Mommy? He looks like our daddies.”

Seren and Errant stepped in front of her like two tiny guard dogs. “Children, this is your Uncle Mick. He is brother to Daddy Kris and Liam.” She felt bad making the distinction. Mick had once been referred to as their father, but he had given up that right when he left and he was not going to be given it back. Now he was simply what he was, their uncle.

Kris threw her a look, but didn’t try to correct her. Mick knelt down before the boys. “Do you remember me?”

“No,” replied Seren. “Should we?”

“Probably not. I was the one who gave birth to you.”

“Mommy gave birth to us.”

Mick smiled. “No. I meant that I helped her give birth.”

“So you are a healer like Mommy?”

Mick frowned deeply and looked up at Ever. “I didn’t know that Mommy was a healer. I went to school to learn how to heal with nature.”

“Mommy didn’t go to school. She just uses her hands and fixes us. She fixed my leg when Lash bit me. She fixed Daddy Kris’s face and Daddy Liam’s ear after they killed the Parth family.”

Seren had a big mouth. She stroked his hair. “Why don’t you four go play and let us talk to Uncle Mick? He has been away a long time and we have a lot to discuss.” Ever had the supreme feeling that Mick expected to simply walk back into their lives and be accepted. He was in for a rude awakening, because it was not happening. She wasn’t even sure if she was still angry with him, she simply had no feelings left for him. She had given all her love away and he hadn’t been around to receive it.

Avia tugged on her shirt and gestured for Ever to squat down. Ever did, pulling her daughter close to her side. “What’s up, baby?”

Avia leaned really close to her ear. “Be careful, Mommy. Uncle Mick is dangerous.”

THE END

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Kat Barrett lives in her small home with her husband of many years. She spends much of her time in artistic pursuits, writing, or doing artwork. Kat is involved with basenji rescue, but loves all animals. She tries to help out whenever she can. Her dogs, Taz and Ashle, although gone now, will always hold a place in her heart.

She is grateful for her family, friends, and her fans and wishes to thank them all for their support. You can find more information about Kat and her books on her website.

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