Forging Day (Crucible of Change Book 1) (22 page)

She got a cup of coffee for herself and sat down with me. It was a little unnerving trying to eat while she stared at me.

“So, Cordie, how’s work going? How was Atlanta?” I had to say something to break that silence.

“I’ve been on leave,” she said. “Atlanta was…not what I expected.” If possible, now she looked even more troubled.

Ted came bouncing in through the back door. He smelled like sunlight and warm earth, and had obviously been working in the garden. His basket was full of fresh rhubarb. “Oh, hey, Olivia, Cordie. Morning.” He started cleaning the bright red rhubarb stalks in the sink, and then called over, “Olivia, I almost forgot. Tessa said to tell you she’d see you after work, and not to forget what you talked about. Take the kiss as a given, okay?”

“Sure, Ted. Thanks.” Poor Ted. I just bet Tessa told him to give me a kiss for her.

Cordie was staring at me again. “I thought Mikah said you were with Kat? Last time we talked, you were dating Colby. Next I hear you’re dating Kat. Are you dating Tessa, too?”

“Please don’t give me a headache,” I told her. “It’s too early in the day. I broke up with Colby before the Sylvan Faire. Apparently he was cheating on someone else with me. Yes, Kat and I were together, and we met Tessa at the Faire. It’s kind of complicated.”

I could tell she was torn on what to say. On the one hand I was the prodigal, newly returned from the dead. On the other hand, she had pretty conservative views on monogamy. She was spared having to respond by the arrival of Razaini and Henry.

They definitely had their lunch prep down to an art. I know Roz had said Henry was a great organizer when they were at their digs, but I hadn’t appreciated the half of it. I think they had the entire meal prepped and served in less than fifteen minutes. I was just being social when I joined them in the dining room. I certainly wasn’t avoiding a private lecture from my sister.

“Wow, you guys are amazing. Your digs must run like clockwork,” I teased. “What else have you all been up to while I was off in wherever the hell I was?”

Ted showed me his new Elf-self ID. “You missed the ‘voluntary’ registration program. They announced a day where all of the Changed could go get new IDs. When we got there, they also requested, somewhat insistently, blood samples and cheek swabs. They said it was to make sure we weren’t incubating any unknown diseases, and it was to protect us from future identity theft.”

Cordie stared down at her plate, a flush rising over her cheeks. “About that…yes, some of the idea was to check for new disease vectors. But part of it was to collect data on new species. It was being discussed at the CDC in Atlanta before I came home. I know the CDC was getting a copy of the data, but I had a strong feeling they weren’t the only ones.”

“That’s interesting… On the way to the grove, Sharon told me and Korembi that there’d be some kind of announcement about new IDs for the Changed, and that all of us should skip it and stay home. She said to wait and just go to the DMV later. Did all of you go and do this?”

Ted’s face was glum. “Yeah, we did. We didn’t know anything about the blood and DNA samples until after we’d already done paperwork, stood in lines, got our new pictures taken, and waited another hour to be called that our ID was ready. They did it all in a big tent. We knew people were going to another room when their names were called, but you didn’t know until you got to the room what they wanted. It was strongly implied that further proof of identity would be required if we declined to give our samples. They could teach psychological warfare to used car dealers. I was exhausted. I needed a license. Work said I couldn’t come back without one. Mikah was appalled when we got back. He went into a long rant about unreasonable search and seizure.”

“I guess me and Korembi are going to need to brave the DMV at some point. Maybe they won’t make the same demands.”

Cordie shook her head. “Olivia, no. It’s inconvenient, I know, but I have a feeling about this. I’d rather you not. I could lose my job for saying this, but I don’t want anyone taking samples from my sister.”

I heard boots in the hall, and turned to see a familiar blond giant. “What samples?” asked my favorite brother.

“Leo!” I hurled myself into his arms, knocking his duffle bag out of his hand. “I missed you so much!” I held tight to him, and didn’t even realize I was crying.

Cordie gave him a tight hug, and then pushed his duffle bag over to the wall, out of the middle of the floor. “Someone’s going to trip and kill themselves. I swear you never grew up.”

Leo patted me on the shoulder. “Hey! There, there, baby sister. I know it’s been a while, but it hasn’t been that long, and just look at your new paint job. Why the tears?”

“It’s been the week from hell,” I snuffled into his BDUs. “You were supposed to be there, and you didn’t come. I was so scared we weren’t going to make it out of there alive.”

“Whoa. Make it out of where alive?”

“Our camping trip. I did the cowbells, just like we planned, but Derek turned into a Minotaur and went crazy. He was mad about Tessa, and I know he was going to rape us before he killed us. And then Stella ate him.”

Cordie stared at me, and then glared fire at the rest of the group. “Olivia almost got killed on her camping trip, and you didn’t think that was worth mentioning?”

Ted took a half step back, throwing up his hands. “I had no idea. No one told me anything about Minotaurs or anything else.”

Cordie gave me her best big-sister glare. “I want to hear everything. What haven’t the lot of you been telling me?”

“We didn’t say anything,” said Razaini, “because you were already upset with Olivia missing. If you’d known what happened to her before that, would it have made you feel better?”

Cordie sat down heavily. “No. I would have felt worse. But I still want to know what’s been going on with my sister.”

Leo gave me a rib-creaking hug. “It’s okay, sis. I’m here now. At first they said I couldn’t have leave, but then just before first light they woke me up and told me I had fifteen minutes to catch my flight. Leave was approved.”

I introduced my reprobate brother to everyone, even Gracie.

Leo sized up our little group. He, Cordie, and Gracie were the only Humans here. “Kat, Ted, good to see you again. Nice to meet the rest of you. I think I’ve seen some of you around events, but we never formally met.” He fixed himself a plate, and sat down between me and Cordie.

“How long do you get to stay this time?” I asked him. “Is this another instant turnaround?”

“Actually, I don’t know,” he said. “I wasn’t given a return date. Major Parker told me not to lose my phone and to consider myself on call. He said I had been approved for compassionate leave, given the circumstances. You know me, sis. I take one day at a time. I’m here until they call.”

“I’m glad you’re here. Maybe they’ll forget to call for a while.”

* * * *

It took a good hour to bring Cordie and Leo up to date on recent events. They had a ton of questions, but were ultimately just glad that I was now home, alive, and in one piece.

I was as patient as I could be, answering their questions, but I had a few of my own. “Cordie, it seems to me that you called and gave a Code Zombie before that purple cloud hit us. What gives?”

She was looking anywhere but me, but she finally answered. “We were told there was a terrorist threat involving the use of biological weapons. My boss tapped me to go with her. We weren’t supposed to say anything, but I called you from the bathroom at the airport. I swear to God, I had no idea what was actually happening at that point. We were in a briefing regarding the actual situation when you sent your ‘selfie’. And no, I can’t talk about what was discussed.”

That left me chilled. “So the government believed we were in imminent danger of a terrorist attack, and other than calling in scientists, kept it quiet?”

“If the President had called a press conference, there would have been widespread panic and a lot of people could have been hurt. We found out it wasn’t what you’d consider a traditional terrorist attack once we got there,” Cordie said, somewhat miserably.

I hated to see her looking so dejected. “It’s okay, sis. It’s not like you could have changed what happened. At least we had some warning so we weren’t completely unprepared.” I smiled at her. “No worries. It’s in the past. There’s plenty of weirdness in the present to keep us busy.” I held up my phone. “You should see how freaky this thing has been acting since we got back from the grove.” I handed it to Leo. “Look at what the clock does on the main screen now.”

He stared at the scrolling dates—back and forth in an endless loop. “That’s wild, sis. Mind if I borrow it for a bit?”

“Go ahead, but if you’re going to mess around with it, please back it up first. That lady from the FBI or whatever told me to reset it. I’ll get around to it eventually.”

He leaned back in his chair, doing that balancing-on-two-legs thing that made Cordie insane. “You have been busy, sis. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I’m sorry you got hurt.”

“You should see what she can do now,” said Kat. “It’s pretty amazing too.”

I looked at her and she gave me a tentative smile.

“There’s more?” said Leo.

I gave him a wicked smile. “You could say I re-rolled as a Dark Elf mage. Come out to the driveway and I’ll show you. Grammy doesn’t like me to do magic in the house.”

“Grammy? You mean Mikah’s dead grandmother?” Leo was getting a crash course in weird today.

Cordie grabbed that one. “Yes, that Grammy. She’s been haunting the house for years, except no one told us. Now she’s a bit more active. And Olivia, what magic?”

We all trooped out to the driveway. Kat helped set up some candles on a folding table. She had the hose out too, just in case.

“Watch this.” I focused my will on the first candle, calling on the anger I used the last time. There was a huge
whoosh
, and a ball of fire shot at the table, exploding on impact. There was yelling and ducking as fragments of burning table went everywhere.

Kat kept her head and was quick with the hose. She doused the table and everything else remotely in range, which included me and the spectators.

“Well, that was unexpected. I seem to have more juice than the last time I tried this. Good thing we did it outside. Grammy would have killed me if I’d burned down the dining room. Guess I need more practice.”

It was already getting hot outside, so we retreated back into the cool of the house. I thought about changing into dry clothes, but this actually felt pretty good.

Gracie gave me an odd look, as if she were mentally recalculating what she thought about me. I smiled at her, but I’m not sure it reached my eyes.

“So did anything ever come of that neighborhood watch program?” I asked. “I was hoping to do that.”

“That’s right, you don’t know.” Ted looked somber. “There have been three more murders in the park since you disappeared. Most of the patrols are at least three people, and I know they’re going out armed. I’ll check the calendar, but I’m pretty sure the next meeting is Saturday night.”

I stared at him. “You’re kidding. Have they figured out anything? Is it all the same person?”

“Word at the meetings is that they think it’s the same…creature. I’m not sure
person
is the right word. The cops won’t give any details. They say it can compromise their case. I think they’re optimistic if they think this will go to trial. If someone on the watch finds whoever or whatever it is first, they’ll just kill it.”

Working Things Out

I waited until Cordie was busy catching up with Leo before sneaking off to find Kat. I finally located her and Gracie upstairs, watching television. They were sitting next to each other on the loveseat, holding hands, but not really saying anything. I rapped on the doorframe to get their attention. Kat jumped a little, but it felt like Gracie had already known I was there.

Before I could say anything, Gracie stood up. “Kat, I need to check my email and make a few calls. I’ll be down in the library, okay?” She left the room and closed the door behind her.

I felt weird, and suddenly didn’t know what I wanted to say. I finally sat down on the loveseat next to her. “So,” I finally said. “I guess it’s kind of been a weird month.”

“You could say that,” she said.

“I’m sorry my sister’s been hard on you. It’s not like we made any promises before I up and disappeared. I’ll tell her to lay off.”

“It’s okay. I mean, it’s not okay that she wants to kill me, but I understand why she’s upset.”

“Kat, I don’t know what to say. I know we never promised to be exclusive. We never really talked about it. It just…hurt when I got back. It was a month for you. It was a couple of hours for me.”

“I know that, but it’s hard to get my head around it.” She took my hand. “I do love you, Olivia. I want to be with you; but you have to know that other people are part of my life too. I’m not ready to pick out curtains and forsake all others. You’re not just a fling, but you’re not my one and only, either. You are always my friend—at least I hope you are.”

“I love you. Yes, I still want to be friends. I still want to be with you, but I don’t know how I’m supposed to do this. I was a complete failure at having a boyfriend. I don’t know what you call this kind of relationship. Is it a relationship?” I asked her.

She leaned over and kissed me. “Yes, it’s a relationship. What I have with Gracie, at least sometimes, is called polyamory. We can take other lovers, but we talk to our partner first. Everybody knows about everyone else in the relationship, and is okay with it. With Gracie, sometimes we’re not seeing each other at all. She can get too intense for me, and we have to take a break from each other.”

“So were you on a ‘break’ when we went to the Sylvan Faire?” I had to know.

“Yes, we were. But I’d talked to her about being with you before. I knew you were dating other people, specifically men, but you knew how I felt about you. I knew if I had a chance to be with you, I wouldn’t say no, so I wanted to talk to Gracie before that happened.”