Fort Morgan (6 page)

“
I’m sure,” Heather said.
“I’ll see you very soon.”

“
Okay,” Tink
said.

Tink picked up Mack and carried him to the
futon. Heather cleared her throat, and Tink startled.

“
Sorry, I forgot you’re
still here,” Tink said.

“
Blane’s in a coma again,”
Heather said. “If I’m not back by dawn. . .”

“
I’ll call Jill and
Sandy,” Tink said.

Heather nodded.

“
See you later.” Heather
leaned over to kiss Tink’s cheek. She touched Mack’s soft baby
cheek. She helped Tink make a little nest for Mack on the
futon.

“
It’ll be okay,” Tink
said.

“
What?”

“
Everything,” Tink said.
“You don’t see it, but I do. Everything is in order. Just remember
that boats float.”

“
In order?” Heather
scowled. “Boats?”

Tink gave her a sleepy smile.

“
Tink?”

“
Did you say something?”
Tink blinked at Heather.

Heather shook her head.

“
See you when you get
back,” Tink said.

“
Love you,” Heather said.
She kissed Tink’s cheek again.

“
Me too.” Tink smiled.
Heather started out the door when she heard Tink say, “Bye
Hera.”

Heather stopped and turned but Tink was
clearly asleep. She glanced at Hera.

“
She’s a special girl,”
Hera said.

“
Special?” Heather
asked.

Hera smiled. She took Heather’s arm and they
disappeared.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday morning — 4 a.m.

Ring!

The phone beside Jill’s bed rang. She sat
up.

Ring!

She fumbled for the light and managed to
knock the phone off the table. She heard her sister’s voice coming
from the floor. Jill hopped out of bed and dropped to the floor.
She grabbed the receiver from under the bed.

“
Hello?” Jill
asked.

“
Jilly?” Megan’s voice
sounded panicked.

“
What’s up?” Jill
asked.

“
Do you have Katy?” Megan
asked.

“
Katy?” Jill asked. “No! I
left her at your house!”

“
She was here,” Megan
said. “Her friend, Paddie, came over for a while with his dad. They
played with the boys until it was bath time. Paddie and Colin left
and I gave Katy a bath.”

Megan let out a little sob.

“
I put her down in the
boys room, but . . .”

“
But what?” Jill
asked.

“
She’s not there!” Megan
said. “Ryan got up to use the bathroom and noticed she was
gone.”

“
Katy’s gone?” Jill’s
heart was beating so fast she could barely speak.

The phone-line clicked, indicating that
there was another call. Jill scowled at the phone. Jacob had
insisted they keep this landline, but Jill didn’t really know how
to use it.

“
Is that another call?”
Megan asked.

“
Yeah
but . . .”

“
Just click the button,”
Megan said. “I’ll hold on.”

Jill clicked to the other line.

“
Jill?” a woman’s voice
asked.

“
This is Jill,” she
said.

“
It’s Julie. You know,
Paddie’s mom?”

“
Julie, I’m on the other
line with my sister. Can we . . .”

“
Do you have Paddie?”
Julie asked.

“
What? Paddie’s gone,
too?” Jill asked.

“
You mean you don’t have
him?” Julie asked.

“
My sister said he and
Colin came to her house to play tonight,” Jill said.

“
No, I don’t think so,”
Julie said. “I mean he and Colin went out but . . .
Colin?”

“
I’m going to talk to my
sister,” Jill clicked back over to Megan. “Meg? Paddie’s gone,
too.”

“
How is this possible?”
Megan asked. Her voice was filled with panic and tears. “The boys
didn’t hear a thing. It’s like she disappeared.”

Hearing a noise, Jill looked up. Her father
was standing in the doorway.

“
It’s time,” Perses
said.

“
Time?” Jill asked. “What
about Katy? Paddie?”

In an instant, she was standing on the shore
of a burnt-orange sea. The Sea of Amber was placid with only a
ripple of a wave across the surface. Jill looked up at her father,
and he pointed. Heather and a woman she didn’t know were standing
in a boat at a dock about a hundred feet from her.

“
Is this it?” Sandy’s
voice came from Jill’s left.

Jill turned to gawk at her.

“
The Sea of Amber,” Sandy
said with a nod to Perses. “You ready?”

“
I am,” Perses said.
“Jill?”

Jill’s mouth opened and closed as if she
were a fish out of water.

“
That’s a yes,” Sandy
said.

Sandy walked toward Heather.

“
You ready?” Sandy called
to Heather.

“
All set,” Heather
said.

Jill followed Sandy to the dock. When she
turned, she could have sworn she saw her father waving to someone.
He gave her a curt nod before joining her on the dock.

Boat
on the Sea of Amber

Wednesday morning — 4 a.m.

“
Fairy corps!” Abi yelled
and the fairies surrounded her.

They had spent the last few hours containing
any serpent dust that escaped the energy field they’d placed around
the serpent. After cleaning the hallway, they would take the dust
to the containment units on the Isle of Man. Every team on the
entire corps joined in to help Abi’s team. The work was hard,
detailed, and exhausting. But the fairy corps practiced every day
for a serpent outbreak. In some ways, it was an honor to finally
have a chance to use their skills.

Leaders of the other fairy teams gathered
around Abi. The rest of the fairy corps surrounded them. They were
tired and very happy. It wasn’t every day that serpent-men were
destroyed. Abi scanned the crowd. She caught sight of one of the
fairies who was supposed to watch Tanesha.

Then Abi realized — she hadn’t seen Tanesha
in a long time.

“
Where is Tanesha?” Abi
asked.

The leaders of the other fairy corps teams
looked confused. Abi called to the five fairies who had been
watching Tanesha.

“
Where is Tanesha?” Abi
asked again.

The fairies glanced at each other and then
at Abi.

“
Sir, we went to fight the
serpents,” a fairy said.

“
So, where’s Tanesha?” Abi
asked.

The five fairies looked at each other.

“
We. . .”
another fairy started.

“
You lost my
great-granddaughter! Prince Finegal’s great-granddaughter?” Abi
asked. “The woman he says is the best friend he’s ever
had?”

“
Um. . .”
another one of the five fairies started. “Celeste
said . . .”

Abi felt her blood pressure rise. She was
furious and panicked at the same moment.

“
What?” Abi asked.
“Celeste said what?”

“
Celeste told us that
she’d . . .” another fairy started to
say.

She stopped talking when the fairy next to
her nudged her shoulder. Abi shook her head at their nonsense.

“
Where did you see her
last?” Abi asked.

“
She got stuck in that
woman’s hair,” one of the fairies said.

“
And you didn’t free her?”
Abi asked.

“
We tried
but. . .” The fairy looked at the other four
fairies.

“
The serpent came
and. . .” another fairy offered.

The fairies fell silent. Abi stared at
them.

“
I can’t believe this,”
Abi said. “I gave you one thing to do
and. . .”

“
But, sir, there were
serpents!” the fairy said. “And Celeste was really clear that
losing this human was a good thing.”

“
I’ll be sure to tell
Queen Fand that her great-great-grandchild, Prince Finegal’s
progeny, was lost because there were serpents!” Abi
said.

“
Why not just run a trace
on her?” one of the five fairies offered.

“
You can’t trace her,” Abi
said. “Something to do with her father. Magic doesn’t work on
her.”

“
So she’s lost?” Another
fairy’s voice rose with something that might have been panic. The
way the other fairies looked at her, Abi was certain she was happy
that Tanesha was gone.

“
She’s lost,” Abi
said.

The entire fairy corps became still.

“
We can. . .” a
leader of another team started to say.

“
We can’t,” Abi said. “All
we can do is go home and hope she turns up.”

Abi stared at the ground, and the fairies
stared at her.

“
Go!” Abi ordered. “Get
out of my sight before I show you what
I
do to traitors like
you.”

The fairies started to slowly disappear.

“
Really, sir, I feel just
awful,” one of the other fairy corps leaders said.

“
Not enough to tell me
that Celeste was offering a reward to the fairy that injures my
child,” Abi said.

“
She’s of the court, Abi,
and you’re . . .” the other leader said.

Abi gave her a hard look.

“
You’re a courtesan, Abi.
That’s all,” the other leader said. “You couldn’t have thought that
this
thing
with
Prince Finegal would last.”

“
Go,” Abi said.

The other fairy lifted a shoulder in a shrug
and disappeared. Soon, Abi was alone in the hallway. She converted
to human size and walked out of the building. Outside, she caught a
cab to Luke Air Force Base. She announced herself at the gate, and
as she expected, she was allowed into the base. A young man came to
take her to her destination.

They drove in a Jeep for a few minutes and
got out at a nondescript building. Abi followed her guide through
the maze of the building and up an elevator. They went down a long
hallway and into a room. There she found a group of men and women
working on computers. She saw Alex Hargreaves talking on the phone
near the front of the room. Alex nodded her head toward some cots
set up along the wall. Tanesha was lying on a cot. Prince Finegal
sat on the edge of her cot. The children, Paddie and Katy, were
sharing a cot next to Tanesha.

Abi opened her mouth to say something. Fin
got up to greet her.

“
We wanted to let them
sleep for a while,” her guide said.

“
Why?” Abi
asked.

“
We have time.” The young
man shrugged.

“
We don’t time!” Abi
said.

“
They need to rest,” Fin
said. “As do you.”

He took her hand and led her to the open cot
near the others.

“
But Celeste
and . . .” Abi said.

“
I’m sorry I doubted you
about Celeste,” Fin said. “It won’t happen again.”

“
They were happy that
Tanesha was lost!” Abi said.

Abi took a fast breath to keep from crying.
Fin hugged her.

“
General Zeli told me flat
out that Celeste was of the court and I . . . and
I’m just your whore.” Abi started to cry into his
shoulder.

“
You sent them home?” Fin
asked.

Abi nodded against his shoulder. Over Fin’s
shoulder, Alex Hargreaves caught Abi’s eye. Alex smiled and rolled
her eyes at the phone caller. She hung up the phone and came over.
Alex pointed to a free cot.

“
Please rest,” Alex
said.

“
But. . .” Abi
started.

“
You won’t miss a thing,”
Alex said. “But you will if you’re not rested. I can’t afford any
screw ups.”

“
But. . .”

“
My team is not immortal.
Their lives are on the line,” Alex said. “My team and my family are
in danger. And we are coming after the serpents. The serpents hold
grudges. If this isn’t done well, we will make enemies.”

Alex gave Abi a curt nod and turned to
go.

“
How did you get involved
in all of this?” Abi asked.

“
Serpents’ natural enemies
are . . .” Alex said.

“
Dragons,” Abi
said.

She stepped back from Fin and looked at him.
He nodded.

“
There’s an answer,” Alex
said. “Another would be that we respond in kind to threats on the
lives of our families and team.

“
Come, my love,” Fin said
to Abi.

He took her hand and led her to the open
cot. He lay down, and she lay next to him. Magically, the small cot
fit them both. Abi was so upset that she was sure she’d never rest.
She closed her eyes and in a moment she was out. The next thing she
knew, it was daylight and the humans around them were getting ready
for war.

~~~~~~~~

Jill swallowed hard and stepped into the
boat. The craft seemed to be made out of some kind of sturdy wood
and animal skin. A wooden mast shot up from the center of the small
boat, but there was no sail. Wooden seating was situated around the
edge of the boat. Jill had taken special care to step only on the
wood flooring and not the skin. Sandy and Perses followed her into
the boat.