Shadow Borne (11 page)

Definitely Mike, I admitted with a sigh. He
had been extensively trained in the study of...remains, and while
he may not be familiar with the Coatyl as a species, he would at
least know how to examine it without damaging the body.

The body. I swallowed, hesitating for an
instant with my hand poised over the knob of A and D Security. I
was about to bring a dead body into a store. Don Blevins, one of
the owners of the business, took the matter out of my hands by
spotting me. I'd just decided to put off my errands and return to
Juliette when Don's thin frame rose from his desk, crossed the
room, and appeared on the other side of the door. Then it was too
late. He was opening the door and smiling at me.

"Aries. What a surprise. I didn't expect you
back for at least another week. Your trip to the coast." he
explained at my blank look.

"Oh. I haven't left yet."

"Really?" Don wove us through a maze of
electronic equipment and floor model mounted steel doors, leading
the way toward a semi-private cubicle near the rear of the store.
"I ran into Mark the other day and I could have sworn he said your
team was ready to shove off a week ago."

"Nope." I shook my head and gratefully
dumped my burden into the chair Don offered, taking a minute to
stretch my aching muscles. "We aren't quite ready yet." And the
latest developments might set us even farther back, I knew. "Soon
though." I smiled at Don, not that he noticed; he was staring
fixedly at the burlap sack laid out on the chair. "That's nothing."
I blurted. "It's just...some things I'm bringing to Claire. Woman
things." I added in a conspiratorial whisper.

Men avoid discussing 'woman things' like the
plague, didn't they? I glanced down at the bag. One corner had
stretched tight when I'd set it on the chair and the outline of a
bent leg and a foot was clearly visible through the cloth. Oh,
hell. I resisted the impulse to straighten the sacks, instead
raising my chin and doing my best to look dignified.

"Uh...right." Don cleared his throat. "So."
he said brightly, his demeanor saying 'fine I'll ignore this if you
will'. "What can I do for you this morning?"

"I need a security system out at my cabin."
I said, getting right to the point, wondering if Don would try to
convince me yet again to move to town 'where it's safe'. A few
months ago, Don's mother had moved in with him and his wife and so
far he hadn't had any luck selling her house on Sixth Street.

It was a nice house, but, just looking at it
from the outside–which I had, at Don's insistence–it didn't feel
like home for me, not the way my cabin was home. I hadn't bothered
to tell Don there was no guarantee 'in town' would be synonymous
with 'safe' for much longer.

Hopefully, the fences here would never fail
but if they did, especially if Kahn and the Lahuel had really bred
some sort of mutant Coatyl army, advance warning wouldn't do the
town's people much good, anyway. Lately, Mark and Bob worried daily
over the increasing possibility of riots. No, telling people that
we were screwed wouldn't solve anything.

So when Don aimed another none too subtle
stare at the burlap sack and asked me if I'd had any trouble out at
the cabin lately, I promptly pasted a smile on my face, crossed my
legs, leaned back like I didn't have a care in the world, and
lied.

"No. No trouble. But a woman alone can never
be too careful, don't you think?"

If the Coatyl in the chair next to mine had
been able to talk, I'm sure he would have vehemently disagreed. I
continued to smile at Don and made a mental note to add 'can't
expose my lies' to the running list I'd started halfway between my
house and Main Street of 'reasons why I'm glad the peeping bastard
Coatyl is dead'.

"What kind of system do you have in mind?"
Don slid a yellow, lined pad closer and began to tap a pen idly
against the paper. "Or do you want to add reinforced doors and
windows?"

I thought for a moment. "All of it." I
finally decided.

"All of it?" The pen paused in its rhythmic
downward swing and hung in the air for three long beats before Don
recovered himself and began to scribble notes on the paper. "It's
gonna cost you." he warned a few minutes later.

I shrugged. "How much?"

He named a figure that was hefty without
being unreasonable and I nodded easily. I had plenty of gold saved,
if it hadn't been stolen from my bedroom by now, and even a few
currency cards with decent amounts loaded onto them. Besides, what
else did I have to spend it on?

"Good?"

"Good."

"I can probably make it out today to get
measurements." he offered.

"No." I said automatically, remembering the
shambles my house was in. "Tomorrow would be better." I rose to my
feet.

"Tomorrow it is, then. In the
afternoon?"

"Yes, that would be perfect. Thank you."

I left the shop a few moments later, feeling
more optimistic than I had in several days. Maybe, just maybe,
things would turn out okay after all. Hell, at this point I'd even
gladly take 'not so bad'. The cold, logical part of me was well
aware, as always, that rarely did we get to choose. Still, I tried
to fill my mind with positive thoughts as I completed the rest of
my errands at the home store and the Bank of Grandview. The sun was
in full splendor now and people were beginning to get out and
about, both on foot and in cars.

My baggage was beginning to attract some
serious stares and I hurried across the main drag, almost at the
edge of town before I remembered I'd promised a cup of coffee to
Juliette. Not that she deserved any, I reflected pettily, but I
wanted some so I doubled back to go to the cafe I'd passed a few
shops down–and ran straight into Aranu.

I hit his brick wall chest with enough force
to dislodge the Coatyl and almost drop it into the street. Aranu's
hands came up in a single fluid motion, one gripped my upper arm to
steady me and the other caught the bag and took it from me. My back
appreciated the gesture even if my pride wasn't quite sure what to
make of it.

"Hey, give me that." I frowned. "And what
are you doing here? We're supposed to meet at Mark and
Claire's."

"Yes, we were." he agreed, dodging the grab
I made for the bag. "You're late."

"So? I told you I had things to do this
morning."

"Yes, you did." he said conversationally and
began striding down the sidewalk toward the woods.

"Fine, take the damn bag." I shrugged,
remembering now why I had been so short tempered with Aranu
yesterday at patrol switch–he was a high handed bastard.

"Hey, where are you going?" He finally
noticed I wasn't following his lead, that I was walking in the
opposite direction.

"I'm going to get coffee for Juliette and
me."

"You're joking. Aren't you forgetting
something?"

"Why would I be joking? Oh wait, where are
my manners? Would you like a cup?" I asked, stomping down the
sidewalk without waiting to hear his response.

"No, I do not want a cup of coffee."

"Suit yourself."

"Aries."

I twirled around, walking backwards now, to
find that Aranu had come to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk.
He did not look happy. Well, too bad. "What?" I demanded when he
continued to stare at me in mute irritation.

"You can't leave me holding this thing while
you stop off for coffee. And we have an important meeting, which,
as you already know, we are now late for."

I shook my head and spun around to face the
door to the coffee shop. "Hey, don't blame me. You're the one who
insisted on carrying the bag and if you're in that much of a hurry
then go." I tossed over my shoulder.

"This is a serious situation." he pointed
out.

"You don't think I know that?" I swiveled to
fix him with a fierce glare. How dare he have such nerve as to
accuse me of not taking the fate of the world seriously.

He had the good grace to look sheepish, even
though the look, and probably the feeling, was fleeting. Within
five seconds his face looked as stern as it always did.

"I apologize."

"That's the best you can do?" I raised a
brow. "I didn't ask you to come here this morning and..." I waved a
hand between us. "And do your take over thing."

"My take over thing?" he frowned and seemed
genuinely puzzled.

"You don't even know you do it, do you?" I
sighed. "If that isn't just like a damn man."

"I'm trying to help you." He shifted his
immense form, clearly impatient to get going already.

"I don't need your help."
My eyes narrowed on him when he opened his mouth. Long moments
stretched between us and I wondered if he would have the gall to
bring up the one time when I
had
needed his help. If he did I thought for sure I'd
have to kill him, but he closed his mouth and said
instead.

"I only meant to point out that we are short
on time this morning."

"Five minutes will not make or break the
day, Aranu, and I intend to be awake and alert for this meeting. If
the others have any sense they're using this time to drink some
coffee, too. See you at the meeting."

"I'll find Juliette and wait for you." he
sighed.

"Like I said, suit yourself." I let the door
bang shut in my wake and marched up to the counter. "Three extra
large coffees to go, please. Two black, one with light cream and
three sugars." Not that either of them deserved it.

Chapter Six

China Doll

The trip to the big mansion on the hill
seemed to take forever and all at once not nearly long enough. I
walked between a silent Juliette and a stern Aranu. I sipped my
coffee and trailed a step or two behind my companions. The overall
mood of our trio grew increasingly somber the closer we got to our
destination and I knew each of us was slowly easing into our game
faces; Juliette tended to grow quiet and thoughtful and for the
most part Aranu had two sides to show the world–grim and serious.
It had been at least six months since I'd even seen him crack a
smile. I couldn't remember the last time I'd heard him laugh.

As for myself, I was handling our current
situation with my usual grace and aplomb–with an outward sigh and a
subtle inner shoring that I doubted Juliette and Aranu were aware
of; Claire and my aunt were the only two people to have ever
remarked on what aunt Ingenia had called my 'brace yourself' face;
Claire called it 'Aries's commando mode'. Both terms were accurate
enough.

Inside, I was every bit as contemplative as
Juliette and sometimes even as grim as Aranu, despite the fact that
it wasn't always visible from the outside. One particularly
annoying emotion I was wearing, and close to my sleeve no less, was
reluctance, fear. I'd been painfully obvious about putting off
going back to Claire and Mark's house, though it was doubtful Aranu
knew the true reason behind my procrastination this morning; I was
certain Juliette knew exactly why I wasn't eager to return to the
'big house'.

Around here, it was common knowledge that
Mike Roberts and I used to have something going on and surely by
now Julie and many of the other nymphs had noticed the way I
avoided all mention of it or him.

We rounded the slight curve in the long
driveway and came to a stop in front of the packed house. There
were people everywhere. Some were ordinary looking, like Claire,
and a few more than that were nymphs like myself and Juliette, but
most looked more like Aranu–tall, broad shouldered fighters in
rugged garb that Marta would have called 'various stages of
undress'. She wouldn't exactly have been wrong; Mark's crew, the
famed warriors of the ruins, were dressed sparsely in the way of
clothing, wearing only breech cloth type garments and arm
bands.

My people, Aranu's tribe, wore coarse, brown
pants made from animal skins; a few, Aranu included, also wore
shirts.

Julie shrank back a little, inching closer
to Aranu when she took in the sheer size of the crowd gathered
before us; soldiers and warriors and nymphs filled the front and
side lawns to near capacity and there were even several people
milling about on the wide front porch. I noticed a group of sprites
clustered near the azalea bushes and waved at the fierce looking
women.

"Looks like the whole gang is here." I
remarked pleasantly, weaving through the crowd and up the porch
steps when I spotted Claire and the kids.

"Aunt Aries!" Ashley, at the age of
almost-seven, was Claire's youngest daughter and in recent months,
the most exuberant member of the family.

I dropped to one knee and caught the dark
haired, doe-eyed girl's flying tackle. "Hi." I grinned, kissing her
soundly on both pink cheeks before peering around her to motion
Sienna forward. "Come on, you might as well get it over with,
Sienna, I'll have a hug and a kiss from you too."

Claire's oldest stood a couple of inches
taller than Ashley and trudged forward with all the enthusiasm of a
prisoner headed to the guillotine, but beneath the solemn facade
she looked almost content and the faint beginnings of a smile
lurked behind her serious dark blue eyes. "There you go now." I
laughed, and snatched her to me, still holding onto Ashley as I
rocked both little girls back and forth.

"Will you stay after the meeting?" Ashley
asked, turning her small face up to mine once I'd released them and
stood up to greet a tense looking Claire.

"Sure."

"Good, because you have to come up to our
room. I made a picture on the wall."

"You did?" I glanced quickly at Claire.

"Yep. With paint." The child proudly
confided.

"I made one, too." Sienna added.

"Great. I can't wait to see them." I
smiled.

"Go and find Marta now, both of you," Claire
said, attempting a smile that fell just short of convincing. "I
heard she's baking cookies this morning."