Prologue

“I am the Guardian of the First Huntress. It is my job to seek and train girls or boys who will aid us in destroying the abominations that walk the world. After finding and training children like yourself to the peak of your ability, then it’s my task to take you beyond that pinnacle, to a realm that no human can match. For the power of our foes are so far beyond human as to have been considered gods among some ancient civilizations. For six hundred years, I have sought to bring about the final destruction of creatures so vile, as the very earth rejects them. Four hundred years ago, the First Huntress, under my guidance managed to destroy two of their most powerful allies. Our minions hunted and harried them until they had no power to resist the final death we brought.” Kara listened carefully to her Guardian, as he prepared their evening meal in the small apartment they had rented not far from the new high school in this rather affluent suburb. There supposedly was some kind of conjunction of mystical forces here that attracted those with powers beyond the mortal pale. She’d heard that the city of Carlton had been attracting even more than its usual number of unnaturals over the past few months. Now it was going to be her job to eliminate as many of them as she could.

Looking back over at her Guardian, she watched him as he went about the everyday tasks that made them seem like a single parent family. He was tall, and whip thin. His dark brown hair was beginning to thin at the crown and along the temples, giving him a widow’s peak look. This was the man who’d shaped her life in ways that even he didn’t know. She owed him her very existence, because she knew she wouldn’t be the person she is without him. He’d pushed her until she thought she was going break, and then pushed her beyond, to prove that she wouldn’t. In his capable hands, she was a finely crafted weapon, waiting to be unleashed. She took great pride in that thought. She liked the image she had of herself as some exotic blade, forged in fires hotter than any weapon smith ever dreamed.

“But that was then,” her master continued with his tale. “Today is a new age. It is an age where many of the old ways have been lost, or forgotten. Methods of combating our foes have evolved over the centuries. Their blood has weakened without their allies. Now, another of their most potent weapons has been brought to the brink of destruction. I intend to see that it is you, my child who drives the final blade into the heart of that most hated foe.” She listened patiently; waiting for him to reach a point where he would tell her what was to come next. She’d long since learned to let her Guardian tell her things at his own pace, and to press him would only bring a long silence.

She’d trained for years to become weapon that it seemed only he could configure, and part of that training had had to learn to listen. She’d met several other Hunters and Huntresses from around the world, and had found them all lacking in some way. Their Guardians didn’t seem to care that their training was incomplete, or that they were less than what they could be. It was sufficient for the kill, but it was no more than that. They had become caught up in things that were of no consequence to one who hunts the hunters. Kara prayed that she’d never become as lax in her training and vigilance as they.

She could read and write, competently. Better than most of the so-called educated people of the world she’d encountered. She could use the technology of the twenty-first century to hunt down her prey. She had the highest kill quotas of any Hunters since the Salem Witch Hunts. Of course those whose successes exceeded hers, had without fail been trained by her Master in another incarnation. For she knew the secret that no Hunter alive has ever known, a secret that even the Guardians in all their knowledge and wisdom were oblivious to, her master- her father, Guardian Bartholomew had survived for six hundred years by transferring his spirit into a succession of descendants to carry out the war against the unnaturals.

He indicated that she should sit while he prepared their dinner, “You see, no matter what you might want to believe, or have been taught by the so-called men of science, magic does exist. It is a powerful force. It is a force that is growing more powerful in this land of tolerance. It is a power I would see finally crushed and destroyed forever. You my child are going to be the instrument of that destruction.” He smiled down at her, a love so deep in his eyes as to be pools of green in which she could drown.

“I am willing, Father. I only wait to be instructed,” she told him.

“You are probably the finest Huntress to have ever earned the title. The Council of Guardians was right to have named you First Huntress.”

“Thank you, Father,” she told him. “I am aware of the power of magic, and its corrupting influence. You’ve taught me all that I know.”

He patted her on the cheek and turned away to warm the skillet on the old stove. “We’re hunting werecats.”

She’d of course heard of them. They were creatures of any Hunter’s nightmares. Of all the unnatural breeds, only the werecats were capable of wielding both the powers of the mind and magic as well. They were among the most powerful of all the magical breeds, and fortunately, they were extremely rare. “Carlton has attracted a werecat then? What breed?” Kara was anxious to get back to work. This long training cycle they’d been on, had meant she’d had few chances to put her skills to any practical use.

Her Guardian nodded. “Not just one, but several, I think they may be trying to form a pride. If so, we need to stop them before they do. Otherwise, their power will grow exponentially. I think we’ll have to a pack to help us flush them out. It’ll be safer that way.” He began to hum some ancient tune that sounded to Kara like it might have been a drinking song at one time.

“Lupines? Do you think I’m ready to handle that?” Werecats were bad enough, but having to ride herd on half a dozen or so werewolves was not going to be easy. Her father was right though. One of the children of Freya would be difficult; a pride was going to unbelievably dangerous. Without the Guardian’s own servants, the werewolves, she didn’t stand a chance.

“My child, if any Huntress was ever capable holding their leashes, you are.” He turned and winked at her playfully, “Besides, what better way to tree a cat than use a dog?”

Kara nodded and tried not to let her own fears become evident. Deep in her heart though, she feared the power of the felines. The larger breeds could be stronger and more agile than the biggest werewolf could, and they were a lot more intelligent. Some were said to be able to walk through walls even. Only the werewolves’ pack mentality gave them the edge they needed to take on Freya’s children. Cats were solitary creatures, not prone to working in groups. Werewolves on the other hand were like humankind, social animals with a tendency to create families. That was their strength. They lived as a family and fought as a family. It was also their weakness, take out enough of the lupines, and the whole pack would run. Then she had another thought, “What of the other unnaturals there? Some of the things I’ve read suggest that there is at least a Damned there, if not a Forsaken.”

“Then you’ll kill them too.” Bartholomew dropped the chops into the hot oil to cook, and continued with his plans, “No vampire created in the past four hundred can stand against you. I’ve seen to it. You’ve been trained in the old ways. I’ve given you defenses against forces that don’t even exist anymore. Oh, you may have a little more trouble out of a Damned than you’ve had from these Neos and Kinter you’ve been fighting here, but not even a Forsaken can withstand your training.” Kara had always been surprised at how easily her father was able to ascertain the exact pedigree and breed of the different forms of vampires in the world. With just a few clues, he could determine if a vampire was a common Neo, or less frequently an actual Kinter, their sires. She’d never encountered one of the more powerful Damned, who were said to be as far beyond a Kinter as a human was above a mosquito.

Kara wished she had her father’s confidence in her. Neos and Kinter were easy to kill. All you had to do was stick a stake in their heart and they died. Well, the Neos exploded into ash all over you and the Kinters tended to burst into flame. But a Damned, she wasn’t sure she was ready to face a creature that could become mist, or a bat or a wolf. Who could dominate a victim like Kinter, or could summon wolves and rats to their aid. A stake would only slow them down. She’d read all the manuals. The only way to kill a Damned was to remove their head, and burn it separate from the body. There were so few of them ever created that no Hunter or Huntress had faced one in over a hundred years.

She didn’t want even to think about facing a Forsaken. Vampires who’d been created by some force beyond the realm of other unnaturals were not to be taken lightly. Their power had never even been measured. Nobody was sure you could even kill one. Some Guardians claim that a First Huntress named Wilhelmina, and her Guardian chased one from London and killed him in his lair in Transylvania in the late nineteenth century. Kara thought it was just a good way for the Guardians to raise money by selling novels, and didn’t believe a bit of it.

CHAPTER 1

Noah set down the bags he was carrying, careful to put the one with his laptop in it on top. He looked around the large room, carefully noting the location of everything in it. A huge oaken bed stood in one corner with a nightstand and lamp next to it. Empty bookcases lined the opposite wall with a large matching desk complete with computer. A large bay window faced out over the front yard. He could believe neither how big it was, nor the fact that he had it all to himself. “You share a bathroom with Nelson,” Martha, the woman who ran this foster home, indicated the open door across the room. “If the door is locked, then the other occupant is using the facilities. Be sure to unlock both doors when you’re finished,” her brown eyes twinkling with mischief, she continued, “we don’t want any accidents.”

Noah only nodded, still trying to deal with the speed with which his life had turned around. Was it only four days ago, he was living out of a small pay-by-the-week-no-questions-asked hotel downtown? Adjusting to new circumstances was something he’d gotten used to over the past two years, but still it was a little strange suddenly to be in a house full of people. “I’ll be sure to remember.”

“I know you kids come to me with a lot of problems, so there are a few rules you need to know about,” Martha gave him one of her motherly smiles, and Noah was surprised at how good it made him feel. “Nobody has to talk about what has happened in the past if they don’t want to. The past is just that, the past. You all are starting out with a clean slate. You’ll have a few general around-the-house chores to do. You have to keep up your grades. Your agreement with Mr. Dalton was a B average. If your grades start to fall, then you’ll lose your traveling privileges. I won’t tolerate drugs or alcohol in the house, and I don’t want any funny business with girls here.” A smile began to cross Noah’s face but Martha brought it up short with a wink, “or with boys for that matter. I may be an old southern lady but I’m not that naïve. I won’t have you coming down with something penicillin won’t cure on my watch.”

“Yes ma’am.” Noah replied feeling properly warned. He had no plans of letting his libido get in the way of having a roof over his head and three square meals a day. Living on the streets had taught him just how much those things can cost a fourteen year old boy.

“Good boy. Now, breakfast is at seven on school days, nine on weekends. Be on time or you’re stuck with whatever Brendan leaves you, which isn’t usually much- I swear I think that boy has a hollow leg. Speaking of tall dark and goofy, if you talk to him nice he might be willing to give you a ride in that jalopy of his to school. Not that it’s a long walk, but riding with him does give you a little extra time to eat, and count your fingers.”

“Yes, ma’am…”

Martha continued to explain how the foster house worked, “You’ll be responsible for the dinner dishes every- now let’s see “she looked up calculating in her head as she ticked off silent numbers on her fingers, “Brendan, Nelson, Delia, Sharon, Chris, Martin, Tiffany…” she looked back down at Noah, “…eighth day. Even if you don’t eat dinner that night, you still have to do the dishes. You’re responsible for keeping your own room clean. Beds have to be made every morning except Wednesday when you strip them and leave the sheets in the hall. In the afternoon, you’ll find a clean set at your door. ”

“No problem ma’am.”

“Good,” she tousled his hair, “I think we’re going to get along just fine young Noah, just fine indeed. Now you have any questions?”

“Not right now ma’am. I’m still kinda’ taking it all in,” Noah told her trying to get a grip on how fast things were changing.

Martha gave him an appraising look and Noah got the feeling that she was seeing straight into his soul. She crossed her arms, “Some how, Mr. Hale I get the feeling that you can adapt pretty easily. Probably that’s what kept you alive over the past few years. I get the feeling that those innocent little boy looks of yours had a lot to do with it though. Just remember, this old lady has been around the block a few times, so don’t try an’ use them on me too much.” She was right about the fact that he appeared much younger than he was had helped keep him alive. People would be amazed at how much sympathy a lost little boy could engender. Of course, he’d also quickly learned what the cost of that help could be on the streets too. A price he’d already decided to pay the day he ran away from the Pates.

“Yes ma’am.” Noah replied again, feeling foolish, and wondering if he would ever be able to give this woman anything more than the simple affirmations that were all he could seem to muster right now. Something about her just brought out a dependent side in him that he thought had long since died.

As if sensing what he was thinking, Martha replied, “don’t worry about it, son. You’ll fit right in here with the rest of my little lost kittens.” Then chuckling to herself, she exited the room.

Noah sighed silently, and began to unpack his few belongings. Living from trick to trick for two years, he’d learned quickly not to accumulate too many things. Most of his possessions consisted of clothes, a few fantasy/sci-fi novels and his laptop. Anything more could prove to be cumbersome if he suddenly had to split, and might attract the attention of someone who might decide they liked it better. If he wasn’t attached to too many things, then he would never have to worry about not having them, or somebody taking them away from him. He just kept the few things he needed to stay alive, plus a small collection of books, and of course his laptop.

It was the only thing he had left from his parents. His dad had given it to him on his thirteenth birthday. A top of the line model, it was complete with CD burner and DVD player. He’d been very careful not to let anyone know that he had it. Keeping it, a secret gave him a secret thrill when he thought that he had at least one private thing left. Again, if nobody knew he had it, then they couldn’t take it away from him.

He’d had too much taken away from him in the past two years, not the least of which was his innocence. First his parents, then his home, quickly followed by his privacy, and finally they tried to take away who he was. When that happened, he’d done the only thing he could. He ran like a scared rabbit. He’d grown up quick on the streets. He wasn’t sure how he was able to survive- no scratch that, he knew there was something different about him that let him do it, and he just wasn’t sure what it was. He’d quickly learned to cultivate it though. A small push here, a pull there, a careful listening to the little voice in the back of his head about who was dangerous, and who wasn’t; all these things gave him just enough of an edge to make sure he didn’t wind up somewhere with his throat cut or worse. Before long, that voice became much clearer and easier to hear. Now, if he sat very still and quiet, he could sense what a person was feeling. If he was particularly quiet, sometimes he could almost hear their very thoughts. That was his other secret- the one that let him survive.

He knew his I’m just a little boy, please don’t hurt me act was tied up in that somehow, but wasn’t exactly sure how. He also quickly learned that it had a certain value on the streets. Before long, he discovered that he could sell that act to make a living. It wasn’t the living he wanted to make, and it damn sure wasn’t the way he wanted to give himself to someone, but at least it kept him alive and out of that damnable reparative therapy organization to which his foster parents tried to send him.

When he chose the path of a run-away street hustler he already knew that his innocence was the price he’d pay for survival. As much as he acted the little boy part, he knew that part of him was lost forever. He’d sold his services a thousand times over in the past two years, but not yet his heart. Keeping his heart to himself was just another defense for survival. If he didn’t let himself love anyone, then they couldn’t get close enough to him to take away that last little bit of himself that he can call truly his own. Noah was surprised at just how hard he’d become in the past two years.

Laying the clothes out on the bed in two piles- the ones he could wear to school, and his “work clothes” he sighed at how few were in the first pile. Going back to school was going to be difficult enough, without dressing either like a prostitute down on Center Street- which of course he had been- or a little-leaguer- ironically, he’d been that too. He’d been at the end of his sixth grade year when he’d run away. He’d missed what should have been his middle school years, and was now heading straight into being a freshman at Carlton High School, courtesy of one Mr. Grey Dalton.

Carlton was one of the more affluent suburbs in the area. It was an older neighborhood that somehow had managed to avoid becoming rundown. Not really a part of the city proper, it was an area to where the upper middle class fled during the white flight of the seventies and eighties. Now as the main city grew to the south, Carlton’s mayor and city council were doing the best they could to keep the inner city problems from spilling over into their little haven of upper middle class values. Noah couldn’t help but wonder how he was going to survive the clash with those values he knew was going to come.

“Looks like someone was an Eagle Scout,” a voice came from the doorway. Turning around, Noah saw a tall thin dark haired boy dressed in a baggy ugly orange sweater and green sweats leaning against the doorframe. Immediately, he cursed himself for not paying closer attention. Then he cursed himself for reacting the way he would on the street. Taking a second look, he realized that his earlier decision about not letting his libido get him into trouble might be harder than he thought. Although he was obviously trying to hide it, the boy standing at his door could test the virtue of a saint.

Noah blushed and “Uh… not exactly.” He quickly buried the scout uniform under the pile of “work clothes”. That particular uniform had been one of his most often requested roles. It fit right into his lost child persona, and with recent events in the news, boy scouts had a particular attraction to certain circles of his clientele.

The other boy sensing that he might have hit on something not to be discussed dropped the subject and entered offering his hand, “I’m Brendan. My room’s across and at the end of the hall.” Noah could detect a faint hint of chocolate on the boy’s breath.

Noah looked at the Brendan’s hand and then took it warily. First physical contact with someone could sometimes be unpleasant. He was never sure what he might get hit with from that small voice he’d learned to listen out for, but to not shake hands would have seemed unfriendly. Mentally steeling himself he took the hand, “I’m Noah. I’m the new guy.”

Noah was surprised by the calm sense of belonging that seemed to wash over him from Brendan. It was almost as if he already accepted Noah as part of the household. “Yeah, Martha said we were getting a new resident. Said you’d probably be a little behind in your studies and that me and Sharon were to give you a hand if we could.”

Noah chuckled at the thought of being a little behind. Somehow making it to school wasn’t a priority when he spent most of his nights fulfilling some pederast’s favorite fantasy. “Actually, I’m probably so far behind, I’ll never catch up.”

Brendan smiled, “don’t worry. We’ll get you taken care of.” He seemed to be looking off somewhere else for a second then continued. He came into the room, plopped down in the large over-stuffed chair in a corner, and looked Noah up and down appraisingly. “Dalton’s caught himself a young one I see. How old are you, twelve, thirteen?” From most people the question would have seen condescending, but somehow Brendan made it sound casual.

“I just turned fifteen,” Noah answered him while hanging several shirts in the closet.

“Damn, you don’t look it,” Brendan leaned back in the chair and tossed his leg over the arm. “So, are you starting as a freshman or sophomore?”

Noah shrugged. His younger looks had been an asset on the streets. There was not a small group of men- and even a few women- out there willing to pay good money for a guy who still looked like a kid. “Freshman, I’ve been out of school a few years.”

Brendan seemed about to say something and then changed his mind. As he turned around to face the older boy. Noah let his mind relax and listened for that small voice in his head.

Wonder if he hated what he had to do to survive as much as I did? Brendan’s voice came clearly to his mind, with an image that made it clear that the other boy knew from first-hand experience exactly how Noah made his living on the streets. What surprised him was how easy Brendan’s thoughts came to him. God, I can’t imagine anybody enjoying doing that to some dirty old geezer. Now with…Noah felt the other boy cut off the thought so savagely that he was literally hurled from Brendan’s mind. Evidently, he still had some issues he had to deal with himself.

At least I know what I am, and have dealt with it. Hell, if I hadn’t I wouldn’t be here today, but in high school somewhere upstate, trying to suppress my feelings with a Bible verse or something. “So you think you can help me get caught up?”

“Shouldn’t be too hard. After all, anyone who reads Chelsea Quinn Yarborough is already ahead of most high school students, “ Brendan pointed to one Noah’s Saint Germaine novels on the bed.. “You an aficionado of things undead?”

“I read a lot. Mostly to study other writer’s styles,” Noah answered noncommittally.

“Well, if you are, some of us do make it a point to watch Buffy on Tuesdays. It’s kinda’ tradition around here,” the other boy told him. “Buffy on Tuesday’s and Forever Knight on Friday’s. I’ve got both series on tape.” Brendan looked proud of himself. “Actually, I’ve got a huge sci-fi, fantasy, and horror movie collection. About once a month we all get together and do a B-movie night. It’s a real riot, especially the Full Moon Productions stuff. Those guys know how to make good B-movies.”

Noah chuckled, “Isn’t that a contradiction in terms? Good and B-movie?”

“No, the B-movies are the best. They don’t take themselves too seriously, so you know they were meant just to be fun. It’s amazing how much pressure you can take off a movie when you know it doesn’t stand a chance at an Oscar.”

“Yeah, somehow I couldn’t see Tom Cruise playing in something like Evil Dead. He takes himself way too seriously to be able to pull it off. Sam Raime though is a genius,” Noah told him.

“Yeah, I loved him in SeaQuest,” Brendan replied.

“Sam Raime was okay there, but the one I had the hots for was Jonathan Brandis,” Noah felt he might as well get his orientation out in the open.

“I know a lot of people who thought that. I think he turned out to be bigger star than any of the other characters on that show.” Brendan replied noncommittally.

Noah thought, at least he’s not acting offended or anything, but said aloud, “Yeah, I understand that he was really cool about all the attention he was getting too.”

Noah laughed and started to relax around Brendan as he realized the guy wasn’t going to suddenly start pounding on him. He came to realize that Brendan was the geek he wanted to be. Would have been if it hadn’t been for those damn terrorist. The thought of the day his parents died brought a lump to his throat.

As if sensing something wrong Brendan got up from his chair smiling. “Look, you got some unpacking to do, and I’ve got a history exam tomorrow, so I’ll get outta your hair.”

“No problem. Maybe we can talk some more later,” he told him turning away to hide the pain that he was afraid was showing on his face. When he was sure that the other boy wasn’t looking he turned again, wanting to say something, but unable to muster even the slightest sound. He felt a familiar pressure at the base of his skull, as a catlike outline seemed to follow Brendan out. Shaking his head, he turned back to his unpacking. Finally finishing he closed the door and sat on the bed, laptop in hand.

Running his hand gently across its cracked lid, he opened the computer and powered it up. Rolling over on his stomach, he waited for Windows to boot up, all the while wondering if he’d made the right decisions. He really couldn’t see where getting a roof over his head, and three square meals a day without having to sell his ass down on Center Street every night was a bad thing. Somehow, though he had the feeling that his new found security was going to come at a price. He wasn’t sure what that price would be, but something in the back of his mind told him that it wouldn’t be cheap.

Pulling a disk from his shirt pocket, he popped it in and lost himself in writing about his alter ego, the halfling wizard bard Tior Tinderflint, and his adventures in the Western Empire.

Brendan slipped quietly into his room with something buzzing at the back of his neck. He was used to strange feelings but this one was different from anything he’d ever felt before. Usually when someone set him off it was to warn him about something, but this feeling was entirely different from anything he’d ever felt before. There was definitely something strange about that kid. It went beyond the weird sense of innocence the boy was giving off. He’d met guys like that before. They could be jerks too, wrapping people around their fingers, and then pitting them against each other. Somehow though, that didn’t fit the kid. It was something else. Something deeper, something almost instinctual was driving this compulsion.

“What’s got your tail in a knot?” Sharon asked from his bed where she was stretched out with a book. Her presence in his room didn’t really startle him. Of all his friends, he was always the closest to her- then again they’d been sharing a bed on a regular basis for almost two years now- so that probably had a lot to do with it. Still she had always been able to read him ever since she moved in. She could sense his moods more than anyone, and usually could help him get to the bottom of what he was feeling. Sharon was the only house resident here who hadn’t come from an abusive background. Whereas others had known beatings, and worse, she’d known the personal horror of neglect. Her parents were affluent- even wealthy by most people’s standards- but they didn’t want to be bothered with their daughter. Leaving for months at a time, to travel Europe and Asia, they seemed to forget that she even existed, and left her to fend for herself since before she was ten. That is until Dalton came into the picture. In a surprisingly short time, he’d wrested custody from them and dropped her here in Martha’s care.

Savagely wrenching himself back the present, he growled silently to himself for letting his mind wander. He dropped into one of the overstuffed chair that every bedroom in the house seemed to have and replied aloud, “That new kid. There’s something about him that is setting off bells in my head.”

“Good bells or bad bells?” she asked brushing a strand of dark auburn hair from her eyes, and gliding to a sitting position. Where Brendan was tall and sinewy, Sharon was small, and graceful. Dressed in one of his old sweaters that looked better on her than it ever did on him, he felt a familiar stirring in his mind. He could feel her emotions begin to wrap around his, like a comfortable coat.

Brendan couldn’t tell where she was heading with the question, “I don’t know. There’s something about him that hits a nerve,” he realized he was afraid to give what he was feeling a voice. It brought back too many memories of living on the streets. A small shudder went through him as Sharon wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “This isn’t so much a warning, as it’s something else. I just can’t put my finger on whatever it is.” He sighed and leaned into her for support. “I feel like I should know him, or maybe get to know him… or something…. I just can’t figure out what it is and it’s driving me up the wall.”

“Want me to check him out?” Brendan could hear the curiosity building in her voice.

“I don’t know. You know how Martha feels about us prying into each other’s business,” he replied feeling the comfortable warmth of her form next to him.

“What Martha doesn’t know, won’t hurt us.” There was more than just a hint of mischief in her voice.

“Martha knows everything. I get the feeling she’s got almost as much detail on us all as Dalton does.” It was true. Martha always seemed to know everything that went on in the house. He even suspected she knew a whole lot more about him and the other three than she let on about. But, whatever she knew, she kept to herself, and for that reason alone, Brendan was wary of disappointing her. He’d never before had an adult in his life he felt he needed their respect. Martha Corsair was somehow different. She really cared about what happened to them, and because of that, he realized his hesitancy went deeper than just not wanting to lose a safe place for himself and his adoptive family.

“Do you want me to see what I can find out or not?” Sharon pushed. Brendan knew that curiosity would eventually get the better of her, and she’d go looking anyway. She was like that. She could smell a mystery a mile away, and wouldn’t let it go until she got the answer she wanted.

“You know curiosity killed the cat,” he told her playfully.

“Yeah, but satisfaction brought her back,” she purred back at him.

“Go ahead, but don’t let anybody catch you,” he stroked the back of her arms gently. She smelled like fresh sunbeam.

“One background search coming up,” she bounded out of the room. Brendan shook his head and wondered how she ever survived on her own for so many years. Even with the money that her parents had always made sure was there, her sense of adventure was dangerous in a child, and downright frightening in a young woman.

He slid down into his own chair and sighed. Something about that kid was driving him up the wall. The boy brought up emotions, Brendan wasn’t quite ready to handle yet.

Noah awoke with a small start as the sun’s morning rays hit his face. He uncurled himself from the window seat where he’d finally fallen asleep around five. Lately, restlessness was a new problem to be wrestled with- although he couldn’t really call it a problem. He seldom woke feeling any worst for wear in the morning, and seemed to be able to go days on end with just one or two hours sleep. It was if he his body didn’t need the rest, but his mind did.

Padding over to the bathroom door and finding it locked he turned to his desk, and checked the time on his watch. Six-twenty. That gave him forty minutes to get dressed, make his bed, and get downstairs for school.

Twenty minutes later he was downstairs on the edge of the chaos that was breakfast at Martha’s. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, grits, and gravy were piled high on the counters, and pushing shoving, and laughing were everywhere. It was the first time Noah had seen any of his housemates beyond Brendan. He stepped back with a glass of orange juice and took a minute to pay close attention to everyone there.

Of course, Brendan stood out with his quick, sometimes falling flat-on-his-face wit, and a plate stacked high so high with food that Noah was afraid it was all going to topple over in disaster. Somehow, though the older boy always seemed to catch whatever might have fallen.

There was a small petit auburn haired girl with eyes that were as green as grass right in the middle of it all. She moved with cat-like grace as she dodged the others getting what she wanted from the buffet-style counter. He heard her answer to Sharon, as one of the other girls asked her some polite question.

Another girl, tall and statuesque with long blonde hair, was leaning against the opposite wall waiting to get past all the chaos in the kitchen. Somehow, Noah got the feeling there was as much intelligence behind those piercing blue eyes as there was beauty. Noah wasn’t sure how he knew, but he did know that she was trying to affect an image of vain beauty, and that it was just that- and affectation.

Hovering, almost protectively near her was a rather tall, thin, Asian looking boy of about sixteen or seventeen. He had longish hair, pulled back into a short ponytail, and huge brown eyes. Noah felt there was something familiar about him. He couldn’t quite place it, but he definitely got the feeling he’d met him somewhere before.

That in itself was odd, because Noah could recall almost everything that had ever happened to him since he was a kid. His dad had called it eidetic memory his mom said it was a photographic memory. Noah only knew that it made it easy to keep up with what a trick wanted and when he wanted it. So the fact that he couldn’t place the other guy made him just a little nervous, and a lot wary.

Three other kids were huddled together laughing and talking at the main table. All three had heads full of curly red hair and seemed to be a few years older than Noah. By the looks of them, Noah was sure they were siblings if not triplets. The books they were carrying somehow looked antiquated, almost like something from the nineteen-seventies. If that was the case, then Noah was sure he’d be able to catch up in school with a little practice. After all he was a child of the nineties.

Finally, Martha stood in the middle of it all, with a smile on her face and quick comeback to any lip anyone might have given her. It was obvious that she was the queen of this house and mistress of all she surveyed. Also obvious was that she was enjoying every minute of it. Noah didn’t know if the woman had ever had children of her own, but it was obvious that she was born to do the job she was doing now. Somehow that made him feel a whole lot better about giving up some of his own freedoms for the chance to be a kid again. As if he could ever truly be a kid again. Some things were simply impossible to re-capture.

“So, how do we all measure up?” A voice asked from his side. Turning, he saw the blonde, standing next to him. While he had been busy taking all the others, she’d moved quietly to his side. “Everybody does this their first day. They stand here and try to figure out what they’ve gotten themselves into and wonder if they’ll fit in. She smiled and looked him up and down appraisingly. He got the feeling he was being considered for quite a few things- not all of them entirely straightforward.

“Really?” he wondered. “I didn’t mean to be quite so obvious.”

“Oh, you weren’t. Actually you’re better than most at it.” She indicated herself, “I’m Delia. I’ve got the room opposite yours. You must be Noah. Martha warned us that we’d be getting a new guy. She said not to bother you until you got settled in.” She smiled at him wickedly, “So you settled in yet?
Laughing quietly at the girl’s joke. ‘I’m settled in. What do you want to know?” he told her realizing that she was worried how he might upset the balance around here. Again, he let his mind relax and was surprised at how easy her thoughts seemed to come to his mind. Oh, he’s as cute as Nelson said he was- in a youngish sort of way. In a couple of years he’s going to break quite few girls hearts. From what Nelson says, it’s going to be more than a few boys’ hearts too.” That caught him off guard. He hadn’t met anyone named Nelson, and he wasn’t sure how’d they know anything about him? Before he was finished pondering the dilema the girl had turned away, distracted by something one of the others had said.

‘C’mon on in. don’t stand there in the corner trying to look small. If you don’t grab it an’ growl, you won’t get much to eat around here.” The red-haired girl told him, and then pointed toward Brendan, “Not with mister count-your-fingers-after-reaching-for-something around here.” She took a bite of pancake as she sat down rather indelicately next to the triplets at the table and between bites continued, “you must be Noah. I’m Sharon, that’s Nelson,” she pointed toward the Asian guy, “you were just talking to Cordelia, or Delia as she likes to be called.” She took another bite, swallowed, and indicated Brendan, “and you’ve met our local garbage disposal.”

“Hey, I’m a growing boy.” Brendan called back between bites.

“No you’re not,” Nelson replied. “If you were, you’d be the size of a house considering how much food you put down. “We’re not sure where it’s all going, but we’re calling for an independent counsel investigation to find out. We’re going to call it Breakfastgate.”

Noah laughed out loud and was surprised at the unfamiliar sound. “I’m not hungry.”

“I guess that’s good, because it looks like most of it’s gone already,” Delia gestured toward the wreckage that was left on the counter. “Around here, if you’re hungry, you gotta be fast, or you’ll stay hungry.”

Before he could reply Martha was suddenly feeling his forehead, “You’re not sick are you? You don’t have a fever,” she clucked over him. Again it seemed that she was the consummate mother hen making sure all her chicks were well.

Embarrassed by the attention, Noah replied, “No ma’am. I really just don’t eat a whole lot.” He tried to deflect the attention. Lately, he himself had noticed that his appetite was off. It was a lot like his sleeping, he didn’t feel any worse for not eating, he just wasn’t hungry. Worried that he might have HIV, he’d finally broken down overcome his terror of needles and gone to the health department for a test last month. It had taken quite a bit of “pushing” to get past the red-tape over his being a minor, but he’d finally succeeded in getting them to give him the test without trying to contact his parents. Fortunately, it had come back negative. He had to admit he was a little surprised and a great deal relieved at the results. After all, he’d had more lovers in the past two years than most people in a lifetime. No, not lovers- they were sex partners, tricks, Johns, whatever, but none of them had ever really been a lover.

“Well, don’t you worry, we’ll get some meat on those bones” the older woman told him, softly pinching his arm, and then raising an eyebrow about something.

Everyone except the triplets at the table had stopped to watch the exchange with Martha. When it was clear that he wasn’t going to react badly to the attention, they went back to their conversation. Noah got the impression that he’d just passed some kind of important test.

“Hey Runt, you need a ride to school this morning?” Brendan called from the kitchen.

Noah flashed him his best little-boy-help-me smile, and replied, “If it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Uh…. Sure. No problem,” Brendan seemed a little flustered about something. “We’re leaving in just a few. Put your dishes in the sink, and grab your stuff. Mine’s the only Dodge in the driveway.” Noah got the feeling that something about him made Brendan very nervous. He had a good idea what it was too. He made a mental note not to push things around the older boy. Ten minutes later, he found himself sitting between Sharon, and Delia in the backseat of a huge mid seventies Dodge Charger. “So, how did you like your first night at the house,” Sharon asked him in an obvious attempt at small talk. “I mean did you sleep well? It being a new place and all I mean.” Her arm brushed his and suddenly her thoughts were clear. Why would someone like him run-away? He was in a good foster-home with more than enough of a trust-fund to get him through any number of colleges, not mention high school. According to the state’s files, he’s still living there, and his foster-parents, the Pates are still collecting the money from the trust fund. I wonder if Dalton knows about that? He’d never in the past had this much trouble keeping other people’s thoughts from his mind. Hell, most of the time he had to concentrate and be in physical contact with them to hear their thoughts. Now, suddenly everybody’s in the house mind was open to him. It was getting just a little scary.

Noah was more than a little surprised that the girl would have the balls to do some kind of background search on him, much less the know how to get into supposedly secure files at the State Department of Children and Family Resources. Of course he was even more surprised to find out the Pates hadn’t turned him in as a run-away. I mean they made it clear to him that the State would send him to a psychiatric hospital if they found out he was gay.

“You okay back there, Noah?” Nelson asked from the front passenger seat. The older boy was smiling as if he knew something Noah didn’t.

“Sure. It’s not often I get between two gorgeous babes,” he replied jokingly. Yeah, but I get the feeling you’ve been between your share of gorgeous men, Sharon’s voice came unbidden to his head. Suddenly, Noah felt very small and vulnerable. He hadn’t realized just how much of his life the girl had been able to pull out of that computer search.

Everybody laughed at the remark, and Delia tousled his hair like a little kid, “Keep it up Half-pint and you’ll have to take me out.” She leaned forward and jabbed Nelson and Brendan in the back. “Are you two taking notes up there? Brendan and Nelson only turned and looked at each other with grins on their faces. Noah’s mood lightened somewhat, as if the “protect-me-I’m-just-a-little-boy” act were suddenly true.

“Sorry Delia, you just aren’t my type,” he told her, and laughed at his own joke, “wrong plumbing.”

“In that case, you’re going to have to take me shopping sometime,” she replied without missing a beat. “These two losers couldn’t accessorize if their lives depended on it,” she pointed toward the front seat.

“That’s okay Delia. We’re manly men. We’re here to protect you from the Big-Bad-Wolf,” Brendan replied, and the car suddenly got quiet. Noah could see Nelson’s body jerk slightly as he gave Brendan a warning slap of some kind just as they pulled into the school parking lot.

It was a huge school, and from the looks of it, brand new. All built on one story and laid out more like a college campus than a high school, Noah was sure he was going to get lost here. Then again, right now getting lost sounded like a good idea. He’d already stepped into to something he didn’t mean to in the car,

As soon as they pulled up he got out and looked around the small gravel parking lot at the lower end of a larger paved one. “Welcome to sophomore paring Runt,” Brendan told him. Right here is where you can find the Moby Dick at five o’clock.” Noah’s confused look must have told Brendan that he didn’t understand, so he explained. “Carlton is on a modified school schedule. We have classes from eight to eleven-thirty. Then everybody has lunch and study hall, also known as afternoon nap time until one-thirty, when we go back to classes until five. It’s supposed to make life easier on the local parents.”

Noah nodded and smiled. “I see. So we’re supposed to stay out of trouble from three till five.” Noah had heard of a few schools in the city that had gone to this schedule but didn’t realize that Carlton was one of them. Then again, he hadn’t exactly paid that much attention to school over the past few years either. “Well, I’d better go check in and find out where my classes are. Mr. Dalton said that the paper work had already been filled out.” He stopped a moment and looked back, “How can I expect to fit in around here. I mean being a foster kid and everything?”

Delia came up behind him, “I’ll show you the way.” She indicated the stairs leading into the upper parking lot. “Don’t worry about being a foster kid. Nobody will know that unless you tell it. As far as anyone knows, we’re part, one way or another of Martha’s family.”

They walked across the parking lot in silence. As they reached the edge of the campus grounds Delia stopped and put a hand out to stop Noah. “Listen, I don’t know what’s bothering you, but something upset you in the car. Nobody meant anything by what was said there. We take care of each other. Somehow, I’m not sure how, but you ended up at Martha’s and people who don’t belong with us don’t end up there. In other words Noah, you’re one of us, and this pride takes care of its own.” Noah gave her a confused look. He started to ask what she was talking about but she continued, “Look, you may not realize this but I owe you more than I can ever repay. More than any of us can repay. Don’t let our getting to know you stage get in the way of becoming one of us. We are a family.” Someone once told him not long ago that there is the family we are born into, and then there is the family we build. It was obvious to Noah, that these people had built a family. For one reason or another, they had rejected or been rejected by their own families and had chosen to build this one.

“I’ll try to keep that in mind, but there are things about me that you don’t know. Things that you might not like.” He tried to put it as casually as possible.

“What kind of things, Noah? Do you think you’re the only person in the house with secrets? You’re not, you know. We’ve all got secrets, but we respect each other’s secrets and don’t push. Nobody there is an angel, okay, maybe the triplets but to be honest we’re not sure about them. Don’t get too caught up in your own past, or let it keep you from being part of something very good.” She smiled, and hugged him. “Now the main office is through the main doors and on your right. You can’t miss it.” She directed him toward the doors and watched him disappear inside.

CHAPTER 2

“So has anybody seen him since this morning?” Sharon asked the rest of the group as she joined them at lunch. She was still just a little upset with Brendan for that Big-Bad-Wolf comment. Carlton’s lupine population problem was not something for any of them to joke about. Matthews and his bunch were just a little too dangerous to joke about.

“Seen who?” David asked. He was one of the few friends the group had outside of Martha’s and as far as she knew the only one that knew what kind of house Martha ran.

“They didn’t tell you? I figured our two boys wonder here couldn’t wait to tell you that we had a new resident at the house, “Sharon grinned as she opened her lunch. “Let’s see, he’s about five foot nothing, blond, hair, blue eyes, and weighs maybe a hundred ten pounds. Actually, if he didn’t look so young, he’d be drop dead gorgeous.”

“Whoa there, Nellie,” Brendan put a hand out on her wrist. “He also doesn’t swing your direction, so you might as well put that libido of yours in neutral.”

“Do I sense a tone of jealousy, Brendan?” David leaned over toward Sharon, and asked, “Could it be that Mr. Nothing-Fazes-Me, actually feels threatened by somebody?”

“He’s got nothing to worry about. Noah’s just a kid,” Delia put in.

“He’s just a year younger than we are. That’s not really a kid. He just looks a lot younger than he is,” Sharon told them, as she snuggled close to Brendan. “Besides, he’s used goods. Not my type.”

“That’s not fair, Shar,” there was an edge to Nelson’s voice. “He did what he had to do to survive. Besides, if it wasn’t for him, Delia and I probably wouldn’t be here.”

“Sorry Nelson, I didn’t mean to hit a sore spot,” Sharon replied feeling somewhat chastised. It was after all a cheap shot. “Besides, if he did it just to survive, then maybe he doesn’t really swing that way. Maybe he’s just confused.”

“Why do I get the feeling I’m missing a whole level of conversation here?” David commented to nobody in general. “And what do you mean by if it wasn’t for him, you and Delia wouldn’t be here.”

Nelson looked down at his sandwich, then over to Delia. “He just got us out of a tight spot back about a year and a half ago. He never met Delia, but back then I had my hair spiked and dyed blond. We needed some money, and he came through for us. I don’t know why, I don’t know how he got it all- well maybe I do know how he got it, but I really don’t know why he would just up and give that much money to someone he just met, but he did. If he hadn’t we probably would still be on the streets or maybe even dead.” He looked over at Sharon, “So back off if you would Sharon. Cut the guy some slack. We owe him… I owe him big time.”

“So he’s got a good spirit, smart enough to come back to school after a long hiatus, and good looking enough to get Sharon’s motor running,” David commented. “When do I get to meet this modern-day Doc Savage?” David asked.

“I don’t know if Doc Savage is quite right.. After all, Doc was larger than life as well as being “The Man of Bronze”. Noah’s kinda on the small side and definitely more pale than bronze,” Brendan chuckled. He then looked at Nelson, Delia, and Sharon, “As for you three, chill out. We’ll give the kid a chance. We only just met him.”

“As for you, my good Mr. Rosen, you still haven’t explained to me just what it is you see in hanging around with a bunch of geeks like us.” Brendan asked the question he’d been badgering David with for over a year now. David had been the first person to befriend him and Sharon when they first arrived at Carlton. To be honest with himself, he knew he was really the only person to befriend them. It wasn’t that Carlton was an unfriendly school, just that it was a big school and easy for two people to get completely lost in the crowd.

David replied through bites of peanut butter and banana, “The SCA. You guys wore your garb to the Halloween dance. It was some of the best garb I’ve seen too, so I figured you guys would be cool to hang around with.”

“You mean to tell me that the best athlete in the school decided to make friends with us because I look good in tights?” Brendan asked jokingly.

“Something like that,” David replied softly.. “Besides, I’m not the best athlete in the school.”

“Oh yes you are. Coach is still steaming about you quitting the football team. He said the team had a shot at the state playoffs. Besides, even if your not the best your still the only one that actually talks to people outside in-crowd.” Sharon told him.

“Oh, well you see that’s because most of them don’t want to have anything to do with a Jew,” David told them.

“But you’re not Jewish,” Nelson protested.

“Yeah, but with a last name like Rosen, you try and convince them of that.” David smiled. “Besides, Dad is, mom isn’t. She’s a good Catholic girl from Edinburgh, so I guess my religious affiliation is guilt.”

“Uh… Is this seat taken?” Sharon heard Noah ask. She was surprised to find him standing by the table. Noah shouldn’t have been able to approach without one of them noticing him, but from the look on everyone’s faces she could tell he had managed it.

“Yeah, it’s yours,” Brendan said. Sharon sensed some kind of conflict burning in him.

“Thanks Brendan,” he sat down with a bottle of water.

“How’s your first day at Carlton going?” Brendan asked.

“So far so good.” He replied, but Sharon could tell something had caught his attention. She looked over and immediately understood. Hell, she’d had the same reaction to David herself. After all he was the closest thing to a Greek god she’d ever met herself. He was tall, dark and viciously good-looking. Best of all, he didn’t seem to realize he was so handsome. He just acted like a regular guy. That is until now. She’d been so caught up in Noah’s reaction that she hadn’t paid attention to David.

An electric current seemed to be passing between the two. It was almost palatable. She realized that nobody at the table was breathing as these two boys locked eyes. She could feel something flooding between them, as it washed over everybody at the table. She didn’t know what it was, but it did confirm the suspicions that Delia confessed last period to her. Noah definitely belonged to this group in spite of or perhaps because of what ever he’d been through in the past. “Uh… I’m David….” The older boy seemed to struggle to find something else to say. “Uh… David Rosen.”

Sharon watched Noah actually swallow hard. He wiped his palms on his jeans, and offered a hand. Sharon got the feeling that this wasn’t something he was used to doing. “Hale, Noah Hale,” the other boy replied. Sharon wondered if he purposefully used that particular method of identifying himself, or if was something that just popped up. She could sense the turmoil in him. She could feel emotions boiling over in him that he wasn’t used to dealing with. Something about David had hit a deep chord in their newfound friend, and he was having trouble dealing with it.

Finally, Delia broke the uneasy silence, “Well, well, well…”

“Well what?” David asked never taking his eyes from Noah.

“Oh, nothing,” she turned to the rest of the group. “I thought we were going to talk about this weekend. I mean I didn’t save up for three months for that dress not to be able to use it.”

“What about this weekend?” Noah asked, as if he were paying attention to something else. He still hadn’t taken his eyes off David.

“If this gets much worse the two of you are going to attract a whole lot more attention to our group than I’m comfortable with right now,” Sharon said aloud as she turned David’s face toward hers and kissed him solidly on the lips.

Startled, David pulled away, but not before she could whisper in his ear, “too bad that’s not for me.” She nodded toward the obvious bulge in the front of his jeans. “But at least everyone else around here will think it is now.” David only turned red.

“We’re going to the Crown Tourney this weekend,” Brendan told Noah as he refused to take his eyes off Sharon and David.

“Relax, Brendan. It didn’t mean anything. I just had to get his attention.” She turned back to Noah, “David’s King’s Champion. Actually he’d be the King of Meridie, but they won’t allow anyone under eighteen hold the throne, so he just goes and beats up on everyone.”

Without moving his eyes, “You’re a stick-jock?” Sharon was genuinely surprised that someone with Noah’s background knew enough about the SCA to call one of the fighters a stick-jock.
“You a Scadian?” she asked.

“I used to be, when my parents were still alive. I was a year away from being able to fight when they were killed.” He finally turned to look at Sharon, “I’m surprised you didn’t find that out with the background search you did on me last night. Or didn’t you think to check the SCA files. Granted my membership has probably expired, but I was a member.”

Again Sharon was caught off guard with Noah, knowing about the background check, “I… Just wanted to find out where…”
Noah waved her off. “I’m not worried about it Sharon. There’s nothing in that kind of search you can find out that bothers me.” His face and voice changed. The little boy was gone. In its place was the boy whose innocence was stolen, and Sharon could feel the threat in his emotions as much as hear it in his voice. He was deathly serious, “As long as you don’t do anything that’ll send me back to the Pates, I don’t care what you find out. But I won’t go back there, or anywhere they might want to send me.” The fear, anger and determination in his demeanor hit Sharon so hard she shuddered.

“I didn’t mean…” Sharon tried to reply

Noah cut her off again, “Don’t worry about it.” He smiled, and suddenly the little boy was back. Sharon felt him cut off his emotions like a faucet. It was if a wall suddenly came down in front of them and he was once again, a perfect little boy scout.

Stunned by the sudden changes in Noah’s demeanor, the rest of the group simply sat and listened. Finally David said, “Hey, wait a minute here, I have no idea what’s going on and I’m sure I missed quite a lot. But, let’s start over here. Uh… I’m David… David Rosen, nice to make your acquaintance, and these are the nosey ones.” He gestured toward the rest of the group. “Allow me to introduce them to you. We have uhm, Brendan, the bottomless pit. Well it’s either a bottomless pit or tapeworm. We’re not quite sure yet. Then we have Sharon. We think there’s a computer chip embedded in her brain, but she won’t let us dissect to find out. Something about getting blood all over the walls, the sheets, and room- that and giving her a bad hair day. Then we have Delia. If it’s not GQ, Versache, Vogue, Elizabeth Arden, or some other personalized designer, she’s probably never going to wear it, or read it, much less buy it.” He winked at her. “And then we have Nelson. Our resident artist, level-headed individual, and second-best looking guy in school. Brendan there, being the first.” He then looked dead at Noah, “But of course you could give him a run for his money. By the way, your name is?”
Noah looked at him in awe. After several long seconds of quiet contemplation he started laughing. “Hale. Noah Hale.”

“Great! Nice to meet you. Wanna’ go to an SCA event this weekend?” Then almost as if an afterthought he added, “Oh, and you’re not going any place you don’t want to.”

“Wait a minute,” Sharon kicked in, “How did you know I did a background search on you?” Suddenly her mind seemed to be working again. “I haven’t told anyone what I found yet much less that I did it.”

“I just do. It’s not hard to figure out. You’re this little group’s computer expert. Tall dark and gorgeous here just said so. You’re the one I’d send after net-based information,” Noah gave her his best little boy smile.

Nelson leaned back and watched the interplay developing here, “And to what purpose would we put together a group like this? I’m curious, exactly what do you think we’re up to.”

Noah turned and smiled at him, “I know you. From where I don’t know yet, but I do know you. We’ve met somewhere, sometime. But to answer that question, it’s pretty obvious to anyone who took time to look.”

“And that would be?” Nelson asked. Sharon was impressed with his ability to deflect the subtle verbal probe.

“Mutual protection. It’s a big bad world out there, and here are a bunch of us without parents or any kind of adult support. At least half of us have lived on the streets for extended periods of time. What it comes down to is that no matter how we look at it, we’re still kids. We can’t buy a lot of the things we need, or even supply ourselves with basic amenities without outside help. We can however, band together for mutual support. That’s what you seemed to have done here.”
“Think you’ve got it all figured out do ya?” Brendan said.

“Maybe, maybe not. At least it’s a working theory. It’ll do until I’ve got more information.” Noah told him defiantly.

“You might be right. But how do you explain me?” David asked. “I’m not one of Martha’s lost kittens. I’ve got a family that takes care of me at home. Where do I fit in.”

Noah turned and smiled. Sharon could feel the wave of something coming off him. “Anywhere you want.”

At that remark everybody burst out laughing. Suddenly the tension was gone, and David was turning bright red. Surprisingly enough so was Noah. Shaking his head as if to clear the laughter, Brendan said, “Boy, you can build a whole scenario can’t you. Look we’re just a bunch of kids trying to get by. Nothing as organized, or grandiose as you come up with.”

“Anyway, back to the Crown Tourney this week, you wanna' go or not?” David doggedly asked Noah.

“I don’t know. I don’t even have my garb anymore. That was one of the first things the Pate’s made me throw away when I moved in with them. They weren’t too keen on dressing up like the middle ages, and pretending to be someone else.” Noah replied. Actually, they were terrified by anything that even hinted at fantasy.

Sharon had met a few people like that. They just didn’t understand that the SCA was about recreating the Middle Ages as they should have been, not necessarily as they were. They tended to confuse it with things like Dungeons and Dragons- a game some people were convinced that led to devil worship. “No problem, we’ve all got enough extra stuff laying around, that between us I’m sure we can put you something together,” she told him. “Besides, we need someone to help carry David back to the tent after he exhausts himself fighting everybody at the tourney.” She grinned wickedly, “He’s heavier than he looks. Something about all that muscle.”

“Sounds fun,” he replied. “It’s been a longtime since I’ve been to an event.” Noah leaned back and closed his eyes, letting the warm sun from the cafeteria sky-light bathe his face. Again she was struck by how young he really looked. He could easily pass for twelve or thirteen. Probably younger with the right clothes.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Brendan asked. The table was silent for long seconds before Noah seemed to realize he was talking to him.

“I’m not hungry.” He never opened his eyes.

“You haven’t eaten all day. All you had was orange juice for breakfast, and now no lunch. That’s not good for you.” Delia told him. “If you don’t get something in your system, you might get sick.”

“I can go days at a time without eating much more than that. When I get hungry, I eat. Right now I’m not hungry. Must still be nervous about starting a new school and everything.” Noah seemed to dismiss their concerns. Sharon wondered if that was one of his survival mechanisms- surviving on less food. That might explain why he was so small, and young looking. If he hadn’t gotten the right nutrition, then puberty might be retarded or even delayed. She’d read in health class how better nutrition had brought about a younger and younger age for the onset of puberty in the United States. If Noah hadn’t had that better nutrition during that critical period, then he might be physically immature as he looked.

“Okay, but it’s a long time until dinner tonight. If you get hungry let me know. I keep a few snacks in my locker,” Brendan told him. Sharon knew that to be an understatement. Brendan always had a stash of food hidden somewhere. What surprised her, was that he was willing to admit it. He was usually very secretive about his stashes of food. She could sense the turmoil in Brendan. Noah was giving him fits, and she wasn’t sure that even she could help him get to the bottom of it.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Noah told him absently. “But right now, I’m just not hungry,” his eyes still closed. Sharon could feel waves of contentment coming from the boy, as if he were just happy to be there soaking up the rays.

“Looks like we might have another beach bum on our hands,” Nelson said absently. If you’re that much a sun worshiper, you’ll love our campsite. It’s right on the beach. It’s great. We get up in the morning, take a swim to wash the sleep out of our eyes, eat breakfast, get dressed and head out to event. Sharon and I always make a small killing selling to the other participants. He struck an artistic pose, “Me with my drawings- everybody always wants a sketch of themselves in their garb, and of course I get nicer tips when I make them look just a little more heroic than they really are. And, Sharon cleans up with her kitchen. You’d be surprised how many people will pay good money for a hot cooked meal that’s not either burnt or hotdogs, or both.”

“Sounds fun, I can’t wait.” Noah finally opened his eyes and looked and looked around. Then he continued, “I really appreciate you guys working so hard to make me welcome. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to deal with living with someone, so I’m sorry if I come across kinda’ weird. I’ll get used to having people around pretty soon.”

“Don’t worry about it, Runt. We’re all kinda’ weird.” Brendan said, “Some of us more than others. We just want you to fit in.” For the first time since Noah arrived, Sharon felt Brendan relax.

David couldn’t take his eyes off Noah. Something about the guy just kept sending strange surges through his body. He had come to grips with his own feelings about other boys not long ago, but hadn’t expected to be hit with something this hard so soon. He didn’t know if this was love at first sight, but what he was feeling right now would do until the real thing came along. Something deep and instinctual inside his body was drawing him to the younger boy. It wasn’t simply lust and it definitely wasn’t rational. Worst of all, it was something he felt he had little to no control over.

The strange thing about it was that the younger boy was more experienced at the sort of things that kept flashing through his head than he was. He wasn’t sure how to deal with that or even if he should. All he could do over the next hour and half that the school system called lunch, was sit and steal glances at the other boy when nobody was looking.

So caught up in his own self-examinations, David didn’t notice when the rest of the group had left. All that is except for Sharon, who was simply sitting and watching him, with that strange smile she reserved for the few friends she was willing to let get close to her. David was glad that she considered him one of them. The Pride, as he secretly called this little cadre of students, whether they knew it or not, were actually one of the coolest groups of kids in the school. Oh, there were other groups of kids that were slightly off kilter- hell, every school had several groups like that- usually made up of Goth kids, or artsy-fartsy types, but none that pulled off their queerness quite so honestly. The others were trying to be what this group with all its hidden dark secrets were without trying. That’s why David liked being around them. They seemed to reflect the differences he felt in his own soul. The differences he was afraid to tell even them.

“You got it bad, huh?” It was a question as much as a statement. David turned and looked at his friend. She had a look of pity on her face. “I was wondering when you were going to decide one way or another.”

“Whatcha’ mean?” although David was sure he already knew the answer.

“I mean, I was wondering when you were going to decide to tell you friends which side of the fence you landed on,” she had the look of a cat who was insufferably pleased with herself. “Not that we care mind you. Hell, I’m sure that by now, you’ve figured out that both Brendan and Nelson haven’t exactly always been straight in their choices of bed partners. He started to come to their defense, but she cut him off, “Now, don’t even try to go there. I know that both of them would tell you they only did what they did to survive, but keep in mind that you have to be just a little bent around the corner to be willing to do even that. Trust me, I’ve been inside enough people’s feelings to know that.”

“I wouldn’t let Brendan hear you say that,” David reminded her that their friend still considered some subjects to be Verboten.

“Brendan’s still got his own issues to deal with. He’s working on it, but he’s still got to come to grips with them. Besides, we love them all the more for what they’ve done, not less. If Nelson hadn’t been willing to put his ass on the line-literally- then Delia probably wouldn’t be alive today. Brendan, just didn’t like having decisions forced on him. He’ll come to grips with being what he is pretty soon.” She smiled mischievously at him, “You my friend, however are a different matter. You seemed to have a tiger by the tail. A tiger by the name of Noah.”

“I’d say he’s more of a kitten than a tiger,” David replied.

“Oh, don’t make that mistake. He’s a whole lot more dangerous than he looks. And I don’t mean just to your heart. You don’t survive what he’s been through and not be a little dangerous. That particular kitten has some very sharp claws.”

David was surprised to hear that. “He said you did some kind of background search on him. What was he talking about there?”

“Brendan asked me to look into him.” Sharon told him, but David was sure she didn’t need a whole lot of prompting to start digging. “Anyway, what I found was really interesting.”

“Oh?”

“Oh yes. Our little kitten as you call him has quite a history.” She gave him one of her more playful looks. Sittting down next to him. “Are you sure you want me to tell you? I mean, he might lose that mystique about him that has you so enamored right now.”

“Don’t play games with me Sharon. If I didn’t want to know, I wouldn’t ask you. I mean, what ever he’s done can’t be all that bad.” David wasn’t sure he liked this side of Sharon. Somehow it seemed darker, maybe even mean.

“Okay, okay. Really it isn’t all that bad. To be honest, in some ways it’s almost heroic. He’s definitely got a noble streak in him. After all what he did for Nelson and Delia alone more than makes up for anything darker he might have done.”
“Stop it, Sharon. Either spill the beans or quit hinting at things. So he’s got a good heart. I knew that the first time I met him.”

She smiled and continued, “Okay, okay. Unlike most runaways your little kitten is also an orphan. You remember that terrorist bombing of our embassy in Israel a few years back? Well, two of the diplomats killed were Noah’s parents. It seemed that his mother worked for the State Department, and they were in the middle of some serious negotiations with Arafat at the time. Noah was sightseeing with some other kids when the bomb went off, otherwise he’d have been killed with them.” She leaned back against the wall and continued, “Anyway, they managed to leave him quite a bit of money tied up in a trust fund. A certain amount was set aside for monthly expenses if anything ever should happen to them. Evidently, neither of them had any relatives, and there was nobody to turn him over to, so he was put into foster care.”

“So, he’s an orphan. So what?”

“The family he was staying with, the Pates, said that he’d become rebellious, and uncontrollable. At one point they even accused him of dabbling in witchcraft. They said he was reading all kinds of strange books and mumbling in tongues in his sleep. They kept seeing eerie lights in his room and at one point they swore he was talking to someone in his room, but when they went and checked on him, he was sound asleep.”

“Okay, so he fits in with this group real well. If that kind of thing bothered me, then I wouldn’t be hanging out with you guys.”

She smiled a silent “fuck you” at him and continued, “Well, about six months into his stay there, they suddenly stopped reporting things happening. Suddenly he was a model foster child making straight A’s.”

“So what turned things around?”

“Probably the fact that he ran away about that time. I’m not sure, but from what I can tell, he’s somehow fallen through those legal cracks people are always talking about. His file hasn’t been touched by the State Department of Family Resources in over two years. The Pates are still getting the check from the trust fund, which is quite a lot I might add, but from what I can tell, he hasn’t been there for about the same length of time.”

“Sounds like fraud. Maybe you should let Mr. Dalton know about it. He could probably get it taken care of.” Somehow, the idea of people stealing Noah’s money was a personal affront to David.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already sent that information over to him, anonymously, of course. But, it gets better. Now, Noah has made no secret about what he did to get money to live on his own.” She looked David dead in the eye as if to dare him to contradict her. “To put it bluntly he sold his ass down on Center Street for two years. Evidently he was pretty damn good too.”

“And your point is,” David wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of getting upset.

“Somehow, our lost little boy actually managed to get a bank account down at Gulftrust. His account history, which by the way wasn’t easy to get, shows deposits of anywhere between fifty and a thousand dollars a week over the last two years. However, what it doesn’t show is even one single withdrawal. In that whole time he’s managed to squirrel away just a little over fifty thousand dollars.”

“So he’s good in bed.”

“Look, there’s good and then there’s good. If he has that kind of money to spare, why in the hell was he living in a fleabag-pay-by-the-week, no-tell downtown? What’s worse, is I managed to slip into his room this morning while he was in the shower. I took a close look at his savings book, do you know how much it showed as being in his account?”

David was shocked that she’d break Martha’ highest rule, and actually invade another resident’s privacy. “You got some balls, girl.”

“Yeah, yeah, it was no big deal. I just slipped in, looked in his sock drawer and slipped out. Now, you wanna’ know what balance the check book says, or not?”

“Sure, how much?”

“Thirty-four dollars and sixteen cents. Now that’s what I call somebody cooking the books. I’m not sure if he believes he has thirty-four dollars or not. I do know that he’s got hundred’s of entries for withdrawals all throughout it though. I mean the kid wrote everything down. But whatever the case is, the book shows all these withdrawals, but the banks records don’t show a single one. The weirdest part is that all the ones in the passbook are marked as ATM withdrawals.”

“Wait a minute,” something suddenly struck David as odd. “What made you decide to even see if he had a passbook? I mean that’s kind of a strange thing to go looking for out of the blue.”

Now it was Sharon’s turn to look confused, “you know, now that you mention it. I’m not sure. It just seemed like a good idea at the time. Funny that.” She seemed to shrug it off.

“So our little friend isn’t as broke as he would like us to believe?” That just didn’t sound right to David.

“Or maybe as he believes,” Sharon told him. “Maybe somebody’s been cooking the books for him, and he just hasn’t figured it out. I mean, think about it. He has an account, but no experience with dealing with finances. He hasn’t thought to double check what he thinks he has and what the bank says he has. There hasn’t been a reason to so far.”

“So he’s got some kind of guardian angel?” David asked.

Sharon shrugged. “I don’t know. Keep in mind that our whole group has sort of all fallen into a strange situation. Almost like somebody has gone out of their way to bring us together.” She seemed almost to be thinking out loud. “Ever wonder how outside the triplets who were there before us, nobody ever gets put with Martha that doesn’t fit?”

“I can’t say that I have. After all, I’ve only known you guys for a little over a year.” David smiled at her, “Besides, where do I fit into this idea then? I mean I’m not part of your group.”

“Oh, yes you do.” She gave him the look of a cat playing with a mouse, “If you ask our little kitten, I’ll bet he could offer you some interesting suggestions of exactly where you fit.”

Quickly trying to change the subject he continued, “So, what am I going to do about Runt?”

She leaned forward from the wall and looked him in the eye, “You ashamed of what you are?”

David had to think for a minute. That took him off guard. He realized that he had some reservations about announcing it to the world, but that wasn’t out of shame. That was out of concern for how it might affect his family, and his friends. There was a certain amount of fear involved. After all the idea of getting his head bashed in over how God made him caused him to be a little hesitant to come out. “No, I’m not ashamed. Maybe a little scared of the world, but not ashamed.”

She chuckled, “Now that’s funny. You were willing to do what ever it takes to make sure Noah didn’t go anywhere he was afraid to, but you’re afraid of some redneck linebacker.” She shook her head, “I’ll tell you this. If you were ashamed of what you are, then you wouldn’t be worthy of him- or yourself for that matter.”

“I’m not sure how to take that.”

“Take it for what it is, the truth.” She looked down at her feet, “you realize, I’m kinda cutting my own throat here. I’ve always thought you’d make a good boyfriend.”

“You know I wouldn’t do something like that to Brendan.” He then added, “or you.”

“I know, but you have to remember that Brendan doesn’t own me. If there’s any owning in our group, it’s sort of a mutual ownership. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t do anything that would hurt him. I’m just saying that I’ve always found you extremely attractive.” She smiled wickedly at him and continued, “Besides, he might be willing to join us,” she leaned across and kissed him lightly on the cheek, slid past him and was gone. He found himself standing there rubbing his cheek and wondering how things suddenly got so complicated.

CHAPTER 3

As Nelson got up to leave, Noah followed him wordlessly. He slowed slightly to let the smaller boy catch up, and looked over. Noah was studying his schedule intently. “What’cha got next Half-pint?”

Noah looked up, “Art, but to be honest with you, I have no idea where it is.” He held up the map of the school supplied by the front office, “This thing is next to useless. It looks like it’s been translated into German, Spanish, Greek, then Swahili for good measure, and finally back into English.”

Nelson laughed, and shrugged, “I’m heading there now. Why don’t you just follow me?” They walked along the back corridors between the band room and the storage areas. It was a shortcut that took off several minutes from the trip. “I usually try to get there a little early, so I can get a head start. They mix all the years of art together and let Mrs. Batum sort us all out. She’s really good at helping you find where you want to take a piece.” The younger boy just nodded, but Nelson would catch him stealing glances at him. “You still don’t recognize me, do you?” He finally broke the silence.

The smaller boy stopped, put his hands on his hips and looked at him, “No I don’t, and it’s driving me up the wall.”

Nelson laughed, “C’mon, I can’t have changed that much. I mean it’s only a haircut and bottle of peroxide- okay several bottles of peroxide.” He could see the boy still trying to figure out where he knew him from, “I’ll tell you what, if you haven’t figured it out by the end of class, I’ll tell you. To be honest though, I’m a little hurt that you don’t recognize me.”

“Well, look what we found,” the menacing voice of Nelson’s least favorite person in the school broke in. “It’s our favorite gook.”

Damn! Lupines! Should have been paying attention. Nelson silently cursed himself for not paying attention. Carlton had one unique aspect to it. For some reason it attracted quite a few unnaturals. So far he hadn’t met any bloodsuckers, but he’d figured out there was at least one sorcerer in the area, and so many damn Lupines that the place was in danger of becoming kennel. “Leave us alone Matthews. We’re just on our way to class.”

Nelson stepped in front of Noah and assessed the situation. Five against one. Not good odds. Usually he was content to let those who were bigger and badder than he was play the aggression game, but this was not a situation where he could afford that. “Run, find Brendan and the girls” he told Noah. These guys would eat Noah alive- literally. His “I’m just an innocent little boy” act would get him killed with them. The only thing they understood was the pack and strength. If you weren’t part of the first, you’d better have lots of the second. Looking over he saw the smaller boy swallow hard, nod his head and turn to head back down the hall.

“Now why’d you go and do that, Nellie boy?” Matthews said in the sing-song voice of some inner-city rapper. Strutting up to Nelson like some gang-banger he purposefully stuck his face into Nelson’s face. Looking up at him, Nelson could see his eyes shift from their normal deep brown to a wolf-like yellow. “We jus’ wanted to play with yer little friend there.”

“Well now, you’ll just have to play with me, Matthews,” Nelson growled back at the bigger boys, as he felt his own eyes begin to shift. He knew he was in a bad situation. Two or three of them he might be able handle by himself, but not five at a time, and definitely not this close to the full moon when the wolf in them was so close to the surface. His best hope was that he could bluff and make them back down, or that Noah would get back with Brendan and the girls.

“That’s where yer wrong Nellie boy,” Matthews grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around before Nelson could react. “My boys jus’ caught our little rabbit fer us.” Nelson could feel Matthews hot fetid breath against his neck, as the smell made his stomach reel. Looking down the hall he saw two of Matthews buddies dragging Noah back by his arms. The smaller boys feet were well off the ground, but were kicking and lashing out at his captors. “Gotta give the kid credit. He’s got some spunk. Fer now.” Nelson could hear the threat in Matthew’s voice. He meant to make an example of Noah.

Nelson watched Noah seem to relax suddenly. He could see the other boys’ grip tightening in case he suddenly lashed out. A look of horror suddenly came across Noah’s face as he locked eyes with him. Something deep down in Nelson suddenly came to life. Kicking back and down as hard as he could, he heard as well as felt Matthew’s leg snap. Not giving anybody a chance to react he hurled himself into the boy holding Noah’s right arm. He felt a satisfied ripping and smelled blood as raked across his target. Spinning, he felt his own senses begin to sharpen. He heard a howl of pain to his right and looked over as Noah somehow pulled himself from his other captor’s grip. He could smell the fear on the younger boy. Nelson had been around fear before while in this state. It usually drove him to attack, but somehow Noah’s fear was different. He felt something deep down inside him come exploding to the surface of his mind, as all the color drained from the world. He lashed out at the half changed wolf coming at him. As werewolves go, this one was definitely on the mangy side. Barely clearing six and a half feet, instead of the clean blending of a wolf’s pelt this one looked like his hair was falling out in strange white patches. Another wolf approached him from behind, and felt his own back claws bite deep into his target, as he kicked backwards. A scream of rage suddenly split the air, and it was several seconds before Nelson realized it came from his own throat.

Suddenly he was pinned to the back wall by three of the half-lupines. He wondered where all these guys had come from, and who’d put Nair in their shampoo. They all seemed to be suffering from a bad case of the mange. From the corner of his eye he saw Noah backed into a corner by one wolf as another approached him from the flank. His own situation finally taking precedence, he tore his eyes from the smaller boy, and turned to lash out at one of the lupines coming at him from the front. Kicking out with his legs, he felt his hind claws bite deep into its stomach. Using the lupine’s body for leverage, he kicked up and back, forcing himself into a handstand on the shoulders of his captors as his back claws bit deep into the concrete wall. For the first time in his life, Nelson felt his feline half take control. He was now in his mancat form, and could feel the power pulsing through his muscles, as his senses sharpened even further. He could smell Noah’s fear, and that drove him deeper into a rage.

Taking a split second to look over toward his charge, he saw one of the lupines bent double and holding his groin. Somewhere in his head he heard Noah’s surprised voice, “Wolfman’s got nads.” Noah himself was in mid-swing to deliver a punch to the side of the lupine’s head when suddenly his arm was caught in the oversized paw of the lupine attacking from the side. To everyone involved surprise, instead of stopping the blow, the ensnaring lupine was drug forward by Noah’s fist, slamming into his packmate. Nelson heard the definite sound of the lupine’s jaw shattering, just before he was slammed down the hall by the one holding Noah’s arm. He realized that the blow had been aimed at the lupine’s temple and only the added weight of the other lupine had drug the fist down enough to keep it from being a killing blow. The boy was scared enough to kill to protect himself.

With four packmate down the others reacted in typical wolf fashion. They grabbed their wounded and loped off down the hall in the direction from which he and Noah had come. Nelson came scrambling down the wall, feeling his body begin to reform into its usual configuration. Looking over he saw Noah sitting in the corner, looking at his forearm in shock. Nelson could see the bone of Noah’s forearm through several jagged rips down his right arm. Blood was pouring out of the wound and pooling on the floor. Slowly at first, then more rapidly the gashes began to close of their own accord, as if their edges were being pulled together from the inside. In a matter of seconds only long angry looking welts were left where the lupine had raked him. Noah looked up at him, his mouth was covered in blood. Through the tatters of skin that used to be lips, Nelson could see blood covered needle like fangs protruding down either side of his mouth. “What’s happening?” his voice was almost a cry. As the he spoke, Nelson watched the fangs retract up and disappear as the lips repeated the same process his arm had.

Stepping back in shock, Nelson watched Noah’s lips begin to heal. Coming down from the adrenaline high, his own hearing heightened to the point he could hear Noah’s heart pound in his chest. He could smell the fear pouring out of his skin. He could also smell something else, and was reminded of his own first shift, and how he’d embarrassed himself. The boy was scared out of his wits. Forcing his own fears down, he inched forward and sat down next to Noah. He tried to make his voice sound calm he put an arm around him, “I’m not entirely sure, Half-pint. I think you’re going through some kind of first change.” Being this close to him, Nelson could smell that all the blood was Noah’s. He’d taken a good hit on the arm, when he’d hurled the one lupine down the hall, and evidently cut his own mouth on the fangs.

“What am I?” Noah shook his head, and clearly Nelson could hear him continue, “What am I turning into?” He heard it with his mind, not his ears. The boy was projecting his thoughts directly into Nelson’s mind. Worse, he was projecting his own fear. Nelson could feel the panic rise up and wash over him. He fought to force it down, realizing it wasn’t his fear, but the younger boy’s.

Grabbing Noah by the shoulders, he gently shook him. “Noah, you’ve got to get a hold of yourself. We need to get you out of here, before somebody sees you like this.” Then looking down at his ripped apart shoes and shirt, he continued, “Or me. They’ll think I beat you up or something. It’s not like we can go tell Mr. Salamone that we were attacked by a bunch of werewolves outside art class.”

The younger boy nodded his head as if he understood, and Nelson could feel a wall clamp down over the fear he was projecting. “What’s were those… things?” Nelson could tell that reality was starting to set in for the kid. Pretty soon, he’d come down off the adrenaline high and really start to panic.

Calmly and as matter-of-factly as he could, Nelson told him, “Werewolves. It’s close to the full moon and they get kinda’ aggressive around this time of the month.”

“Are…are” the boy swallowed and Nelson could tell from the widening eyes that he tasted his own blood, “are there a lot of them around here?”

“More than most other places I’ve ever been. Something about Carlton seems to attract unnaturals,” he was surprised at how calm his own voice sounded in spite of the abject terror he was hiding. “Can you walk?” he helped Noah to his feet, and gathered up their books.

Nodding, Noah looked around. “What now?”

Nelson stopped and thought for a second. Really, what now? It all depended on Noah. “That’s up to you Half-pint. If we can get us cleaned up, do you think you can make it ‘til the end of the day? Or, do you think you might freak sometime between now and then?”

Swallowing hard and nodding his head Noah answered, “I can hold it together.” He reached out and grabbed Nelson by the arm, “Just don’t leave me for a few minutes. Okay?”

Nelson smiled and nodded, as he helped the younger boy to the gym. Luckily they met nobody else along the way. Even more luckily, the first PE class of the afternoon was on the field so the locker rooms were empty. Nelson helped Noah strip and get in the shower. After getting them cleaned up and changed into their gym clothes, they hurried to the art room. Fortune once again smiled on them, Mrs. Batum was late and the two were able to slip into the room without being noticed.

Nelson spent the next hour keeping a close watch on his young friend. Noah seemed to have himself under control. Checking with him about his schedule, Nelson was relieved to find that the other boy had classes with at least one of the rest of the group for the remainder of the day. He’d hand him off to Brendan for Math, and try make it a point to talk to Delia and David before the last two periods.

Noah spent the next several hours in a haze. It was as if something inside of him had awakened and refused to go back to sleep. Remembering his promise to Nelson, he kept himself in tight check, making sure he broadcast nothing. He also shut down that small quiet voice that was suddenly screaming the thoughts of everybody around at him. It was still there, but he found that if he concentrated on what he was reading, or supposed to be doing the only thoughts that filtered through were the teachers, and then only if they were on subject. He still got the occasional unpleasant flash, but he gained more and more control as the day passed.

By the end of the day he was exhausted from the effort. He didn’t even take time to shower after gym class at the end of the day. He just grabbed his clothes and wandered his way down to the sophomore parking lot where Brendan’s Charger was parked. Nelson was waiting on him. “Wanna’ talk about it now?”

“Not unless you want me to explode all over the place. Right now, I’m wound tighter than a drag queen’s wig. I’m afraid if I let go right now, I’m going to stand here and scream my head off. You know, I’ll lose it.” He wasn’t about to tell Nelson that what he really feared that he would lose who he was. He could feel the other boy’s mind pounding at his control, trying to get inside his head. “What I’m really afraid of is that I’m going to scare everybody around me. Me included.”

Nelson put a hand on his shoulder. “Okay. How about we get you home in a nice quiet room where you can lose it in private?”

Noah only nodded, not wanting to tell him that he wasn’t sure that he’d ever be in private again. He felt that a door in his mind had finally opened and he wasn’t sure how to shut it. He looked over at the car and then back down the street. The real dilemma was that he wasn’t sure if he could handle being crammed up against the rest of this group in a car with their minds pounding at his, but at the same time wasn’t sure he had the energy to walk home.

As if realizing that his proximity was causing him difficulty, Nelson stepped back away from Noah and followed his eyes down the street. “How ‘bout I see if David can give us a ride home in his jeep. That way it won’t be so crowded.”

Noah nodded gratefully, and watched as Nelson went over to where Brendan, Delia, and Sharon were talking with David. He could see them speak softly for a minute, and then come to some kind of decision. If he could only hold out for just a little while longer, he could let himself at least collapse in his own bed. His own bed- that sounded so strange. He was so used to sharing someone else’s that these last few nights sleeping alone seemed almost alien.

In a surprisingly short time he was in the passenger seat of David’s Cherokee heading toward Martha’s. Somehow having David near, calmed him. He felt himself settling back down into his own mind, and the door start to close somewhat. It was as if someone had gotten up and closed the window to a noisy street. The older boy didn’t say a word the whole trip. They rode in complete silence.

Ten minutes later he was sitting on his bed slowly coming back to himself. He could hear the others talking down the hall. After about twenty minutes there was a soft knock at his door. His own control returning, he hadn’t even noticed anyone coming to the door. “Come in,” he called out almost in relief.

Martha stuck her head in the door. “How was your first day at school? Meet anyone interesting?” She asked.

Noah chuckled to himself. “It was different. It’s going to take me a while to get used to all this. I’m holding together though.”

She smiled and came over to him. “Good. Dinner will be ready in an hour. Hope you’ve got more of an appetite tonight than you had this morning.” At the mention of food, Noah suddenly realized that he was famished. He hadn’t felt this hungry in a long time.

He nodded to her, “Yes ma’am. Actually, I could eat a horse- hooves and all.”

“Well, no horse here tonight young man. Just good old fashion beef and potatoes, with chocolate pie for desert,” she told him as she left the room.

Less than a minute later, there was another knock. This time he could feel Brendan’s presence outside the room. Before he could call out, Brendan opened the door and stuck his head in, “you okay?” He entered and continued, “Nelson told us what happened. You sure you’re not hurt? You just got jumped nothing else happened? Right?”

Noah nodded. Again he felt his control returning. “No. They didn’t bite me. I’ve seen enough B movies and read enough Stephen King to make sure they didn’t get their teeth in me.”

“Biting wasn’t what I was worried about.” Brendan told him and sat down on the bed next to him.

“Getting bit was what I was worried about. You should have seen the size of those teeth?” Noah half joked.

“Yeah, and I bet they haven’t had their rabies shot this year either.” He shook his head in disgust, “Not to mention the fleas.”

“Then what were you worried about?” Noah asked him point blank.

“Those mutts get a little too unpredictable around the full moon and there’s too many empty classes and storage rooms down that hall.” Brendan told him very seriously.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean there are worse things that getting bit by a werewolf during one of those half changes. You could have ended up with some serious internal damage if those mutts had cornered you in one of those rooms and nobody else had been around.”

“Internal injuries?” Noah asked not understanding. “Having my arm ripped open is pretty much a good definition of as much an injury as I want to deal with.”

Brendan reached down and took Noah’s right hand and pushed up his sleeve. The angry red welts that had been gashes hand by now faded to almost imperceptible white lines. By tomorrow they would be gone. “Which would you rather have, a slashed arm or five werewolves taking repeated turns.”

The image that was projected from Brendan’s mind left nothing to the imagination. An uncontrollable shudder went through him. “I… uh… uh… see what you mean.” Getting control of his reaction, “Then those really were werewolves today?” It was more of a question than a statement.

“Yep. Afraid so.”

“And, Nelson?” he let the question hang.

“What about ‘im?”

“The ears, the tail, the claws, and the scream. And the teeth. Oh, let’s not forget the teeth.” Noah shuddered at the image of the half-cougar that had stood on the wall.

“Ahhumm…. You’re willing to believe there are werewolves. Right?”

Noah nodded, “after this afternoon, do I have a choice?”

“Well, you could deny the whole thing, but we both know it wouldn’t do you any good.” Brendan replied, almost jokingly.

“You’re point is?”

“Well, werewolves are real, and there are other types of were-creatures out there. Werewolves just happen to be the dumb jocks of weredom.”

“So Nelson is a werecougar?”

“Yeah, ummm…Actually this was his first full change. He’s never been able to summon much more than just claws and eyes or a tail before. Sounds like he went to his half form for the first time. I’m not sure what set him off this way but I’m glad something did. It kept things from getting worse than they could have.”

“Okay, that explains Nelson, and the werewolves, but what about me? I mean I tossed one of them down that fucking hall.” Noah could hear the hysteria rising in his own voice. He was frightened at the strength he felt growing in his limbs. If he wasn’t careful he suddenly realized that he could rip a door off its hinges without meaning to.

“Adrenaline. Haven’t you heard? It can let people pick up cars and toss them off small children. Why couldn’t it let a small child do something like that? Especially if he already had some momentum going. It’s not like you changed his direction. You just kept him from stopping where he wanted to.”

Noah shook his head, knowing that was wrong. “No. It wasn’t like that. He was trying to stop my arm. He was anchored to that floor. Besides, that doesn’t explain these.” He held up his arm so Brendan could see the disappearing scars.

Brendan looked at him, and shook his head, “I don’t know, but maybe we can figure it out. I’m not going to lie to you, Noah. You’re something of an enigma to us. You’re setting off some pretty strange reactions in all of us, but we’ll figure it out together.” He smiled then and asked, “ever had anybody tall and furry bite you?”

“On occasion, but they weren’t shape shifters, and they never broke the skin.” Noah tried to make light of the issue. “Biting was extra.”

Brendan smirked and shook his head, trying not to smile, and failing miserably. “I don’t know. We’ll figure it out.” He reached out and tousled Noah’s head. “C’mon, let’s get you into the shower before Martha comes looking for us. Because you my friend stink.” Brendan wrinkled his nose. “You smell like you’ve playing with a dog. Kittens are not supposed to smell like that.”

He got up to leave, “if you need me, you know where my room is.”

Before he could reach the door Noah asked, “If Nelson’s a werecougar, then what are the rest of you guys?”

Brendan stopped for a moment, his hand just above the door-knob. Downstairs, Noah could hear a phone ring, “Me, let’s just say Sigfried and Roy love me. Sharon, well, she’s always been fast on her feet. What ever you do though, don’t call her Cheetara, ever. Delia? Well, she’s kinda’ hard to describe. I don’t think her breed exists any more. Basically just take a Tolkein elf and cross it with a cat, and make them twice as vain.”

Before he could reach the knob, Noah continued, “And David?”

Noah could see the blood rise up the back of Brendan’s neck, “Well, he’s not a werecat. He’s not a were of any kind. We’re not sure what he is, but we do know he’s special. Kinda’ like you.” He left the room.

“Brendan, phone. It’s David,” Delia called up the stairs as he left Noah’s room shaking his head. Heading downstairs, he slipped into the den where he knew he could talk without Martha or the triplets overhearing him. “I got it Delia,” he said into the receiver and heard her hang up the kitchen extension. “Yeah Dude, what’s up?”

“Well, that’s what I called to ask you. I gave Noah a ride home today and the whole trip there he didn’t say a word. What happened at school today? The only thing Nelson would tell me was that he and Noah got jumped.”

“They had a run in with Matthews and his bunch.” Brendan tried to keep the disgust out of his voice.

“They were just jumped right? Nothing else happened?” There was definite worry in David’s voice.

“Nothing else happened. Except your little kitten tossed one of the mutts down the hall like a rag doll. Then he proceeded to retract his own fangs while healing several bone-deep gashes in his arm. Nelson almost freaked. He thought Noah was a vamp there for a minute.” Brendan filled David in on what he’d been told. David was one of the few naturals, and Brendan wasn’t sure he was one of those, that knew about Carlton’s unnatural population.

“Thought vamps couldn’t come out in daylight?” Brendan could hear the concern in David’s voice.
“As far I know they can’t. But Nelson said he definitely has a heartbeat. He also said that he cut his own mouth up on the fangs. I’m not sure he knows he has them.”

“So what, he could be like me? He was bitten, but never changed into anything? He only picked up a few of the characteristics?” Brendan felt the blood rise in his neck again at being reminded of the night he bit David. For some reason the bite just didn’t take effect. Instead, David just got sick for a few days and then was back to normal. Although, he does heal a lot faster now. Not as fast Nelson described Noah healing but pretty damn fast.

“It’s possible. I don’t think so though. Something is definitely different. Nelson said there were some other strange things about that encounter.”

“Like what?” David’s voice sounded worried.

“Well, Nelson said he could almost taste and feel the panic attack Noah was having. That and the fact that he did toss one of Matthews goons down the hall like a rag doll. I mean we’re talking about a four or five hundred pound werewolf. I would have some difficulty with that, even on a New Moon.” Brendan took a deep breath. “On top of that Nelson said he could hear Noah’s voice in his head during part of the fight. Something about Noah racking one of those goons good.”

“Think he might be a tepe then?”

“As far as I know they don’t exist. I talked to a witch friend of mine a few years ago. She said they all died out about four hundred years ago, during the witch-hunts.”

“Well, we’ll figure it out. Until we do, keep an eye on the Runt for me.” Brendan could hear something he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear in David’s voice. “And tell Nelson I said stay out of that back hall. I don’t want him being anywhere he could get cornered by Matthews and his bunch. I don’t want any of you being anywhere he could hurt you guys.”

“Will do General.” Brendan joked into the receiver.

“Okay, take care. I’ll see ya’ll tomorrow. If you need me just call. I’m watching ‘Bit tonight.”

“Sure will,” Brendan replied and hung up.

Dinner that night had been something of a spectacle. Sharon had watched Noah and Brendan spend most of it fighting over who could get to the food first. For a little guy, Noah could pack away as much as Brendan when he set his stomach to it. She could sense a deep hunger from inside the boy rising up and demanding to be fed. She and the rest of the family concentrated on guarding her plate and keeping her fingers. Martha of course was in heaven. She had two growing boys to feed, and was happy as a lark.

After dinner they’d all settled down to finish whatever homework they might have had, and then watched a couple of hours of television. Noah had begged off the television watching and had stayed in his room until lights out.

Around midnight, feeling somewhat cold, Sharon got up and went to snuggle with Brendan and the other two in Brendan’s bed. She’d just fallen to sleep, dreaming of a large meadow full of butterflies to chase when she heard a soft knock at Brendan’s door. Uncurling herself from around Nelson she padded lightly across the room so as not to awaken the other three and softly cracked it open.

Tiffany was standing in the hall looking nervous and just a little bit silly in her H. R. Puff’n’stuff tee-shirt. Tiffany and her brothers, Chris and Martin had already been at Martha’s house before even Brendan arrived. She knew they went to another school somewhere in Carlton, but beyond that she really knew very little about them. They weren’t any of their mysterious benefactor, Dalton’s charges, and they weren’t any relation to Martha that she could tell. They did however, seem to be stuck somewhere in the nineteen seventies- outrageous clothes and all. “Uh… I don’t mean to disturb you dudes, but I thought you might want to know that your new little kitten seems to be having a bad trip of some sort.” Sharon wondered where the girl picked up all the jargon as she silently slipped out the door and followed her to Noah’s room. Tiffany motioned for her to be quiet and listen as she pointed toward the door.

After only a few seconds, she heard soft sobs coming from inside the room. “Tiffany, would you go get Delia for me please?” As she stood standing at the door thinking that between the two of them, they should be able to figure out what was wrong. She had a good idea though. After all, if she’d been attacked by Matthews and his bunch and then seen Nelson shift into his half-cougar form she’d be upset too.

Seconds later Delia came padding down the hall toward them. “What’s up?” she asked softly.

Sharon only gestured that Delia should listen at the door. A few seconds later, she shrugged, and asked Delia, “What’d’we do?”

“Oh.. poor baby. We should check on him” That’s what Sharon liked about her blonde friend, she wasn’t so caught up in other people’s emotions that she couldn’t make a decision when she needed to.

“Might as well. The boys have fucked the situation up so far. What harm could we do?” Sharon agreed with her.

“More than you know. Once we get in there, be careful.” Sharon noticed there was never a real hesitation for Delia. The girl knew there was a problem and was willing to deal wit it. She tested the door, found it unlocked and pushed it open.

The soft light of an almost full moon bathed the room through an open window. Sharon sent a silent prayer of thanks up to whatever gods might be listening that it wasn’t a new moon. She wasn’t sure she could handle the boy’s emotions when the cheetah was that strong in her. Wrapped up in a sheet Noah was curled up in the window box crying softly. He didn’t seem to notice them as they entered. Without hesitation Delia went over and put an arm around him. He looked up at her and then over to Sharon. She could see pain and confusion in his eyes, just before he buried his face in Delia’s neck.

They simply sat there for long minutes, the only sound was Noah trying to get the waves of emotions washing over him under control. Sharon fought to separate her own emotions from the grief and confusion she was getting from Noah. She couldn’t help but think that empathy was over-rated. Slowly Noah gained control of what he was feeling. Finally, he looked up from Delia’s shoulder, wiped his tears on the bed sheet and sheepishly grinned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb anyone.”

“It’s okay,” Delia told him, gently stroking his hair. Sharon could feel something else wash over both her and Delia, and wasn’t sure that the other girl fully understood the emotions that this man-child was awakening in both of them. She just hoped it wasn’t going to come back and haunt all of them. She’d only been joking with Brendan when she’d called him used goods. Now more than ever she regretted that remark.

Sharon sat down on the edge of the bed, “Wanna’ tell us about it?” She hoped getting Noah to talk about it would help him put his feelings into some kind of perspective. Not that she really counted on that happening, she’d discovered that boys’ minds usually didn’t work that way.

Taking a moment, she looked around the room, and was surprised at how neat and orderly it was. Outside of the unmade bed, it really didn’t look like anyone lived there. The walls were bare except for the few small prints Martha had put in the room. A very small collection of paperbacks took one corner of the massive bookcase. Only the desk and bed showed any signs of occupancy. “Just a dream I had,” he reached over to the nightstand and pulled out a tissue, unconsciously revealing that he wasn’t wearing anything under the sheet. “It didn’t make any sense.”

“Can you remember it,” Delia asked. “Sometimes it helps to talk about bad dreams. That way you get them out of your system and they don’t come back.” Sharon wasn’t sure if she was making that up to make him feel better or if she really believed it.

Noah nodded and took a deep breath. Sharon could tell he was gathering his thoughts before he started, “It was strange. There was some kind of battle in the mountains. Not one with guns and tanks, but an old one with swords, and bows and fire. There was lots of fire, and people burning. It was at night and there was this huge castle on top of the hill, and I got the feeling that there was somebody up there directing the battle below. There were werewolves, and sorcerers fighting vampires. The vampires had some kind of magical help too. There was this other group, that seemed to be casting some kind of spells too, but it was different from the sorcerers. It was all very confusing. There was death and fire everywhere. I could smell the burning flesh. Somebody on the sorcerers’ side seemed to take an unholy delight in burning things. Somewhere in all the chaos there was this woman who was very upset. One of the werewolves had betrayed her side to the sorcerers. She was going on and on about how she’d been tricked, and that somebody was going to pay dearly for what had been done.” Noah stopped to catch his breath.

“Then the dream seemed to switch.” Noah sighed and took a sip of water from the nightstand. Sharon could have sworn the glass hadn’t been there when she came in. He continued, “Suddenly there was this huge fire. There were several people tied to stakes with bonfires burning them. Two of them were wearing some kind of steel helmets that covered their faces. All around them, there were werewolves running around nipping at each other while this man in robes and with a crossbow watched. There was this girl beside him. She was dressed in armor and was carrying a sword. Both were watching the burning and smiling. I could tell that they were the ones who’d set fire to everything in the other battle.” Sharon could sense the sadness and anger that the dream had pulled up from inside him. He seemed to feel like the dream was a personal attack on him.

“ All of a sudden, the werewolves parted like a wave and the woman who was angry walked in. Flanked on either side by two of the biggest men I’ve ever seen, she shot the girl in the throat with a crossbow. At first I thought the werewolves were going to rip her apart, but the guys with her just growled at them, and they all whimpered and backed off with their tails between their legs. The angry woman told the guy in robes that he’d destroyed something important to the world and that she was going to spend the rest of her life making sure he paid for what he’d destroyed. The man just laughed at her and said she was welcome to try, and that payment was expensive. She told him that she’d come back when they returned and pointed to the two dead people in the masks, and then just seemed to fade away All he said was that would be never.” Noah looked over at Sharon and laughed lightly. “It’s really kind of silly now that I put it into words. I thought I was too old to get upset at bad dreams. But this one seemed so real. It really frightened me. I’m sorry, I guess I’m having some trouble dealing with everything that’s happened.”

Delia grinned at him and stoked his shoulder, “Look, being attacked by Matthews and his bunch is enough to give an alligator bad dreams. Don’t worry about it.” For a moment Sharon was afraid that she was going to do something that went beyond a friend offering comfort.

“I didn’t mean to wake anybody. I’m sorry you two had to get out of bed.” Noah said wrapping himself up tighter in the sheet. Sharon caught herself wishing he hadn’t. The view was nice, even for somebody who looked that young. Reminding herself that he wasn’t interested in her in that way, and that Brendan might not like what she was thinking, snapped herself back to reality.

“Like I said, don’t worry about it.” Delia told him. “Why don’t you get back in bed, and try to get some sleep. You don’t want to be all sandy eyed for your second day of school tomorrow do you?” She winked at him, “Sharon and I will stay with you if you want.” Sharon got the feeling that she was going to sit there until he went to sleep even if he didn’t want it.

Noah just nodded, hugged both of them like a little boy and crawled into bed. “Thanks.” An understanding passed between Sharon and Delia as they watched him drift off to sleep. Sharon knew that Delia was feeling the same things she was, and was a confused about it as her. Noah’s presence had changed things for their little family a great deal more than anyone really understood yet.

CHAPTER 4

Noah spent the rest of the week getting settled into the school routine. It didn’t take long for him to adjust to Carlton’s rather unique class schedule. Before the week was out he’d settled in and learned where most of what he needed was. More importantly he learned which halls to avoid and when. Mostly he spent the week getting used to the changes that seemed to be coming over him. The door that had opened in his mind just wasn’t going to close again, and he wasn’t sure he wanted it to. What had been a small still voice in his mind that took concentration to summon suddenly was a shout that hit him whenever someone was feeling particularly passionate about something.

He and Brendan spent Thursday night putting his garb together for the event, while the other four packed the tents and other supplies. They were even able to adjust some of Nelson’s old armor to put him together a set of minimalist fighting gear. “You got all those rules memorized yet?” Brendan asked him.

“Yeah. I’m sure I can pass any verbal or written quiz on them. Do you think I can actually get a temporary fighter’s card?” Noah found himself excited about being able to get back into the SCA. He’d liked going to events with his parents, and seeing all the knights and ladies when he was small. Now he was going to get to become one of them.

“That’s not the problem. They might give you a temporary card for the big battles, but you won’t be able to fight in the actual Tourney. That’s something you’ll have to earn.” Brendan replied, adjusting his helm and gorget. It fit surprisingly well for something cobbled together by the two of them from the various pieces of armor lying around. An embarrassingly large amount of it came from Delia’s and Sharon’s Amazon garb.

“That’s okay. I really don’t want to have to fight David anyway.” Noah didn’t tell him that he had other things that he wanted to do with David instead of fighting.

“What, you don’t want any action with him?” Brendan asked totally innocently.

Noah smiled broadly and chided the other boy, “Well, if you put it that way…”

Brendan suddenly realized the double-entedre he’d inadvertently uttered. “That’s not what I mean.” Noah thought Brendan blushed rather well.

“I know what you mean,” Noah told him. He really didn’t want to fight David. All he really wanted to do was spend a weekend dressed up in medieval garb and pretend that he was someone other than Noah Hale, orphan who was turning into something he didn’t fully understand.

“Actually if you do get certified before the big battle there’s a small, albeit very small chance that you might end up fighting him anyway.” He patted the helm down and stood back, “Let’s face it though, you haven’t picked up a piece of rattan in a couple of years, most of the other stick jocks are going to have fifty to a hundred pounds on you, and you’re going to be the virgin on the field. Unless you rhino-hide out there, which I don’t suggest doing- it gives you a bad reputation- you probably aren’t going to last long enough to get close to him. Besides, everybody out there is going to be gunning for him.”

Noah just nodded, and picked up the rattan sword lying against the wall and gave it a few experimental swings. He’d remembered most of what he’d been taught by his father’s friend, Jeff. He was looking forward to finally getting to go onto the field and give it a try. He was in good shape, probably better than most of the guys around him, and with a little experience he was sure he could dodge most attacks at him.

Remembering something else that Jeff had told him he put the sword down and started rummaging through the accessory box Delia and Sharon had supplied. Finally finding what he was looking for, he used a piece of flexible wire to weave the blue feather into his hair. Turning around to face Brendan he smiled, “There, my persona is complete.”

Brendan looked at him. “You look like a pale, scrawny beast-master.” Then noticing the feather he pointed to it, “That might get you into more trouble than you want though.”

“What do you mean?” Noah asked. “I thought the SCA was pretty accepting of blue feathers.

“Oh, they are. But keep in mind, you’re fresh meat, and look a whole lot younger than you are. There might be…misunderstandings.” Brendan grinned wickedly at him and walked past, “you might get more attention than you really want.”

“Eh… Ignore him. He’s just jealous because he wouldn’t look that good in that outfit,” Nelson told him walking by with an armload of coolers.

“Actually, I think he’d look rather good in it,” Noah shot back.

Before anyone could reply, Martha called to him, “Noah, would you come here for a minute please?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He closed the accessory chest and headed over to where she was standing in the kitchen door. The light banter had him feeling more relaxed than he had all week.

“I need to talk to you a minute,” the older woman told him. Noah’s good mood suddenly plummeted as he wondered what kind of trouble he’d managed to get himself into. “Let’s go into the den where we can talk alone.” She pointed to the metal helm he was wearing, “and take that thing off, I feel like I’m talking to a tea kettle.”

Noah smiled, pulled off the helm and followed her. He joked, trying to make the mood lighter, “yes ma’am. And I promise, I won’t whistle.”

She laughed at him and closed the door, and indicated a chair next to the desk. “Sit down.” She pulled over another chair and sat across from him. “First of all, I want to talk to you about Tuesday night. Personally I don’t mind if you sit up all night looking out the window, but please have the good graces to wear something other than just a sheet. You almost gave poor Mr. Roberts across the street a heart-attack when he got up to go to the bathroom and saw you sitting there in your birthday suit.” She grinned at him wickedly. “Now I like Mr. Roberts, and wouldn’t want that to happen to him, even if he is a nosey old coot.”

Noah smiled and replied once again with his stock answer, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Secondly,” she continued, “I just talked to Mr. Dalton on the phone- Nobody ever comes and visits any more. Everybody does everything over the phone or that blasted internet. Now where was I? Oh, yes. I didn’t want the other kids to hear this, because it’s your business and not theirs unless you want to make it theirs.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Anyway, he’s been doing some checking into your situation with that foster family, the Pates.” She shook her head and headed off on another tangent, “I knew a family of Pates once back in Alabama. Snootiest, know-it-all bunch of prigs I ever met. Didn’t mind telling you how you should run your life at all, all the while they had their thumbs into all kinds of mischief. But that’s not what I called you in here to talk about.”

“No ma’am.”

She smiled at him, “you’re a good boy. You know that. Anyway, Mr. Dalton has been doing some checking. He’s convinced that they have somehow managed to hide that you… uh… left them from the State, and have been drawing money off your trust-fund since then. Well, he managed to get that nonsense stopped and is working on getting your money sent to you. He thinks he’ll have it straightened out before Thanksgiving. In the meantime, he said he’s been checking on that account you got down at Gulftrust Bank. When they found out they’d been dealing with a minor, they were more than happy to turn it into a savings account.” She reached into her apron and handed him a small book, “Here’s the passbook. He said there’s an ATM card and pin number– what ever that is- in there too. He told me to tell you that it’s your responsibility to keep a closer eye on your account balances from now on. According to him the account balance is correct as of the date on the last entry.”

“Yes ma’am.” Noah opened the book and looked at the card. It wasn’t too much different than the checking card he had. He then looked over at the balance listed in passbook and was shocked. He had no idea how he could have that much money in the account.

Before he could protest, Martha cut him off, “Now don’t go worrying about it. If Mr. Dalton says that it’s the right amount, then it’s the right amount. He said you need to make sure that you keep track of it in the future though. He told me to tell you that when he gets the trust-fund situation all straightened out that there will be a small monthly stipend deposited into that account so you can have some running around money.” She grinned at him, “Evidently there is more than enough money in your trust-fund to take care of your living expenses here, and Mr. Dalton and I agree that it’s only fair that you have a little mad money every now and then.”

“Yes, ma’am,” was all he could manage to say. He was still in a state of shock.

“You’re such a good boy.” She smiled at him, clapped her hands, and continued, “Well that’s all I had to talk to you about. Now you have fun this weekend.” She got up and headed toward the door, leaving him sitting in the chair staring at the passbook. Stopping at the door she turned back at him, “Oh, and Noah…”

He looked up, “yes, ma’am.”

“…don’t bend over in that get up.” She winked at him and left the room.

Friday turned out to be the longest day of the week. Noah realized it was just because he was looking forward to a weekend of camping, fighting and pretending to be Dior, his SCA persona. Just a chance to get away from school and avoiding Matthews and his bunch was enough to get him excited. Ten minutes after school let out, they’d all piled into David’s Jeep, and Brendan’s Charger and were headed down the coast toward the campsite. He and David were riding alone, with most of the camping gear. He was happy to be spending time with David, especially without everyone else looking over his shoulder, but for the life of him, he couldn’t find anything to talk about. Finally the older boy broke the silence with a nervous question, “So, you recovered yet from what happened with Matthews and his bunch?”

He suppressed a shudder, “I think so. It all seems surreal now. Like it only happened in a dream,” Noah told him, trying to put the image of the half-wolves out of his head. At some point over the week, he discovered that he was comfortable with Nelson’s cougar, but the wolves gave him the creeps.

David laughed, “First time I saw a were, I felt the same way for weeks. I kept having these nightmares about werewolves and vampires. I thought I was going to lose my mind before it was all over.” Noah couldn’t help but wonder if Delia and Sharon had told David about the nightmares he’d had. Still, he was more at ease and without realizing he was doing it, he let his guard down and relaxed, listening for that small voice. Hope he doesn’t get a sick as I did after Brendan bit me. He heard David’s thoughts loud and clear. Then again, he wouldn’t be here now if he had. It didn’t take long for my fever to set in.

Noah was surprised to find out that Brendan had bitten David. At least he didn’t have to worry about David completely freaking over the things that had happened lately. “I’ve had my share of bad dreams lately too. Hopefully they’ll go away soon.”

David reached across the console and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, “I’m sure they will, Runt.” Noah sensed an unease in David’s mind. He knew that it was somehow centered around him, and had been around enough to know that there was a definite attraction there. He was afraid to probe any deeper. First, David was driving and his own control of this growing power was not what he wished it was. Suddenly having him react badly to that kind of an attempted probe might cause him to wreck the jeep. Second, he was a little afraid of what he might find there. David told him, “Just hang with us, and we’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, David. My parents promised the same thing.” Noah hadn’t meant the say that. It just came out, and he immediately regretted it. In a single breath he’d managed to ruin a beautiful afternoon. They rode the rest of the way to the campsite in complete silence. Noah walled his mind off, and refused to let his guard down. He knew it was childish, and that he was at fault but he couldn’t bring himself to open up for more pain. When he’d first moved in at Martha’s- was it less than a week ago- he’d figured the price for a home would be expensive. He just hadn’t expected it to be the rest of his innocence.

Two hours later as he pulled into the event grounds, David was still at a loss of how to reply to Noah’s comment. He’d never had to face the same things that his friends had. He’d never had to worry about where his next meal was coming from, or where he’d sleep that night. He hoped he would never have to face that himself and they would never have to face it again. Finally as the pulled into the parking area, he killed the engine and turned to face the smaller boy. “Look, I honestly don’t know what to say. I’m sorry, about what happened to your parents. All I can do is be your friend. To keep an eye on you like a friend would. Maybe more if that’s what we both want, but I’m not going to try and be a parent to you, and unless you send me away, I’m not going to go anywhere on you.”

Noah looked at him and nodded. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hit you with that. It’s not your fault. I don’t know what’s coming over me lately. Nothing seems to be the way it should be, and toss in what happened on Tuesday, I guess I’m really freaking. What you’re offering is more than what someone I just met should be expected to offer, and a whole lot more than what I deserve.” He looked up at David with those big blue eyes and it was everything David could do not to pull him in and kiss him solidly. “Thanks.”

“S’okay.” David forced himself to turn away and grab some of the gear from the backseat of the Jeep. “Our campsite is this way.” Pushing the heaviest bag, that he knew he’d have to wait and get Brendan’s help with out of the way, he grabbed one of the larger bags, slung it across his shoulder and headed off toward the beach. “Like I said, I always try and get one of the sites close to the beach. That way I can get up early and do a little swimming before everybody else is around to get in the way.”

“Sounds good to me. I don’t sleep a whole lot anyway.” Noah replied cheerfully. David wasn’t sure if he was putting on a good face or not, but he was glad that he was at least trying.

Arriving at the site few minutes later, David dropped his bundle, and turned to head back to see if Brendan had pulled in yet to help him with the biggest bag, only to see Noah gently setting it down with a clank of iron. David just stood there for a second, “That bag has Brendan and Nelson’s armor in it.”

“Was I not supposed to touch it?” Noah asked. David could tell he was afraid he’d done something wrong. The boy was skittish to say the least.

“No. Nothing like that, Runt. It’s just,” he pointed to the bag Noah had just set down, “that bag only weighs about two hundred fifty pounds.” David smiled, remembering what Nelson had told him about the fight with Matthews’ gang. “I guess you aren’t quite the runt we make you out to be.”

Noah just looked down at his hands and then at the bag. David realized he was on verge of panicking again. Remembering how Sharon had diverted his attention, he stepped over to the smaller boy and pulled his chin up to his face. “Don’t worry about it,” he told him before leaning in and kissing him solidly on the mouth.

At first he felt Noah resist, but in a few seconds, he heard a groan come from the smaller boy as his mouth opened. Taking advantage of the situation, David pushed forward with his tongue to feel something sharp against it. Another shudder ran through Noah as the younger boy pulled himself into David. This is going better than I thought for a first kiss.

*Oh, you think this is good, just you wait.* He suddenly heard Noah’s voice in his head.

“You two think you can break it up long enough to get the camp set up?” Just for a second David hated Delia. Finally pulling away from the smaller boy, he straightened up and tried unsuccessfully to smooth out his clothes. It really had been David’s first kiss, and he was looking forward to a second.

“Delia love, sometimes your timing is really, really, lousy.” He tried to put the best face on the situation as he could.

“That must have been some conversation on the road up here,” she replied, putting her hands on her hips, and grinning wickedly. David could tell she was up to something.

“Not at all. It was a nice quiet ride up here.” He looked over to where Delia’s eyes had fallen and saw Noah trying to look small and sheepish. “As for you,” he reached out and yanked Noah over to him. “Next time let me help you with the heavy stuff.”

“Looked like he was helping out with some pretty heavy stuff when we came up,” Nelson said grinning.

“Keep it up fur ball and I’ll take away your catnip.” David shot back.

“No! Not the nip!” Nelson yelled back in mock distress. Catnip had been a running joke with David ever since he found out he was running around with a bunch of werecats. He wasn’t sure if the stuff would really affect his friends, but it made a good subject to tease them about.

“Yes,” David did his best evil overlord impression, “first the nip, and then the ball of string. Bwaahaaahaaa!”

“What no nip? And I just got a new Grace-of-God that’s just perfect for it.” Sharon piped up.

“What are you guys going on about?” Brendan asked setting down a large cooler. “I’m sure I missed half the conversation.”

“Oh, nothing much,” Delia chided. “Just David and Noah here swabbing out the backs of each other’s throats when we walked up.”

Brendan only raised an eyebrow as his gaze washed back and forth between David and Noah. David got the distinct impression he was sizing somebody as a possible threat, but for the first time since knowing the boy, he wasn’t sure that it wasn’t him that was the intruder. Finally breaking gaze, he glanced down at the bag of armor, “At least you got the heavy stuff here without me this time. Thanks.”

Noah shot him a please-don’t-tell gaze. “Yeah, no problem. Runt and I managed just fine.” He could sense the relief flowing from Noah. “And if you four will finish unloading the cars, Noah and I’ll finish putting the tents up.” He turned to look at Noah, “That okay with you, Half-Pint?”

Noah nodded, swallowed hard, and replied, “Sure, fine with me.” David actually heard his voice start to crack.

“Maybe we should leave a chaperone with you guys,” Sharon teased. After all, somebody has got to protect your virtues.” She gave Noah an appraising look and added playfully, “such as they are.”

“Sharon, drop it.” David wasn’t sure that Noah could handle a jab at his past like that just now.

“It’s not a problem, David.” Noah looked her in the eyes, and David could see steel there for the first time, “I know what I am, or was, and I’m sure by now, you do too.” He smiled and looked back at David, “Besides, I’m not quite that easy.” Picking up a bag with the tents in them, “Or cheap.” There was something else in his voice too. Something told both him and Sharon that this conversation wasn’t over yet.

“If that were the case on either count, I wouldn’t be here.” David told him. He turned to Sharon while picking up the bag with the tarps in them. “Now don’t you have some things to carry from the Jeep?”

After everyone was out of earshot, or at least he hoped out of their earshot- you never knew with cats- David said, “I’m sorry for embarrassing you.”

Noah just smiled, “Why would I be embarrassed at being caught kissing the best looking guy in school?”

“But you weren’t kissing the best looking guy in school. You were kissing me.” David protested.

“You looked in a mirror lately, David?” Noah told him, “If you aren’t the best looking guy, you’ll do until Adonis comes back down from Olympus.”

“I think we need to have your eyes checked, Runt.”

Noah stopped what he was doing, stood up as tall and straight as he could, put his hands on his hips and asked, “Is it absolutely necessary for you to remind me of my size every ten minutes. Is it written in the by-laws of this group somewhere that I have to be called runt, or half-pint all the time?” He smiled big, “I mean, I can guarantee you that there are some things at least where I’m not the smallest.” He winked.

David smiled, “Oh, a small man with a big sword huh?”

Noah laughed at how silly he must have sounded, “Yeah, something like that.”

“Well if you don’t want me to call you Runt, I won’t but I don’t mean anything bad by it. What would you like me to call you?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Having you screaming my name several times sounds pretty good. But for right now, it’s okay. It just seemed that my only contribution to this group had been being someone smaller than Sharon.”

“Don’t let Sharon hear that. She thinks she’s the petit one of the bunch.” David smiled. “But I tell you what, Runt. I won’t call you Half-Pint. Or Short-stuff, and I can’t call you Little Bit. That one’s already taken by my baby brother.”

An hour later, the camp was set up and everybody was changing into their garb. Noah could hear Sharon outside setting up her kitchen. The whole time he was getting ready, his mind kept going back to David kissing him. Something had sent a feeling through his body like he’d never felt before in his life. Sitting there daydreaming of the kiss, he was suddenly knocked to the floor of the tent by Brendan’s backpack. “C’mon Runt. We’ve got to go see the Marshal about getting your pinks. You got those papers Martha signed for you handy?”

Picking himself out from under the bag, he nodded, “Yeah.” He reached into the bag tied to his belt, and pulled out the guardian’s permission slips and all the other legal paperwork that the SCA required him to show before they’d let him get whacked upside the head with a four foot piece of rattan.

Brendan stood there looking at him, “you know, you probably shouldn’t bend over in that garb. People can tell what religion you are.” The bigger boy was actually blushing. “you do make a good barbarian though. A little on the smooth side, and definitely pale, but the persona fits you.”

Noah could sense the discomfort his presence was causing in Brendan’s own fight for his sexual identity. Normally, he wouldn’t worry about it, but Brendan was a friend, and he hated seeing him struggle with what he felt, and what he had been told was right. “Thanks. I worked quite a bit on it. My dad even helped me come up with a good post-Gaulic Wars name.”

“Come to think of it, you haven’t told any of us, your SCA persona’s name.” Brendan held the tent flap for him.

Careful not to brush against the bigger boy, Noah exited, “It’s Dior.”

“Dwah?” Brendan asked. “It doesn’t sound Gaulic.”

“It’s not. It’s French. You know like their word for night,” Noah told him. His dad had explained how the name should be pronounced. “you shouldn’t have a problem with it as long as you don’t have to write it down. After all, most people will just spell it the way it sounds,” his dad had told him.

Brendan shook his head, “Whatever, Runt. Let’s go talk to the man that lets us beat people up for fun.”

The man who let them beat up on people for fun, turned out to be a harried little man in his early forties. He went over Noah’s paperwork with a fine-toothed comb. “Can’t be too careful you know. The SCA is one of the most sued organizations in the US, even though they can’t get anything out of us. We’re totally non-profit,” he cackled to Noah as he went over the documents. “Everything here seems to be ship-shape. Now let’s find out if you understand all the rules.”

Noah spent the next hour proving to the man that he knew what a legal hit was, and what wasn’t. He’d always known that the SCA was extremely safety conscious. His parent’s wouldn’t have let him even consider becoming a fighter if it hadn’t. This guy though took the whole concept to the extreme. Noah ended up having to quote chapter and verse of the rule-book backwards and forwards before the guy would give him his pinks.

“Can’t let some childer get out there and get hurt you know.” Noah was unsure if the man was in persona or not when he said that. He got the distinct feeling that at some point the man had seen some kid get hurt and was determined that it would never happen on his watch.

An hour and half later he was walking toward the camp with Brendan. “When we get back to camp, you and I are going to put on the old armor and go at it for a few rounds, Runt. Old Gilley there was right. I’m not about to send some kid out there to get hurt without making sure he can at least defend himself.”

“It’s a little late to asking now isn’t it.” Noah held up his card.

“I should have done this before we ever even considered putting that armor together for you. I must be getting soft in the head.” He looked over at Noah, “Don’t let that little piece of paper go to your head. If the rest of us decide you aren’t ready for the field, I’ll sit on you and hold you down while Nelson and David take it away from you.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Tigger sir.” Noah smiled.

“Don’t get fresh with me young man.” Brendan was doing his best Martha impersonation.

“Somehow you can’t quite pull it off as well as Martha.” Noah smiled, “must be the apron.” He danced ahead of Brendan, “but I’ll think about what you said.”

“All right Piglet,” Brendan smiled and lashed out grabbing Noah by the shirt collar. Noah was stunned by the bigger boys speed and strength. He pulled Noah to his face, “Remember, tiggers don’t just bounce. We spring. And we’ve got claws.”

Noah swallowed hard. Suddenly he was hit with the full animalistic presence of Brendan’s tiger. He felt the fear all the way down to the balls of his feet, as his body instinctively went into flight or fight mode. There was a sense of determination in the older boys voice. It was tempered by something Noah hadn’t yet identified, but there was iron there too. He got the feeling that if Brendan decided that Noah wasn’t ready for the battlefield, then he’d be sitting this one out tomorrow and Nelson and David would back him up; “Yes sir, Mr. Brendan sir.”

Brendan let him go. “That’s better. He straightened Noah’s tunic. “You gotta remember, this group takes care of its own, and you’re ours now.” He smiled at Noah as his eyes shifted to a greenish gold, and his teeth elongated, “Besides, if I let anything happen to you Martha would kill what ever was left of me when David got finished.” Then he bounced down the path, “I guess you can call me Tigger if you want, though. Only seems fair.”

“About David…”Noah wasn’t sure how to bring up the subject on his mind.

“Yeah, what about him.” Brendan asked.

“Uh.. nothing,” Noah suddenly found himself at a loss for words.

“C’mon, Piglet. You started the conversation, so what?”

“I… uhm… was just wondering…”

“Yeah?”

“You’re not going to let me get off with this easy are you?” Noah asked.

“Why should I? You stepped into it. Let’s see you get out of it.” Noah knew Brendan was giving him an out with that statement. He wasn’t sure if the older boy expected him to take it though.

“Has he got a…” Noah stopped in mid sentence.

“A what?”

“A, you know… A girlfriend?” Noah asked.

Brendan laughed at him, “I think the question you want to ask Piglet is: Does he want a boyfriend?” After that he smiled. “Nah. No girlfriend. A sock puppet of love maybe, but no girlfriend.”

If Brendan wanted to play with Noah’s sexuality that way, then Noah could play back. “All right then Mr. Tigger. Does he want a boyfriend?”

“You’d have to ask him.” Brendan told him. “But I don’t think he would have kissed you this afternoon if he wouldn’t follow through with it.” He smiled at him. “Our David is not the casual type.”

He grabbed Noah by the upper arm and stopped them both in the path for a second. He looked around to make sure nobody was in earshot and continued. “I’ll be honest with you Noah.” Noah was hit by the tiger again. “David’s got it pretty bad for you. Now I’m not about to tell anybody who they can and can’t love, but I’ll tell you this. If you hurt him, I’ll beat you to death with a shovel.”

Noah was confused. “Why a shovel?”

“So I can have something to bury your body with.” Brendan smiled at him. He then became serious. “I don’t think David has ever given his heart to anybody before. If you’re playing some game with him, drop it now. I don’t want to see him get hurt. But if you’re not, that’s fine. Just don’t hurt him.” They started back down the path. “And don’t let him hurt you either. Remember, he’s the virgin here.”

Noah swallowed hard and nodded. He wasn’t about to tell Brendan, that even though he might not be a virgin in the traditional sense, his heart still was. They turned and walked back toward camp in silence. Noah took a minute to notice how well the camp area was cared for. There was no trash or debris anywhere on or off the trails.

“Did you get it?” Sharon looked up from her stew pot and asked before they’d taken two steps into the camp. She was dressed in a medieval peasant dress with a tight bodice and flat shoes. Her dark red hair was braided and pulled back out of her face.

Noah held up his card and smiled. “Yep. It took a pound of flesh and a pint of blood, but I got it.”

“Not yet it hasn’t.” Nelson told him. The thin Asian boy was standing there in a suit of Samurai-style armor, and a rattan katana. “But trust me, it’s going to.” He grinned at Noah. Once again, he thought he should know him, but couldn’t place as to from where or when.

“Get suited up,” David told him coming out of the tent dressed in high boots, a broad belt with kidney guards, long metal bracers, a steel gorget and a helmet in his hands. Noah recognized the style of fighting to be what people call minimalist- or as his mom referred to them, nutcases. She hadn’t been happy when she found out her son was a nutcase. “We’re not about to let you out there until you prove to us that you can defend yourself.”

“What is this, some kind of conspiracy?” Noah swallowed hard, realizing he was going to have to fight all three of them to prove he was capable of handling himself on the field. “You mean I’m going to have to beat the King’s Champion just so you’ll let me go out there?”

“Not beat,” Delia told him, coming out the armor tent dressed in Amazon garb, and carrying a wicked looking rattan sword. “Just prove yourself competent to the four of us.” She smiled over at Sharon, “normally it would be five, but somebody’s got to cook dinner.”

Sharon stuck her tongue out at Delia. “Bite me.”

“Maybe later,” the other girl replied.

Noah followed Brendan into the tent and suited up along side him. To say he was feeling nervous was an understatement. He wasn’t sure if it was from the prospect of having to face his four friends in a fight, or from the idea of all of them looking out for him. Granted their idea of looking out for him in this particular instance was their beating him about the head and shoulders with rattan sticks. Still it made him uncomfortable either way. He just wasn’t used to being around this many people.

He pulled on his armor, such as it was, and then helped Brendan get into what amounted to plate-mail armor made from kydex. When he was finished the older boy looked like something out of a King Arthur movie. “You know you’re probably going to regret going minimalist,” Brendan told him. “That little bit of nothing you’re wearing there isn’t going to help you a whole lot,” he pointed to Noah’s own armor or lack thereof.

Noah smiled, “look you walking plastic can. If I put all that on, I wouldn’t be able to move, much less fight. I’m little. Remember? Either I use that to my advantage or get beaten to death out there.”

“Yeah, but what happens when somebody in one of these,” he patted the breastplate of the armor with his fist, “corners you where you can’t get away? Then they’re going to beat you half to death.”

“Don’t you worry about that. You just worry about trying to catch me.” Noah smiled, pulled his helm over his head, and tightened down the straps.

Heading out back behind the tents, Sharon stopped him. “Good luck, Noah.” She then surprised him by kissing him lightly on the lips. Walking away confused, all he could say was, “girls!”

The small clearing slightly off to the right of their tents was for now empty, as other campers at the even got their own camps set up. It wasn’t a big field, but was big enough for him to be able to make the others have to chase him the way Mr. Anderson taught him. It seemed like only yesterday he was practicing with his father’s friend in his parent’s backyard. He was able to remember everything the older man had taught him about fighting minimalist. About how to stay out of his opponents reach as much as possible and make them work to get close enough to hit you. Starting out against Brendan, that wasn’t too difficult. Even with the bigger boy’s enhanced speed, Noah was able to dance around him with ease. The most he’d been able to hit Noah with were some pretty light tags. After all, Noah’s shoulder pads didn’t keep getting in the way. “Stand still you little rabbit so I can get a good swing at you!” Brendan finally yelled at him in frustration.

“Remember what happens when you tease tiggers, Noah.” Delia called from the sidelines. Noah looked over at her and smiled. Being distracted he failed to duck under an overhand swing aimed at his shield shoulder and was almost driven to the ground by the blow. Dropping the shield to indicated that the arm was now crippled he made it a point to ignore comments from the side from that point on.

Waiting for another blow like the first, Noah continued to stay just out of reach of Brendan’s sword. When it finally came, he ducked under and with a quick wicked back swing, caught Brendan hard enough across the upper chest to lay him flat on the ground. There was no question, on the field that would be a killing blow.

Over the next hour he had to face each of his other friends in one on one combat. Each time he was able to at least hold his own, if not defeat one or two of them. Finally he had to face David. This was the one he dreaded. David was a more accomplished fighter- after all he was the King’s Champion two years running- plus he too was a minimalist fighter. His speed and agility weren’t going to be much use to him against the bigger boy. Not only that, but he was nearly exhausted from fighting the other three. He’d spent so much energy staying out of Delia’s reach, that he wasn’t sure he could find it in himself to even raise his sword, much less swing it.

If they’re going to let me fight tomorrow then I have to do this, he told himself. Facing David with his back to the setting sun he slowly raised his sword in salute. A line from old Gladiator movies came to mind. “We who are about to die salute you,” he told nobody in particular. David feinted in with the sword in his right hand. When Noah went to parry that blow with his own sword, he barely was able to stop the short sword in David’s left hand with his shield. The force of the second blow drove him back, and almost off his feet. David wasn’t giving him an inch either. David pressed the advantage with a blinding series overhand blows that continued to drive Noah backwards toward the edge of the camp.

Finally getting his feet solidly under him, he spun out of the way of a follow up blow from David’s off-hand sword and caught the bigger boy a good solid blow across the left shoulder. David only smiled as he dropped his left sword. “Not bad, Runt. But I don’t have to have two swords to beat you.” He hit Noah with a blinding series of over hand blows that drove him back clear across to the other side of the field. Noah managed to catch most of them on his shield, until the last one broke through his defenses landing a smarting blow across the left side of his gorget. Noah thought is collarbone had snapped from the force of the blow as it drove him to his knees. Looking up for an instant, he thought David was going to follow up with a second attack. The bigger boy’s eyes seemed to be ablaze with fire and something else. For just a second, Noah feared for his life.

The sword stopped just short of the top of his helm, then came around to slap him lightly on the cheek. “Not bad, Runt. Not bad at all.”

“Not bad?” Nelson said. “I’d say it was pretty damn good. Nobody’s managed to take a sword away from you in four tourneys.” Nelson told him.

“Did I pass?” Noah asked through the haze of pain that was coursing through his neck and shoulder.

“I’m not sure…”David turned to look at the other three. “What do you guys think? Do we let him play against the Frey tomorrow, or does he have to sit on the sidelines?”

Somebody clapping interrupted the deliberations, “Who’s your new sparring partner, Sir David?” A slightly tipsy older gentleman wearing a purple doublet and crooked crown walking across the field asked. Through the pain in his shoulder and in the dying light, Noah couldn’t make out his features, but the voice was definitely one he knew.

“Your Majesty,” David replied as he bowed slightly to the newcomer. “This is Dior, a fresh recruit to our camp.”

The older man looked down at Noah, who immediately recognized his father’s friend, and his own teacher, Mr. Anderson. “Your Majesty?” Noah asked through the haze of slowly subsiding pain.

“Well, get up boy,” the older man laughed. “Let’s have a look at David’s newest find for his burgeoning house.”

Noah stood, and took off his helm in spite of the fire shooting through his neck and arm, “Yes, sir.”

This time it was the King of Meridier’s turn to be surprised, “Noah?” he asked in surprise.

“Yes sir.” Noah nodded his head.

“Well, I’ll be!” the king roared in laughter and slapped Noah on the back, sending spasms of pain so far down his chest he was afraid he’d forgotten how to breathe. “It’s good to see you son. It’s been a long time.” Then as he remembered something unpleasant, “I was sorry to hear about your folks.” His eyes shifted to something Noah wasn’t sure he could bear right now.

“Thank you, sir,” was all Noah could bring himself to say. He felt something snap and pop at his collar, and suddenly most of the pain disappeared.

“Where you been keeping yourself, boy?” Mr. Anderson asked. “Last I heard you were living upstate with a foster family. The Pates, I think.” Noah suddenly got the feeling that maybe Mr. Anderson might know more than he was letting on. Or at least thought he knew more.

“I’m living here now. Actually in a little subdivision right outside the city called Carlton.” He looked down at the ground, “Things didn’t work out too well with the Pates.”

Before the King could probe deeper David broke in, “Excuse me Your Majesty, but if we’re going to get dinner we’d better get going soon.” David gestured over toward the tents, “If we don’t get there before it gets cold, Sharon isn’t going to feed us.” It was a pretty feeble attempt to try and get away from Mr. Anderson.

Mr. Anderson looked the group over. Noah got the feeling he was suddenly seeing them in a different light. He gently reached out and touched the blue feather in Noah’s hair, and raised an eyebrow. He felt David come up behind him, and put a hand on his uninjured shoulder. Mr. Anderson took Noah’s chin and looked him in the eye, “Somehow I don’t think your parents would have a problem with this. Not if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure, sir.” Noah replied, feeling like a kid again. Judge Anderson was the closest thing to an important person he’d have to come out to. He found himself just a little nervous about the whole thing.

“Hmmm… you say things didn’t work out with the Pates, huh.” Mr. Anderson asked. “Who’s watching out for your case now?”

Noah smiled, “Mr. Grey Dalton sir.” Noah told him, hoping the Judge wasn’t going to take this as an opportunity to inadvertently cause trouble. He didn’t think his father’s friend would do anything out of malice, but knew the man would go to the mat for something he thought was right.

Mr. Anderson only nodded his head. “I’ve heard some pretty good things about him. Maybe I need to talk to Mr. Dalton though. I owe that much to your parents.” He then turned to the rest of the group. “Take care guys. I’ll see you on the field tomorrow.” He smiled and walked off.

“C’mon. Let’s take a look at that shoulder and get you cleaned up.” David led him off. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Brendan heading off behind the King. “Brendan, go get us some ice,” David told him, but Noah knew he meant something entirely different.

“So you know the King,” Nelson commented as if to make conversation.

Noah nodded. “Yeah, Judge Anderson was a friend of my family. He’s the one who taught me how to fight,” Noah explained.

“What’s he a judge of?” Delia asked. Something in the tone of her voice told Noah that she wasn’t just curious for curiosity’s sake. He could sense the others closing ranks to protect not only themselves but him as well.

“He’s a Federal Judge. He works in Atlanta. Dad said his specialty was corporate and business law before he became a Judge. He was appointed by President Reagan two weeks after I was born,” Noah told them. “He’s been a friend of my family for as long as I can remember.”

“You say he taught you to fight?” David asked pulling Noah’s gorget off.

“Yeah, Mom didn’t like the idea of my becoming a stick-jock, but finally agreed as long as Mr. Anderson taught me. She said if I had a good teacher, then it should be okay.” He smiled, “You know how mom’s are. They worry.”

David started running his hand over Noah’s shoulder trying to rub the soreness out. “No wonder I recognized that hole in your defense. It’s the one I’ve been getting him on, the past couple of tourney’s now.” His fingers stopped at a point just below Noah’s throat. He could tell something was passing between Delia and David, but he just didn’t have the energy left to listen for that small voice. “Why don’t you lie down and get some sleep. I’ll wake you up when dinner’s ready,” David told him.

Noah was too tired to argue. With Nelson’s help he peeled off his boots, and belt, while David took off his bracers. As his face brushed Nelson’s he caught a scent he hadn’t smelled in over a year. “Buzz?” he asked as he leaned back on the pillows. He was so tired, he never heard the other boy answer.

CHAPTER 5

David left the tent motioning for the other two to follow him. Making sure they were far enough from the tent that Noah couldn’t hear, he motioned for them to sit. “Well?” he asked.

“Do you want to know if we should let him fight, or what we think about the situation with His Majesty?” Delia asked, getting directly to the heart of the matter.

“I don’t think there’s a question about his fighting tomorrow. That is if he can move that arm. He’s going to be damn sore in the morning.” David told her.

“Don’t count on it. Remember him healing those gashes. He might wake up ready to whip his weight in snarks,” Nelson put in, smiling.

“I’ve got a question though,” Delia’s voice warned David that she was angry. He had a hunch what she was upset about.

“Yes?” He asked, trying to sound neutral.

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing hitting him that hard? I could have sworn I heard a bone snap. Not rattan breaking, but bone.” He could see her eyes shifting to yellow, as she half stood. For just a second he thought she was actually going to shift on him.

“If he can’t take a hit from me like that, what do you think he’s going to do with the likes of Guido the Friendly Hill Giant over in the Frey? I didn’t hit any harder than I had to.” David hoped he didn’t sound as defensive as he felt. Truth be told, he’d lost his temper with Noah. That last blow had a hell of a lot more power behind it than it had any right to have. He knew that if it hadn’t been for Noah’s healing factor he’d probably be on the way to the hospital right now with a broken collarbone. For just a second, he wondered just how many bones Noah had healed that way over the past two years.

“If you say so, big man,” David knew he hadn’t heard the last of this particular argument with her. She was obviously feeling as protective of Noah as he was beginning to.

Nelson broke in before the argument became more verbal, “What about the King?” That damped down the emotions that he knew was running high on both sides.

“We’ll know more when Brendan gets back,” David told him.

“Would somebody let the poor ignorant cook in on what happened?” Sharon said to nobody in particular.

Nelson turned to her, “Well let’s see.” He grinned, “Noah can definitely fight. Give him a few more tourneys, and he might be challenging our David here for King’s Champion.”

“That is if David lets him live long enough.” Delia said sarcastically. Sharon only looked at David with confusion in her face. He knew she could sense something more.

“Let it rest Delia. I’m sure what ever happened wasn’t intentional.” Sharon interrupted another remark from Delia. She then turned to Nelson, “What’s she got her panties in a wad about?
“I hit Noah a little harder than I meant to.” David felt he needed to defend himself.

“You broke his fucking collarbone.” Delia stared him in the face.

“I know what I did Cordelia. You don’t have to keep reminding me about it.” David used her full name. He wanted the case closed. “I’m sorry it happened. I’m the last person in the world that wants to hurt the kid, okay? Anybody else want to take a shot at me and get it out of their systems?” he asked the group as a whole. “You can’t say anything to me that I’m not already saying to myself.”

“I don’t know about that, but it seems the situation has been covered enough.” Brendan broke in from the edge of the firelight. He gave Delia a look that told her the conversation had reached its end. The look he gave David said something entirely different.

“What’s with the King?” David asked.

“Oh yeah, that’s the other thing,” Nelson broke in. “It seems that King Justin in his mundane existence was a friend of Noah’s family. He the one who taught Noah how to fight.”

“Well, that explains why he’s having somebody from his office check into the Pates.” Brendan told them, as he sat down on a log next to the fire.

“What do you mean check into them?” David asked.

“Just that. He went back to his tent, dug out his cell phone and called somebody from his office, he was pretty emphatic too. He wanted everything Social Services had on them, and then some. I get the feeling that when he’s finished with them, the Pates are going to wish they’d never heard the name Hale.” Brendan said, carefully putting another log onto the fire.

“That could be good, or bad.” David said. “He could decide that Noah needs to be somewhere else- somewhere away from certain influences. Did you see the look he gave me when he noticed Noah’s blue feather?” David pointed out. He wasn’t entirely comfortable with an adult knowing what was starting to happen between he and Noah.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure that it was what you thought it was. Don’t forget, the King has a lot of respect for his champion. He’s been helping us build our house,” Delia told him.

“That was before he thought I was sleeping with his friend’s son.”

“I don’t know. Somehow I don’t see the King as being that vindictive. He might be just out to do what he said. Make sure that Noah’s taken care of,” Sharon piped up.

“Well, let’s just hope his idea and our idea of taken care of aren’t two different things.” David told them as he turned around and headed toward the beach. He needed clear his head, and the beach had always been the one place where he could do that.

Noah awoke in the middle of the night pressed tightly between two half-dressed bodies. An arm was draped across him from each direction. He opened his eyes only to look directly into Sharon’s sleeping face. What concerned him more was that her other hand was wrapped around something not belonging to her. He gently pried himself loose and turned over to see Nelson’s sleeping face snuggled up against him. Across Nelson he could see Brendan’s sleeping form and finally near the door was David. Quietly slipping out from under both their arms and down toward the foot of the sleeping platform he encountered Delia lying across the foot. He could swear they were all purring.

Gently raising himself over her sleeping form, he lowered himself to the floor of the tent and tiptoed outside to find a handy tree. Looking back from the tent flap he was reminded of a litter of kittens all cuddled up together. He relived his full bladder and made his way back to the campsite. The night was clear and a full moon shone overhead. For a minute he wondered if his friends were tied to the moon’s cycle like werewolves were supposed to be.

Not wanting to wake the others with an entrance back into the tent, he sat quietly on one of the camp chairs and looked up at the night sky. The Milky Way was spread out in all its glory for his viewing pleasure. He leaned back, kicked his feet up and watched the stars go by.

“Impressive isn’t it,” an unfamiliar voice came from the edge of the camp. Noah looked over and saw a dark haired man standing next to a tree. He stepped forward to the edge of the camp and looked up. “There was a time when most of the world could see this site, not just the rural areas. A time before man drowned out the stars with electric light.”

“Yeah. They were burning people at the stake for witchcraft at about that time too.” For some reason Noah was in an argumentative mood.

The man only nodded his head and sat down on a log at the edge of the camp, not quite coming into the waning firelight. “Strange, you should phrase it quite that way. But of course you are right.” He smiled again, “I’m Lecroix, a guest here at this event. Your King Justin” he seemed to smile at the name “invited me to judge some of the events.”

Noah let his mind drift out slowly, listening for that small still voice. He was met with random thoughts of how to make mead, how to shoe a horse, or make a wagon. All the things that would a person living in the middle-ages would know. Gee this guy really gets into his persona.

Lecroix shook his head as if to say no but said, “You’re getting very good at that. I’d say in a few months, there will be very few who can hide their thoughts from you.”

“Let me guess, you’re one of those who can.” Noah said, trying not to sound too disrespectful.

Lecroix laughed, “Yes, I can for now, but probably not forever. Fortunately, I don’t have that kind of power, so there is a limit to what meager defenses I can offer.”

“Fortunately?” Noah asked confused.

Lecroix laughed again. “Yes fortunately, for you. Because if I did have that kind of power, then I’d be one of your enemies and you and your friends would be dead.”

“I’m just a kid,” Noah tried to consciously turn on his helpless act, “I don’t have enemies.”

Lecroix seemed to have a negative reaction to his projections. Noah saw a brief break in Lecroix’s random thoughts and saw a sudden instinct to attack. Noah quickly backed off from the helpless act and Lecroix shook his head and laughed, “Very good. But be careful with that particular illusion around me. I am a predator by nature, and need. I’m afraid we both would regret the results of my losing control around you. While I’m afraid you would get over it, should your friends catch me, I would surely be in this world no more.” He smiled conspiratorially at Noah, “And between you and me, six hundred years has not been quite enough for me. I haven’t seen and done everything I want yet.”

Taken aback by such a confession Noah raised and eyebrow, “So you’re not my enemy, but there are people out there who are?”

Lecroix laughed, “Oh yes. Definitely, there are people out there who would want to see what you and your friends have the potential to become to never return to this realm, especially when you find your counterpart, and make a bond.”

“My counterpart?” Noah asked.

“Yes. Your soul’s other half, as it were. When we created your kind, we split the power. Without the other,” he smiled wickedly, “well, let’s just say, the consequences are rather unfortunate.”

“Created my kind?” Noah said, “What do you mean? Last time I checked there was only one way to make a person.”

Lecroix replied, “I’ve said too much already. Just know this, I am not your enemy. And, when you find your other half, your control will get much better. All you have to do is accept her,” he seemed to notice something in Noah’s hair, “or him.”

“How will I know?” Noah asked.

“They’ll have a certain… fire about them that will draw you to them. You might even find your power works better with them.” Lecroix seemed to be fading away in front of Noah. “Oh, and by the way, don’t forget to feed the cats.” Then he was gone.

Noah just shook his head in confusion. “That man’s had a little too much to drink tonight. He’s just a little too in persona.” Still, he left Noah with a creepy feeling that all that wasn’t just an act.

“Who you talking to, Noah?” David asked from the edge of the tent. Noah felt his heart skip a beat.

“Just some strange guy who’d had a little too much mead tonight,” Noah whispered as he looked around the edges of the campsite for any other eerie visitors.

David came out of the tent and sat down next to him, “How’s the shoulder?”

Noah rotated his arm. “Better. I can’t even feel it.”

David shook his head and told him, “Nelson was right.”

“Nelson was right about what?” Noah asked.

“Oh, nothing.” David answered

“Just what I need, somebody else who’s being cryptic. What does it take to get a straight answer out of anybody these days?” Noah asked feeling a little put out by all the remarks that were meant to have more than one meaning.

David smiled, “Usually the right questions.” He looked into the fire and Noah could see their reflections dancing in his eyes. “I’m sorry about the shoulder. I guess I got a little too caught up in the fight. I forgot you were a friend. I do that sometimes, I forget that it’s just a game we’re playing and not the real thing.”

Noah rubbed the place where he felt his shoulder pop. A million things raced through his mind before he finally settled on the right question, “Are you just a friend, David?” At least it seemed like the right question.

“I’d like to be more, but I’d understand if you didn’t want to have anything to do with me after this evening.” Noah didn’t have to listen for small still voice to hear what was going on in David’s head. He knew David was worried that he was going to hold a grudge about the shoulder.

“I’m not worried about this evening. Like the kid who used to beat me up would say. No blood, no foul.”

“What kid that used to beat you up?” A gust of wind stirred the embers of the campfire to full light, and Noah couldn’t help but think about how good David looked by firelight.

“His name was Bill Worthy. When I lived in Atlanta he used to have a good time beating up on me in gym.” Briefly, Noah wondered what ever happened to that kid. The last he’d heard, Bill had been moved to a special school for kids who couldn’t behave in a normal class.

“Sounds like a bully to me.” David replied.

“He was.” Noah looked over at David, “Why are we talking about somebody who used to beat me up when I was ten? That’s not what I asked you about.”

“Like I said, I’d like to be more than just friends, but after this afternoon, I’d understand if you didn’t want anything to do with me in that manner.”

“And like I said, no blood, no foul.” Noah told him.

“But that’s just it. There was blood,” David replied.

Noah thought for a second, “then I guess you’ll have to pay a penalty.”

“Just make up already, so I can go back to sleep,” Delia said from inside the tent.

“Go to bed Delia.” David told her.

“I am in bed. I could tell both you the same thing, but then I get the feeling I might not get any sleep.” Noah could hear her sniffing from the tent. “What died out there?”

“The drunk that came through a little while ago.” Noah said.

Delia stuck her head out and looked around. Her face wrinkled up into a grimace as she turned toward Noah. “You smell like you’ve been rolling in something dead. Go take a bath.” She gestured toward David, “Take him with you. At least he can wash your back.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief, “or something.”
David stood up and held out his hand to Noah, “Let’s get our stuff. Her Majesty has spoken. If you don’t take a bath, she won’t let us back in the tent.”

Noah stood up to head into the tent to get his stuff, when Delia stopped him. “Oh no you don’t. You’re not coming in here smelling like that. Wait right there.” She disappeared into the tent and emerged a few moments later with a bar of soap and a towel. “Here.”

Noah took David’s hand and turned to leave. “And Noah honey,” Delia called after them.

“Yes.”

“While you’re at it. Burn those clothes. They smell like an open grave.”

As they headed down the path she called out, “Oh, and don’t take too long. Remember, David, you have to defend your honor at eight a.m. tomorrow.” Noah could swear she was giggling.

The showers turned out to be a lot more crowded at four in the morning than either of them expected. It seems that everybody decided to wait until now because everybody expects hot water at four a.m. The quiet little rendezvous Noah was hoping for, just didn’t materialize. It’s kind of hard to get somebody to seduce you in the showers with half a dozen other people standing around.

Looking at the long line waiting to get into the campground showers, David grabbed him by the hand, “C’mon. It’ll be six o’clock before we can get in there. Let’s just hit the beach.”

“In October?” Noah asked.

“Sure. The Gulf Stream runs right through here. It keeps the water nice and warm. Even at night.”

“What about sharks?” Noah asked.

“What about ‘em?”

“Well, I was always told not to swim at night. That sharks feed then.” Noah realized he was making excuses.

“Okay, if you don’t want to, we’ll stand here and wait. But a two minute walk there, and ten minutes in the water and we can get back to the nice warm sleeping bags.” He winked at Noah at the possibilities those presented, “Or we can stand here for two hours and hope there’s some hot water left.”

“No, no. Let’s hit the beach.” Noah figured he could stay in the shallow areas.

David was right. Less than fifteen minutes later they were both crawling into David’s sleeping bags on the floor.

“All right you two. Keep the groping to a minimum. Don’t forget, cats have good ears as well as noses,” Sharon said with a half yawn. “Besides, some of you have to fight in the morning.”

“I don’t know since somebody keeps talking and I can’t get some sleep, maybe I’ll just bow out of the fight in the morning, and spend the day on the beach.” David whispered.

“Oh no you don’t. I’ve got money on this fight.” Delia said, “Besides, somebody has to kick that dumb Viking’s ass from Ethelmark. You know the one that’s always going on about spears being the perfect weapon.”

“Delia, Sharon, if you don’t shut up I’m going to gag you,” Nelson whispered. “Oh and David, keep your hands on your own side of the sleeping bag. I know what that smells like.”

“That’s it. One more word out of any of you, and I’m going to the beach to sleep. At least there all I have to worry about is high ti…,” Noah cut off David’s tirade with a long kiss.

“Shhh. Go to sleep.” He turned over and cuddled up against David’s chest, very much aware of exactly where certain of his body parts lined up against David’s. As he drifted off to sleep he became very aware of where David’s hands were.

David wasn’t sure he was really awake. He seemed trapped behind someone else’s eyes- no that wasn’t quite right. He could feel some kind of slender cord, tough as steel, but delicate as a butterfly’s wings trailing back to his own self. If he concentrated, he could even feel himself, lying in the sleeping bag, his arms wrapped protectively around something. Then he remembered that something was Noah, and caught his out-of-body self actually blushing. At least he thought it was blushing. It felt like he was blushing, but he really didn’t have veins or skin, to carry out that particular biological function.

Stepping sideways he looked down the cord as it looped its way through great swirls of light and clouds down through some kind of barrier he couldn’t quite name. Shaking his not-head he looked forward, only to find himself in a room. He seemed smaller than he remembered, somehow more fragile. Turning back he could see the cord disappearing into the floor. The vast gulf of light and color was gone.

Looking around the room, he discovered it was a bedroom. Through the door he could hear someone talking softly. His ears were sharp, somehow allowing him to hear a conversation that by all rights he shouldn’t be able to discern.

“Do you want to tell him tonight?” A man’s voice he somehow knew to be Allen Pate’s.

“No. I don’t think we should tell him at all. When he gets in the car for school tomorrow, just keep driving until we get there,” Allen’s wife, Joyce replied.

“You mean don’t give him any warning? That doesn’t seem quite fair,” the man’s voice commented.

“I’m not trying to be fair. Sometimes what’s right is what’s fair. The boy is under some bad influences. You heard what he said. How can a kid that age just decide that he’s…a,” David could hear the hesitation in Joyce’s voice as if she were looking for the right word. “…a… a homosexual,” she finally spat the word out like it left a bad taste in he mouth. “He’s confused and needs help. These people have had a lot of success turning people like him back to the path of righteousness.” He could almost feel her shudder, “….Uh… the whole idea of what those kind of people do, makes my skin crawl.”

“You don’t think he has been molested do you? Something like that could make him turn that way.” Allen asked.

“I don’t know. With his folks jumping all over the globe, there’s no telling who he’s been around.” Joyce continued, “Anything’s possible I guess. Poor kid.”

“You sure you don’t want to tell him? At least give him time to pack.”

“No. It’s better this way. No chance to worry about it. Or argue.”

Suddenly David felt himself yanked through the floor, and he was outside on the streets. The night was dark, and he was carrying a backpack, stuffed with clothes and a few books. There was someone else there, but he couldn’t quite wrap his mind around who it was, but he knew he wasn’t alone. Looking over to his side, he kept catching only small glimpses of who ever it was, but his- somehow he knew it was a him- features were impossible to make out. It reminded him of the description his mom once gave of a migraine headache- the face kept disappearing. Are you sure you want to go here? The person asked him. Are you sure you want to see what’s up ahead? It’s not a pretty sight.

David took a deep breath. There was a definite sense of things not meant-to-be-seen about the situation. He squared his shoulders and replied. He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt, “Lead on. I’m not going in any direction but forward.”

The entity laughed. You might just be as strong as you want me to think. But remember, there are other kinds of strength, and I if you go there I can see into places you won’t let others.

“Am I dreaming, or are you?” David asked. He stopped and looked around. It was warm out, and light nighttime breeze stirred the trash lining the street of a rundown section of a town somewhere.

David thought he heard the other giggle, I’m remembering, he’s dreaming. You’re along for the ride. You sure you want to tag along?

“Yes.”

You were right about one thing.

“What’s that?” David asked straining to see the face of the person beside him.

He knows more about certain things than you’ll ever hope to know. Or want to know. What he’s offering you is the one thing he can’t afford to lose. If you take it, you’re going to take the last thing he has of his own. Are you sure you want that?

“I’m willing to take whatever he wants to give. And willing to give whatever he might want in return,” David wasn’t sure exactly who he was dealing with. But he was going to stand his ground here, especially if it was who he thought was waiting at the end of this weird exchange.

He offers it freely- again the entity seemed to giggle at some secret joke, -and of his own will. Maybe the joke wasn’t quite as secret as the entity thought. Can you make the same claim?

“Okay, enough with the bad Bram Stoker quotes. What do I have to do, open a vein and sign it in blood?”

Would you? The entity was a little too excited about that particular idea for David to be entirely comfortable.

“If that’s what it takes. Where do you want it fro…” before David could finish the swirling distortion around the entity wavered and then solidified. Next to him was the strangest little being he’d ever seen in his life. Standing no more than three foot tall with straight reddish black hair and pointed ears was a little man dressed in leather armor and carrying a small wicked-looking sword. He giggled and smiled up at David, mischievously.

“That won’t be necessary. Yet. All he needs right now is your heart. I’m here to see that it’s delivered, signed, sealed and unopened.” The small man smiled, “After all, that’s what he’s offering you.”

“I’m afraid you can’t do that,” David told him.

The little man drew his sword and demanded, “And why not?”

“You can’t deliver to him what he’s already got.” David stood his ground.

The little man nodded, “Not bad. You got a flair for the dramatic, young David Grant Rosen. I like that. You might be worthy of him after all. Mind you, I’m still not convinced, but he seems to be.”

“How’d you know my middle name?” David asked.

“What, you don’t think this link doesn’t cut both ways.” The little man grinned at him and winked.

“What link?”

“You daft boy?” the little man turned to talk to someone David couldn’t see, “I tell ya Flitter, he sure can’t see what’s right in front of his nose.”

“Look this is the first time something like this has happened to me.” David protested.

“I know it is. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here now,” the little guy told him.

Growing irritated with the situation, David stopped and looked at the small man, “By the way,” he demanded, “Could you just tell me who you are? I gather you’re halfling, or something. Right?”

The little man bowed deeply, “Tior Tinderflint at your service. Bard to kings, and common folk alike, adventurer extraordinaire, wizard of no-small power, and friend any handsome young lad who might want to have a little fun on the side.”

“Okay,” David began, “So this is a link, and I’m in Noah’s head. He’s dreaming and you’re letting me see some of his old memories. Right?”

“Not quite,” Tior leaned back against the building. “You ever wonder how a telepath could cope with selling his body on the street without going insane?”
David shook his head, “Can’t say that I have. Up until I met Noah, I thought they only showed up in science-fiction and fantasy. But I’d guess they’d close themselves off. Not let people in.”

Tior shook his head. “If only it were that easy. A burgeoning tepe- that’s your term I think. I kinda’ like it. Anyway, a new tepe is really sensitive to touch. As Noah’s power began to grow his mind had to find some place to put some part of him that his customers couldn’t touch. Otherwise his hopes and dreams would become corrupted and die by that kind of intimate contact. I’m that somewhere all those dreams and hopes he had for the future went when he thought they’d died. The more he buried them, the greater my power became. You should see all the adventures, he’s dreamed up for me while he serviced,” Tior spat out the last word, “all those creatures.”

“So you’re basically what his subconscious came up with to protect itself. But what happens to you when he realizes that those hopes and dreams are still out there? That he can still have them. Maybe not all of them, but most of them.”

Tior smiled, “That’s the beauty of it laddy-buck. I’m one of those hopes and dreams. One that he’s already found a way to have. If he’ll just get up the courage to follow through with them.”

“What can I do to help? Besides, just be there? And support him and trust him, and you know help him pick himself up when he falls?” David asked leaning against the building next to him.

Tior looked up at him and winked, “Let him be there for you. Let him support you. Give him someone to trust. Let him help you up when you fall. An’ accordin’ to my friend Talia, that’s what it’s all about.”

“By the way, who were you talking to?”

“Oh, you mean Flitter? She’s my travellin’ companion. Somebody to tell me tales to when nobody else’s around. She’s kinda’ shy though, bein’ a faerie, an’ all.” Tior winked at him again, and pulled out a long elegant looking pipe. He tamped some tobacco in it and stuck it between his teeth without lighting it. “She might even let you see her sometime. If yer good.” He winked at David.

“Well, what ever she’s comfortable with, but it’s nice almost meeting you ma’am.” David could have sworn he heard someone giggle.

“So back to our bargain? You willin’ t’ ‘cept the bad with the good?” David noticed Tior’s accent seemed to become more pronounced the longer they talked. Almost like he was getting to know a character in a book.

“Mr. Tior, I’m willin’ to accept the bad with good, the good with the bad, the bad with the bad, the good with the good, and any other combination you might come up with. I may not like what Noah had to do, but I’ve got no choice but accept it. It’s part of him. It happened, and there’s really nothing any of us can do to change somebody else’s past. I’ll take him as he is- warts and all. I do know a few things. You can’t control what life throws at you. You can only work with it. And it seems to me he did a pretty damn good job of making what he had work for him.”

“Seems to me boy, you’ve learned a few lessons a lot of people much older’n you haven’t. You’ll probably do after all.” He looked down for a minute. “I don’t think I have to take you on guided tour of Center Street after all. Do I?”

“Not unless you really think it’s necessary to drag Noah through that. Personally I’d rather not put him through all that when he’s just getting comfortable. Besides, I think it’s best if he wants me to know the things that happened on Center Street that he tells me. Even though you are a part of him, it’s still kind of like sneaking around behind his back to find out things, that if I want to know, I can always ask him about.”

Tior nodded. “Just two more things.”

“Yes sir?”

“Sir. I kinda’ like that. Not many people think to call a halfling sir. Something about our height I think.” He laughed and looked up. “I kinda’ gotta’ make it official like. It’s the way his mind works, you know.” He stood up from the wall, straightened his armor, and sheathed his sword. “You take the boy as he is? To trust and be trusted, warts an’ all?” To David that sounded rather final.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. We’ll wait for the exchange of blood later.”

“Nice of you to warn me.”

“Not a problem, m’boy. No problem at all.”

“Any thing else sir?” He nodded into the air, “ma’am?”

“She’s over here,” Tior pointed over his other shoulder.

“Ma’am,” David nodded in the other direction.

“Well, there is somethin’….” Tior’s voice trailed off.

“Yes sir?”

Tior turned to his side and spoke to the air, “Well, it is in the boys best interests after all.” He turned back to face David, “Flitter here doesn’t think I should bring it up.”

“Well sir, sometimes you just gotta’ do what you think’s best. I don’t know if Miss Flitter’s right or not. I don’t know what you’re thinking.”

“Oh you will boy. Mark my words, you will,” Tior told him. “Well, you see, there is something else. Something Noah doesn’t tell anybody about. I’m kinda’ revealing a pretty important secret here, if you take my meaning.”

“Well, if you tell, me I won’t tell a soul. But if you don’t tell me I’ll understand.”

Tior seemed to listen to his side for a moment, and then nod. “You got a point there.” He turned back to David. “Flitter here pointed out that my bein’ willin’ to bring it up means that the boy probably wants to tell somebody, so it’s not really like I’d be blowin’ my own horn so to speak.”

“Alright I’m listening.”

“Well you see it’s like I said…”

David thought he saw where he was going, “You want me to get him to write your adventures down, right?”

“Not quite. You see, he’s already done that. I just want you to get him to let somebody else read ‘em. After all, right now, I’m only a legend in his mind. He really is a pretty good story teller, you know. Got a real flair for the dramatic an’ all.”

“I’ll do my best. But could you do me a favor? If you can, because I don’t know how this is gonna’ work. If you could leave a clear image of you in my mind, when I wake up…”

Tior smiled at him, “the boy’ll pick up on it, and you can ask him about it.”

“Yes sir. That’s about what I was thinking.”

“You’re sneaky boy. I like that. A good bard’s gotta be a little sneaky if he wants to eat.”

“From you sir, I’ll take that as a good thing.”

Tior only laughed, as the world faded around David. Suddenly he was back behind his own eyes. He could feel the cord reaching out and tentatively anchoring itself to Noah who was still lying in his arms. Then he realized exactly what his right hand was holding. The boy had been right. There were some areas where he wasn’t the smallest. Opening his eyes, he could see the golden rays of the rising sun peaking in through the open tent flap. Outside he could hear someone moving around the camp, probably fixing breakfast.

Glancing over to the sleeping platform, he realized that everyone else had managed to get out the door without waking either one of them. Pulling Noah closer to him, he nibbled on edge of his ear and whispered, “You know points on these might just be the thing.”

“What?..” Noah snuggled up closer to him. The closeness of his body was having a definite effect on his own- that and a full bladder.

David licked the top of his ear, “points on your ears. You’d make a handsome halfling. Especially with auburn hair.”

“Halflings have black hair…” Noah muttered reaching back and adjusting David into a rather dangerous position.

“No, I think auburn. You’d make a rather unique halfling.”

“Sorry, an auburn haired halfling’s already been done.” Noah snuggled still partly asleep.

“Yeah? What’s his name?”
Tior, his name’s Tior.”

“Tior huh? Not Twah?” David had to force himself to think about the halfling, and not the invitation, he wasn’t sure Noah was aware he was offering.

“No the halfling tongue is more Slavic than French,” Noah continued.

David brought his arm up from where it was and ran it down Noah’s rib cage. “Okay, so Tior the Halfling with auburn hair. You know you should write that up. I bet you’d make a wonderful bard. You know you’d have to give him a companion. But who would travel with a halfling?”

Noah squirmed under David’s touch so violently that David almost broke a promise he’d made to his mom without meaning too. As if suddenly realizing exactly what position he was in Noah sat bolt upright, removing the danger. Deep in his heart, David wasn’t sure he was happy about that. “Wait a minute! How do you know about Tior?”

“You just told me his name.” David replied, trying to sound innocent.

“But you described him.” Noah locked eyes with David. For just a minute, David was afraid he was going to get lost in those blue eyes. Slowly they melted and David felt the cord connecting him to Noah snap taught and thrum with something that shot right to the pit of his stomach. A smile slowly spread across Noah’s face, and David got the distinct impression that the younger boy was looking deep inside himself. He bent over, pressed his body against David’s and kissed him like he’d never been kissed before.

As the younger boy opened his mouth, David could feel Noah’s teeth elongate and extend downward. David took a chance and gently wrapped his own tongue around one of the sharp canines, and felt a shudder start somewhere in the back of Noah’s neck run down his spine and end trembling somewhere in the nether-regions of his groin.

“Are you two going to come out of there anytime soon?” Sharon stuck her head in the tent and winked at David. He knew she knew what she was interrupting and knew she was enjoying it.

Somebody growled at her, but David wasn’t sure if it was him or Noah. Noah reached out, snagged a pillow and threw it at her. Then kissing his way across David’s face he ended just under his ear. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to make you break that promise. Just yet.” David knew the operative word there was yet. Rolling off David, the smaller boy stood up, either not remembering Sharon was still in the tent, or not caring.

“Well…” was all she said.

Noah smiled at her as he pulled on a pair of shorts, “What’s the big deal. You saw it the other night.”

“Yeah, but daylight puts it into a whole new perspective.”

David threw the covers off and reached for his own shorts.

Sharon turned and smiled at him, “And here Mr. Rosen, I thought you were Jewish.”

“Only on my father’s side, Sharon. My mother’s a good Scots Catholic.”

“I can see why the Scots were so good with big swords,” she laughed. “Lot’s of practice.” At this point Noah caught her square in the side of the head with another pillow. David grabbed her and started tickling her on the way out of the tent.

Coming into the morning sunlight, dropping Sharon in Brendan’s lap, he and Noah ducked sideways toward the line of trees. “Nice tents.” Nelson called behind them.

“Thanks. It’s all in the pole,” David called back, wondering where all this sexually charged energy was coming from. Moreover he was a little frightened of where it was going.

CHAPTER 6

Delia watched David and Noah head off toward the trees. She turned to Sharon, “Just what did you interrupt there?”

“He’s not Jewish.” Sharon smirked.

“Who’s not Jewish?” Nelson asked.

“Neither of them.” Sharon replied.

“We already knew that,” Brendan told her, oblivious to what was going on around him. He was concentrating on repairing a strap that Noah broke last night when he knocked him down.

“Well, let’s just say I know why David is always up before we are, or why he’s the last one to crawl out of bed after we’ve all left the tents.” Sharon said winking at Delia.

“And that would be,” Brendan still hadn’t looked up from the piece of armor he was working on.

“Well, duh… He’s au’natural.”

“In the tongue of the business,” Nelson smirked, “she’s trying to tell you he’s uncut.” He then grinned and winked at Delia. “Just like Noah.”

“And you know that how?” Brendan finally looked up. Delia could tell he was uncomfortable with the direction this was going.

“You mean besides the fact that I had to strip him and put him in the shower at school last Tuesday, or the fact that I share a bathroom with him at home?” Nelson told him matter-of-factly.

“Do I really want to know the answer to that?” Brendan asked.

“Probably, but that’s a question you’ll have to answer for yourself,” Delia told him.

“Look, is it too much to ask that we find something else to discuss besides the configuration of our friends’ anatomy?” Brendan said obviously flustered.

“Why? Sharon and I do it all the time,” Delia couldn’t resist the jab.

“Because somehow it seems a little fa…” Delia knew Brendan was about to put his foot in his mouth. Nelson interrupted him before she could.

“You really want to finish that sentence,” Delia could hear a threat in his voice.

“Okay, okay. It just doesn’t seem right.” Looking at his friends faces, “talking about them that way, I mean,” he quickly added.

“Talking about who what way?” Noah asked as they re-entered the camp. Delia noticed the tents in their shorts were gone.

“Oh, Brendan was curious about something you two have that the two of us don’t” Nelson teased Brendan.

As if sensing his friend was being ribbed, David came to Brendan’s rescue, “Oh, you mean our keen fashion sense?”

Delia lost it right there. The image of those two comparing shirts at Macy’s was more than she could manage this early in the morning.

“Okay, now that we’ve had our morning pick-on-Brendan-session, how are we split up today?” Sharon asked.

“Well, I’ve got lists all morning.” He turned to Noah, “Sorry Runt, but you probably won’t get a rematch until sometime this afternoon.”

“Brendan and I have Broken Field from ten til noon.” Nelson told her.

Delia piped up, “I’m stuck with the Royal Court all morning. It seems Her Majesty and I’ll be watching the lists like good little Ladies in Waiting.” Delia hated being the Queen. She was such lump. She was one of those Scadians who constantly looked for something to criticize others about. Especially, if the least little part of their garb wasn’t period.

“So where does that leave me?” Noah asked.

“You can always join us with the Broken Field until we hit the main battlefield at noon.” Nelson told him. Delia got the feeling Nelson wanted to keep Noah close, where he could keep an eye on him.

“Yeah come on with us. We can always use an extra person.” Brendan said. “Besides, a Broken Field battle will get you ready for the main fight. It weeds out the ones who really shouldn’t have their pinks.”

“Broken Field? What’s that?” Noah asked.

“It’s when you fight in the woods, or through an obstacle course of some kind. You know, when you don’t have a clear and open battlefield to play on. If you ask me, it’s a lot more fun than the main battle. On the Broken Field tactics are more important than strategy.”

“So what this all builds up to one big free-for-all at the main battle?” Noah asked.

“Well, the first half of the main battle will be organized into sides.” Nelson commented. “The second half it sort of narrows down to every-house-for-itself, and finally down to every man,” He looked over at Delia and Sharon, “well, every fighter for him or herself.”

“So that’s when you’ll get your first chance at me, Runt.” David tousled Noah’s hair.

“I had my first chance at you this morning,” Noah grinned over at Sharon, “but somebody interrupted us.”

“Yeah well, you know what they say.” David winked at Sharon, “If it’s not for bad timing, some people would have no timing at all.”

“Bad timing my foot. She walked in right when she wanted to,” Delia smirked.

“Just because I beat you to the punch. Or at least the tent flap,” Sharon shot back.

“So what? Next time we gang up with a camera?” Delia suggested.

“Sounds good to me?” Sharon said, “Still, or video.”

“Oh, definitely video. Do you know how much you can get for kiddie-porn on the street?” Delia joked, but immediately regretted the comment. She looked over sheepishly at Noah, “Sorry. I guess that didn’t come out quite right.”

Noah shrugged at her, “No problem. Actually, that’s one of the few things I never did. Make a video that is.” He winked at David. “It might be fun.” Delia wasn’t so sure, she’d be quite as forgiving about a jab like that.

“Well, video or not. I’ve got to start armoring up. I’m supposed to be on the lists in a less than an hour.” David said.

“Me, I’m just hungry,” Noah said, going over to Sharon with big kitten eyes. Delia watched every eye turn and stared at him. “What? I can’t be hungry?”

“Well, considering that you normally don’t eat much more than a couple of bites of toast and a glass of OJ…” Delia told him.

“Okay, okay. I’m hungry this morning. So sue me.”

“Nah, I’d much rather beat your pants off on the field,” Nelson told him.

“Nelson, I don’t wear pants on the field. Remember, my persona is a barbarian. I wear a loin cloth and leggings.” He smirked at Nelson and added, “besides, you’ve seen me without my pants before.”

“Yeah, that’s why I want to beat them off you.” Nelson winked.

Delia wasn’t sure he wasn’t serious. “Hey! Remember me?”

“Well yeah. You can play too.” Nelson grinned and turned to face Noah, “Noah you mind if she plays?”

Sharon cleared her throat and stuck a plate in his face, “You better shut up and stick some food in that face before somebody else decides to put a fist in it,” she pointed at Delia with her thumb. Everybody chuckled as they watched Noah wolf down four plates of Sharon’s special artery-hardening-cholesterol-packed-stolen-from-Martha-pancake recipes.

“Hey Brendan,” David yelled from across the camp, “when Runt decides to eat, he can put away as much as you.”

Oh God, here we go again. Delia sat daintily in the divan provided for the Ladies in Waiting. Only thirty minutes into the event and she’s already making me wish I could jump out onto the field and have them break my leg or something so I won’t have to deal with her. She looked over to the tall brunette wearing a thin crown. Of course the running joke around Meridie was that it wasn’t really a crown, but the IUD she used to keep from getting pregnant while sleeping her way to the throne. “Really Your Majesty, you say yellow just wasn’t her color at all?” Delia hoped her voice didn’t sound as fake to the Queen as it did to her.

“It wasn’t so much that yellow wasn’t her color,” Queen Claire told her, “but it wasn’t a color that fit the period for her persona. I mean, if someone is going to put that kind of time and effort into a gown, they should at least get the colors right. An off-tan, or even a green would have been more accurate.”

“Well, you’ve got to admit that off-tan and green wouldn’t fit her coloring. Maybe we can forgive her this once. After all, if she went with an earth tone, she’d have looked like a lump of soil, or a moldy potato,” Delia let her eyes scan the field. “Oh look, the lists are starting.” She turned to nibble some fruit one of the pages had supplied. “Who do you think will win this year?”

“It would be nice if the King won for once. After all, it’s getting rather tiresome having him go all the way to the finals only to have that damnable barbarian, Sir David beat him in the end. It’s not like he can hold the throne anyway.” Claire seemed oblivious to the fact that she was a member of David’s household. “I mean it’s like a Germanic Chieftain letting the Roman Emperor keep his throne because he’s too busy out sacking the rest of the Empire.” Delia couldn’t help but think that the Empire wasn’t what he wanted to sack.

“I believe that would be Prince David, Your Majesty. After all, he has won the last Four Crown Tourneys. I think that qualifies him to be considered the Heir Apparent.” Delia felt like rubbing it in. If the woman was going to be such a bore, then she was at least going to get a few good jabs in before it was over. “The only question now of course is who is going to be his queen. I mean after all, there are only two eligible women in his house-hold.” Might as well remind her that her time as Queen is limited.

“I don’t know, perhaps he’ll choose someone from outside his household.” Claire replied making it obvious that she still held some hope for retaining the crown. She did so enjoy being queen. “After all, he’ll need someone who’s experienced in the position to guide him his first time out.”

Delia replied under her breath, “I think he’s got someone else in mind for that particular position.” Raising her voice to conversational level she continued, “Oh, I don’t know. I think either of the two ladies in his house would be perfect for the position.”

Something on the field seemed to have caught the Queen’s attention, “What is that he’s got tied to his upper arm there?” She leaned forward, “Is that someone’s favor he’s wearing?”

“I believe you’re right, Your Majesty. He seems to have gained someone’s favor.” Delia could make out several of Noah’s ribbons in a band tying a blue feather to his arm. “It looks like some kind of hair ribbon, with a feather attached your Majesty.” Delia shook her head, “Doesn’t look too feminine though.” Bingo! Way to go boys. “Perhaps we’ll get a closer look when they present before the fight.”

“Perhaps,” Claire’s mood had soured noticeably. She sat very still as the combatants slowly made their way around the field with great pomp. Delia noticed with some satisfaction that David was getting a great many cheers from the crowd. He’d become something of a favorite at these events. She had a suspicion that it was his young age, and the fact that he’d taken the wind out of quite a few braggarts’ sails over the last two years.

As the main combatants approached the Royal viewing box and saluted, Delia could see Claire’s spine stiffen as the blue feather tied to David’s arm became extremely noticeable. “You don’t think…?” Christiana seemed unable to finish her sentence.

“Think what, Your Majesty?” Delia asked trying to hide the glee from her voice.

“This must be some kind of joke. A blue feather doesn’t always mean that one is of that persuasion.” Claire was trying to affect the Queen Victoria’s air of not being amused.

“And you’d know this how, Your Majesty?” Delia didn’t bother playing nice and hiding her claws.

“A blue feather in our society has only recently attained that particular designation.”

“What’s the matter Kristen, you afraid you’ve finally found someone who’s bed you can’t get into to get to the throne?” Delia asked softly, while pushing her hair back over her ear, revealing the blue feather Sharon wove into it this morning. After all, if the boys can play with each other, why can’t we?

“Pardon me?” was all the Queen could manage as the herald announced the opening of the lists.

Delia actually managed to watch David’s bouts- as short as they were- without the incessant chattering of the vain little woman she’d come to despise over the past six months. As the lists continued, the final outcome of the bouts became an almost certainty, “Methinks this particular event is more of a rout than a contest. What say you, Your Majesty?” Delia returned to persona after David’s fifth consecutive win.

“It has its highlights. But our young Prince has a year yet before he can take the crown.” She turned and smiled coldly at Delia, “A lot can happen in a year. Who knows, he might come down with a bad case of acne.” Delia only raised an eyebrow at the cheap shot at David’s youth. “It still looks like I’ll be queen for a while yet.” She rose regally, and left the boxes.

“Just remember You Majesty. Yours is an appointed position, subject to the whims of His Majesty.” Then remembering something, “Oh, and Kristen?”

The Queen stopped but did not turn. She remained silent as if not deigning to reply. “Those ribbons belong to the son of an old friend of His Majesty,” Delia got in her final remark as she too rose and left the stands to meet David on the field.

Coming down the steps, several of the younger pages surrounding the box, scurried out of her way. Approaching where King Justin and David were quietly discussing something she couldn’t hear, she waited patiently for them to finish. After all it was not polite to interrupt the King and His Champion- especially when that particular king held in his hands the power to take away their newfound kitten.

Finally noticing her standing there, King Justin turned to her and smiled. “Well, hello there my dear. Did you enjoy today’s rout?” Justin smiled broadly at her.

“It had its moments Your Majesty.” She bowed to him, “Many of them, not on the field.”

She followed the king’s gaze past her to rest on Claire obviously still fuming from their exchange, “That must have been some conversation, my dear. I don’t believe I’ve seen her Majesty quite that shade of red before.” He then added under his breath, “at least not while dressed.”

“We were discussing her qualification for maintaining her title, if Prince David should ever ascend the throne.” It simply was not done to discuss the concept of a King losing his crown with him.

His Majesty turned back and flicked the ribbons on David’s arm. “I think our young friend, uh… Dior wasn’t it…,” the King seemed to reach for Noah’s persona’s name. “may have something to say about her using her usual strategy for holding on to that particular chair.”

Delia only smiled, “Dior would have to stand in line Your Majesty.” She then curtsied, “I’ve disliked her longer.”

“Well, on that note, I think I might better depart and see what I can do about placating Her Majesty.” He turned back to David and left the tall boy with a final reminder, “Remember what we discussed.”

“So as much as I want to know what you were talking about, I’m sure you’ll tell me eventually. Or tell me it’s none of my business.” She told him. “But on to other subjects. Have something on your mind other than the lists this morning? You were a little hard on those fighters this morning, weren’t you?”

David blushed, and tucked his helm under his arm, “I guess I mad. Sorry.”

“At what?”

“Oh, Sir Kelv let me know that Her Majesty was starting to take notice of my… uh… prowess.” He shuddered at an unpleasant thought, “Look I wouldn’t crawl between those legs for all the money on Center Street.” David told her.

She reached up and patted the armband, and then slipped her arm through his, “After seeing that, I’m not sure if she’s going to consider you more of a challenge or a lost cause.” They began to walk toward the main battlefield, where she’d already been informed that the survivors of Broken Field event were already deep into the second round of battle. “So, what did His Majesty have to say?”

“Aren’t you more interested in what Judge Anderson had to say?” David smiled back at her.

“Hedging my bets. I wasn’t sure who he was speaking as.” Delia replied.

“Actually, he was speaking as both.” David told her.

“And what did they have to say?” She asked.

“Well… King Justin thinks that my house needs to be made official. After all, I am now a Prince of the Realm.”

“Wonderful, wonderful.”

“I thought you might think that. Especially since that automatically raises you and Sharon to the rank of Nobility,” he continued to walk along in silence, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“And Judge Anderson?” Delia tried to hide her irritation at his silence.

“Oh, the Judge?” He smiled, “Not much.”

“Speak Bronze boy or you’ll not make it to the fight in one piece. I know where all your soft and tender parts are.” She told him, making it clear that for now it was only a joke.

He just smiled at her and pulled the blue feather away from her hair and seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time inspecting it, “Has Nelson and Brendan seen these?”

“Yes. Now back to the Judge. Quit trying to change the subject.”

“Oh, we were talking about the Judge?” He grinned.

“Very funny, we were talking about your conversation with the Judge and how it pertained to our little household.” She stopped and spun him around to face her, “More specifically a certain little kitten that gave you this.” She flicked the feather.

“Oh, that. I didn’t think you ‘d be interested in that. ”

“You really don’t value the fact that you have a nice warm cozy sleeping bag, or the fact that if you keep leading me on with this, that you’re going to wake up with something unpleasant in it with you.”

“Well if you’re going to threaten me.” He smiled, “All he did was ask me how Noah was getting along, and if he seemed to be happy. I told him that he was adjusting, and that I thought that Martha’s was a good place for him, even if I didn’t have interest beyond friendship in him.”

“And…?”

“He said that he was glad to hear it.”

“And that’s all?”

“Well, he did say something about making sure that Noah got reimbursed for the money the Pates had embezzled. He wasn’t happy about that part. I think he has some idea of how Noah kept himself fed on the streets, but he’s not talking. He told me that he didn’t have any plans on interfering with Noah’s case. He just wanted to make sure that he was safe, and taken care of.” David’s voice dropped so just they could hear, “He did threaten to kill me if I hurt Noah though.”

“Well that’s a given. I’ll kill you myself if you hurt him.” She grinned at him, “Brendan’s even got the shovel already.”

“Shovel?”

“Yeah, you know the one we’ll use to beat you to death with and then bury you.” She laughed.

He stopped a minute, and the look he gave Delia made it clear that something serious was on his mind. “Delia?”

“Yes?”
“Have you stopped to think about why we’re reacting to the Runt the way we are? I mean, it’s not like this little group is…” David seemed to struggle for the right word, “…I don’t want to say friendly, but let’s face it.” He shook his head, “we’re not exactly the most welcoming bunch around. Hell, we can be downright anti-social at times. But here comes this kid, and we just take him in, make him a part of our rather closed society, no questions asked.” He looked at her, “Doesn’t that seem kinda’ strange to you?”

“Is it any stranger than the fact the group already has two male ex-prostitutes, a prom queen, a computer geek, and a beach bum? Or the fact that we’re also,” she leaned in close so that nobody else could hear, “four werecats, and that Brendan bit you and that you’ve never shown the least tendency toward changing. Think about that. There are only two outcomes to being bitten. You either change, or you die. You didn’t do either.”

“I’m not sure about that myself. I haven’t had any desire to go chase a ball of string.” David told her.

“Not even mice?” She could’t help but tease him.
“No. Not even mice.” He kept his head close to hers. “Besides, something really weird happened this morning.”
“Oh?” Delia’s curiosity was suddenly piqued.

“I don’t think it was a dream- at least it didn’t feel like one.” He seemed to struggle for words, “But I’ve…. Got this…. connection… with Runt now.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” She couldn’t understand why this was so difficult for David. He liked Noah, Noah liked him: why not just accept it and go on. It’s not often that life gives you someone to love that loves you back. Even she could tell that these two boys were made for each other, so why not act on what they know to be right and accept it.

“No. I can’t say that it is.” David suddenly seemed to change tactics on her, “Did you know that he’s a writer?”
“No. But it doesn’t surprise me,” she told him.

“Why not?” he asked.

“It just doesn’t. I don’t know how to explain it, but it suits him.” Now that she thought about it, he did seem to have something of world builder’s character to him. “As for your connection. Can’t you just accept, that there’s every possibility that you feel so connected to him is because he’s the right person. You’re supposed to be together. We all are.”

“Sounds like somebody’s been reading too much Mercedes Lackey.” David chided her about her favorite author.

“Look, what are the odds, that six people who have absolutely nothing in common would come together. Five of us under the same roof, and four of us just happen to be werecats. On top of that, four of us just happened to come from the streets. There has to be something else going on here. I just have this feeling that we are right where we belong right now, and that together we’re going to make it through all this.” This idea had been bouncing around in her head now for a day or so. Somehow seeing David and Noah together this morning just seemed to bring it all to a head. Delia had always had a sense of what’s right and wrong, and this just seemed right. Her sense had yet to fail her. She knew it had been the right thing to leave home that night three years ago, when her dad had come home drunk again. She knew it had been the right thing to do when she hooked up with Nelson, the boy had been willing to sell his own body to keep her from having to sell hers. She’d also sensed something right about that night Nelson had come back to the basement where they had been staying with the money to get out of Atlanta. Both of those times, her sense of what was right had saved her life. She wasn’t about to start ignoring it now.

“I hope you’re right Delia. I’d hate to think that someone out there was manipulating our lives.” David voiced a concern Delia herself had been afraid to entertain. She’d sensed someone else’s hand in all this, but so far it hadn’t set off her internal warning system, so she was just going to ride it out for now.

“Someone’s always manipulating something. You just have to decide if you want them to manipulate you or not.” She hoped that she sounded more confident than she felt.

“I can tell you one thing though, our little kitten has done rather well for himself today.” David smiled.

“Oh?” Delia asked. “How would you know? You’ve been at the lists all day.”

“I just know. I can feel it.” He seemed to start to touch his temple but at the last minute changed and tapped his chest, “In here.”

“Well, let’s go and confirm your feeling.” Then smiling at him, “After all, you promised him, he could beat up on you this afternoon.”

Noah looked up at Nelson and Brendan, and realized they were going to tag along with him the whole time he spent on the field. They weren’t going to interfere with any combat in which he might engage, but at the same time they were going to be there to make sure everybody played by the rules. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Damn it all, he was only a year younger than they were, and had survived on his own a lot longer than either of them had. At the same time, feeling protected was something he discovered he’d missed over the past two years.

Half a dozen encounters along their way in the small patch of woods, in which they were fighting, Noah discovered that his tunic and leggings were beginning to grow hot. Taking advantage of a brief reprieve in the fighting, he stripped them off and packed them into his pack, adjusted his armor and set out to see if he could finally get a little tan.

“What’s the deal, Runt?” Brendan asked him, “You trying to go for the Beastmaster look?” Brendan kidded him.

“Nah, I don’t have the complexion for it. Just trying to stay cool.” He told him.

“Maybe not, but be careful you don’t get chaffed from that gorget. It can rub blisters on you before you know it.” Nelson told him. “But you’ll have to figure that out for yourself.”

Noah shot Nelson his best “bite me” smirk and got set to meet the raging horde of Scots regulars that were coming over the hill. Well, maybe not exactly a horde, there were six of them, all wearing kilts and wielding representations of huge claymores. They were screaming like banshees the whole time. “Look sharp, Runt. Looks like we’ve got some William Wallace wannabe’s on our hands.” Brendan shouted to him as he locked swords with the largest of the attackers, and the battle was joined.

Two of the group veered off from Nelson and Brendan to attempt to flank him. Noah wasn’t stupid. He shifted his position, to force the farthest one from him to have to navigate through a patch of fall briars he’d seen earlier, while he turned to face the closest. This one looked to be even greener than he was. The guy charged right up to him, his sword held high. Noah almost hated the ease he had side-stepping the blow and rapping the guy hard upside the left shoulder. There was a loud “whack” as the rattan hit the hard leather breast plate he was wearing. The guy was literally lifted off his feet by the force of the blow and landed hard on his backside. Noah watched the stunned look cross his face as he realized that he’d just been “killed” with a single blow.

Turning to face the second guy picking his way through the mine-field of the sharp briars, Noah heard Brendan yell, “Nice shot, Runt!” as he sidestepped one attacker and rapped the other a good shot across the top of the helm. Almost dancing his way out of the briars the second attacker found Noah calmly waiting for him to get himself clear. When Noah was sure the guy had cleared all the briars, and was ready with his claymore, he dashed in close, and nailed him a strong slashing blow across the back of his upper arm and danced out of reach before he could react.

“Light!” his opponent called. Noah was a little shocked at that. The blow had been hard enough to knock the guy off balance, but if he wanted to play it that way, then could play too.

Spinning to catch his balance from Noah’s blow, the Scot turned right into a second hit-and-run stroke clean across the stomach. That strike was hard enough to double the larger man over. There was no question, it was a killing blow, and the guy conceded the defeat- after catching his breath. “Runt’s got teeth,” Nelson commented finally dropping his second opponent. Noah simply flashed him a smile, and was rewarded by a startled look from his Samurai clad friend.

The rest of the battle went fairly smoothly, and as the time for the main battle drew closer, Noah felt himself becoming more and more confident in his own skills. His sword became an extension of his body. A dull buzzing started at the base of his skull, and began to thrum throughout his body, like the string of an instrument wound too tight. His opponents became a series of slow moving encounters, who’s weapons- because not all of them were wielding swords- seemed to stop in mid swing and hover there long enough for him to simply step out of their way, and counter-strike. The buzzing became stronger until the sounds of the world were drowned out by its angry thrum, and the world around him took a red tint, and wavered.

“Noah?” Someone was calling his name from far away. It took a second for his mind to register it was Brendan. Then the world suddenly snapped back into place, with a painful vividness. He looked around and Nelson and Brendan were staring at him. Several other participants were scrambling away to determine how many more resurrections they had left.

Raising an eyebrow, he turned to look at Brendan, “Did I get killed?”

Nelson and Brendan looked at him shocked and then started to giggle. “Get killed?” Nelson asked, and then shook his head, “No, you didn’t get killed. Just about everybody around you did, but you seemed to have come through it unscathed.”

Brendan walked up to him, and gently removed the rattan sword from his hand, “You okay, Runt?” His voice sounded concerned, “You seemed to zone out. I was afraid you’d actually gone berserker on us there for a while.” He smiled at him, “You do remember that this is just a game don’t you.”

Noah nodded, and then shook his head trying to rattle the rest of his mind back to reality. “Berserker? I didn’t hurt anybody did I?” Then a horrible thought came to him, “I uh… didn’t violate any of the rules did I?”

“No, Runt. You stopped every time the Marshal called for time. You never hit anybody illegally. You just managed to wipe the field up with most of us. I though you were new to this kind of thing.” He smiled broadly at him, “You wouldn’t be holding out on us would you? I mean you’re not secretly the Kings Champion of say, Great Western or something are you?”

Noah had no idea what he was talking about. If he set his mind to it, he could recall every encounter, every fight, every time-out, every sip of water, but it all seemed somehow all crammed together like a movie whose frames were stacked one on top another. It was as if he had to slow down his memories of the past few hours frame by frame and observe each moment separately. “No,” was all he could say.

“You sure you’re okay?” Brendan asked leading him off the field. He could sense the worry in the older boys mind.

Noah put on his best smile, “I’m fine. Just a little winded. Give me a second and I’ll be okay.” He shook his head and realized that was the truth. Colors had muted once again to their normal intensity, and he could no longer hear the sound of Brendan’s and Nelson’s heartbeat.

“Well, you just earned your right to fight in the main battle. I think we’re the only house going in with no resurrections against us.” Nelson told him. “Not bad for your first time out.”

“Dior!” It took Noah a second to realize someone was calling his persona. He turned to see David and Delia come walking up. Delia was wearing an elegant light peach gown with a full bodice that showed off her more salient features. He realized that she was technically showing more bust than was really appropriate when she bent to gather her skirts around her to cross a marshy area in the sod, and he could see the small darker areas of her areolas.

“My lady…” Noah suddenly realized that somehow he’d managed to go a week without learning the names of his friend’s personas. That is except David’s and that’s only because the King had called him Sir David last evening.

She smiled, curtsied and said, “Amelia.” Then turning to David, she told the group, “David is to be named Prince of the Realm and Heir Apparent tonight. Much to the consternation of Her Majesty, he has once again managed to win the Crown Tourney.”

“Congratulations, my lord.” Noah told his friend with a big grin. “Why do I get the feeling that you had something to do with her being…. Ah… consternated.” Noah wasn’t sure if that was even a word.

“You’ve known me only a week, and you already think you know me,” Delia pouted.

“I’m sorry…” Noah was afraid he’d stuck his foot in his mouth again,

“Well I’ve known you for considerably more than a week, and I’ve got the same suspicion.” Nelson told her.

She smiled and winked at Noah, “Can’t a girl have her little illusions?”

“Only when she can pull them off. You my dear have just a little too venom in your heart for a certain Lady Claire to be anywhere near as innocent as you’re trying to imply.” Nelson told her as he she released David’s arm to take his.

“Why my dear Lord Hoshi. Here I thought you were enough of a gentleman to look beyond my minor faults.” Delia was playing the lady in waiting to the hilt.

“Oh but I am, My Lady. I’m just pointing out that you shouldn’t try to mislead our young charge, Dior. After all, he is young and innocent and so very very impressionable.” Nelson turned back and winked at Noah as the two walked away. Noah could hear Nelson ask, completely in persona, “So tell me all the latest gossip from the Royal Viewing Box, My Lady, and I shall tell you of our young charges first time in battle.”

“Well Runt, how’d you do?” David asked tousling Noah’s hair.

“I would ask you the same question, but Lady Amelia has already informed us that our gallant hero has returned victorious from battle.” Noah chided David.

“Isn’t that a little out of persona? After all, aren’t you supposed to be a barbarian?” Brendan chided him.

Noah smiled and then put on his best dour face and dropped his voice an octave, “Ugh? You win?”

“Somehow it just doesn’t work.” David told him. “Yeah, I won. How about you? You still haven’t told me how you did.”

Noah wasn’t sure what to tell David. He still hadn’t had the chance to process what had happened on the Broken Field today. While he was searching for an answer, Brendan interjected, “Turns out Noah here isn’t quite as helpless as he seems. He managed to not only make the cut for the main battle but he actually managed to come out of the encounter totally intact. If they were to declare a winner for the Broken Field- which you know in cases like this they don’t- but if they did, he’d definitely be it.” He pointed over toward where a group of the Amazon Corps were standing around, “After a while even the Xena-wanna’-be’s wouldn’t get close to him.”

Noah just blushed as he looked over to where Brendan was pointing. Sure enough, there were several women dressed in Greek armor who seemed to be grumbling about something. “To tell you the truth, I have to stop and think about it, before I can even remember what happened on the field. It was almost like I wasn’t there. I do know this much, though.” He grinned broadly, “I liked it!”

“Uh oh. Runt’s got rattan in his blood. Now we’ll never hear the end of it.” Brendan chided him.

“Well, we can always use new fighters,” David commented while putting an arm around Noah’s shoulder. Without even thinking about what he was doing, he snuggled in close. Putting an arm around the bigger boy’s waist the Noah walked with David toward the main battlefield, where the Marshals were dividing the warriors into two groups. Their burgeoning house, not being officially recognized yet was one of the last called. Noah noted dryly that they were assigned to fight on the side of the crown- that was appropriate he guessed. After all, David was the King’s Champion. “Nervous Noah?” David asked him lowly.

Noah thought about it. No, he wasn’t really nervous. He’d been nervous when fighting on the Broken Field, but now he was simply excited. He was looking forward to the fight and a chance to work off some of the energy that he seemed to be building up. “No. Not really.”

“Good. Just stick close to me and you’ll do okay.” David sounded like he really was a medieval knight shoring up the confidence of his young squire just before a major battle. I’d better be careful about that. I could get in the habit of thinking of myself as someone who needs protecting. Gotta’ make sure the act doesn’t become reality. That could become dangerous. He wasn’t sure if that was his old sense of wariness from being on the streets for two years talking, or if it was something he should really worry about.

CHAPTER 7

Noah nodded and looked around. There were several hundred fighters divided up into two groups on the field. Various people were trying unsuccessfully to direct where each group of warriors were supposed to be. Noah noticed that the individual group leaders were doing a much better job of getting their fighters into position than those trying to direct the whole battlefield. Noah also noted with some satisfaction that both the Amazon Corps and the Scottish regulars had been delegated to the opposing force.

The next twenty minutes were absorbed with all the fighters on the field double-checking each other’s gear. Helms were checked to make sure they were securely fastened, gauntlets, and shields were gone over to insure they were in good condition, and everyone generally looked out for the safety and welfare of their fellow combatants. For a group of people about to beat each other about the head and shoulders with rattan sticks, they were extremely safety conscious. Noah and David went carefully over Brendan and Nelson’s heavier armor. Brendan and Nelson then returned the favor. “Looks good, Noah.” Brendan told him as he patted down his helm, “But I’d consider putting that jerkin and those leggings back on. It’s going to get pretty vicious out there. You might want their little bit of extra protection.” Noah absently noted that he didn’t use what was quickly becoming the group’s nickname for him.

“No thanks. I almost burned up on the Broken Field this morning wearing it. I’d rather deal with a few extra bruises than heat exhaustion.” Noah told him.

“Okay, it’s your hide. You can’t say I didn’t warn you.” Brendan replied turning to watch the Marshals. “Get ready. It looks like we’re about charge.” He pointed to the shield wall, the Frey seemed to be trying to construct.

“Man I always get stuck in the front of these things.” Nelson said. Then he noticed where Brendan was pointing. “Oh damn. The Frey! Can’t we have them on our team just once. I hate charging them. I always get smashed.”

“Yeah, but don’t you love it.” Brendan told them.

“Persona, persona,” a tall fighter dressed as a Celtic warrior tsked at them.

“Ah, go paint yourself blue,” Brendan told him. “Oh wait, you already have.” He raised his hand to get David’s attention. “Excuse me, can we put the Celt at the other end of the line.”
“Why?” David asked.

“I think he’s using the good stuff this time around.” Brendan told anyone willing to listen.

“Nah, just wait for him to start sweating.” Nelson said. “Then he’ll hallucinate and start to fall down.”

Noah’s confusion must have shown one his face because Brendan turned and told him, “The blue stuff, you know, woad. When you sweat, it gets in your pores and you start to feel really, really good.” Brendan’s voice jumped an octave for emphasis. “It’s one of those totally natural forms of speed, with a mild hallucinogen. When you add water to it, it turns blue. The Celts used it to fight the Romans.”

“And it’s legal?” Noah asked.

“Totally. It’s like catnip,” David shot Nelson a strange look. “It’s not really dangerous, because you can’t get enough in your system at one time to do much more than make you a little giddy.” He gestured to the Celt moving off grumbling to himself. “However combined with a lot of exertion and adrenaline, it can make you feel pretty invincible.”

“You mean ten foot tall and bullet proof.” Noah said.

“At least ten foot tall and sword proof.” David winked, “Don’t know any Celts who wear their underwear on the outside.” He seemed to remember something, “Come to think of it, I don’t know any Celts who wear underwear. They’re all regimental.”

Before Noah could reply the charge was called and everyone around him surged forward. He was forced to follow close behind the other three or be trampled by a group of medieval knights in real plate mail behind him. “Okay Runt, you stay behind us and pick off anybody who gets past.” Brendan yelled over his shoulder as he and the other three disappeared into the fray.

Noah spent the next several minutes in small skirmishes with fighters who managed to break through, and charge up-field. One particularly large man, wearing chain mail, and carrying a huge battle-axe made of rattan and foam rubber came charging up. Noah wasn’t even sure the guy had seen him because his eyes seemed to be locked on some target behind him. Well, to get to them, you’re going to have to go through me. He stepped in front of the bigger man, who suddenly seemed to notice him for the first time. A surprised look came over his face as he slowed, only slightly to deal with Noah before going on. Swinging the axe in circles to build up momentum as he charged, a wicked looking grin crossed his face.

Noah ducked literally bending himself backwards and watched the axe swing inches above his chest. Before the giant man could follow up with a back swing, Noah twisted his body sideways and stepped forward, to come around to the bigger man’s shield side, where in a effort to compensate for the power in the axe swing his shield was raised too high. Noah thrust his shorter blade forward and across to impact the inside of the bigger man’s opposite thigh. This being an instant kill zone, and the giant a fair combatant, he dropped with a look of surprise and chagrin on his face.

Looking back over his shoulder to where the giant was charging, Noah saw King Justin give him a little salute with his own sword, just before the Marshal called the first halt to clear the field of the wounded. Noah took a sip of water from a nearby water bearer, and noted that Brendan was one of the dead, limping off the field to wait out until the next hold. Noah took the opportunity to look around the field to see where the forces had ended up after that particular encounter. Several other fighters were using the lull in combat to regroup and form up. He noticed with some satisfaction that the Frey’s shield wall was down by about a third, but the King’s forces had been decimated by almost half.

The next round, Noah found himself once again defending the rear, but was much busier dealing with considerably more fighters who’d managed to break through the lines to charge toward King Justin. Before the Marshals had called for a second hold, he’d managed to dispatch two of the Scots regulars, a fully armored knight and particularly foul-mouthed Amazon. The red haze was beginning to rise in his vision and the buzzing at the back of his neck started again as something seemed to awaken in his blood.

The next hour and a half seemed to slow to a crawl, where his opponents became like statues in a row, with swords and shields upraised as if to give him a clean kill. The buzzing in his skull began to rattle his teeth, and he began to become angry with the situation. He was beginning to wonder when they were going to let him fight someone that wasn’t as green as he was. Just for the novelty of something different to do, he began knocking his opponents weapons from their hands, so that they hung by their tethers, before he ran them through.

During the longer break called before the final battle he found himself standing alone next to the field. He could feel the hot Gulf Coast sun burning high in the sky, and knew the temperature had to soaring to the mid nineties, but somehow he only felt it’s rays caress him softly with a gentle almost loving touch. The more he stood there, the stronger the thrumming in his blood became. “Looks like this is your chance.” He finally realized David had come up beside him and put an arm across his shoulder.

His mind snapped back to the here and now, and he could feel something in his own mind reach out and resonate between him and David. Suddenly the older boy’s mind opened up to him. He was surprised to see how ordered David’s thoughts were. It was as if his mind was some great series of multi-sided boxes where each bit of knowledge or thought was categorized, separated, and filed neatly into its proper place. He was reminded of a Chinese puzzle box. “Huh?” he asked as he pulled his mind out of David’s.
“We’re down to the main fight, Kitten.” David told him. “You know, the free-for-all. This is your chance to collect that penalty. But remember, this is a single death round. You get killed you’re out.” A strange look came onto his face, “By the way. How many times you been killed today?
“None,” Noah told him.

“I’m impressed. Not many people can make the claim that they’ve gone a whole day of war without being killed in the SCA. That is not without rhino-hiding or staying clear of the main fight, which I know you haven’t.” He smiled, “So you ready to collect that penalty?
Noah felt irritated at David’s attitude. He poked the bigger boy in the chest, “If I even get the idea that you might not fight up to a hundred percent on that field against me, and I’ll peel that armor off you and stuff it someplace unpleasant. This isn’t about penalties. It’s about having a good time, and I’m not going to have a good time if you hold back. It wouldn’t mean anything then.”

“Okay, okay. Calm down. I’m not going to hold back, that’d be unfair.” David told him defensively. “Besides, who are you that I should hold back.” He then growled, and then grinned widely.
“The person who’s going to kick your cute little bubble-butt.”
David looked back over his shoulder at his hindquarters, “I do not have a bubble-butt, thank you. It’s pleasantly rounded.”

“Oh yes you do, and it’s adorable,” Noah told him pulling on his helm and checking the straps, as the resonance between he and David almost took his breath away. Walking out onto the field, he waited for the final round to commence.

Sharon watched the rest of her house take the field. She’d finally finished with all the cooking she’d been contracted to do by several camps and actually had a chance to come and watch the battles. Actually, she’d planned to come and watch this part whether she’d been finished or not. She wouldn’t miss the final free-for-all for all the coin of the realm. Nelson came up beside her, and plopped down on the grass still breathing hard. “Charged the Frey’s shield wall again did you?”

“Yeah.” He shook his head in chagrin, “You’d think I’d learn after the first or second time.” He laughed at himself, “But no, Lord Hoshi has to live up to the Code of Bushido, three up and three down.”

“I told you, you’d regret a Japanese Samurai persona,” she told him.

“Yeah, but I’ve got all this money invested in all the armor now, it seems too much like a waste to switch.”

“Sell it,” she thought for a minute and an idea came to her, “Or have Lord Hoshi become Ronin.” She leaned over and gently kissed him on the lips. She could never get enough of the way he tasted- like sandalwood and cinnamon. “He could defy his family and liege because he’s fallen in love with a westerner. That way he wouldn’t be tied by the Code.”

Nelson seemed to consider the idea. “You know, that might work. I’ll think about it.” He turned back to the watch the field. “Something strange is happening with Noah,” he told her.

“Yeah, I kinda’ figured that.” She told him, not quite sure how to express what she was feeling.

“Any idea what it is,” Nelson asked her.

“I’m not sure. He’s really kinda’ strange anyway, if you think about it. Ever notice how you seem to want to protect him. Almost like it was some kind of compulsion.”

“I know what you mean, but for all we know, it could be a side-effect of what we are. Maybe we’re naturally possessive and protective of things we consider ours.” Nelson told her.

“Yeah, but why do we suddenly feel like he’s ours? Why does it feel so right to have him around?” She smiled at him mischievously. “Why do I want to mother him and jump his bones all at the same time?”

“You’ve got a kink, you’ve never told us about?” Nelson winked at her.

“Seriously, I mean we’re pretty fluid about who sleeps with whom inside our little group, but this is something different. I feel like he’s awakening something in me that I didn’t know was there. To be honest with you, it’s kind of frightening.” She turned her eyes away from him to watch the first clash of warriors on the field. “Ooh, that had to have hurt. Poor Brendan.”

“Well, looks like he’s out of the fight.” Nelson said, as their friend went down from someone they couldn’t see.

“I don’t know, we all seem to click when we met. Maybe he’s just a part of the over all clicky-together-thingy.”

Sharon gave him a strange look, “Now you’re starting to sound like Brendan.”

“I don’t know, all I can say is that I hope it doesn’t cause any great big problems for us. I mean after all look at it. We’ve all known David since we got here, but since Noah’s shown up, we’ve been growling at him,” he stressed the last word, “left and right. Sooner or later he’s going to get fed up with it and growl back.” He stopped to think a minute, “Have you noticed, he’s never really lost his temper with any of us. No matter what happened.” He smirked at her, “Not even when Brendan bit him. And if you ask me, Brendan biting me is not something I’d forgive so easily if I were David. I mean, have you seen his teeth?”

“What, do you think we might subconsciously be mad at David for seeming to be able to get the kind of attention from Noah, we all wish we could have.” She shrugged and watched Brendan come off the field during one of the Marshal’s holds. She looked around and couldn’t seem to find Noah, but did notice that an awful lot of people had been eliminated in that first round.

Nelson told her, “Maybe we’re not mad at him so much for getting all that attention from Noah as we are mad at him for giving the attention we all want to Noah.” Brendan plopped down next to him.

“Little runt ran me through, before I could even swing at him,” he groused. Then looked up at Sharon, “Whatcha guys talkin’ about?”

“The Runt.” Sharon told him.

“So what’s new there? I mean that seems to be the only topic we talk about anymore.” He shook his head. “I swear though, I’ve never seen anyone move like that. It was like fighting a smaller, faster, and mean version of David.”

“But not as strong huh?” Sharon asked.

“Not at all. I mean it was like getting hit by David.” He sat pulled a piece of grass from the turf and stuck it between his teeth. Sharon couldn’t help but think that he looked like something from a David Eddings novel sitting there. “I mean, look at their fighting styles,” he pointed to where Noah and David were slowly cutting their way toward each other on the battlefield. “Is it me, or are they doing synchronized sword play?”

“I don’t know.” Nelson cut in, “Sharon brought up a good point. Why do you think we’re so accepting of Noah, and have started growling at David every chance we get?”

Brendan shrugged, “I’m not sure why I have, but I kinda figure you guys are wanting from Noah, what he seems willing to give David right out. As for me, it might be I just can’t accept that David didn’t change after I bit ‘im.” Sharon could sense that Brendan wasn’t being entirely truthful about his feelings there. She had a good idea what the situation was, but he was going to have to work through those hang ups on his own.

She let her mind reach out trying to feel the emotions of the subjects of their discussion, not really expecting to be able to touch them, in the press of so many others around. She was almost shocked when she could feel both David and Noah as if she were touching them. She was even more surprised at what she was feeling off them. Their emotions seemed to be in perfect sync. Both boys seemed to be drawing energy from the some outside source, as well as each other. Opening her eyes, she saw each of them, finish off the last of the other fighters on the field, almost simultaneously. The Marshal called for another hold to clear the field and allow the two final warriors fight it out to the end.

“Now there’s one for the record books,” Nelson said. “A virgin going to the final battle in his first outing.”

“Yeah, not to mention against King’s Champion. I’m telling you guys,” Brendan said, “there’s something different about that boy.”

“Gee, just starting to figure that one out?” Nelson smirked.

“Listen guys,” Sharon tried to get their attention. “There’s something else going on out there.” She rapped both of them on chest. “Can’t you feel it?”

“Feel what?” Nelson asked blankly. He looked out and saw Noah and David standing there, eyes locked. He looked around and saw quite a few people exchanging money. “Looks like the betting’s getting furious.” He elbowed Brendan in the side, and made a mental note not to elbow somebody wearing full plate mail armor in the future, “You think the Amazon’s are betting for David or Noah?”

“David,” Brendan said, “They’re all pissed at Noah.” He seemed to think for a second, “but then again, they may bet on Noah after what David did to their leader last year at the main battle.”

“Guys, something strange going on between David and Noah though.” Sharon shook her head. She could feel their emotions begin to synchronize as well. There was some kind of force between them. She could swear she could see the air between them begin to waver like a heat off hot pavement. Then the Marshal called for the fighting to commence and both boys went at each other full fury.

She’d never seen David like this before. It was almost like he and Noah were really trying to kill each other. At the same time it was like they were tethered together and were performing some intricate dance. A deathly calm had come over both boys, and they seemed to be striking and parrying without ever releasing the other’s gaze. A palpable wave of calm seemed to come over the crowd as they all turned to watch the warriors do battle. Everyone’s eyes locked on the battlefield.

Suddenly something seemed to break in their gazes. Both boys struck out, David high, and Noah low. The blows hit their marks simultaneously striking the other in the kill zone with such force that both were flung back and off their feet. David’s strike to Noah was dead in the face, across the visor, his sword wrapping around Noah’s helm with a loud whack. She could see Noah’s sword reduce itself to pulp as he drove forward with thrush to David’s chest just over his heart.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a grand battle ending in a draw,” Brendan said, as he got up from the grass. Sharon could feel his overwhelming need to get up and go check on Noah. She could feel a slightly lesser compulsion in Nelson and it even resonated inside her. For a second her mind seemed to wrap itself around that they all might be somehow genetically hardwired to protect him- and in a flash the answer to her question came. David was not only getting emotionally close to Noah, but at the same time was physically in combat with him, and somehow the very dichotomy of the situation was confusing all their instincts. If they were somehow operating on an instinct to protect their new friend, then his rivalry on the battlefield with David was setting off conflicting reactions in them. She realized that somehow they subconsciously felt a similar yet lesser compulsion to protect David while at the same time recognizing him almost as an alpha male for the group. She got up from her seat with the rest of her group and headed to converge on their fallen friend.

David shook his head and the world returned to him. He wasn’t sure what had just happened, but he knew it had something to do with the strange telepathic power awakening between him and his little kitten.. For the first time since he joined the SCA, he really felt like he’d been in a fight. Delia pulled him up off the ground and looked him in the eye. “You two have a fight?”

He shook his head, “No. What makes you think that?”

“Because it looked like you were out to really hurt each other. It was so intense I’m surprised the Marshal didn’t put a stop to it before now.” She picked up his discarded sword, and noticed that it was one long duct tape wrapped piece of pulp. She shook her head, “You’ll need a new sword,” She handed him what was left of his. “This one is now ready to go to Valhalla.”

“Right I’ll burn it later,” he told her. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to check on Noah.” He could tell she was following him as he pushed his way through the crowd that came onto the field to congratulate both of them. Finally, he reached a small group of people crowded around Noah. It took him a minute before he realized that it was rest of the group. Sharon seemed to sense his presence, turned around and actually growled at him.

“What the hell?” He said under his breath. Looking over at his other friends, he noted that all their body languages seemed to register him as some kind of threat. He turned back to Delia, and for the first time since he’d known these four, he actually worried about being caught between them. “I don’t need this. Fine, you don’t want me here? I’m gone.” He headed off to the beach, his mind full of conflicting emotions.

I can’t believe she actually growled at me. It wasn’t like I was really trying to hurt Noah. Hell, I’d sooner cut off my own arm that hurt him. He marched straight off the field dropping bits and pieces of armor as he went. Something deep inside him felt betrayed. He didn’t understand why they were suddenly acting this way toward him. When had he suddenly become the outsider? At what point had the situation changed without him realizing it.

Caught up in his own misery, he walked without really caring where he ended up. After about an hour and half of wandering around the event, not really taking note of the festivities going on around him, he found himself on the beach about a mile down from the campsite. Looking out at the full moon playing off the water, he sat down and absently starting throwing rocks into the surf. Running his toes into the wet sand he watched the tide slowly wash up and then away from the shore, creeping ever closer with each wave. “Fine. If that’s the way they want it, I’ll continue to see Noah. I just won’t deal with them.”

“I wouldn’t take it too hard,” A voice came from up the beach. “They’re still sorting out how all this fits into their little pride.”

Turning to see who had spoken, he saw a tall dark haired man step out of the shadows. He was dressed in a black doublet and cape over black hose. The only bit of color about him was a single large red gem set at his throat. Something deep inside David told him that the ruby was real, and worth a small fortune. “Oh, you know the way their minds are working right now? You’re one up on me.” He turned back to the Gulf and patted the sand next to him. “Pull up a piece of earth.”

“From most, that remark would be just be an expression, but from one such as yourself, I am indeed honored.” The man sat down next to him. “As for your werecat friends, I’ve seen it happen before. At the moment your little friend is confusing their instincts.” The man seemed to lean back and look at the moon’s reflection, “I’ve never known one such as he to have gone through the sorrow he has. Normally, people like you and he are protected from your birth forward. But things are different this cycle. Nobody knew either of you were coming, so there was no one to prepare your way.”

“I don’t know, I think I’ve been moderately looked after. Somewhat prepared. After all, I’ve got a grandmother who doesn’t think I’m totally weird because I can tell her the exact weight of a gemstone and whether or not it’s real.” He told the stranger who seemed to know more about him and his friends than he wasn’t sure he was comfortable with. He turned toward the newcomer and held out his hand, “David Rosen.”

The man looked at the hand and then took it. It had a strength that David wasn’t expecting. It was smooth and soft like a man who’s never had to work, but at the same time there was an iron like strength in the grip. It was also cold. It reminded him of shaking hands with someone who’d had their hands in ice water. “Lecroix. Nicholai Lecroix.
“You don’t happen to watch Forever Knight do you?” David asked.

The man nodded slightly, “I’ve seen the program on occasion.” He leaned back, “I find it amusing.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Mr. Lecroix. So what you’re saying is that they’ll eventually get over their hissy-fit and I’m not going to have to beat the living tar out of any of them.” He said feeling a little sheepish.

“Something like that. Actually, what’s really unusual about your little group is that there are three strong Alpha males in the group. One of them just doesn’t realize that he’s an alpha. He’s played the sheep so long, he’s forgotten he’s a wolf, or in the case of this situation perhaps I should say, the tiger.” He smiled and David noticed that his canines were extremely long.

“So, don’t take me rude, but exactly what kind are you?” David asked.

“I’m sorry, I don’t quite take your point.” Lecroix replied. David realized that the man understood exactly what he meant.

“Cold hand, long fangs, a stone that’s less than hundred years old, and without the traditionally infra-red dye put in artificial rubies.” David told him. “On top of all that you’ve got the feeling of someone who’s intimately linked to the earth.”

“Ah, you think me a…” the man smiled again, “I think the term I find the most amusing is blood sucking fiend from beyond the grave.” He raised an eyebrow.

“No Mr. Lecroix, I think you’re an interesting individual who’s seen and possibly forgotten more than most people ever see in a life time.” David told him.

The man chuckled, “Why would someone such as you believe that someone like you describe would be of more than one kind?” That sentence was so noncommittal, while being convoluted that it pretty much confirmed David’s suspicions. Hell, if there are werecats, and werewolves, then why not vampires. After all, Nana was always going on about the dhamphyrs.

“My Nana, tells me stories, about the old world and the old ways. About how certain people are always what they seem, and how certain people are not always what they want people to believe they are.”

“And after your Nana’s stories, you are still not afraid of one such as you believe me to be.” Lecroix replied.

David nodded, “My Nana always told me that the legends weren’t always true, and that I shouldn’t fear you.”
That seemed to put a chink in the unfazability Lecroix seemed to wear like an armor. “And why should you not fear the predator?”

“She said because of who she is, and what I’m supposed to become.” David told her. The reply had never made sense to him in the past, but now although it still had no meaning, it seemed to be the right thing to say.

“Be careful with that belief young David Rosen. Although I mean you no harm, and none of those of the kind of which you believe me to be from the old continent would harm you, there are those- the newborn if you would- who do not know of the alliance between your Nana’s people and the Forsaken. However, you are correct. I mean you no harm. ”

“And how do you know so much about my friends?” David asked.

“Because I’ve watched you come together. Until this day, I did not know that you are the final piece of this particular puzzle. Your friend, Noah is confusing your other friends. He has an illusion he projects. Undoubtedly, it has protected in the profession into which he found himself thrust after the death of his parents. However, with your friend’s predisposition to protect the two of you, it is- shall we say overloading their instincts. They are getting twice the effect from him, and that is overriding their natural protectiveness of you.”

“I hate to tell you this Mr. Lecroix, but they’ve never been protective of me.”

Lecroix chuckled. “Oh really? Why do you think young Brendan tried to turn you into a weretiger? It was his way of trying to protect you- to give you the strength to run with them if you will. You see, they were bred to protect the Elementals and the Spiritwalkers. It was given to them, to be your protectors, your guardians, your confidants,” he laughed again, “and your mates.”

“Well, I see three out of four ain’t bad.” David told him.

Lecroix gave him a knowing look, “Ah, I see you haven’t quite encountered that particular aspect of being part of a bond pride.” He seemed to look carefully at David for a moment. It was as if he were studying him, and for once in his life he knew how a rabbit must feel under the scrutiny of the mountain lion. “You friend has already had that part of him awakened. The closer to him you become, and you will become closer than you can ever imagine, the more that aspect of yourself will awaken.” He chuckled again, “You see, that’s why we bonded you to the werecats. Only a pride of them could hope to match the uh… appetite, that the bond creates among the spiritwalkers. Of course that appetite tends to get transferred to their primary bond-mate, the elemental.”

“So in other words we all get horny because he gets horny?”

“Yes, and no.” Lecroix told him.

“You just said that it’s passed on from the Spiritwalker to rest of us. Basically we don’t’ have a choice in the matter.” David felt something defensive rising his voice.

“It’s more than just that. The intimate sharing of minds, like the one you’ve begun tends to create an… appetite,” David noticed that the man had yet to use a colloquial term, “in both parties. werecats already have such an appetite.” He smiled, “Haven’t you notice a certain fluidity among your friends’ relationships? How it seems that they belong to one another than any one belonging to one?”

“That’s nothing new. They’ve always been like that.” He told Lecroix.

“Yes, but have you wondered why they were willing to transform you into one of them, in order to bring you into their pride? Have you ever known the one you call Brendan to even suggest biting anyone else?”

“So what he bit me as an invitation, and when I didn’t turn it got revoked. Because I can tell you this much, I’ve never been invited in.” David was surprised at the resentment he felt over that fact.

“Not revoked. Just confused. Part of that probably comes from their leader’s own confusion over certain issues. Has not each of them at some time indicated that they would be willing to…” he smiled a knowing grin, “entertain you. As for not turning, you weren’t supposed to. You could no more become a werecat than you could a werewolf or vampire. The very force of your blood will reject any attempt to turn you from what you are. The same is true is for your young friend. You are already becoming what you are supposed to be, and only death can stop that from happening.” He raised an eyebrow, “Or perhaps speed it along. Each becoming is different. Have you ever wondered why you are so comfortable here at the ocean’s edge? Why you are even more happy when there is a roaring fire behind you at these times?”

“You asked if each of them have ..uh.. approached me? Sure, but I always got the impression that they weren’t serious.” Thinking back though, he can’t be sure that the was entirely the truth. Sharon as much as told him that not a week ago. “I mean there’s Sharon, just last week, but there are some things that you just don’t do with your best friend’s girlfriend. Even if she does offer. As to why I’m so comfortable on the beach with as you said a roaring fire behind me. Feels like that’s where I’m supposed to be. It’s even better if there’s a storm rolling in.”

“You see. They have offered. You just haven’t obliged. I can guarantee you that on some level, any one, or all of them would more than welcome you into their bedchambers. As for your best friend’s girlfriend as you call her, would you be surprised to find that she is probably sharing the other two’s bed already? And you feel like you belong here, because you do. With the fire behind you, it is a place where all the elements meet. It is a place where you grow, where you heal, and there is a good chance it is a place where you cannot die.”

“No sir, it wouldn’t surprise me that she is sharing both their beds. She shares Delia’s too, and I’m sure she shares a bed at times with Brendan as well as Nelson.” David told him, “But I don’t think they’d care for the idea of me being in their bed. As a matter of the fact, I know Brendan would probably freak if I crawled into bed with him. Besides, I won’t destroy a friendship over sex.”

“Then you are a rare man indeed, young David Rosen, for I’ve seen Empires destroyed over conjugal pleasures.” He smiled strangely, “And I know of at least one soul damned to eternal unlife because of a lover.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. While love isn’t a curse, it can sometimes become one.” David wasn’t sure where the bitterness in his voice was coming from.

“So you feel that the love you feel right now, might become a curse?” Lecroix asked him.

David was surprised. He had yet to put a name to what he was feeling for Noah, or maybe he feared to do so. “No, never a curse for me. Perhaps, stressed, bent, warped and put through the fires of hell at times, but never a curse.”

Again that infernal chuckle, “David, do you know what happens to iron when it is stressed, bent, warped and put through fire?”

“Sometimes it comes out even stronger than before, and sometimes it shatters when it hits the cold of the water.” David told him.

“And what do you think will happen when yours is immersed in the cold of the water?”

“I can only hope that once it’s forged, it will become steel.” David told him.

Lecroix seemed to look off for a moment. “I must leave. My presence seems to disturb your friends olfactory sensibilities.” He laughed, “In one’s words, I smell like an open grave.”

“I’ll have to say that Delia has always had an odd knack for words. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. You’ve given me a lot to think about. I hope we can do it again sometime.”

“As do I.” He stood, “Be well young David Rosen.” David looked over to where he stood, and saw only a fading mist.

“Take care of yourself Mr. Lecroix.”

“Who were you talking to?” Brendan asked from up the beach. David hadn’t heard him approach, but Lecroix must have.

“I think he was an old friend of my grandmother’s family.” David told him. He stood to face Brendan, “So, you here to growl at me again?”

Brendan looked sheepishly at him, “I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what’s come over me lately.” He sat down next to where David had been sitting and began to throw pebbles into surf.

“No problem. We’ve all been a little stressed over the past week or so.” David told him, still standing.

Brendan shook his head, “No, it is a problem. I don’t know why I’m feeling this way. Noah brings out something in me I can’t explain.” He looked up and David could see the confusion and pain in his eyes. He suspected what part of the problem was.

“You gonna’ growl if I make an observation here? Cause I like got you a whole pound of catnip, but if you start growling I’m going to have to take it back to the pet store.” David joked.

“I’m not sure I’m in the mood for jokes, David. I’ve hurt a friend, and I’m not sure how or why.” David could sense that Brendan was on the verge of tears.

David sat and reached over and put around Brendan’s shoulder, “C’mon buddy, you know you can tell me anything. I’ll listen. You can’t say anything that would make me think badly of you. You’re my friend.”

Brendan looked over and something in his eyes opened a whole new world to David. He saw in those eyes pain, fear of self, fear of rejection, and fear of hurting someone else. “I’m not sure what I’m feeling David. It’s confusing. Guys aren’t supposed to talk about feelings much less have them.”

“I don’t know who’ been telling you that bullshit. There’s nothing wrong with having feelings, and there’s nothing wrong with talking about them. It’s the only way to get unconfused at times.” David realized that there was a lot of pressure on some guys to be supermen. Some had it drilled into them that they weren’t allowed to express anything other than a competitive spirit. He wasn’t sure who could have been telling Brendan that kind of crap, but it was obvious that at some point in his life somebody had. “Whoever told you that was the way things were supposed to be, was wrong. We have feelings, and we talk about them.” He smiled and punched him in the arm, “We just don’t tell anybody that we do. Didn’t whoever it was tell you that part?”

Brendan only shook his head, and David felt more than saw the tears began to run down his friend’s face. “No. He never put it quite that way.” David somehow felt that this was one of those Oedipal things Mr. Ellison talked about in psychology class. “Look, I’m just a dumb jock, but I do know a few things. One of them is that if something is bothering you, sometimes you just have to get it off your chest before you go ape-shit on somebody who doesn’t deserve it. So come on, either tell me what’s wrong, or we can go a few rounds right here on the sand if you’d rather go the ape-shit route.” David took his arm out from around his friend and looked out over at the water. “Or we can just sit here and watch the moon rise.”

David wasn’t sure how long they’d sat there, but the moon had made considerable progress in its trek across the night sky, when Brendan finally spoke, “Look, I’m sorry about what happened with Noah. Nobody meant anything by it. None of us would ever hurt you. You know that don’t you?” He turned and looked at David finally. David could see another statement in those eyes. A statement he wasn’t sure that Sharon would be happy about him seeing there.

“Yeah Tiger, I know you’d never hurt me or let anybody else. I also know that you know I would never hurt you or anybody you cared about either.” David told him.

“Good. Now why don’t we go back to camp? There’s a little guy there who thinks you’re mad at him.” Brendan took a deep breath, and David got the feeling that he was shoving something deep down inside him. “He said you were angry, and we couldn’t convince him it wasn’t at him.” Brendan turned away so David couldn’t see his face, “He’s really stuck on you, you know.”

“Give me a hand up?” David asked. He could see Brendan steel himself, before turning around and offer a hand.

David took the hand, pulled himself to his feet, “I’m not angry with you. I’m not angry with him. Just a little out of sorts with myself.” He turned toward the camp.

Brendan sniffed and asked him, “You step in something dead?”

“Eh, maybe. You never know what washes up on the beach this time of year,” David told him.

CHAPTER 8

Ten minutes later and a short dip in the ocean to wash away the smell Brendan kept complaining about, they were entering camp. Nelson’s voice came from the main tent, “Runt, I swear. He’s not mad at you. Us, yes. You, never.”

“Why would he be mad you guys. I’m the one who just tried to shove three foot of rattan through his chest.” Noah was saying while pacing a groove in the carpets of the tent.

“Yeah, but he was trying to take your head off with four foot of rattan at the same time. Fairs, fair.” Delia was saying as they entered the tent.

“Yeah Runt, fairs, fair. He’s got a right to be mad at us. We four’ve had our heads up our collective ass for the last week or so.” Nelson told him.

Noah looked up at David as he and Brendan entered the room. He looked like he’d been crying. “Hey, look what the tiger brought back,” Nelson said from the corner.

“Uh. Hi,” Noah’s voice sounded meek. David couldn’t help but remember what Lecroix had told him about alpha males and little boy acts.

David closed his eyes and felt for the cord of the link he and Noah were developing. He consciously opened the link up to Noah, and let his mind drift down it. He wanted to make clear that Noah knew he wasn’t mad at him. Opening his eyes he looked at him, hoping the message got through. From Noah’s end of the link, he could feel worry, and self-doubt. He was afraid of losing David, of doing something to drive him away. David stepped between Nelson and Sharon, giving them both a “we’ll talk later” look, and reached out and brushed away the last remnants of tears from Noah’s face. The physical contact sent a tremor down the line of contact between their minds, and he could see Noah’s eyes widen in astonishment. “Hush now my little Kitten. I’m not going anywhere, unless you want me to.”

Without a word, Noah just melted against him. David was surprised at the strength just under the surface of Noah’s small frame. If he wasn’t careful, the boy could crack a rib and not realize it. *Oops! Sorry about that.* Noah’s voice came over the link.

*No problem, Kitten. If that happens you’ll just have to take care of me for a few weeks until I get all better.* David sent back. Aloud he said, “Now, what’s all this arguing I heard coming from in here?”

“We were trying to convince our little wildcat here that you weren’t mad at him. He seemed to have gotten that impression somehow.” Sharon told him, but her eyes were communicating questions of her own. He knew she was sensing something pass between he and Noah.

“Oh no Kitten, I’m not mad at you,” He told Noah. *It’s just these guys kinda’ surprised me on the field. I guess I didn’t take it real well. It was either leave their field or rip their heads off to get to you. I didn’t think you’d want me to do that.*

*You wanna tell me how we’re having this conversation?* Noah seemed as shocked by the link as he was by what David had just told him. *And what do you mean rip their heads off to get at me?*

Keeping his arms around Noah, but speaking loud enough for everyone to hear, “They started growling at me when I went to check and see if you were all right. They got between me and you. I saw you stand up and new you were all right. So it was either leave the field or rip Sharon’s head off her shoulders. She growled at me. And I like her a little too much to not feel guilty about hurting her,” He looked over to where Sharon was looking rather sheepish.

Looking back down at Noah he noticed the boys grin was dominated by needle-like fangs projecting from his upper canines. Unlike the heavier canines of any of his and Noah’s werecats- for he’d come to think of them as his, and now Noah’s- or even the ones of Lecroix, these were almost delicate. They looked like they were meant to penetrate, not tear. “Hey Kitten, when did you get these?” He ran his finger along the outside of Noah’s lip over the fangs. A shudder of pleasure suddenly came pulsing down the link he shared with Noah. “Smile for me. Let me see.” He found himself having to support Noah against him as the younger boy’s knees started to buckle.

“Wow, that must have been something,” Sharon said quietly shaking her head.

Noah looked confused, “What was that?” he gasped, steadying himself against David’s chest. At the edge of the room, he noticed Brendan and Nelson sniffing the air.

Noah complied and David ran a finger down the length of one of the fangs. This time, the boy literally began to tremble in his arms, as a wave of pleasure crashed through the link. For a second David thought his own knees were going to buckle. He felt a small prick on his finger and looked where a small amount of blood was smeared across the fang. “Damn, they’re sharper than they look.”

He saw Noah still looking confused lick the front of his teeth as if to find out what David was doing. Suddenly the link seemed to snap taught, and vibrate with some kind of energy. Noah trembled as if he had grabbed a live wire, and the collapsed. David felt his own legs began to give way from what was washing back over the link, and he knew if he kept this up he was going to have to change his underwear.

Sitting down on the sleeping pallet, he could feel the other boy’s mind was in a state of ecstasy. Noticing the others were moving toward them, he could feel their curiosity resonating from Noah’s mind. One touch got his motor running, a second seemed to send him to the edge so to speak, let’s see what this does.

As if sensing what he was about to do, Noah’s mind was screaming yes to him. He leaned over and kissed him soundly, letting his tongue caress the edge of the fangs. Again he felt a small prick from their razor tips. Noah’s mouth seemed to open and close involuntarily, and David tasted the copper tang of blood that wasn’t his own. It sent Noah careening over the edge, carrying David with him. Both lay there fully clothed, or as clothed as two men can be in a set of loincloths, as wave after wave of pleasure washed over them. Each boy’s senses were amplified to the other through the link, and David wasn’t sure he hadn’t lost consciousness at some point during moments following the kiss. Finally coming back down to his senses, Forget changing underwear. At this rate we’re both going to need a whole new loin cloth.

“Why don’t you guys ever kiss us like that?” Delia was asking Brendan and Nelson. David didn’t think he could move just yet- that and he just didn’t want to.

*Wow. You still with me there, Kitten?*

*Uh huh. I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything like that. My whole body is tingling with energy.*

David realized that the same was true for him. His mind seemed to open, and he could feel every grain of sand in the earth under him. Looking up at their friends standing around with curious looks on their faces he told the group, “You guys give us a minute to catch our breaths. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Delia was giggling behind her hand, “Gee I’ve never watched two guys have sex fully clothed before.”

“Yeah you have. You’ve just never realized what you were looking at before.”

“Huh?” Delia and Noah said simultaneously.

“Oh great. Now he’s gone into Cryptic Guy mode,” Brendan commented to nobody in particular.

“Is that anything like Soldier Guy mode?” Noah asked sitting up and pulling the edge of Sharon’s sleeping bag over his groin, to hide the stain soaking through his loincloth.

“No. It’s more of Brood Boy,” Nelson told him, as he indicated a similar spot on David’s loincloth to Delia with his eyes.

“Uh, what did you do to me?” Noah asked him aloud. *And will you do it again?*

“Anytime. All you have to do is ask,” David replied.

“I still want to know what you meant about that first remark,” Delia demanded of him.

“Gee Delia. You’re not very observant are you?” David chided her.

“Okay, let’s agree I’m not observant, smart, or anything else. Just ‘fess up boy.” She demanded.

“Watch it my little minx, or I may not tell you at all.” He told her. “I…” Before he could finish Noah pulled him back with a strength he never suspected in such a small package and kissed him soundly. *What did you do to me? And don’t get distracted by the fish in the corner.*

*All I did was tap into what started last night in my sleeping bag.* He returned the kiss with a fervor he didn’t know was in him. *But if we keep this up, we’re going to do something in front of our friends that they’re all not quiet ready for yet- that and the fact that they’ll never let us live it down.*

*I think we already did.*

“Will you two stop that!” Sharon told them.

“Sharon, would you and the others mind waiting outside for just a moment. I need to talk to Noah.” David told them.

“Aren’t you talking to him now,” there was something in her voice he couldn’t quite identify.

“Yes, I am, but it’s something I need to talk to him about out loud.” David told her.

“C’mon, Sharon,” Delia was pulling her out of the tent behind Brendan and Nelson. “I seem to remember you and Brendan asking for some privacy in this very tent last year.” The small redheaded girl allowed herself to be maneuvered outside the tent.

“Oh, and Sharon. No eavesdropping,” he warned her in a firm tone. “You don’t have enough lives to mess with me right now.”

Noah looked up at him, “Something’s happening between us. I feel like something inside me is coming to life. It’s kinda scary, and exciting at the same time.” The younger boy then threw one leg over David’s and pulled himself so that he was sitting straddling David’s hips. Grabbing David by the shoulder’s Noah pulled him into a sitting position so they were face to face. It was having a definite effect on David, and he could smell the faint hint of cinnamon on his breath. Again, he was surprised at the smaller boy’s strength and aggressiveness. “You wanted to talk?”

“Not at the top of your agenda right now is it?” David commented, not sure he was ready for what seemed to be building between them.

Noah raised an eyebrow, “There’s talking,” he reached down between the two into David’s lap, “and then there’s talking.” David had never seen this side of Noah. His voice was huskier, and the little innocent boy was gone. In his place there was a young man who had something on his mind.

Reaching down and moving Noah’s hand and pulling it back up, “No love, we need to talk,” he stressed the last word. “If you still want this after you listen to what I have to say, then we can move forward.”

Noah grinned at him, the fangs had retracted about half way, and David could see the traces of blood still on his teeth. “Okay then, talk.” Again this was a side of the lost little boy David had never seen. It was both exciting and scary at the same time. The one thing David did know was that this was the real Noah, and he liked it.

“First off, you need to stop with the little lost boy act. Be yourself,” David told him. “The little lost boy is a cute kid,” he reached out to touch Noah’s face, “but I like the real you much better.”

“But didn’t you know. The little lost boy is part of the real me. It’s the part that kept me alive on the streets.” He raised an eyebrow and looked down at David with a strange look in his eye, “It was the part that certain people liked to take away. That’s what sold,” his voice now completely serious, “the rape of innocence.”

“I know he’s part of you, but you’re not on the streets anymore, and you don’t need him to get me to like you,” David told him. He took a deep breath, “And it’s confusing the hell out of the others out there- especially Brendan.”

A darker look came over Noah’s face, “Brendan’s problem is that he hasn’t dealt with the fact that there were times when he really enjoyed…”

David reached up and put a finger on Noah’s lips, “you really don’t want or have to say that. It’s beneath you. Besides, even though Brendan and the others are part of the conversation, that’s not who we’re talking about right now.”

“Then who are we talking about right now?” he asked. David was surprised to find himself carrying on a conversation with an adult and not the little boy he was used to. Ironically, he was getting out of Noah just what he was asking for, and for some reason he wasn’t entirely comfortable with it.

*See? That’s what I mean. The little boy is a part of me. Even you have trouble seeing past him.*

“Maybe that’s because that’s all you’ve ever shown me,” David told him.

“Do you really want to see the adult part of me?” Noah asked, and David wasn’t sure that he was, but if he was going to get through this conversation, he realized he was probably going to have to.

“I don’t just want to see parts. I want to see all of you.”

“Let’s see, all of me. That would be the little boy who ran away from home at thirteen to keep from having to go through a gay reparative therapy program. That would be the same little boy who sold his ass on Center Street for two years to keep a roof over his own head.” He threw his legs off David and stood with his back to him. “That would be the little boy that never got to grow up. That never got to play little league, because he was busy living an adult’s life so he could keep the last part of him that was his.” He dropped his voice, “Did you know that I used to play little league? I was actually a pretty good shortstop.” He turned to face David, tears rolling down his cheeks, “Maybe I’ve been letting the little boy come out too much lately. I don’t know. Maybe I’ve been trying so hard to fit in, that I buried the mature part of me. I’m sorry, but I’m only trying to be what I need to be to survive.” Behind him, David saw the blankets on the sleeping platform being shoved back against the tent wall by some invisible force.

David stood and wrapped his arms around Noah’s stiff form. Before he could say anything, Noah stopped him. “Don’t…” He seemed to look off into the distance. “Not unless you mean it. I don’t think I can take being touched by someone who doesn’t really mean it anymore,” he seemed to be on the verge of hysteria, and this time it wasn’t the hysteria of a panicked little boy. It was a deep sorrowful hysteria of someone who’d taken everything life could throw at them, and thought they were about to lose the last important thing they had.

“Noah, look at me,” He tried to move the smaller boys face with his hands but found it difficult to move. As if he was finally giving in, Noah allowed his face to be turned, but David wasn’t sure Noah was looking at him or through him. David wasn’t sure he hadn’t just joined the ranks of other men who’d held Noah. “Look at me so you’ll see what I’m about to tell you is the truth.” He could see Noah’s eyes focus on him, as he blinked tears through his long blond lashes. “If you never believe anything else, believe this: I love you. No conditions, no stipulations, no time limit. I love the little boy, and I love the guy who sold his ass down on Center Street for two years. Your past doesn’t matter to me- only our future. That’s what I’ve been trying to talk to you about. Don’t you realize that you’re the other half of my soul?”

Noah blinked up at him trying to clear the tears from his eyes. For just a minute David saw the little boy and the jaded whore merge into one person. At that moment he felt the bond between them thrum again and he realized that Noah had subconsciously muted it to the point that he couldn’t feel it. “I’m not sure my soul is in one piece. I feel like it’s shattered into a thousand filthy and corrupted fragments. What makes you think I can complete you? I can’t even find all the parts to myself.”

“I don’t think you complete me,” David realized he sounded like a bad Tom Cruise movie- like there were any good ones, “I know you do.” He made his voice stern, while trying to will the feelings he had across the bond, “There is nothing filthy, or corrupted about you, or your soul, maybe a little dented and banged up before its time, but nothing filthy. But if you want me then I’m yours in all things. I think between the two of us, there’s nothing we can’t put behind us or overcome in front of us.”

“Really?” It was more of a demand than a question. “Then what do we do about these?” he was almost shouting as he bared his teeth and David saw the fangs slide down into place, “Or, thisth…” David saw blood spurt from his mouth as the fangs punctured his own lips, as Noah waved his hands behind him. Suddenly everything in the room raised two feet off the floor and dropped heavily to the ground. “Huh? What do we do about me turning into some kind of freak? Not a sleek and beautiful cat, not a powerful werewolf, but something akin to a vampire?” David found his front covered as the boy involuntarily sprayed blood from his mouth as he almost shouted the questions.

He couldn’t help but think, that if Noah was some kind of vampire- which he knew wasn’t the case- then he wasn’t a very efficient one. After all, Noah had just covered David with his own blood. Putting his hands on either side of Noah’s head to gain the attention of the now wild-eyed boy, “You’re not a freak, you’re not some kind of vampire, and you are not, “he emphasized the last word, “ a dog.”

“Arf, arf,” Noah barked weakly at him and collapsed against his chest. “Thhhen whath am I turning into?” He asked burying his face in David’s chest.

“First off, relax. Let the fangs go wherever they go when you relax. Forget about them for now.” He could feel the boy sobbing against him. He could feel a deep pain being released across the link. Worry, sorrow, pain, resentment all were being brought up from deep inside Noah. In a sudden insight, David realized that for the first time Noah was even now just considering mourning his parents. All those emotions he’d kept bottled up for two years were coming boiling to the surface, and he sensed that Noah couldn’t stop them if he had tried. Something had opened flood gates inside him, that were not going to close until they’d spent themselves.

David eased them to the ground so that his back was propped up against the sleeping chest. Reaching around behind him, he pulled one of the blankets around and over them as Noah continued to cry quietly into his shoulder. In a few minutes he looked up with tears in his own eyes to see Sharon peek in on them. Seeing them sitting like that, she came in followed by the others. In a matter of minutes, they’d quietly pulled the other sleeping bags down from where they’d been shoved up against the back of the tent. Arranging them in a semi-circle around them, the other four curled up silently and seemed to be torn between standing watch like a pride of lions, and comforting the two boys. Finally David drifted off to sleep to join Noah in dreams of a halflings and dragons.

Brendan uncurled himself out from around Nelson, and blushed to himself at the position in which he’d found himself. He reached back to feel Sharon curled up with Delia in the small of his back. Slipping quietly out the front of the tent, he stoked the fire as the sun was coming up over the trees to this right, thinking to himself about the conversation he’d overheard last night. He hadn’t really meant to eavesdrop, but after a while Noah had almost begun to shout, and it became almost impossible for them not hear without leaving the camp, which he wasn’t going to do. There had been just too much of a scent of dead things around lately. Not to mention that they all felt guilty about the way they had treated David on the field yesterday and for the last two weeks.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Sharon asked him coming out of the tent and putting her arms around him.

“Just thinking about yesterday,” he told her, putting the coffee pot on the hot-stone.

She sat down next to him and lay her head on his shoulder, “You know, you looked cute curled up with Nelson like that.”

“This isn’t the time…” she reached out to quiet him with a finger to his lips.

“Shh… yes it is. It’s time you dealt with it. We’ve all known it. Hell, even David knows it. You’re the only one who doesn’t seem to know it. It doesn’t mean you love me any less. Or Delia. It just means that you’ve realized that you love him in that way too. And David, and probably even Noah.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he lied.

“Why, because it’ll make it real, because that will make you less of a man? It already is you know. And it wont’ make you less of a man- maybe a little more of a cat, but not less of a man.” She smiled at him, “Cats are of the good you know.”

“Did you know that was part of what had Noah upset last night?”

“What do you mean?”

“Okay, you know I’m empathic, right?”

“Yeah, I knew you could feel things off other people.”

“Well, you’ve probably figured out that Noah is a telepath. Probably more of a projective telepath than and receptive one at this point, but a telepath nonetheless.”

“Yeah, I kinda got that when the whole conversation without saying a word thing was going on.”

“Well, don’t you think he can see what you’ve been feeling? He can you know, and to be honest, I think he’s been a lot more patient with you than I would have in his shoes.”

“He confuses me. They both do. I mean one minute, I want to make sure that nothing in the world can ever hurt them, and the next I’m not sure I want to be on the giving or receiving end of what would probably be the sex in my life.” That was the first time he’s ever admitted that to anyone.

She laughed the little laugh that always sent a shiver straight to the pit of his stomach. “Well, how do you think Noah felt about your bouts of self hatred there. I mean, he spent two years of his life being somebody else’s fantasy, whether straight or gay, but never hid from himself. Do you think he actually enjoyed being in that position any more than you did? You heard him. He didn’t want to be touched by people who didn’t care about him. He wanted somebody who wanted him not just the fantasies he projected. He wanted someone who would look past all that- to accept him for who he is, the little boy and the young man.”

“So, why was he getting mad at me?” Brendan was confused. It was too early in the morning to be having this conversation without a good dose of caffeine- preferably introduced straight into his bloodstream. He really needed to find a way to change his blood to coffee.

“Because he paid the price to be who he is, and so did you, but you were still denying it.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not going to go out put a rainbow flag on my Charger, or wear a “Nobody Knows I’m Gay” tee shirt to school.”

“Nobody said you had to. Besides the pride flag probably wouldn’t stick to all the bondo on the Charger.” She sighed and poured the coffee grounds into the pot, “It’s not about announcing it to the world. It’s about accepting yourself, and your friends and realizing that they already know and love you because of it. We always will. No matter what.”

“So should I just walk up to Noah and kiss him this morning or something?” Brendan joked.

“Not unless you want Nelson to Deck you. Probably followed closely by David.” She thought for a second, “On second thought I don’t think David would deck you. I mean after all if he didn’t deck you for biting him, he’s not going to deck you for kissing his boyfriend. He would however deck you if he thought you were pushing it.”

Brendan was confused, “Why would Nelson punch me then?”

She grinned at him wickedly, “I think he has hopes of being the first. He’s wanted you forever. You should see the way he looks at you when he thinks you’re not paying attention.” She elbowed him in the ribs, “You know, the same way you look at David.”

Brendan shook his head, “Man, we’re a fucked up bunch aren’t we. We all want each other and we don’t know how to approach anybody.” He set the pot back on the hot-stone and looked over at her, “You know the worst part is that every time I catch myself thinking of Runt that way, I can’t help but feel like a pervert. I know he’s really fifteen- just a year younger than me, but he looks so young, and I can’t help myself.”

“Maybe you need to stop and take a really good look at Noah. He’s played the innocent little boy for so long on the street that he hasn’t quite realized that he can turn it off.” She shrugged, “And part of it’s our fault. We all jump to defend him, to take care of him, and to protect him. We never really let him stand on his own, and when we do by some miracle let him, we immediately run to check and make sure he hasn’t gotten hurt. You know when you think about it, he’s managed to keep himself alive on the street for two years. He even managed to scrape enough money together to get Nelson and Delia off them. He fought you, Nelson, Delia, and David. He kicked the living shit out of two of Matthew’s little wolf pack, and fought David to a stand still on the field yesterday. Maybe he should be protecting us.” She turned to open one of the coolers. “Now I’m not saying that we shouldn’t protect him, but maybe we don’t have protect him from us.” Pulling out various raw foods she set out to make breakfast. “How many eggs?”

“I’m not really hungry. I’ll think I’ll go for a walk and think about this.” He got up and walked down the path leading to the showers leaving Sharon looking dumbfounded.

Ten minutes later Noah came out of the tent rubbing his eyes and looked around. He grinned sheepishly at her and in the unguarded moment she realized that a good part of his little boy act wasn’t just an act. It reminded her that he might not be an adult, but he was still at least a teenager. “Uh, did I make as big a fool outta my self last night as I think?” He sat down on the log Brendan had vacated, still wearing his stained loincloth.

“No, more along the lines, of I’d say you got a few things off your chest.” She told him.

He shook his head, and very lowly to himself said, “Keep it up kid, and you’ll become more trouble than you’re worth.”

“Excuse me? But I happened to know that David thinks your worth a lot of trouble, and I happen to agree with him.”

He blushed, but said nothing. “So where’s Tigger?”

“Tigger huh?” She raised an eyebrow at the name.

“Well if you guys can keep calling me Runt, I guess I can call you whatever I decide is appropriate. Besides he said I can call him that.” He grinned at her, “he at least calls me Piglet.” He poured himself a cup of hot coffee, and gave her a wry look, “I’m not sure which is worse though.”

She winked at him, “Just remember there Piglet, pork’s the other white meat preferred by tigers. Or is that tiggers?
He laughed and leaned back against the cooler. “Yeah, but right now I don’t think he’d be willing to admit wanting to eat anything that doesn’t smell like fish.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised. You just have to give him time to get used to the idea. He’s got a few issues to work out for himself.”

“Yeah, right. Anyway, I’m working on trying not to seem so helpless, so maybe I shouldn’t give him the chance.”

“That’s entirely up to you. But I’d have to say that you’d be missing out on a good thing, because he obviously has feelings for you and David. You gotta’ face it, you get one of us, you get all of us.”

“Is David included as “one of us” or is he on the outside too?” He asked rather astute questions for a kid.

“Neither one of you are on the outside. As a matter fact, I’ve been picturing you and David right in the middle,” She purposefully filled her mind with the image she knew would get his attention and was rewarded with a deep blush that made it all the way down to his nipples. “So what do you think of my idea?”

He took a sip of coffee to hide being flustered, before she could warn him it was extremely hot. Not noticing the heat, he seemed to consider his answer very carefully, “Uh… you know I uh… haven’t had a lot of experience with uh… girls.” The little boy was back.

“That’s okay, honey. Just remember, you don’t have to do anything you don’t wanna’ do. The rest of them, on the other hand,” she turned to face to tent and shouted, “NEED TO GET THEIR LAZY BUTTS UP OR THEY DON’T GET BREAKFAST!” Turning back to him, “By the way, you hungry this morning, or do you just want your morning coffee and toast and go for it?”

“I’m not really hungry. I guess I’m still out of sorts and all. I was hungry when I came out, but not now.” He set the empty coffee cup down and she noted that there was a light layer of frost on it.

“You cold?” she asked

He shook his head, then looked down at his chest as if inspecting something, “Uh, no. Why do you ask?”

“Just the way you were hugging that coffee cup, made me think you might be cold in that get up in the morning air,” she told him refilling his cup with coffee before he could see it.

He blushed again, “I guess I just still needed to hold something.” She wasn’t sure where that had come from. He and David had clung to each other for dear life all night long.

“Wanna’ tell me what’s bothering you this morning?” She asked, not really expecting an answer.

He picked up the cup and held it between both palms. She knew the metal cup had to be conducting the heat of the coffee straight to his hands, and wondered how he could stand to hold it that way. “Nothing really. I just feel a little foolish. I guess, I owe you guys an apology. I got so caught up in the chance to maybe have some of the things I missed out on in the last two years that maybe I didn’t think that I was acting kinda’ immature.” He shrugged and looked at her sheepishly, “Uh, sorry.”

Taking the pan off the fire she sat down beside him. Taking one of his hands in hers, she could feel the way the heat from the cup seemed to follow his hand for a second. “Noah, you have nothing to be sorry for. Yeah, you missed out on a few things in the last couple of years, but that doesn’t mean that have to go back and recapture them all at once.” She winked at him, “and that definitely doesn’t mean that you have to go back to being thirteen again. Hell, you’re beyond most sixteen and seventeen year olds. You don’t have to be a kid, you just have to be you.”

“I know, but I guess I just wanted to be a kid again so badly that maybe I got caught up in it.” He shook his head and quaffed the last of the coffee, setting the cold cup down again, “You know it’s funny. Most guys my age are screaming to be older, and here I am trying to stay a kid.”

“Noah, I’ll let you in on a little secret. You’re fifteen, you’re still a kid. You’re just a teenager.” He smiled at her, and for once she saw the young man smiling back at her. She wasn’t sure which she liked better- the cute kid or this stunningly good looking young man. Funny how she’d never noticed how cute he was before.

“I know. But in some ways I’ll never be a kid again. I’ve seen a few too many things.” He tapped his head, “and as I can tell you’ve already guessed, I’ve been inside a few too many sick minds.”

“Oh no. You’ve been in Brendan’s head when he’s on a chocolate binge! Or wait! Delia’s head when she’s shopping the Macy’s sales. How sick can a person be to put black and green polka dot pants with a purple and green striped shirt!”

A look of disgust crossed Noah’s face. “Eeeewww,” he shuddered, and Sharon wasn’t sure it wasn’t a real shudder. “That sounds horrible!”

“Seriously though, the difference now is that you’re not alone. We’re all here for you.” She told him.

“Why?” He asked it with such a straight face that she actually took a minute to think about it.

Why was she here for him? She’d just met the kid- no he’s not a kid, she had to remind herself- a week ago. Less than a week ago, and here he was already intertwined into all their carefully shielded lives and hearts in a matter of days. Finally, she reached a conclusion. It didn’t make any logical sense but it felt right in her heart, “It’s the way it’s supposed to be. I think it has something to do with what you are and what we are. You’re just as much a part of us as David and as we are a part of him- and you.”

“What am I then? I mean you guys are all,” he looked around to make sure nobody else was in earshot, and then grinned widely, “such pussies.”

“Meow.” She deadpanned.

“Do you really?”

“Only three days a month, unless I’m really, really hyper.” She grinned back at him and dropped a kiss on him that was a little more serious than she intended.

“Ugghhhmmmm,” she heard David clearing his throat. “Here I’m not even out of bed yet, and you’re already making moves on my boyfriend.”

“That’s okay. I only make the moves on the really good ones.” She told him, watching Delia come out of the tent behind him. Before he could react, she came up behind him and ran her hand down the front of his loin cloth, grasped something and then danced away.

“You’re right Sharon. He is!” She was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

David in turn was turning bright red, blushing even through his deep golden tan. Raising an eyebrow, he looked over at Sharon, “What was that all about? I don’t know if I should be flattered or insulted.”

Nelson came out of the tent behind her, in time to see the whole thing. “Oh that?” he told David while sitting on the bench next to Noah. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes with one hand he reached for Noah’s empty cup with the other, but dropped suddenly. “Ow! That’s cold!” Everybody turned to look at him like he was crazy.

Sharon told him, “Well then put some coffee in it.”

He grunted and picked the cup up carefully by its handle. “The girls were discussing yours and Noah’s dicks. Delia just wanted confirmation,” he told David nonplussed.

“Minks, next time you grab me like that not only do you buy me dinner and movie, but you’ve got to clear it with my boyfriend first. See I’m dating this guy and I hope he turns out to be somewhat of the possessive type,” David told her.

Delia grinned, shook a finger at him and said, “Uh, uh, uh. Not in this group. You’re one of us and you have to share and share alike.” Not even Sharon was sure if she was joking. “Of course since he is technically yours you get to open the package first.”

“Uh, Delia?” Noah cut in.

“Yeah sweet-cheeks?” She answered.

“Uh, in case you haven’t heard, I’m used goods, an already opened package. You know, two hundred bucks and anything you want for an hour,” Sharon knew he was trying to make light of his past.

Nelson whistled, “whoa, two an hour huh?”

Noah winked at him but didn’t say anything.

Delia walked over to him, looked down at him straight into his eyes, “Well, have you ever been with someone you’ve given your heart to before, and who gave you theirs in return?” Sharon saw her glance over at Nelson quickly, and she felt something pretty serious pass between them before she looked back down at Noah.

“Not in that business. You give your heart away and you’ve got nothing left.”

“So that’s a no. You’ve never been with someone because you’ve loved them?”

“No, but that doesn’t make a difference. No matter how you cut it, I’m not exactly unknown to man, to put it in Biblical terms” He added under his breath, “or woman for that matter.”

“You don’t get my meaning do you?”

Before she could continue Noah cut in, “I get you meaning Delia, but I’m not about to kid myself about it. Being who I am cost me too much to deny it. I’m not an innocent little boy after all. To put it bluntly I’m a whore. I got paid for sucking guys dicks, and letting them fuck me. I’m not going to paint a pretty picture. It wasn’t really hard work, and sometimes it was even fun. It kept a roof over my head, and food on my table. I chose to do that instead of being sent off to reparative therapy program run by the Pate’s church. I made my choice and I won’t let myself make light of it…”

Nelson cut in before he could finish, “Nobody’s asking you to paint a picture or asking you to deny what you did. All she’s saying, albeit in her own round about way is that this is a first time with you, because you’re actually in love with the person you’re sleeping with. Your ass may not be a virgin, but your heart is.” Sharon had never seen Nelson give anybody a look like that before. “You are in love with him aren’t you? Because if you aren’t you’d better tell him now and let him go, or I’ll do something rather unpleasant to the pretty little butt of yours.”

Noah actually swallowed hard. Sharon could feel actual primal fear coming off the boy, and she guessed it having to do with him actually having seen Nelson in his half cat form. She also felt him squash that fear deep inside of him suddenly and step through the fire to face Nelson nose to chest. He deliberately took his time looking up the bigger boy’s form, and squared his shoulders back, “What I feel for David is between him and me right now. “ He actually pushed Nelson backwards against the cooler, and Sharon could feel him harness his fear and turn it to anger, “But for your information: Yes, I do love him. That is if somebody like me can love somebody, and I don’t have to listen to you or any body else question what I feel for him.” He shoved Nelson again and stepped right up close to him, “And if you’ve got a problem with that, I’ll be glad to remove those claws for you.”

In a quick move that caught everybody including Noah completely off guard, Nelson swept down and pulled Noah up to him, and kissed him soundly, and passionately. For a few seconds Noah fought the kiss, until he finally gave into it and a small groan escaped from his throat, just before Nelson set him down. “Good. Now I don’t have to eat your heart.” He grinned over at David, “I’ve been wanting to do that since he moved in.”

Noah seemed to be stunned for a second then looked up at Nelson, “Buzz! That’s where I know you from!”

“’Bout time Half-pint. I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever remember somebody you gave twelve hundred dollars to the second day you knew them.”

“It was the hair that kept throwing me.” He was shaking his head and looking down. Sharon could sense that he was actually happy. He then looked up at Nelson, “but I never forget a kiss.”

Sharon looked toward David to gauge his reaction and could tell that he was more than a little uncomfortable with what had just happened. It’s almost like he’s expecting Noah to dump him and move onto something better.

As if sensing the same thing, Noah walked over to David, “I’m sorry love. I’ve been trying to figure out where I knew Nelson from for a week now, that’s all.” He snuggled in close to David, and she could feel something pass between them, but for the life of her couldn’t tell what it was. It was like being able to hear people talking but not being able to make out the words. After a moment, David seemed to relax and put an arm around Noah, but the look he shot Nelson was just a little less friendly than usual.

“Uh… sorry about that,” Nelson looked abashed. She could tell he was realizing that he might have just crossed a line he hadn’t meant to. With everything that had happened lately, and with the way they’d been treating him, David might not be comfortable with the idea of sharing just yet. She realized that he might not ever be comfortable with it.

David replied, “Don’t worry about it.” He turned to face Delia and a strange look came across his face as if he’d suddenly remembered something, “and if you want to know something about my anatomy. Ask first.” He told her, “and definitely make sure your hands are warm.” He grinned, “but remember, I still get to open the package first.”

Suddenly she felt something pass over Noah’s emotions and realized that perhaps they shouldn’t be discussing him like he was a piece of meat right now. From the look David suddenly gave him, she got the feeling that he suddenly understood too. Again she felt something pass between the two of them, but out loud she heard him whisper in Noah’s ear, “What she doesn’t understand is that I’m the package that you get to open first.”

Noah just smiled up at him, as Brendan staggered back into the camp, blood pouring down the side of his head, and covered in bruises and scratches. As he leaned against the tree, she could see the word FAGGOT cut into the skin of his chest. Sharon immediately wet he apron in the pot of warm water next to her and headed over to where David and Nelson had caught him. “Delia, get the first aid kit!” David yelled as he and Nelson helped him to the ground.

MINE, She heard Noah’s voice in her head as well as out loud. Nobody is ever going to hurt my family again. She looked around but didn’t see him anywhere in camp. Suddenly Brendan started to cough and the sight of him spewing rich thick red blood, drug her attention back to more immediate concerns.

CHAPTER 9

Noah took off down the trail before he even realized what he was doing. It wasn’t hard for him to follow the trail Brendan had left on his way back to camp. In a matter of minutes he came to small clearing with several broken bottles that reeked of cheap liquor. A shattered baseball bat lay against a tree. It was still wet with blood. The scene left little to the imagination. He knew that the men who’d done this had beaten Brendan and left him for dead. An image of three men in their early twenties dressed in street clothes heading out down the path to his left suddenly flashed through his mind. Without considering where the image came from, he headed off in pursuit. Thank God, they didn’t know that he could take more than they could dish out.

Five minutes later he caught up with them as they came out of the woods in the back dumpster area of a strip mall. Being early Sunday morning the area was deserted, and only a new looking black Kia was parked behind the building. Without even thinking about how stupid what he was doing was he dove out of the woods and tackled the nearest man. He must have hit him with more force than he thought because both of them were slammed into the side of the Sportage. He heard the sound of breaking glass and bone as he felt the red haze from yesterday begin to rise in him. These stupid bastards had set upon a member of his family, with no concern for anything other than they were going to beat up a faggot. He could see the whole thing in the tiny mind of the man whose face he’d just shoved through the passenger window of the car. This was just little Sunday morning fun for them. They’d done this kind of thing before, and liked it.

Kicking down hard on the man’s legs he turned to face his two friends who were staring at the mess at the car in disbelief. Before they could react, he reached over and snatched the antenna off the car with one quick stroke and dove toward the next closest guy. Somewhere a dry part of his mind wondered at where the strength to knock someone twice his weight fifteen feet was coming from, but he smashed the thought down with same ferocity he struck his target in the midsection. He didn’t care right now, he was just angry.

As they tumbled to the ground, he felt someone grab him by the back of his belt, and try to pull him off his target. A cold distant part of his mind realized it must be the third guy. Stupid! Now you’ve got two of them on you. Determined to make the cost of his going down more expensive than they’d ever want to pay, he screamed as he kicked out at the man he’s just knocked down. He felt a satisfied crunch as his foot caught him high in the ribs.

He felt himself picked up and thrown backwards toward the car again, but willed himself to stop in mid-air. Again that dry part of his mind registered that he did indeed stop and just hang there. He looked over at the last man standing. The man was staring at him in shock. Noah simply smiled as he remembered the antenna in his hand, “Run,” he told the man with his mind as well as his voice.

Noah saw a wet spot spread out along the front of the man’s jeans, as he turned to run. “That’s it. Run, I’ll give you the chance you didn’t give my friend.” Rearing back his arm, he gave the antenna a fling, aiming at the back of the man’s thigh. Maybe it was the balance of the antenna, maybe it was the fact that he was several feet higher than he should have been, or maybe it was because he always had a horrible sidearm throw, but the antenna went high and wide, slicing deep into the man’s upper arm. He heard an audible crack as it drove through the bone. The force of it hitting its target drove the man to the ground. “Damn! Coach always told me to always throw over handed.” Dropping to the ground, he took one final look at the unconscious men, before he started to head back to camp. Then looking around and noticing the security cameras, he thought he’d better at least attempt to cover his tracks. Without understanding what he was doing or how, he touched to the electrical conduit running up the back of th e building. He felt some kind of surge go through his body into the building and suddenly felt very tired. He’d been around enough security systems to know that at it would take at least thirty seconds before the cameras recovered and came back on line. He hurried back down trail, taking just a second to deliver a final vicious kick to the ribs of the one who’d carved Brendan’s chest.

It took him almost an hour to reach the camp. He hadn’t realized how far or fast he’d been moving. By the time he got there, Brendan was sitting up, and the bleeding had stopped. He could see where the ugly wounds on his chest had already begun to heal. It’s good to be werecat, he thought.

“I see you found ‘em,” David said in a grim voice.

“Anything left for the rest of us to kick around?” Nelson asked in the same tone.

“Kick ‘em around?” Delia said.

“For something like this, we just castrate them.” Sharon added.

He looked at David, “Yes.” Then to Nelson he said, “Not much, but if you hurry, the ambulance may not be there yet.” Finally to the girls he said, “with or without a rusty spoon?” Something else was coming over Noah. He wasn’t sure he understood it, but the buzzing at the base of his skull intensified.

He walked over to where Brendan was sitting holding an ice pack to his head. “They won’t do that to anybody again.” He reached down and gently stroked the older boys’ cheek, “If I’m yours then you’re mine. Nobody will ever get away with hurting a member of my family again. I couldn’t do anything about it two years ago, but by God, I can now.” He gently pulled Brendan’s face to his and kissed him lightly on the lips. He felt that surge go through his body again and sat down hard.

An audible gasp came from behind him. “Jeez it was just a kiss…” he started to say as his eyes fell back onto Brendan’s now completely healed chest and face. “Hey Tigger,” was the last thing he remembered saying before the blackness took him.

“Well, this day just keep getting more and more interesting.” Nelson said trying to find some way to put what had just happened in words. The feeling surging through him seemed to click suddenly, and what he was feeling toward Noah suddenly felt right. He watched as David gently picked Noah up and carried him into the tent mumbling about everybody kissing his boyfriend this morning but him.

Nelson moved toward Brendan, “Hey buddy, I think it might be best if you lay down for a little while too. You’ve had a rough morning.” Helping Brendan to his feet he guided him into the tent before he could protest. “Don’t argue, you’ve had a rough morning, and managed to scare the shit out of all of us. Now just lay down here and take it easy in the tent where I know you’re safe.” Brendan being just as confused and stunned by what had happened as the others were, followed meekly along and did as he was told.

He watched as David tucked Noah back into the sleeping bag, and gently placed him, bag and all up on the platform. He then bent over and gently kissed him on the forehead, looked over at Nelson and winked. “How’s Tiger doing?” he indicated where Brendan was lying with his eyes closed.

Not wanting to disturb their patients, Nelson motioned for David to join him outside. Turning to wait for David to follow he watched as David moved to Brendan’s side of the platform. He gently brushed the hair from Brendan’s forehead he whispered, “You scared the hell out of me Tiger. Don’t do it again.” Nelson knew that David knew Brendan was asleep.

David turned to follow him, but before Nelson could turn back around to the tent flap, David pulled him to him in a hug. “God, but they scared the hell out of me. Are you all right?”

Pulling away and out of the tent, “Me? I’m fine. Nobody touched me.” He wondered what had gotten into his friend.

“No, they just beat the hell out of somebody you love.” David told him point blank.

Nelson shrugged and his voice dropped low, “I’m angry. I’m pissed, and I want to rip somebody’s heart out and eat it for breakfast. No, I’m not okay, but I will be.” He looked around at the camp. “Just as soon as we get out of this place. Things have gotten just too strange at this particular event for this little cat’s taste. I mean, we find out that Noah is an old friend of the King. You and Noah go at each other first with swords and then your hearts. We growl at you. Some rednecks beat up Brendan and finally our little kitten bares his claws and beats the hell out of God only knows how many guys then comes back to the camp and heals Brendan, all before passing out.”

“Yeah, I know. Strange, but not boring.” Sharon chimed in, “Never boring.”

David told him, “You know, you can rip their hearts out, but I couldn’t let you eat ‘em.”

“Why not?”

“They’d be too diseased. I wouldn’t want you to get sick.” He told Nelson with a straight face.

That was the last straw. Nelson couldn’t take any more of the cute comments. He sat down against one of the trees and started laughing hysterically. He wasn’t sure when the laughter turned to tears, but it felt good. It felt good when Delia sat down on one side of him, and David on the other. Looking over, he saw both of them in a similar predicament, laughing with him through hysterical tears.

“Oh God, we broke ‘em.” She seemed to be entirely to happy about that comment, “Oh well, I guess that means we can keep them. After all, we do have a no return policy.”

“Sometimes I think that girl just ain’t right in the head,” David told him.

“I know what you mean. She seems to see everything just about three degrees from plum.” Nelson remembered an expression his grandfather used to use. Finally getting up they quickly and quietly packed up the camp. By the time they had most of the stuff outside loaded into the Charger and the Cherokee, Brendan had emerged from the tent feeling somewhat better. Noah still hadn’t moved. David went in to check on him and returned telling everyone he was okay, just out like a light.

He never even opened an eye as they gently put him in the front seat of the Cherokee, and finished packing while Delia and Sharon checked out with the Autocrats.

Two hours later they were tooling down the Interstate back toward Carlton. Nelson got the feeling that things had just begun to get weird. But nothing could ever top the weirdness meter of Brendan letting him drive the Charger without complaining.

Noah quickly skirted through the back hall between the band and art rooms. His experiences at the SCA event several weeks ago made him a little braver. The hall itself was darker than usual, but he could see clearly. Must be something to do with what’s been happening to me.

Ducking his head, he stepped up his pace nevertheless. At the halfway mark he felt more than heard someone come out of one of the empty rooms behind him. Before he could look back he heard a girl call his name, “Noah!”

Turning, he saw the new girl, Kara who only recently had started at Carlton. He breathed a sigh of relief, “Oh, it’s you.” She was tall, almost six feet, and had long blonde hair pulled back in a no-nonsense kind of pony tail.
Wearing slacks and a plain-looking blue top just hung off her like a limp dishrag, Noah wondered why nobody had ever taught her how to dress so that her clothes accented her looks. He stopped and let her catch up.

“You seemed startled,” she said. “What’s wrong?”

Noah shook his head, “Sorry. I just had a bad turn in these halls a few weeks back. I guess I’m kinda’ jumpy now.”

“No need to be jumpy little rabbit,” A new voice came from behind Kara. Cursing himself mentally for being stupid, he recognized Matthew’s voice as he too stepped from the room, adjusting his belt. “We jus’ wanted to play.” The bigger guy walked up and picked at Noah’s collar.

Noah pulled away, “I’m not sure I want to play the same kind of games you play, Matthews.” He swallowed hard as he felt the wave of testosterone that was sweeping off the werewolf. He shoved the little boy deep inside him, squared his shoulders and swept Matthews hand from his shoulder.

“Oh look, the cat thinks it’s got claws,” Kara said next to him. She pulled a long knife from her boot and smiled. Noah could see the fear in Matthew’s mind and knew the blade was made of silver, “You don’t have your cougar friend around right now little kitten, and I don’t think your cat is close enough to the surface to help you today.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Kara,” Noah told her. “I’m just trying to

get to art class.”

“Jeff here,” she nodded toward Matthews, “tells me, you’re quite the little tiger when cornered. Said you hurt two of his friends pretty badly a couple of weeks back.” She ran the back of the knife down the line of his jaw, and dropped its point to the small hallow where his collar bones met. She giggled, “I hear you used to be something of a different kind of animal down on Central.” He felt a prick of blood begin to ooze up around the point. Off to the side, he heard Matthews sniff the air, and then growl deeply.

He backed up against the wall to keep Matthews from getting behind him. “Look, I’m just trying not to be late for Ms. Batum’s class.”

“’Fraid that’s not going to be possible.” She grinned, “you see, pretty soon you’re going to be the late Noah Hale.” He felt her increase the pressure on the blade, ever so slightly. “Nothing personal you see. I just don’t like werecats.” He could see the muscles in her forearm start to knot up.

Thinking to himself, now or never, he lashed out with a kick to her groin. That’s one advantage to my former profession. I know exactly how everybody is vulnerable there. As she was driven backwards he rolled his arm back and brushed the blade to his right. He was surprised when he girl didn’t let go, but not as surprised as Matthews who managed to charge right on top of it.

Dodging left, he walked right into a second knife the girl had managed to produce. As the blade cut deeply across his chest, he rolled out of the way and scrambled toward the far end of the hall. Running for everything he was worth, he heard somebody closing quickly behind him. He glanced back to see Matthews crouched on the floor near the door he’d come out of, the knife Kara had held still in his shoulder. Less than three feet behind him, grinning like some kind of sick clown, Kara was closing on him fast. In desperation he threw his mind out, and felt a surge of something flow through his body. Suddenly he and Kara were each flung backwards in opposite directions; he toward the art room and her back toward Matthews.

Twisting in mid-air, he was able to catch himself like he had outside the strip mall a week ago. Setting down gently he looked back in time to see her bounce off the back wall, thirty feet behind him. Without thinking, he turned and ran full speed to art, his only thoughts were that if he told anybody what happened, they’d just yell at him for going down that hall alone. And they’d be within their rights.

David toweled himself off as he tried to shake the water from his hair. “Rosen, hurry up or we’ll be late for English!” someone yelled down from the door of the locker room.

“You guys go on without me. I’ll be there in a minute!” he replied his head down, as something suddenly slammed into him from the side. He felt the wind knocked from his lungs as his back hit the lockers hard. Before he could react, something grabbed him by the arm and suddenly he was airborne across the room. Tucking and rolling, to absorb the impact of hitting the tiled floor of the shower area, he came to a halt on his back, is feet against the wall of the stall.

Looking up he saw the hulking form of Matthews lumbering toward him. There was rage on the boys face and just a little of the wolf on the surface. Scrambling to his feet with his back to the wall he glanced around the room. It was empty of everybody except for the two of them, and Matthews’ growls were echoing off the walls eerily.

Turning his eyes back to Matthews’ closing form, he could see a nasty scabbed over scar on the boy’s shoulder. It looked like he’d been stabbed, and David was unsure how, but he could smell silver in the wound. “What’s the matter Matthews that new bitch of yours hasn’t knocked any sense into you yet?”

“Leave Kara out of this,” Matthews growled at him as face continued to contort and twist into something vaguely resembling a wolf. “This is between you and me, Jew-boy.”

“You don’t want to do this Matthews” David warned him, as he felt something else rise in his own soul. It wasn’t the cat he was expecting, but something more fiery, more elemental.

Matthews simply growled and leaped at him, continuing the transformation in mid-flight. David lashed out, grabbed the half-wolf by the fore-paws, ducked and rolled as he slammed Matthews into the wall behind him. He felt a satisfying lurch from Matthews’ wounded shoulder as the shower tile cracked and shattered into a thousand razor sharp pieces.

Leaping out of the shower area, he turned to see Matthew’s growl again, holding his now dislocated shoulder. The werewolf was past being able to speak, as it slowly advanced out of the showers, slicing its paws on the razor shards of tile. David backed up slowly, never taking his eyes off hulking form coming at him. He didn’t know what had set the boy off, but it was obvious that he was the target now. Looking back at the door to the locker room he could see where someone had put a heavy duty mob through the handles, blocking it from opening. “Oh well,” he muttered to himself, “better me than somebody else.”

Backing up he felt the back of his knees hit one of the benches in front of the lockers. Carefully stepping over it, never taking his eyes off the werewolf’s closing form, “Bad dog. Sit! Stay!” he told it. “C’mon Matthews, you don’t want me to have to hurt you.” He realized the wolf was past reasoning. He couldn’t understand why Matthews was coming after him, even wounded.

The werewolf growled, and charged forward. David kicked his foot out and up pulling the bench to his hands. It was bulky and unwieldly, but the only club he could get his hands on. Swinging with a strength he didn’t know he had, he caught the werewolf solidly in the side of the head. There was an audible crack and a yelp, as someone was shaking the doors from the outside.

Turning to look, he didn’t see Matthews close with him until it was too late. Pain shot through this elbow, as the werewolf’s teeth bit deep into his arm. Suddenly the world turned golden on him, and he felt something rise up from inside him. Dropping the bench to the floor beside him, he savagely kicked the werewolf solidly between the hind-legs. Twisting his arm free, he caught Matthews a solid blow to the side of the head with his fist, as the whole world seemed to fade around him, and he was caught up in the same golden haze of battle that he’d experienced a few weeks ago against Noah at the SCA event.

David didn’t know how long the fight lasted. The next thing he remembered was Nelson and several other boys pulling him off Matthews’ now human form. The other boy was bloodied and bruised, but still conscious. David growled at Matthews, “Don’t you ever come near me or mine again.”

“Have you noticed a difference in David lately?” Nelson asked Delia the next day as they lay together watching the autumn Gulf sky- it being only a slightly darker shade of blue from the summer Gulf sky. “I mean since the event? I mean besides the fact that he kicked the wolf out of Matthews yesterday.”

“You mean like he seems to smile more, or the fact that it seems like he’s not telling us everything he knows? Delia replied. “Wait a minute? What do you mean he kicked the wolf out of Matthews yesterday? Is he all right?”

“Oh yeah, he’s fine. Matthews got a good taste of his own medicine. What I mean though is that he seems different somehow. More complete.” Nelson couldn’t put into words the difference he sensed in David over the past few weeks.

“You mean like the fact that he doesn’t seem to worry so much?”

“Are you going to keep answering my questions with a question?” Nelson chided her.

“Only until you get to a question I know the answer to,” she leaned over and kissed him on the nose.

“Gee, you think we’ll be here that long?” He smiled, and put his hands behind his head, “I guess if I were getting laid on a regular basis by Noah I’d be smiling a lot too.”

“Hey!” she shoved him over. “What am I, just chopped liver?”

“Nah, you’re one of those really good tuna treats.” He leaned over and tapped her on the nose. “You just don’t have the right equipment to scratch certain …itches. It’s just that sometimes I want steak instead of fish.”

“Well here’s a news flash for you Mr. Carnivore, things haven’t gotten quite that far between those two,” she told him. “At least that’s what Noah tells me. Oh, and by the way, I like tuna treats every once and while myself.”

He laughed, “and that’s supposed to surprise me?” She and Sharon had never made any secret about that fact. “But that would explain why Noah’s acting like a kitten with its favorite toy just out of reach. He’s having to work at this relationship thing.”

“Nelson love, we all have to work at this relationship thing.”

“True, but the difference being we all came into this having actual relationships before. Think about it, David’s a virgin any way you put it. If Noah starts moving too fast, David’s likely to clam up on him.” He shook his head as a rather nasty image came to mind, “That boy must be getting one of the worst cases of blue balls this side of a priest in a whorehouse.”

“Oh,” Delia raised an eyebrow, “you’ve seen priests after they’ve been to whorehouses?”

“Nah, but keep it up and I know a nun when I see one.”

“You keep it up and you’ll be getting none,” she crossed her arms in front of her.

“Gee and I was hoping we could get sushi later.” He smiled.

“Can’t.” she told him. “Besides, I thought you were craving steak?”

“Nah, Brendan’s still not quite up that yet.” He shrugged. “I like sushi.”

“Can’t.” she smiled.

“Why not?”

“I promised Noah I’d help with something.” For the thousandth time today, he marveled at how her hair shown in dying sunlight.

“Beautiful,” was all he could say.

“Huh?” She asked.

“I was just thinking about you.” He smiled.

“That’s sweet.” She kissed him on the nose. “But still no sushi tonight. I promised Noah.”

“I didn’t say it to lead to that. I was just stating a fact.” He told her feeling kind of hurt.

“I know. But I just have to keep reminding myself that I have to go and help Noah tonight.” She told him.

“So helping him with his great seduction, or is there some other plot afoot I should beware of?” He did his best James Bond.

“I’m sort of helping with figuring out what’s happening to him. He’s been practicing some things.” She shook her head, “We still can’t figure out what the fangs are for though.”

“What started this?” Nelson asked.

“Not sure. Just a couple of weeks ago, he came to me and asked me to help him.” She shook her head, “Funny thing too. He smelled like he was trying to hide something. It was just before the new moon and my senses were pretty high. He smiled like he’d taken several baths, and had on enough deodorant to kill the smell of slaughter house. He also smelled a little like silver.”

“Did you think about calling Dalton and seeing if he can set up an appointment with that Doc he sent us to?” Nelson remembered the strange man’s office over on Orange Avenue. “You know, Doctorrrrrr…?,” he paused bringing the older man’s face to his mind, “man I can’t remember his name now. You know the one I’m talking about. The one that deals with problems off the medical beaten path so to speak.”

“Doctor Rice. I remember him. I think he washed his hands in ice water before he examined me.” She shook her head. Nelson remembered her saying that he gave her the heebee-jeebies.

“Ice water nothing, I don’t think the man had a body temperature.” He shook his head, “but he didn’t smell dead. He was just cold.”

“Well anyway, Noah doesn’t want to go to a doctor just yet. He won’t tell me why, but for some reason the idea of seeing a doctor right now scares him. I think it has something to do with what happened to his parents.”

“Well, he may not want to go now, but Dalton’s going to want him to go for a physical if for no other reason.” Nelson thought of how he’d insisted that he and Delia get checked out their first week at Martha’s. He was honestly surprised he hadn’t already insisted that Noah go.

“I’m not so sure. I’m under the impression that Noah and Dalton have some kind of stipulations worked out on their arrangement. He won’t tell me any of the details, but according to him, he came to Dalton, not the other way around. I get the feeling that something rather peculiar happened to get him at Martha’s.” She told him. “Anyway, I’ve been helping him get used to what seems to be happening to his body and mind.” She smiled at him, “It’s really kind of fascinating.”

“Well if any of the stunts he pulled off at the event are an indication,” Something suddenly hit him, “Hey, wait a minute! You don’t think… I mean they did a lot of communicating without actually saying anything at the event, and Sharon kept saying she felt something freaky going on.” An idea started to form in his head, “How much do you want to bet that they may not be physically sleeping together, that they aren’t doing an awful lot of things mentally?”

“Nope.” She told him rather finally.

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“Okay, now I’m really confused. I don’t know why David’s got that stupid grin on his face. I mean if he’s not pounding…” Somehow thinking of Noah and David in that way didn’t seem quite right, it didn’t seem quite wrong either, but it didn’t seem right, “…if he’s not…” he turned back to Delia as another question came to mind, “Who’s the top?”

“How would I know? Noah doesn’t tell me a lot about what he and David do. He talks a lot about David’s eyes, his hair, his nose- oh the boy’s really caught up on his nose for some reason, but he doesn’t tell me much about what they do. Just that what ever it is, there’s not enough of it for Noah’s tastes.”

“Bet I know what they do.” Nelson told her.

“What?”

“This,” He leaned over and kissed her passionately, pulled her into his arms and pointed up at where Venus was visible slipping below the horizon with the sun. She lay here head down against his shoulder and began to purr softly. “Damn this is nice. You’ll be late to help Noah if we keep it up.”

“So, I’ll be a little late.” She snuggled against him.

CHAPTER 10

Kara limped into the house she shared with her father and her Guardian, Bartholomew. He was returning today from London, where he’d been meeting with the High Chancellor of the Hunters, and she was anxious to ask him about yesterday’s events. Her ribs still ached from being hurled against the wall by what ever force the little prostitute had used on her. She didn’t think that it was magic. He didn’t feel like other wizards she’d killed in the past. He was somehow different.

“It’s about time you got home,” Matthews voice came from the living room. Kara realized that he must have let himself in through her bedroom window.

“What business is it of yours where I am?” She asked putting her backpack down next to the door leading from the kitchen to the living room.

“None really,” he smirked at her, “just had some information for you.” She noticed his face was bruised.

“Oh?” she asked trying to sound bored, “and what would that be?”

“You know that guy you’ve had the hots for?” he gave her a predatory smile, “you know who I mean. The one who told you he wasn’t interested, even if you were the last woman on Earth.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, get on with it,” She told him, trying not to sound upset. She was genuinely attracted to Rosen, and the fact that he’d turned down still smarted a little. Not as much as her did, but was blow to her ego. Most of her bed partners were and are simple tools for getting control of the pack, or for getting close to a target. Rosen was different- intriguing. “What about him?”

“Just thought I’d let you know that come the full moon, he’ll be more than willin’ to dance.”

“Oh?” she asked, walking up and running his hand down the side of his bruised face. “What happened? You bit him and his little werecat friends beat the shit out of you?” She smiled wickedly. She could play this game too, “No that couldn’t be it. If it had been just you against his friends, you’d be in a litter box somewhere.” Pushing him down on the couch, she straddled his lap and kissed and then bit his lips, “I have it, you bit him, and then HE beat the shit out of you.” Feeling down between his legs, to make sure she was having the effect she wanted, “Are you sure you want him in your pack, Jeff? He sounds like an Alpha to me.” She smiled wickedly at him, and squeezed hard, “then again, at heart you really are a Beta.”

Smiling at the pained look on Matthews’ face, she slid off him, “Now get out.” She pulled one of her silver knives from the small of her back, “Or…” she let her voice drop low, “we can always play.” Smiling she watched Jeff leave through the front door in a hurry. She realized that tomorrow night was the full moon. If the boy was going to change it would be then. She had to manage a way to keep him in one place so she could be there when he changed. She had the perfect idea. There was this small pack of neos that were trying to get in her good graces.

On more than one occasion she’d worked with neos, at least long enough to get close to a kinter or wizard. Neos were the cannon fodder of the vampire breeds and others of their kind looked on them with contempt. They were the easiest to kill, and the most likely to fall under the influence of a Huntress. If she let their leader think that doing this favor for her might let him live a little longer, then she could arrange for David to be stuck somewhere where he could be controlled on the full moon.

“You handled that one rather well daughter,” she turned surprised to see Bartholomew standing in the hall leading to the bedrooms. She doubted even Matthews had known he was in the house.

“When did you return father?” she asked, kissing him lightly on the lips.

“This morning,” he answered. “And how did things fare in my absence?”

She sighed and hugged him, “You heard what Matthews said.”

He nodded, “I heard. If he’s right and the transformation doesn’t kill the Rosen boy, he’ll make a good werewolf.” He smiled , “A little hard to control at first, but once he’s tamed, he’ll probably replace Matthews as Alpha male.”

Kara chuckled, “considering he beat Jeff in a fight, before becoming a werewolf, I’d say he’ll definitely take over that role.” She smiled, “I’m afraid our little gang-banger wannnabe may have outsmarted himself this time.”

“From what I’ve seen out of him, that wouldn’t be too hard to do,” her father replied.

Kara became more serious, “we may have a problem of a more serious nature though.”

“Oh, and what seriousness is this daughter?” he asked.

“The prostitute,” she told him.

“What about him?”

“He threw me down a thirty foot hallway, without ever touching me.” She shook her head, “I don’t think he’s a werecat. I’m not sure what he is- a mage maybe, but he doesn’t feel like one. All I know, is that he’s a whole lot more dangerous than I thought.”

Her father looked at her concerned, “what do you mean he threw you down the hall without touching you?”

“We were going to use him to draw out the other werecats. I thought he was just a young cat who hadn’t come fully into his form. It’s far enough from the new moon that he shouldn’t have been able to summon the cat, so we went in to take him out. We figured it would upset the pride enough that they would be distracted.”

“What happened?” her father asked.

“We approached him. I took Jeff with me. The boy’s fast. I had him pinned to the wall.” She felt herself blush, “He kicked me, and dodged out of the way.” She chuckled, “Jeff the blade I had at the boy’s throat in the shoulder. While he was writhing on the floor in pain, I chased Hale.” She shook her head. “Almost had ‘im too. But, he turned around saw me and the next thing I knew, I was hit by some kind of invisible battering ram. I hit the far wall hard.” She rubbed her side, “Think it broke some ribs.”

“Did make any kind of gesture, or incantation?” Bartholomew asked.

“None that I could see or hear. To tell the truth, he looked panicked.”

Her father sat down in the large recliner and seemed to ponder what she told him. “I warned the Chancellors about this a long time ago. They wouldn’t let me finish it then. Now it looks like all our work has become undone.” He looked up at her concern in his eyes, “We are in more danger than we realized.”

“What do you mean?”

Bartholomew shook his head, “The boy sounds like a spiritwalker. I thought we’d wiped them and their damnable counterparts out a long time ago, at the Battle of Wallachia.”

“Didn’t you?” she asked, “I mean according the chronicles, they all died.”

“We killed all the spiritwalkers,” Bartholomew shook his head, “but the Chancellors wouldn’t let us finish off their families. There were several brothers and sisters, cousins and such who were not spiritwalkers. I wanted to eradicate them as well” He shook his head, “to make sure we’d cleaned out the breeding stock. The Chancellors wouldn’t agree to it. They said it would attract too much attention to us.”

“So in other words, we have to clean up the mess the Chancellor’s lack of forethought has left us.” She shook her head, “Father, why don’t you simply take control of the Chancellors and run the Order like it should be run?”

“Because daughter, that would reveal my own secrets. I’m not willing to give the other Guardians that much ammunition just yet.” He sighed, “We’ll have to deal with the spiritwalker too. Although his presence might explain something the Chancellors warned me of.”

“Which was?” she asked kneeling in front of him.

“They believe some of our oldest foes have come to this city,” he told her.

“They’re not talking about the prophecy of rebirth again are they?” She shook her head, and began to unbutton her blouse. “I mean great-grandmother dealt that particular little bitch the final death back at the turn of the twentieth century.”

“Not in so many words daughter.” Her father told her stroking her hair gently. His touch sent a familiar surge of pleasure through her body as she removed her skirt. “They simply warned me that her two pet true-breed werewolves had been seen in this area, along with the Son of the Dragon.”

“I would have thought after New Orleans, that particular Forsaken vampire wouldn’t be in their company.” Freeing herself from the last of her undergarments, she climbed into his lap and lay her head on his shoulder, as he slowly stroked her skin.

“Those four had a strange relationship, Daughter. It was not normal,” his hand dropped to the moistness developing between her legs.

Bending over, she kissed him gently on the lips, and pulled back as her own passion began to rise, “Do you think they are looking for us?”

“I think they are looking for your spiritwalker,” he stood up, carrying her like a child toward his bedroom. “I think they, believe that his presence will bring the elementalist and together they will bring her back.

“So we kill him from a distance before he finds his elementalist,” she told him as he lay her on the bed.

Since his run in with Kara and Matthews yesterday, Noah had decided to throw himself into making his newfound abilities work for him. So here he sat in his room, concentrating on the book at the foot of his bed. He could feel his mind reach out for it and start to draw it to him. The book quivered and then wobbled its way into the air. He was getting the hang of it! Something was finally going right. Working on this kept his mind off seeing David ushered into the principal’s office with Mathews yesterday. Temporarily losing his control as the emotions that image brought came boiling to the surface, the book suddenly rocketed toward his face. He barely ducked out of the way before it flew out the window, landing in one of the bushes at the edge of the yard.

“There was a time when books were so precious that something like that would be considered a cardinal sin,” A strange voice Noah had never heard before came from where the shadows had gathered in his room. Oddly enough, Noah had not detected another mind in the room, and even now he couldn’t be sure there was actually someone there.

“Who’s there? Who are you?” He reached back into the open drawer of his desk, and pulled the small knife he had hidden there. It wasn’t much but it could do the job. It had a steel core, but a sterling silver coating. After Brendan’s warning about Matthews, he wasn’t taking any chances.

“Relax child,” the voice seemed to be taking form, “I’m no more one of those damnable sorcerer creations than you are?” He watched as the shadows finally dissipated to reveal a tall gaunt looking yet elegantly dressed man. His face and body was strangely misshapen, but his most notable feature was the deep lavender of his eyes.

“Then what are you?” Noah asked, slipping the knife into his back pocket.

“Forgive me, I’ve been rude,” the man said with a slight German accent. Placing his hand over his heart, he gave Noah a slight bow, “My name is Vincent, Vincent the Grey, a mutual friend of ours, Mr. Lecroix I believe he’s calling himself now,” Noah saw the man smirk slightly, “told me of your presence here in this city. I… simply wanted to make sure his estimations were accurate.”

Somehow, in this man’s presence, Noah felt he should remember the manners his mother had drilled into him as a child, “Would you like to sit down?” Noah indicated the largest most comfortable chair in the room.

“Thank you child, these old bones don’t travel great distances well anymore.” The man said lowering himself gracefully into the chair.

“I’m sure you must have a great many questions child. Forgive me, Noah.” He said.

Actually Noah had so many questions that he didn’t know where to begin. Sitting down in the desk chair he looked carefully at the man. Over the past few weeks, he’d learned to read people by the electrical field they gave off. This man had no field. It was as if his nerves weren’t firing at all. “Uh.. lots, but I’m not sure where to start, Mr. Uhh. Vincent.”

“Simply Vincent will do child.” Somehow Noah got the idea that there was nothing simply about this man. He also got the feeling that Vincent was as much a title as it was a name. “I promised Nicholai that I wouldn’t stay long in his city. Well, too long anyway.”

“I see.” Noah took a deep breath, trying to prioritize all the questions that were knocking at his mind. After a few seconds of thought and worry over having some kind of time limit he tried to decide where to go first.

As if sensing his dilemma Vincent quietly said, “Take your time child. Dealing with Nicholai is merely a formality. I am yours to question for the evening.”

“Somehow I get the feeling you’re not in the habit of answering questions. Unless you want to.” Noah told him, finally remembering what that thing running between his skull and pelvis was.

“I haven’t answered many questions in the last hundred years. Not since the death of my daughter.” The man smiled, the same smile of Lecroix, and Noah redoubled his efforts to suppress his “protect me, I’m a little boy” projections.

“Okay, then let’s start with a basic one, that I can’t seem to get a straight answer to. I can’t figure it out on my own and I can’t seem to find any real literature to help me with it.”

“Ah, a young scholar and budding scientists I see. My Ashleigh would have enjoyed talking to you.” He smiled, “Ask your question then,”

“What am I? What am I becoming, and why are so many, uh… pardon the expression, strange people, taking an interest in me?” Noah hoped he hadn’t offended the man.

“What are you? You child, are the rebirth of part of an old race. We called you spiritwalkers in the old days. Your counterparts were the elementals. I believe the modern term for what you are would be something along the lines of- oh what’s the word your friend used- a tepe I believed he called them. I think the scientific term, and of course Ashleigh would have preferred I use the scientific term- harkening back to the old Greek of course- would be psion.” He chuckled, “But then again science had nothing to do with your creation. That my friend was pure magic, in it’s rawest and most powerful form. So if you don’t mind, I’ll continue to use the old term. Of course I will do so even if you do mind.” He laughed again.

“A telepath?” Noah said, “Okay, that makes sense and I’d figured that out so far. There seems to be some psychokinesis involved here too, and some other things I haven’t exactly been able to put a finger on yet. Mainly I seem to go long periods without sleep or food, unless I do something strange or really stupid. Then there are times when I can toss a werewolf around like a rag doll, like I wanted to do to Matthews yesterday, and then others when I can’t lift my arm to save my life- usually after I’ve tossed said werewolf. I heal very quickly. That includes myself as well as others. I also seem to play with electricity to some extent. And, when I do do something spectacular, I suddenly get my appetite and need for sleep back.” He couldn’t believe he’d gotten all that out in one breath. “Oh, and it doesn’t help that I still look thirteen either and have these fangs that don’t seem to have any function other than to get my motor running.” He blushed at the last and was surprised that there were some things he could still blush at. “If you know what I mean?”

Vincent laughed a deep and throaty laugh, and Noah could see the amusement dance in his eyes, “For someone who can’t quite put a finger on where he wishes to begin, you seemed to have summed it all up rather nicely. As for the aging part, don’t forget that thirteen would have been considered an adult four hundred years ago and you would have had a family by now.” He looked Noah up and down, “But I must remember that certain cultural acceptabilities no longer apply in today’s society.” He continued, without seeming to draw a breath, “As for why you have attracted the attention of these so-called strange people…” He stopped and looked at Noah, “Clarify something for me, exactly what kind of strange people have you attracted,” Noah got the feeling Vincent had just given him the rope to hang himself with.

“Well, let’s see, first there was the werewolf in the school hall.” He smiled at him, “Did you know werewolves were real? Well I didn’t until a few weeks ago. That’s when several couldn’t decide if they were going to eat me, or rape me. Of course that’s also when I found out my friends and housemates were werecats. Do werewolves and werecats chase each other? Then along comes David- have you met David? He’s a piece of work. Did I tell you he took on a werewolf yesterday in the gym locker room? And was smiling about it when he got into the principal’s office? What’s going on with him is as strange as with me. He can turn to glass to steel. Neat huh? And then Lecroix- the guy who wants me to think he’s a vampire- shows up, and after spending several minutes having a similar conversation with him as I am with you, all my friends tell my I smell like a rolled in something dead. Cat logic! Who wants to roll in something dead? Then there’s this girl that’s been following me around ever since I got back from that event. I can’t read anything off her, and she’s carrying all these weapons. She jumped me in the hall with her werewolf friend, a little while back. I think she thinks she’s Buffy or something. I got news for her, I’m not a werecat and I’m not going down that easy.” He looked over, “How’s that for a clarification?”

“Hmmm, somewhat vague, but it’ll do for now.” Noah wasn’t sure if Vincent was kidding him or not. “Now as to your questions. Yes. I know werewolves are real. Werewolves only chase werecats on a full moon or when they feel like doing something equally foolish. As for your David: No, I haven’t had the pleasure yet, but I do intend to call upon him. Smiling after encountering a werewolf you say?” He nodded his head to Noah. “And as for Nicholai, he really is a vampire. Not a very old one, but a vampire nonetheless. And definitely more powerful and intelligent than many give him credit for. And as for the young girl: You say you feel nothing off of her, and she carries a multitude of exotic weapons?”

“Yeah, she’s got about a dozen knives on her, at least two sharpened stakes, and several shurikens. That’s at least what I was able to sense off her.”

“Is she a rather attractive, yet sever looking young girl?”

“Yeah, she could be a real bombastic brassy blonde if she tried, but she seems to be going for the dress down and don’t attract attention look. She runs around with Matthews- the werewolf pack leader- and his bunch.”

“Ah...that my young friend, is a Huntress. A rather disagreeable group of young men and women trained by the sorcerers to hunt down and kill anyone who’s not their ally or who doesn’t practice the same sort of magics they do. They are also the ones who attempted to kill off your race four hundred years ago. And the ones responsible for killing my Ashleigh.” There was a definite sense of loss to Vincent’s voice- and anger.

“So she is some kind of Buffy wannabe?”

“No my dear boy, but you could say it’s the other way around. That particular fictional character was taken from the adventures of a young huntress a few years ago. Mind you, the names have been changed to protect the guilty, or innocent depending on your view. Actually, the existence of the Hunters and Huntresses is the only thing that particular group has in common with that theatrical production. I can guarantee you that these people are not heroes. They are the ones responsible for beginning the witch-hunts to sweep your race from the face of the world. All that effort was merely to make their job of bringing down five vampires less difficult. They have no problem with killing anyone who gets in their way- be they human, were, Spiritwalker, Elementalist, witch, wizard, vampire, or Eternal.”

Now Noah was really confused. “But what does all this have to do with me?”

“I told you my boy, you’re a Spiritwalker. One who cannot be lied to, who cannot be deceived by thought,” He smirked, “one who can call down the sun itself if necessary- granted none have ever survived using a sunstrike before, but it is a formidable final solution. None of those such struck have ever survived either.”

“Okay, so I’m some kind of super psi.” He shook his head, “to tell you the truth, I don’t feel all that super, just scared, and confused. But if you repeat that last part I’ll deny it.”

“No super to it. You are simply what you were created to be.”

That brought up another question that had been bothering Noah, “Created? How? Why?”

“Created, yes.” Vincent leaned back again, as the very air seemed to vibrate around him, “How? Through magic, each of us giving of our essence to create you and the Elementals- as your friend David is discovering. Why? To help maintain balance. What’s the old saying? Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. With your race in existence, no one can have absolute power. You both contain an area of power that we,” he gave a small of his head, “gave freely and of our own will, so that we would not be tempted to challenge the forces of creation. You child are meant to be our arbiters, judges, juries, and if need be executioners. As unnatural as we may seem, we consort with no powers outside those with which were born or cursed. We are the witches, wizards, the forsaken, the undead, and some-not all of the skin changers”

“So…. I’m supposed to be some kind of Jedi?” he shook his head, “I mean, look at me.” He did his best Yoda, “Jedi master not am I.” He smiled ruefully, “With my background, I’m already aligned with the dark side.”

Vincent laughed out loud. It was a hollow, and somewhat frightening laugh, “There is no dark side- at least not in that sense. That’s a Hollywood philosophy, and was in no way meant to have been taken seriously. You are a whole person. Your soul is the way it was created to be. If you deny your predatory instincts which nature gave you for a reason, then you cripple yourself. Your instincts are a part of you, given to you by the Creator to draw on for strength when you are in danger. You control your instincts, use them, shape them. The real danger is letting your instincts, your anger, your fear, your hatreds, your reactions, control you. If you let them control you, then you are no better than an animal.” Vincent suddenly became very serious and Noah felt as if what was being said was the most important thing in the world. “As for dark forces: Do you consort with demons child? Do you make pacts where you offer them the blood of the innocent, or your very soul, or the souls of others? Do you allow them influence in this world through you?”

Noah shook his head, “No, but I’ve done some things that are considered to be pretty evil.”

“Child, living on the streets and selling one’s self to survive is not evil. That particular profession is after all, the oldest in the world. Have you killed anyone for pleasure? Have you reveled in their pain or death? Have you purposefully set out to cause misery in those who couldn’t defend themselves- or in those who have not done you and yours harm?”

The thoughts of what he’d done to the men who’d attacked Brendan came to Noah’s mind, “I’ve hurt people.”

“Intentionally, with forethought, for your own pleasure and enjoyment? Or was it out of a need to protect or defend those about whom you care?” Vincent asked.

“It was to make sure they didn’t get away with hurting Brendan,” Noah told him in a soft voice, as if he were confessing something.

“Then see child, you are already fulfilling the role for which you were born. Others like you will soon be born into existence again. You and the others will need to be their guide, so you have a duty protect your family, your pride if you wish. It will be your jobs to make sure that the way will be paved for them to return to this realm, so that others like myself will be able emerge from the shadows and myth to walk again among men unmolested by those who make such pacts as we discussed.”

“But why me? I mean I’m just a kid trying to make his way in a world that up until lately hasn’t been too nice to him. After all, I don’t have any great influence on world events. I can’t make laws. Most people would look at me and laugh.”

“Child have you not listened to me? Have you not realized that you have the ability to change people’s minds? You must be subtle and gentle in your endeavors. Don’t charge in like a gladiator into an arena. Glide in gently, be invisible, make suggestion in the right ears. Push when you have to, but do it gently. Allow them to believe that these suggestions are their ideas. More can be accomplished with a whisper, than ever with a shout. Especially when it is one such as you doing the whispering.” Vincent seemed to be remembering a time not of now.

Noah took a long breath. This was a lot to absorb all at once. He still hadn’t reached the most pertinent questions on his mind, but somehow he got the feeling that the answers he was getting would in the long run be more important to his life. “All I can promise is that I’ll try. I’m having a lot of problems understanding myself, much less the world around me. Still I wonder about my friends. Why are we all together now? Why do we all seem to fit so easily together? What’s happening to David?” He shook his head, “and one of the most important questions I have is probably the most insignificant to someone like you.” He took a deep breath, “But, what are these damn fangs for?” He concentrated on his upper jaw and felt the fangs slide down into place.

“First child, it is not just you. Were you not listening when I told you that your David is your Elementalist- the other half of your power, the other half of your soul. Do you not feel your heart reaching for him? As for your friends: they are your werecats. They are your pride, your family. You fit together so easily because you are supposed to be together. Call it fate. The Creator has deemed that you are to be there for each other. And while I may not agree with many of his methods, he is after all the Creator, and should be obeyed. And as to how you acquired your fangs,” Vincent smiled apologetically, “They are a part of the essence given to you by the Forsaken. They will play a major part in initiating and from time to time renewing your bond with the others. The bond does require a small amount of blood to be exchanged between all the individuals.”

“So I am turning into some kind of vampire?” Noah was worried about that idea.

“No child, you are not becoming a vampire. What is your fixation with vampires? You are not one, nor can you ever become one. Nor can you become a werecreature, a zombie or any such affected creature. You are a spiritwalker,” he emphasized the last word. “If you were to be so foolish as to attempt to drink from anyone who is not a part of your bond, you would become physically ill at the taste. The blood is part of the essence that I gave your race, but it is not meant for nourishment. It is meant to be an anchor for each of you to the others.”

This was all confusing Noah. He wasn’t sure if Vincent was speaking of himself as the creator, or God, or George Lucas.

Vincent sighed, “Child do you believe in God? Do you believe in a higher power? Do you not have faith?”

Noah shrugged, “I’m not sure. I haven’t really had the chance to think about it. I’ve been kind of busy. But logically, if there are other supernatural forces out there, then there must be some kind of God or creator. I mean if magic, and werewolves exist, then I guess, so would God.” He wasn’t sure he was comfortable where this conversation was heading, and knew it was his own fault. “The question is, which God, and what does he want us to do, and if God exists then why does he allow evil to exist?”

“Which God? They’re all the same. People just call him different names. What does he want you to do? Live your lives, and hold and honor the covenants you make with each other. Why does he allow evil to exist? Evil is a part of man. Man gained evil when man gained free will and intelligence. Without it, there would be no free will, and man would be no better off than the beasts of the fields. Good is the other half of evil and evil the other half of good. I believe the saying is that they’re two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. I mean Mien Gott in Himmel Childer, what do you think caused the whole war in Heaven?” Vincent’s violent outburst took Noah off guard and he instinctively looked around for some place to hide.

Seeing none, he had no choice but to stand his ground. He took a deep breath, “I don’t know about wars in heaven, or evil. I just know what I’ve seen and lived. Not all of it has been pretty, and a lot of it has scared the hell out of me. I’ve had people want to brainwash me in the name of God. I’ve seen people throw their lives down a needle, or up their noses. I’ve watched guys hide from life inside bottles of pills or bent across some man’s bed they hated- all for the chance to keep something of themselves only to lose it by hiding. I haven’t had a lot experience with good until lately, but I’ve got to know evil pretty damn well.”

“No child you’ve had no experience with evil. You’ve only experienced humanity. Few men or women are truly good or evil. Many are just misguided, and manage to do great harm to themselves and others thus. You carry your faith in your heart, in your actions, and deeds. It’s a very part of your soul. No one can judge whether your faith is right or wrong. That’s your personal covenant with the Creator. I’ve heard of at least one, who’s managed to create a place for himself between heaven and hell, by his own covenants with the Creator.” Vincent told him.

“Okay, I can’t say that I completely understand everything you’ve told me. The best I can manage is that somehow, I’m supposed to be here with David and the rest of the meow-meows. That something is supposed to develop between all of us, and that I’m supposed” he snickered at the last part, “bite them?”

Vincent sounded exasperated, and Noah felt bad for him, and just a little bit on the stupid side, “Yes child you’re supposed to be here. Eventually a bond will form between you and the others. And you will find that you enjoy biting them as you put it, as much as you will enjoy being bitten by them.” As if to reiterate the point, “And no child, you are not turning into a vampire- any kind of vampire for there are at least four kinds.”

Noah leaned back in the chair, “You have no idea, how much of a load that is off my mind. I was afraid I was going to have to become tall dark and gloomy, and let’s face it, I have neither the height nor the coloration for it.”

Vincent leaned forward to look Noah directly in the eye. Noah suddenly knew how the rabbit felt under the eyes of the hawk, “Child, I have blond hair and violet eyes. Before I was cursed, my complexion was paler than yours, so we are not,” he sat back in the chair, “tall, dark and gloomy.” He smiled at Noah, “And I have never, ever, ever told any one, I vant to bite your neck.” He suddenly looked a little sheepish, “Well, there was this one woman, but she doesn’t count. I was married to her, and not yet cursed.”

Noah laughed. “So exactly what is the Hunters and Huntress’ beef with the vampires. Besides the fact that- and I can’t find a way to put this delicately, or as my mom would say be politic so I’ll just be blunt about it- vampires prey on humans and take away their humanity. And where did the furries come in?”

Vincent sighed, “Ah finally a question that gets to the heart of the matter. Although you have asked some very difficult ones this evening. It is not the Huntresses themselves who have problems with us. Many have no real knowledge of us, outside of what they are taught by their Guardians, the sorcerers. They are trained from birth, to fulfill only two requirements in their lives. To hunt down the Forsaken, and our allies, and to if at all possible father or bear their own successors. You will find that if you could get a clear pedigree of who sired whom you would find that many times a father will sire a child on his own daughter or a mother bear her son’s child. It is the sorcerers who are our true enemies, not their charges. Yet they have been made such by their association with the sorcerers.”

Noah shook his head, “What is the difference between sorcery, and witchcraft then?”

“Witches and wizards draw their power from inside themselves. They manipulate the laws of the universe, but the power to do it comes from within themselves. Sorcerers make pacts with demons for this power, or sacrifice the life force of other living creatures to draw on the power of the demons. They don’t have a magical bone in their body. Many of us have speculated over the years that that is the source of their hatred for us. As for your other question, where do furries I believe you called them come from.” Vincent smiled at the expression, “That one is almost as amusing as calling the meow-meows and mutts. Werecats were the first of the skin changers. They came about from a rather amorous young gypsy witch, who had a fascination for shape shifting and exotic felines. They were a pleasant shock to all of us.”

Noah raised an eyebrow, “What you are saying is that she had to explain why she gave birth to a litter of kittens.”

“In a manner of speaking, her grandmother was not pleased. But they came about at a difficult time for the elementalists and the spiritwalker. For you see some of the essence given to your race came from that gypsy family. That particular line always had an innate catlike quality. The werecats just seemed to fill a void within the elementalists and spiritwalkers. We found that with the addition of a pride of werecats to the relationship created stronger bonds, and more emotionally stable spiritwalkers. They gave both the elementalists and the spiritwalkers an anchor to this world that they sorely needed.” Vincent held up a hand to stop Noah from interrupting, “And before you ask, elementalists had tendency to get caught up in their elements and retreat from the world taking the spiritwalker with them. The spiritwalkers had tendencies to submerge themselves so deeply in their elementalists, that two became so focused on each other that they could not function in this world. While the elementalists and spiritwalkers anchor each other, the werecats being the sensualist they are, anchored to both thus anchoring all to this world. It was a simple yet elegant solution to a problem about which we had much concern.”

“So is this bond something that has to build or is it something that suddenly happens?” Noah couldn’t help but think about the link that seemed to be growing between him and David. A link that here in the middle of the night, was muted by David’s slumber.

“There will come a time when initiating the bond will be the right thing to do. You’ll know, and so will the others. This is the one area where must let instinct rule you. I am told it is time of sharing of all things, both spiritual and physical. You may find that it as bittersweet as it is exciting and joyful.” Vincent smiled at him playfully, “Now child, back to your question about werecats and their mating habits.”

Noah blushed at his next question, “Uh, didn’t you get a lot of litters of werecats that way?”

“Yes, and no. The werecats when they mated amongst themselves did tend to have litters, but when mated with the other two, births were single, and only producing a spiritwalker or an elementalist- never a werecat. Even then such births were extremely rare.”

“Well, that’s something I don’t think I’ll have to worry about.”

“Oh?” Vincent asked.

Noah gave a disinterested smile, “I’m not all that interested in girls. Boys however are a different story.”

Vincent laughed, “That is not as unusual as you might think. However, you may find that as the bond grows, while girls do not interest you in general, those of your pride, will. Werecat females tend to have a uniquely seductive quality to them. I think it’s all the fur in the strategically located places, or so my grandson tells me.”

“What about the werewolves? Where did they come from?” Noah asked trying to change the subject.

“Ah, werewolves. All werewolves but one are creatures of pure blood magic. They were created for the sole purpose of being bloodhounds in human guise. They were bred for no other reason than to hunt down other unnaturals. Somewhere along the way, several of them must have escaped their master’s control to become the legendary creatures about which Hollywood makes those wonderfully scary theatrical productions. The one who is not a creature of blood magic, were conceived in much the same way the werecats were” He smirked, “Well, in the exact same way actually.”

Noah shook his head in disgust. He wasn’t sure if it was his own proximity to Brendan and the rest or if it was a reaction to the one time when a trick had tried to pay him four hundred dollars to… He couldn’t even bring himself to think about what the man had wanted to pay him to let his dog do. “Eeeeegh,” was all he could manage to say.

“You must remember, it was a different time. And in both cases, magic turned the animals human, not the humans animal.” Vincent told him.

“Still, I mean a cat at least is sleek, and can graceful. I can’t imagine a dog being all that sexy.” Noah told him.

“Ah child, there is an old adage you must remember. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There was a time when your friend Delia would have been considered too thin to be attractive. I must admit, from descriptions I’ve heard and the one or two portraits I’ve seen the twin’s mother in human form was a very beautiful woman.”

“Twins?” Noah asked. So there are two werewolves not created by blood magic? I thought you said there was just one.”
Vincent chuckled, “So I did child, so I did. You were paying attention after all. The other has since joined the ranks of the Damned. He still shares a close bond with his brother. They even shared a mate.”

“Not another wolf I hope.” Noah was only half joking.

“No, no, had she not been turned after the birth of her child, she’d have made a beautiful werecat. A sleek and golden lioness.” Noah saw Vincent’s eyes dart over toward the window. Following his gaze, Noah could see the first light of dawn rising in the east. “Ah, the sun.” Vincent rose from the chair, “But if you will excuse me, its rays fatigue me, so I must retire.” He bowed slightly to Noah. “If you wish to speak with me again, simply ask Nicholai if he will contact me for you. It has been a most pleasant evening young Noah Hale. I hope that you have not found it too distressing sitting and talking to an old man.”

“No sir. Not at all.” Noah got the feeling that there have been men in history who’d have given a decade of their lives for the opportunity to sit and talk with this man for an evening. “Thank you for your patience. I enjoyed…” he was interrupted by the phone ringing on his desk. Turning to pick it up, “Excuse me,” but Vincent was gone. Shaking his head, “Hello?”

“Noah, this is Sarah Rosen, David’s mom. I’m sorry to call you so early on a Saturday morning. Would David happen to be there by any chance?” Mrs. Rosen sounded upset.

“No problem ma’am. I was already up. No ma’am. I haven’t seen him since yesterday.” Noah told her.

“He went out for a jog yesterday after school and hasn’t made it home yet. I was hoping he’d spent the night at your house.” Now Noah was getting worried. He reached out for the thread of connection he shared with David. He could feel it, but only barely. Where ever he was, David was either suppressing the link, or unable to respond over it.

“I haven’t seen him Mrs. Rosen, but I’ll go see if I can find him. I know where he likes to jog on the beach.”

“Remember, take someone with you. I have the babies. Would you mind seeing if Brendan and the others would check out the other places David likes to go? You know the surf shop, the arcade, the board walk.”

“Sure thing Mrs. Rosen. I’ll get them right on it.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Mrs. Rosen. Good bye.” Noah told her, pulling on his tennis shoes, as someone knocked at his door. “Yeah, it’s open.”

“Who was on the phone, Runt?” Brendan asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He was wearing nothing more than a pair of sleeping shorts that did more to enhance his physique than hide anything obvious. Sometimes silk can be such a neat material.

“David’s mom. He’s gone missing. You heard anything from him?” He stood up and pulled a light jacket on. The morning wasn’t really cold, but the wind off the surf could sometimes be a little chilly. Looking out the window, he could see storm clouds gathering offshore. “We’d better find him fast, looks like a pretty bad one blowing in.”

“Funny, the weather called for sunshine and near eighty.” Brendan told him coming to his senses. “And no, I haven’t seen him since yesterday afternoon. He said something about taking a jog after school, to clear his head. Give me five minutes to throw some clothes on and I’ll go with you. Two sets of eyes and a nose is better than one set of eyes.”

Noah headed out of his room and looking back shaking his head, “You Nelson and the girls check out the Surf shop and the arcade. I’ll check the beach and the boardwalk. We can cover more ground if we split up.”

From the top of the stairs Brendan told him, “Don’t you know the first rule? Don’t split up the party.”

“This isn’t a game,” Noah told him.

“I know it’s not. Don’t worry Runt, we’ll find him.” He heard Brendan’s voice as he hit the front door. “He’s probably having the big breakfast over at Waffle House.”

CHAPTER 11

Noah took a shortcut through Martha’s azaleas in the back yard, fully realizing that he was taking his life in his own hands. He could feel the air pressure around him begin to drop, and the wind picked up. Looking out across the parking lot on the other side of the street, he could see where the waves were beginning to pick up. Palm trees were beginning to sway back and forth in the heavy wind. Noah reached deep down in himself to find the link he felt resonating from David. Something didn’t seem right about it. It seemed weak, and full of static, like there was interference on the line if you would. Weak as it was, there was still a direction to it. He could sense it pulling at him from down the beach. He realized that the muting he felt in the link last night had not come from David being asleep, but from being unconscious.

Heading out at a fast run he felt the energy of the growing storm build around him. Somewhere off shore, lightning struck the ocean. He quickly came upon the smoldering remains of a bonfire and a pile of empty beer cans, where Friday night revelers had left their trash. Looking around he realized that they must have left in a hurry. Almost as if something had frightened them off. Once again he felt for the link. It was much stronger now, and pulled him further down the beach toward the water’s edge.

Looking in that direction he saw what looked like driftwood lying where the three foot swells were beginning to break. It took him a second to realize that the driftwood was a person. Running as fast as he could, he slid and slipped his way to the water’s edge, to find David lying there. He grabbed David by the collar and pulled him further up the beach to get him out of the water. Rolling the bigger boy over onto his back he reached to find a pulse, already knowing that it was there. Pulling David’s collar back he was surprised by what looked like several gashes all along his neck. Further inspections showed more on his wrists, chest, and inner thighs, as if he’d been mauled. There was another large gash and bruise on the side of his head, as if he’d been hit with something.

*Brendan, call an ambulance. I found him.* He mentally sent out, hoping against hope that his newfound powers could reach his friend.

*What the hell? Noah? Is that you? Where are you?* Brendan’s voice came so clearly to him that even he was surprised.

*We’re down on the beach, near the boardwalk. It looks like he’s been attacked. Tell them to hurry.* Noah hoped the panic he was feeling wasn’t getting sent over the whatever this was he was using to talk to his friends. “Hang in there David. We’ll get you to the hospital.” He looked around him, and realized that the ambulance might not see him down in the gully where he was. Picking the bigger boy up, he began climbing the hill behind him up to the road leading to the boardwalk, the whole time sending tendrils of thought down the link to David’s mind. It was like wading in molasses, everything moving slowly.

Reaching back into his memories of last night, he saw the attack. There was a burst of light and pain in the back of his head, then blackness, followed by pain in his neck, arms and legs. He could see through David’s eyes as the older boy opened them to see a blood stained face over him- a face Noah was sure he’d never forget, and hear the sucking sounds of several people at his extremities. He could feel David’s panic as he lashed out, hurling several into the ocean. Finally his weakness and disorientation overcoming him, he felt David collapse under the onslaught of too many attackers.

He sent several more surges of energy through the link, hoping that somehow he could call up what he’d done for Brendan at the event. He wasn’t sure if it was working. He didn’t feel suddenly tired, but the gash on David’s head closed, but David was suddenly hot, too hot, like his body was fighting off some invading virus. He could feel David begin to shudder and tremble in his arms, and could feel the coldness that David felt through the link, as deep blackish blood began to ooze from the wounds again.

Reaching the top of the hill, he looked first up and down the road as the wind whipped around him. He could feel its pressure on his back, trying to lift and carry him along, but David’s extra hundred eighty or so pounds were anchoring him solidly to the pavement. In the distance he could see cars moving up and down the main avenue, but none were turning up the boulevard connecting to the boardwalk. Okay, calm down it’s only been forty seconds or so. I gotta’ give ‘em time to get here. No matter how hard he fought to push the panic down, he kept feeling it well up inside him, trying to take over, but he knew he had to keep his mind clear. In his arms he heard David groan softly, but no signs of thought came over the link- only fear and pain.

“Hold on buddy,” he kneeled to the ground still cradling David’s head in his arms. Looking back down the boulevard for the fifth time wishing the Ambulance would get there. Suddenly he felt more than heard the presence of his four friends come up the hill
behind him. He felt a shudder of something run through them as he turned and saw four large cats- well three large cats and one about the size of a medium-sized dog- flow up to become the forms he was used to seeing.

Brendan stepped up beside him and he too looked down the boulevard, before turning back to Noah, “What happened?” Noah could see the fangs in his mouth still receding.

“I found him on the beach. I think he was attacked by vampires last night. Ugly sons of bitches too. At least that was what I saw in his head, but it could have been a dream.” He turned David’s head so Brendan could see the gashes trying to heal on David’s throat, “And that’s what these kinda look like.”

Noah heard a small growl escape his own throat and he felt his own fangs slide into place, as Brendan leaned over to look at the gashes, and sniff the air. He found himself somewhat discommoded at the sight of this large form leaning toward David’s neck to investigate.

“Yep, vampire all right,” Brendan said, “Damn, we need blankets. If we don’t get him warmed up soon, he’s going to freeze out here.” He stood up and pulled his own sweatshirt off to wrap around David.

Remember the heat he’d felt emanate from the werecat’s “kitty-cuddle” he picked David up and walked over to the grassy area next to the road. Setting him down he pulled his own jacket and shirt off and lay them on the ground, and then gently moved David onto them. Looking over to Brendan, he said, “Lay down beside him.” Brendan gave him a look as if to wonder if his friend had lost his mind, but Noah only continued, “Now.” Not taking the time to see if Brendan was going to comply, he turned to the other three, “You guys too. I’ll keep watch.”

Delia looked at him as if she understood and went and lay on the other side of David. “You know, cats have a higher body temperature than humans,” she said.

Noah nodded as the others began to lay down next to their fallen friend, “Fine, do it,” Noah told them as he turned back looking down the boulevard. Again, he felt a shudder of something run through his friends. Looking back over to them, he saw David surrounded by the rather large forms of a white tiger, a mountain lion, a cheetah, and a species of cat he couldn’t identify. She had short golden fur, with a long tufted ears. Delia looked up at him with golden eyes and meowed. He smiled and went back to his watch as the tiger and cougar began to lick David’s wounds. “Trust me Delia, I’m not about to let anybody see you guys. I’ll give you plenty of warning when they get here. Just start with the purring, now why don’t you.” His mind kept telling him that David was in danger from being surrounded by these great cats, but somewhere in his heart, he knew he was safer here than anywhere else in the world.

Ten minutes later he was riding with David in the Ambulance as the other four headed back home to get Brendan’s car and meet them at the hospital. Noah watched as the EMTs worked hurriedly over David, occasionally asking him questions about where he’d found his friend, and if he knew how he was injured. The thought of telling these guys the truth never entered his mind. “I think it was some kind of animal attack. I found him on the beach at the water’s edge.” The short African-American man only nodded and went back to work on David.

Arriving at the hospital, he felt a great relief, but agitated as they wheeled David into the emergency room, leaving him there to pace back and forth. He had no idea how long he’d been walking up and down the waiting area floor when he ran headlong into someone. Looking up he said, “excuse me,” to the short older woman dressed in a gray dress and shawl. Behind her she saw Mrs. Rosen holding David’s baby sister Amanda. At her side was his little brother, ‘Bit.”

“Not to worry, Noah. David’s strong. He’ll get through this,” the woman winked at him mischievously. “If not,” she held up her cane, “Charlie and I’ll have a long talk with the boy.”

Noah smiled weakly. He could still feel the link between he and David, strong and vibrant. He could feel his friend’s body grow stronger, even as his mind went to sleep. “You must be David’s Nana. He’s told me about you.” He tried to smile, but wasn’t sure how successful he was.

She put her arms around him and pulled him across into an embrace. “Go ahead, let it out child. That’s what Nana’s are for.” He looked over and saw Mrs. Rosen looking worried.

Returning the hug, he whispered, “Can’t just yet. There are other people who’re worrying too.” He gently pulled himself free from the older woman and walked over to David’s Mom. Reaching out, he picked up ‘Bit. “He was on the beach, Mrs. R. He looked like he’d been attacked by something. The EMTs said he lost a little bit of blood but he’ll be fine. They just have to get him warmed up. We got him as warm as fast as we could, and waited for the ambulance but we didn’t have any blankets with us.”

Mrs. Rosen nodded to him, he could feel the fear radiating from him. Without thinking he took her by the arm and gently guided her to one of the chairs. “Where’s David?” Bit asked him.

“He’s in a room while the doctors make him better,” he told the golden haired little boy in his arms. He couldn’t help but think that David nor his brother looked very much like their mother.

“He get fixed?” the little boy had a serious look on his face.

Noah smiled at him, “They’re going to make him better, ‘Bit.” Smiling, the child lay his head on Noah’s shoulder and began to try and stick his whole fist into his mouth. He remembered when he’d first met ‘Bit. Actually his name was Simon, but everybody called him Little Bit, or ‘Bit. He and David had taken him to McDonalds and then to park. The little boy had taken one look at him and jumped into his lap, and promptly stole all his fries.

“Thank you Noah,” she handed the baby off to her mother-in-law. She stood up, “I’d better check with the nurse and see if there’s any forms I have to sign, and I have to see if I can get a hold of Eric.”

Noah went back to pacing the floor holding ‘Bit in his arms. He could feel his link between David, but his close proximity and physical contact with the small child was drowning out any more than that. He knew David was all right, if anything had happened, the doctors would have come out and told him. Looking over at his shoulder he could see where ‘Bit was already asleep. Just as he was considering putting him down on the couch to clear his head, the emergency room doors opened and the other four were literally blown in by the driving wind and rain. “Look’s like a class four hurricane out there.” Nelson said. “It’s driving the weather bureau crazy because they didn’t see it coming. How you can miss a hurricane, I don’t know, but they did. They missed a big one.” He shook his coat off and came over and brushed Noah’s hair out of his eyes, “You holding up okay?”

Noah smiled at him. “Yeah. I’ll live.” He looked over at where the elder Mrs. Rosen still hadn’t taken her eyes off him. “Do you think David has told his parents about…” The woman actually smirked as if she’d heard him, “you know, about us?”

Sharon came over and took ‘Bit’s sleeping form from him. The child only woke for a second to mutter, “Cheetara,” and then immediately went back to sleep. Looking over her shoulder, “Noah, there are two constants in this world. Little Bits see you for what you really are,” she stroked ‘Bit’s head “and Nanas always know more than they tell.” She arched her eyes back to where Nana Rosen was quietly feeding the baby.

“Don’t worry about it, Noah. David told me that he was out to his parents and that it was cool. Evidently they’d already figured it out, even before he did,” Delia told him. “That and they seem to be pretty oblivious to our relationships. Nana’s been the only one who’s ever commented on it, and she’s never said anything bad. She’s just stuffed us with baklava and hot cocoa. But then again, I’ve always felt that Nana was somewhat of a cat of a different color.”

Noah raised an eyebrow at the remark, “Isn’t that supposed to be horse?”

“Do I look like a horse to you?” Delia replied with mock indignation.

“Not at all, I was just referring to the adage,” Noah winked at her. “Don’t get your whiskers in a kink.”

Spending the next hour or so, quietly distracting each other, and speculating on just how much the Rosen’s might be aware of, the were quietly surprised when the doctor came out and told them, “He’s going to be okay. He lost a lot of blood, but the cold of the water seemed to have protected him somewhat. It was a good thing you got him warmed up though. We’ve given him blood, warmed him up and moved him to a room. He has a fever but that’s to be expected. We’re treating him with antibiotics. If you give the nurses and orderlies about twenty minutes you can go up and see him.” The doctor told them.

“What happened doctor?” Mrs. Rosen asked.

“We think it was a pack of wild dogs. There’ve been several reports of them along the beach lately, and we’ve had few attacks, nothing this severe though.”

A half an hour later, Noah found himself waiting outside the private room, the orderlies had brought David to, while the Rosens visited with the still unconscious David. After about twenty minutes of walking up and down the floor of the waiting room, David’s mother came in. She looked at the five friends sitting there expectantly, and smiled weakly, “David’s lucky to have friends like you guys,” she blotted tears from her eyes, and looked over at them. Noah could feel that she torn between the worry over his injuries, and relief of finding him alive. There was also a tinge of guilt floating through her mind, over some small argument she and David had had last night. “Listen, I need to take Nana and the kids back home before this storm gets too bad.” As if to punctuate her comment thunder crashed somewhere outside. “I don’t think they want to be stuck in the here during it.” She looked over at Noah, “Would you stay with him until I can get back? Please?”

Noah felt a wave of relief wash over him. He was sure she was about to ask him not to hang around. “Sure, Mrs. R. I’ll be glad to stay.” He watched as several workmen carried large sheets of plywood into the room. He guessed the storm was getting worse. “Are you sure they’ll be safe there. It sounds like a pretty nasty blow, coming up out there, ma’am. I mean wouldn’t it be safer here?”

Mrs. Rosen shook her head, “No. When we bought the house, short before David was born, Eric and his father made sure the house was rated to handle a class five hurricane. It’s built around steel I-beams sunk into the ground. Eric always said that he planned on living here until we died, so he wanted to make sure that there would always be a house there. You know, he didn’t want it to fall on my mother or anything.”

“Okay, as long as you’re sure you’ll be safe. I guess I worry more than I should. Then again, I’ve sort of had reason,” Noah couldn’t stand the idea of David having to wake up and face what he had to that hot August Day in Tel Aviv two years ago.

“You’re a good boy, Noah,” Mrs. Rosen reached out and touched his face. “David told me about your parents. I appreciate your concern, but they’ll be okay, and I’m coming right back.” She looked over at Brendan, “you got that cell phone Martha sends out with you guys? You know that is a good idea, I think I’ll start making David carry one.” At least, Noah thought she was thinking in a positive light.

“Yes, ma’am. Right here,” he held up the cell phone that Martha always insisted that one of them carry when they were all out. Martha was funny that way. She wanted to make sure that the group always had a way to call for help if they got into trouble.

“It’s fully charged and everything. Even brought the charger with me. Although if you get David one, you’d better make sure it’s water proof so he can take it out on his board with him.” She laughed and nodded at him. David was always out surfing when he could get some free time. “Good, I’ll call you when we get there,” she turned and smiled at Noah, “so Noah here won’t worry. After a quick exchange of good-byes that Noah wasn’t sure how he was supposed to take she left to try and beat the storm before it hit full force. After all, he really hadn’t expected his boyfriend’s parents to be this casual about him.

Brendan stood and watched the exchange between Noah and David’s mom, feeling his anger grow from deep inside him. At first he was afraid that he was angry at Noah, but then he realized that it was directed at those who’d attacked someone that was his. He couldn’t believe that David, had been violated in this way. One thing was certain, the vampires who’d done this were going to pay, and pay dearly. David no longer seemed like just Noah’s boyfriend, or just his friend, but a part of his family. He finally came to realize that nobody belonged to any one person in the pride, but they all belonged together. In that epiphany of a moment, he felt his last doubts and fears crumble, and his mind finally understood what his heart had been trying to tell him, that Runt and David are part of him.

For a brief instance he considered going out into the storm to hunt, but realized just how stupid that would be. Even a tiger would be unable to survive out in the open, with what was brewing out there, let alone track something dead in all that swirling wind. He’d wait, bide his time, and then slip out one night, and rid the world of several undead.

As he turned several strategies over in his mind, he suddenly realized that not once today- he had to remind himself that it was midmorning and not late evening with the dying light of the storm, had Noah been the lost little boy, but had acted much more responsibly than many adults he knew. He realized for the first time just how much the little boy was a projection that Noah had used to protect himself and that in a crisis, the little boy tended to get submerged into a rather capable young man, who could be trusted to do what was needed. He also realized that he as well as the rest of his pride was running on no breakfast, or lunch, and that he remembered that Noah, hadn’t eaten very much for dinner last night. “My stomach is telling me to feed it. I’m going to head down and raid the snack shop before they close it down for the storm. What do you guys want?”

“What’s this, Brendan’s offering to buy food for the rest of us? Maybe we should have the nurse check him out too.” Sharon commented.

“I got news for you, the Nurse has already been checking him out.” Delia told no one in particular.

“Listen, do you want food or not?” Brendan asked. “This is a limited offer. One-time-only. Well, maybe I’ll offer again, but,” winking shyly, “it probably won’t be food I’m offering next time. Unless you want to do something with chocolate sauce and whip cream of course.” He took a great deal of satisfaction from the look of surprise coming across Nelson’s face. “What? You never played with whipped cream and chocolate sauce before?” As he headed out the door, he patted Noah on the cheek, “would you explain the whipped cream and chocolate sauce to Nelson please? He seems to be lacking in that particular culinary knowledge.”

“I wouldn’t touch that one with a ten meter cattle prod, pal. You explain it to him.” Noah winked at him and jabbed back, “better yet, why don’t you show him. We’ll all be glad to take pictures.”

“Pictures? I was rather hoping for participation,” he left them all staring open-mouthed as he went out the door.

Noah just shook his head, he wasn’t exactly sure what had come over Brendan, but for the first time since he’d met the boy, he wasn’t reacting negatively to the suggestion of same-sex sex play, or for that matter, group play. This change could get interesting after all. He felt something deep inside himself stir to wakefulness along with his newfound abilities and he wasn’t sure he was ready for it. Finally, he looked over at the group, “If nobody has any objections, I’m going in to see him.” Remembering something said to him last night, “actually I’m going in even if you do have objections.”

“I’ll go get the sleeping bags out of the car. I think we’re in for a long night, and this little cat intends to at least be warm, if not comfortable,” she headed out the same door through which Brendan had left.

Noah waved to her as he walked past Nelson and gently closed his mouth for him, “Nelson, snap out of it and pick your jaw up. It’s only whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Now if he were talking about cherries and bananas I could understand the shocked look.” He pushed to door open and entered the room.

The workmen were just finishing screwing large sheets of plywood over the windows. The room had that deep antiseptic smell that permeated all hospitals. He looked over to where David was lying on the bed, with tubes running into his arms. Several other wires led from under the blanket to various monitors by the bedside. A nurse, was just finishing tucking him in. She gestured for Noah to keep it quiet, smiled at him, and left the room.

David’s face was gaunt and withdrawn in on itself. Noah realized that it was an effect of the dehydration his body was fighting from the blood loss. Someone had taken the time- Mrs. Rosen probably- to comb his hair out of his eyes. Noah could feel the thread of consciousness that was streaming between the two of them. He tugged on it slightly only to feel David pulled up from a deeper level of sleep to almost a dream state. Satisfied that his friend was okay, Noah let the consciousness slip back down into the deeper, healing levels of sleep, “You better get well soon, love,” he leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips, “you’ve got several promises to keep.” Sitting down next to the bed he settled in what he expected to be a long day, and probably night as well.

He couldn’t help but feel that something was going to happen soon, and he wasn’t sure what it was. Something in his bones warned him to be ready for anything to happen this day, and that somehow whatever it was, was going to involve David. He let his mind drift into a half relaxed state as he probed deeper inside himself for the source of his anxiety. So caught up in his own self-examination, he almost leaped from the chair as Sharon entered the room. “Gee, cat on a hot tin roof are you?” she joked.

Noah smiled weakly at her, “just nervous I guess.” He looked over at David, “I guess we’ve all got a right to be though. I mean they went after him in a gang. You think they might try to come back and finish the job?”

“I think that they think they’ve already finished the job.” She went over and checked the monitors carefully, as if she could understand the strange dialect of medicalese they were speaking. “After all, they left him in the surf as shark food. They just didn’t realize that sharks don’t like our David.” Coming over to the chair, she knelt down in front of him, taking his hands in hers, “Don’t worry Runt, he’ll be all right. In a few days, he’ll never even know he was bitten.”

That remark set off several other lines of conjecture in his mind, as he now worried about David joining the ranks of the undead. It was a thought he wasn’t sure he could handle. Closing his eyes tightly as if to banish the very possibility, he remembered what Vincent had told him last night about him being a spiritwalker not being able to be turned. Maybe then the same was true of David and his being an elementalist. Noah grabbed onto that hope and held on for dear life, as if his belief could make it a reality.

“Noah, trust me, he’s healing. I can smell it.” She reached up and stroked the side of his face. “Listen, you can hear his heart beating. He’s not going to leave you. He’s not going to leave us.” Noah wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince him or herself.

Noah hadn’t realized that that fear existed. He looked deep inside himself and realized that he was afraid of being left again- that he’d finally allowed himself to start to care about someone again, and here they were lying in a hospital bed, on the brink of God-only-knows-what. He reached out with that thread again and felt for David. He poured himself into the link, feeding it with his own mind and soul, as if he could will David to heal faster, to fight off whatever might be trying to invade his body. He felt something click between them. Once again, he could feel the calm coolness of David’s mind. Not for the first time he marveled at the order of his thoughts and how each part of his mind seemed to be catalogued. It was as if it all his thoughts were stored in boxes neatly stacked next to each other, and labeled. From the bed he heard David groan lightly in his sleep. In his mind, he could feel David floating in a dreamless state of deep rest and healing. He could feel David’s body begin to knit itself back together, as if Noah’s own blood cells were producing the antibodies David needed. Noah felt like he was itching somewhere deep in his bones. As if sensing what he was feeling, Sharon rose, came around behind where he sat in the chair and put her arms around him, “Careful, not to lose yourself in there. In the state he’s in, you don’t want to go too far in, you might not be able to find your way back out.”

Noah turned and looked up at her, “In the state I’m in, if he doesn’t get better, I don’t want to come back out.” Noah suddenly realized just how true that was. He didn’t think he could face to world again, if he lost David. He’d already lost too much.

“Uh, uh. No talk like that. You’re going to take care of yourself, and we’re going to take care of you.” She leaned down and kissed him lightly on the tip of his ear, “ ‘cause when he wakes, and you’ve worried yourself sick, he’s going to kick the hell out of all of us.”

“I’m not going to worry myself sick,” he wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince. “I just…” he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say next, or if he was just talking because he felt he needed to say something. The words just wouldn’t come, he was so confused, he couldn’t keep a thought in his head long enough to make sense.

“I know you’re scared. We all are.” She turned tilted his head back so that he was forced to look directly up into her face, “but he is going to wake up, and when he does, you get first shot at yelling at him for being on the beach by himself. And then when you’re done with him, if there’s anything left, the rest of us get a chance.”

“I’m not going to yell at him. Not ever again,” Noah told her firmly.

She chuckled and tousled his hair, “Yeah, right. Sweetie I’ve got news for you, you two are going to have a knock-down-drag-out by the end of next week.” She smiled wickedly, “But then you’re going to get to make up, and put those stupid smiles back on your faces again. Just don’t make any promises you can’t keep.”

He smiled up weakly at her, as the storm continued to build outside. Briefly he worried about Mrs. Rosen and the kids, heading home. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her driving but that he suddenly felt the need to worry about everybody around him. He suddenly realized that somehow in the past several weeks, these people had managed to make it through his natural inclination to keep others at a distance. They’d actually managed to get past his defenses and make him care about someone again. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but happened it had, and now he had to deal with losing something he’d swore never to give up. His heart. “How is it you know so much about people?”

“I’m a good listener?” she purred at him.

“That must be it,” he told her making it clear that he didn’t believe it for minute.

“Noah, I’ll let you in on a little secret. From the time I was nine ‘til thirteen when I came to Martha’s I was on my own. I learned to read and watch people, basically to know who I could con and who I shouldn’t. I mean I have parents, but they are never around. I don’t even think that to this day, they realize that I’m gone, or that I was ever there in the first place.” The quiet of the room was suddenly shaken by a clap of thunder that made the water in the pitcher next to the bed vibrate in sudden ripples. The lights flickered and he could hear the onboard computer on the heart monitor connected to David reboot itself. Behind him Sharon literally cleared the chair to land lightly on his lap. Burying her face in his shoulder, she lay there for a moment trembling. He surprised himself in noticing how pleasant she smelled, and how soft her hair was. After a few moments, she pulled back and looked at him. He could see the confusion in her own eyes, as she seemed to be reacting to him in a way he couldn’t understand. Finally she broke the silence, “Uh… Hi. Mind if I sit down?”

“Not at all. Just next time, give me some warning.” He adjusted under her, surprised at how little she seemed to weigh.

“I think, you’ll probably want an explanation. Right?” she asked sheepishly.

“Not if you don’t want to give one.” He reached out and brushed an auburn lock of hair behind her ear, noticing the static charge that seemed to jump from his finger tips to her hair, making it stand slightly on her head.

“Want me to move?” She asked quietly.

“Not if you don’t want to,” He was surprised at his own answer, and at the fact that it wasn’t entirely because he felt a need to comfort a friend he could feel was in distress over the storm.

“Okay, then I’ll just stay here,” Noah could feel a playfulness in her that wasn’t entirely innocent, “until you make me move.”

“Sharon?” he asked quietly.

“I’ll behave. I promise,” she told him.

“What’s happening?” he wasn’t sure about the emotions that seemed to be charging to the surface in him. He knew he loved David, but what he was feeling now for Sharon, really had his head reeling. A girl had never had this kind of effect on him, and he wasn’t sure he didn’t like it. But then again, he remembered that she wasn’t quite a human girl after all- and he wasn’t quite human himself.

She leaned down and gently licked the top of his ear and whispered, “Nothing is happening. Yet.” She stood and pulled him up by his hands, “come, on. Give me a hand.” She pulled him over to the second bed and dropped the left handrail on it. Noah wasn’t sure about what she had in mind. “Okay Runt, get down there and pop the brakes on this one, and the go lower the toddler rail on David’s bed.” Noah shrugged and complied, still not quite sure what was going on in her head.

“There,” he said gently running his fingers across the older boys forehead.

“Okay Noah, flip the covers up and come over here and help me move this thing.” She said walking to the far side of the empty bed.

“You know if the nurse sees this, she’s likely to go into conniptions,” he told her while coming around to do as she asked. It took very little maneuvering to actually get the bed in place, and he was surprised at how quiet the two of them could be when they put their minds to it. Must come from working with cats.

“True,” she told him. “Oh good, this is one of the new ones,” she indicated the bed they were settling into place. “Well, it means that that with a couple flips of a bar, it won’t go anywhere. We can take a single and turn it into a double.” She smiled over at him as if to make her point, “Now if we’re going to be stuck here all night, where would you rather sleep, in the chair, on the floor, or,” she indicated the beds now pushed together, “next to the love of your life.” Noah could tell she enjoyed teasing him.

“You know Shar, sometimes you make me crazy.” He confessed to her, not sure why.

“Good. Then I’m doing my job,” she had pleased and smug look about her. “Now, go wash your face, comb your hair and all that other good junk. The others will be here any minute.” She shooed him into the room’s bath.

“Yes, ma’am,” he stuck his tongue out at her, as he closed the door.

“Keep sticking things out at me, and I’m going to have to start licking them.” She told him playfully.

CHAPTER 12

Five minutes later, he was back in the room, where Sharon had managed to merge the blankets of both beds into one. Delia and Brendan were in the process of going through several bags of food he had brought up from the fast food place across the street. “Hey Runt, hungry?” Brendan asked through a mouthful of fries.

Noah suddenly realized that the hunger he’d felt earlier after arriving at the hospital had disappeared. He wasn’t sure why he kept losing his appetite and gaining it back, but had noticed that he usually regained it right after expending some kind of energy. “Nah. You guys eat it, I’m not hungry.”

“You need to eat something,” Delia told him with a worried look on her face. “You haven’t been eating a lot lately.”

“I’m just not hungry right now. I’ll eat later,” he told her.

Before she could extend the argument Sharon interjected, “Delia, leave him alone right now. If he doesn’t want to eat, he doesn’t want to eat. Just make sure Brendan doesn’t eat it all. That way, if any of us get hungry later, we can eat then.”

Delia shook her head in mock disgust. “Eech! Cold hamburgers and fries.”

“Don’t knock it. They’re great that way!” Brendan finished off the shake in his hand with a loud slurp. “Oh yeah,” he smiled playfully, “I didn’t get any whipped cream or chocolate sauce. They were all out.”

Another crash of thunder outside followed by a surge of something through Noah, not only caused the lights to go out, but set every nerve in his body to thrumming. As the lights flicked back on with the hospital’s backup generator, Noah could see Sharon almost cringing behind Nelson. Suddenly the room was silent, and it took Noah a few seconds to realize that he was missing the hum of the heart monitor. Quickly glancing over at David, he realized that what ever had hit the power supply had hit hard enough that the machine hadn’t rebooted this time. “That sounded close,” Nelson said going over to where the plywood blocked their view of the outside.

“Yeah, it sounded like it was right on top of us.” Delia said looking up toward the white tiled ceiling.

“Mrs. R. called while we were across the street. She said that they’d closed the roads coming out of the subdivision. She’s can’t make it back tonight. It looks like we’re on our own.” Brendan told Noah and Sharon. “I told her that it was okay, and we’d stay with David.” He shrugged, “It’s not like we can go anywhere right now anyway.”

“Thanks man,” Noah told him, gently taking David’s hand in his own. Another crash of thunder and the room went dark again. This time he felt something surge through his body like he’d never felt before. It was as if every cell in his body was about to explode with something. He realized that he was trembling in the darkness with something akin to nervous energy. He opened his eyes but when the darkness faded around him, the hospital room was gone. He could feel David’s hand in his, but when he looked around he was standing near a blazing fire. Deep in the blaze he could make out the forms of two people in agony. Instinctively he tried to run and pull them out of the inferno, but his feet seemed to be nailed to the ground. Twisting and yanking in vain, he tried to free himself. Finally taking a deep breath, he concentrated for a second, willing the energy surging through is body to his legs and feet. “I wouldn’t try that just now,” a woman’s voice came from somewhere off to his left. “You might do more damage than you really want to.” He voice had a sultry low quality to it that sent surges of anticipation down Noah’s spine.

Turning to his left, he noticed that he was no longer inside, but was out beneath the stars. There was a chill to the air that reminded him of the winter holiday he’d spent in the Swiss Alps with his parents. All around him there were forms dancing and howling. He slowly began to make out the hulking shapes of werewolves as they screamed out in glee at some celebration. Forcing his eyes to focus on the sound of the voice, he saw a form begin to take shape. She was small, even smaller than Noah, barely clearing five foot. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a bun, and she was wearing a long low cut lavender dress with petticoats. She had the look of a southern belle about her, and somehow Noah felt he should know her. “Why not?” he demanded.

“Because only your mind is here. Your body is still the hospital sitting next to your friend in that bed, if you were will that kind of power into your limbs and lash out, the devastation could kill everyone in the room.” Her voice was gentle but at the same time, Noah knew that she meant what she was saying.

“Where is here?” he asked.

“Not where, but when. You are witnessing a violent and terrible point in history, the wholesale murder of two races for the sake of power.” She indicated the burning forms in the fire, “They are Benjamin Grey, and Victoria Sturdivant, the last of the spiritwalkers.” She gave him a sad look, “They were my friends, and this is their death, and it’s the death of your race.” Noah could feel the flames’ heat caress and wrap around him. Somehow, this didn’t make any sense, “Why don’t they…” he couldn’t find the words for what he wanted say. He knew the concept he was trying to convey, but had no words for what he wanted them to do. Something he knew deep inside him that they knew how to do, something that had to do with the flames, and why it shouldn’t hurt them. He shook his head in frustration, “I can’t…”
“The flames can’t hurt you. Relax, this is memory. And as to why they can’t do anything.” She gestured toward the flames, “Do you see the gray bands on their heads, covering their eyes.” Noah peered into the fire, willing himself to see their faces, and the flames peeled away from his sight. He could see them now, flesh blackening, and beginning to boil away from the bone, their heads bound in some kind of metal visor that blocked their eyes. Symbols he didn’t recognized, but would never forget were engraved across the visors. Noah nodded to the woman. “Spells were placed on the visors and their power drained away from them. They can’t do anything to save themselves, and those who would save them- their prides, have already been slain.”

Noah shuddered. He could feel the agony of the fire as it burned away the helpless spiritwalker’s nerve endings. He could smell the burning flesh, and hear the howls of joy and laughter come from the forms that danced around them oblivious to their presence. “I can’t just sit here and watch this.” He wanted to reach out and take the flames away. Take them onto himself, tame them, and turn them back on the tormenting forms around them.

“This is the past. You can do nothing to change the past.” The woman told him in a voice that sounded familiar in its inflection if not its timbre. “You cannot change what these abominations and that bitch,” she spat out the last word like it was foul tasting substance “did. You can only make sure it never happens again. He,” she gestured forcefully at a tall figure dressed like pilgrim, “he’s your enemy. He controls the abominations and the hunters and huntresses. He’s the one responsible for this war on our kinds.”

Noah shook his head and tore his gaze away from the dying pair in the flames, “I don’t understand. Why show me something I can’t do anything about?”

“Because you can. Noah you can stop this from happening again. You may not be able to help them, but you can help yourself, and your friends. You can help the others like you. You can keep the others who will follow from being hunted down and tortured to death as these children were.” She floated over to where he was struggling against his own will and gently reached out and touched a cold hand to his hot face, “You’re returning to this world as the first, but there will be others. You are at both an advantage and a disadvantage. Your advantage is that our mutual enemies do not expect our return. Your disadvantage is that they’ve had four hundred years to plant ideas and concepts on how society and the world will see us. But, your greatest peril is that there is no one to show you the way, to protect you. You have to blaze your own trail this time. Choose your allies wisely, and your enemies even more so. Know that you will find only allies among the Forsaken and the Damned for we were your progenitors, the same with the witches and wizards. Beware of these new undead however, that walk the shores of this continent. Not all of them know of the spiritwalkers and the elementalist, nor of the covenants that we hold with your people. These new undead,” she seemed disgusted by them, “they are weak in the blood, they’re trapped in their forms and demon possessed. They are not the Forsaken, or the Damned, nor are they even the Kinder, our weakest members. They are not even true vampires, they are nothing more than animated corpses possessed by demons so that they may walk this realm. That’s why when you destroy one of them, they turn to dust so quickly.”

Noah looked at her, only now beginning to understand what was being said to him, “There is more than one kind of vampires then.” It was more of an exercise in putting voice to what was slowly beginning to take form in his mind, “There are the ones like Vincent and Lecroix a type called the Forsaken. Then there are the Damned, I get the feeling that they are weaker, but still more formidable than legends would lead us to believe. Then there are something called the Kinter, and then these new ones you mentioned.”

“Yes,” she smiled, and Noah realized that he would give his right arm to see that smile again, “The Forsaken were the ones cursed or blessed depending on your point of view, by the Creator. They were the first, and they created the ones who came after them, the Damned who were brought into being as companions to the Forsaken. Then there are the Kinter. They are the result of a sloppy attempt by the Damned to create others of our kind. They are the weakest of the true vampires, but formidable non-the-less. They are the ones that many of today’s legends are based upon. Then you have the Neos- the ones I told you of earlier. The demon possessed. They’re the result of a Kinter getting sloppy. Or, when a human is turned by a Neo, for they are unable to create any but their own kind. They are weak willed and easily used by the sorcerers and their minions for their own purposes.” Her words confirmed ideas that were beginning to make sense in his own head.

“So I’m being shown this because, you want to give me a fighting chance to survive?” He swallowed and looked back at the now dead forms of Benjamin Grey and Victoria Sturdivant. “So that won’t happen to me?” He shuddered inside.

“To some extent, although it is being shown to your mate as well, for the same reasons.” She bowed her head sadly, “You see Noah, I failed once. I thought I could carry on the fight alone. I was wrong and paid for it with my life. I became too caught up in my quest to destroy those responsible for this, that I didn’t realize that the hunter had become the hunted. I don’t want the same fate for you.”

“You’re Ashleigh? Vincent’s daughter?” Noah blurted out in surprise.

She chuckled, “Yes, Vincent’s how was it he described me once? Hot headed impatient, over-zealous, head-in-the-clouds, pain in the butt, daughter.” She graced him with another of those sunrise smiles, “When did you meet father?
It was Noah’s turn to smile, “Last night, he and I had a long talk. I’m afraid I wasn’t at my brightest, and some of the things he told me are just now starting to make sense.”

“Well, father always did have a way of generalizing a little too much. He always likes to allow others to come to their own conclusions. You should have seen him after the first long conversation he had with Lucien and Garin. I’m not sure who was going to pull their hair out first.”

Suddenly realizing he had an opportunity to allay at least one of his fears he took a plunge, “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course Noah, you can ask me anything.” She told him.

“Is David in any danger of becoming a vampire?” he blurted out hoping not offend her.

“Absolutely not!” the indignant sound of her voice made him think that he might have offended her. “Like you, there is no way for David to become a vampire or a were. He’s an elementalist, as you are a spiritwalker. He is so tied to being what he is, that no force in the universe, short of the Creator himself can change what he is.”

“Thank you. I was worried about that.”

“No Noah, the reason he’s in the state he is in now, is because his body is fighting off the effects of being bitten by the vampire and the werewolf. It’s having the effect of causing his own powers to emerge.” She smiled at him, “I’m afraid that when he wakes up, he like you won’t be quite mortal anymore.”

“Wait a minute! He was bitten by werewolf? When? Where?” Noah suddenly had an overpowering urge to go out kick a dog.

“Calm down, Noah. Two days ago? I think it was. It was in a fight in some kind of athletic building.”

“When he and Matthews got into it.”

“There. That must have been it. I take it this Matthews person is an abomination then?”

“He’s something. I’m not sure what he thinks he is, but I think he needs to be neutered.” Noah shook his head, “But I thought he had to be wolfed out to pass along the disease.”

“Ah, unfortunately that’s not always true. The closer to the full moon, the more contagious they become.” She put an arm around Noah as the scene around them faded, to a drawing room like the one he’d seen on a tour of the White House with his parents.

“So he’s in the process of becoming an elementalist while fighting off becoming a werewolf, and a vampire. Jeez and I thought I was messed up.”

“Yes, but in a way being attacked was a good thing for him.”

Noah raised an eyebrow, “you didn’t see what he looked like when I found him.”

“No, but elementalists are notorious for being slow to awaken to what they are. It has been known to take decades for one to emerge in a single element. Your friend David seems to be awakening to all of them in the same instance. He’s going to be quite a handful for a while, unconsciously changing things from brass to gold, from glass to diamond, summer rain showers to hurricanes, metal to mud. I dare say, after a few weeks, your pride will be well off in this new era.” She smiled at him mischievously, “That combined with your own awakening abilities should be quite spectacular. There have been a few occasions when that particular ability has been shared by an elementalists and her spiritwalker. My son told me that it had something to do with the spiritwalker’s own ability to move objects.”

“Telekinesis,” Noah told her remembering his physics class, and a discussion the class had on nanotechnology, “I think I understand how that might be done, theoretically at least. But it would take a whole lot more control and practice than I have at the moment.” Another question came to his mind, “Why are you here? I mean I thought you were dead.”

“Ahhh well that’s one of those mysteries of life that can be quite deceiving. Before I was turned, I was a witch,” she added, “and a werecat. I took the precautions of warding myself and any residence I intended to live in for any extended period of time. That way I would be able to anchor myself should something untoward happen.”

“I take it something happened?” Noah asked her.

“The sorcerers were not pleased with what I did to their pets after what they did to Benjamin and Victoria and the rest. I believe they became quite offended with me for gutting their huntress there on the spot. But you must understand, Noah: No one,” he felt the words hit his mind as well as his ears, “hurts my family and gets away with it.”

“I can sympathize with you there.” Noah told her softly, surprised at the steel he heard in his own voice.

“So, after that point they kept sending hunting packs after me. Eventually they finally caught up with me in New Orleans, at the turn of the twentieth century. It’s taken me this long to pull myself together so to speak. I’m just now reaching a point where I can move about, or even to speak to you in this dream state. Of course it helps that you’ve managed to put yourself into a position where there’s enough energy in you to maintain this conversation.” She smiled at him, “You see, you’re the one carrying the brunt of the drain this tête-à-tête we’re having. But event in this case I can’t carry it on for much longer. This type of communication, although easy for you, puts a drain on my spirit.”

“Then why do it? Not that I don’t appreciate it mind you, but why drain yourself?” Noah asked her. He made a mental note to himself though, to take a closer look at his own energy levels, and how they affected his eating and sleeping habits. Something about the flames he’d felt earlier was nagging at his brain.

“Because I wanted to meet you. I wanted to speak to you, and I felt you needed a guide to stay your hand to keep you from acting in the physical world while being in this dream world.” She laughed quietly, “And because I wanted to.”

“Thank you then,” Noah felt humbled.

“Our time here is almost up. Remember one thing, the huntress has no qualms about killing from afar, and will use the abominations to get to you and your pride.” She gave him a very serious look, “and they are abominations.”

“Thanks for the warning. I’ll be sure to keep my eyes peeled for her.” He quickly added, “and them.”

She gracefully rose from the chair in which she’d been sitting, “Well, our time is done now.” She gently kissed him on the cheek, “Perhaps we shall meet again soon.”

Suddenly Noah found himself back in the hospital room, just seconds before the plywood on the windows exploded inward with a huge gust of wind and rain. Suddenly the energy he’d pulled up from deep inside him came rushing to the surface as time stood still. He felt like he was back on the battlefield during the SCA event, and the world slowed around him as the explosion became like molasses. He reached out with his mind to deflect each piece of wood, metal or glass that tumbled toward him and his friends in slow motion. His hours of practice with Delia suddenly clicked into place as he shoved each piece of shrapnel to the floor, or the ceiling with deliberate care to avoid hitting anyone. He felt himself pelted by rain and wind as the world suddenly returned to normal speed, and the wind roared outside the window. Looking around he saw his friends scattered around the room, in various stages of shift. Brendan had thrown himself across Nelson and Delia, who were now pinned to the back wall, with nine hundred plus pounds of tiger lying on top of them. He felt something flick past his legs, and upon looking down he saw a cheetah’s tail flicking nervously from under the bed. David was groaning next to him, as the wind became a howl.

A glow from out the window caught his attention. Briefly checking on David, he stepped around the bed, and fought the blast of wind that was trying to hurl him into the far wall full force. Leaning into it and shielding his eyes with his hand, he pulled himself toward the open window. Jagged pieces of glass vibrated against the sides of the window casing. One piece broke free and embedded itself into the wall just over the door, where someone was trying to enter against the force of the wind. Warnings against the huntress and her sorcerer handlers came to his mind. With a single thought he forced his will against the door and felt with some satisfaction as it slammed back into place. With less effort than it took to stand, he wedged one of the larger pieces of plywood between the door and the frame. “Hope that holds,” he half muttered to himself.

Turning to look out the window, he saw twin pillars of something rising up to the window level, one a whirling masses of fire and stone, the other a stationary waterspout. He could feel the heat and energy being released all seeming to be directed at the form lying on the bed. Looking back over his shoulder he saw a large cougar and Delia’s smaller form that he’d mentally begun to call a sidhe-cat, scrambling out from under Brendan, and onto their paws. A voice on the wind seemed to penetrate the cacophony of whirling elements around him, gently calling David’s name. Not trusting the situation he flung his mind out into the night, to find the source of the calling. He was met with something old, very old and powerful that seemed to be directing itself toward David’s sleeping form on the bed. He knew that if that force directed itself at his mind that he had neither the power nor the experience to stop it, but stop it he would try. Like Ashleigh, he would allow nobody to hurt his family, no matter how powerful.

He felt the mind slowly come to awareness of him, standing there defiantly between it and David. A sense of recognition seemed to come over the force. Recognition and a terrible amusement seemed to ripple through it. Very well, the force seemed to say as Noah felt it gather it’s will. Wake up! It screamed through the wind. Noah was suddenly hit with the force of a freight train, and felt his defenses crumble almost instantly. He was picked up and hurled backwards, twisting his body in mid-air, he pushed out against the walls with his mind to direct his fall, so that he landed atop David’s sleeping form. He felt the power of whatever was out there crash straight through him pulling bits and pieces of his mind and shattered soul with it. Before the blackness took him he was shocked at the raw power pouring into David through him. His last thoughts were that he’d failed to do his job, before he’d ever begun.

Brendan watched in horror as Noah was thrown back onto David, by some force that seemed to drive through the smaller boy into David. Suddenly he realized that he could actually hear the nurse pounding on the door trying to get into the room. He willed the tiger to sleep as he flowed back up into a more human form. Looking around him the room was a wreck, with glass and plywood embedded in the walls, floor, ceiling, and the door. The soft patter of a late autumn rain was falling outside. The hurricane that ripped up the room was gone, and in its place was simply the gentle shower that had been predicted. “Just a minute,” he yelled, “there’s plywood wedged in the door frame. The window exploded.” He turned to Delia and the others as they slowly shifted back to human form. Walking over to the bed he saw a raw burn in Noah’s back begin to close up and heal before his eyes. The smaller boy groaned as he was gently lifted and placed in the chair beside the bed. Brendan could hear the nurse telling him not to panic, that someone would be here momentarily to open the door.

“Thanks,” he yelled back.

“Is everyone okay in there?” the nurse asked.

“Seem to be. We’re soaked to the bone, but we’re okay.” He shook his head, flinging water all over the room. Checking on David, he inspected him for shrapnel wounds, and burns like Runt had.

“I think he was hit by lightning,” Delia said from Noah’s side. “Look at the burn marks on his chest.”

“I don’t think it was lightning. I think he put himself between David and something pretty nasty,” Sharon said sniffing the air.

“What’s all the yelling about?” David groaned from the bed. “Jeese, can’t a guy get some sleep around here?”

“David?” Brendan asked.

“Yeah,” David told him, “that’s what it says on my underwear.”

“You’re not wearing any,” Nelson told him.

“Oh, then I can’t be sure it’s me,” David joked back. “Where’s Noah?” He looked around, “for that matter, how’d I get here?” He sat up in bed rubbing the side of his face, “Oh, my head.”

“You’re head? I feel like somebody’s driven a hot spike through my back.” Noah groaned from the chair, “Ow!”

“Kitten? You all right?” David asked.

“I think I should be asking you that question,” Noah told him standing and moving to the bed. Brendan was surprised at the amount of commitment each had for the other.

“I’m fine. Never felt better,” David lied, and Brendan knew it.

“Now let me see your back. You said something about it hurting you.” David said.

“Not before I check this out,” Noah pushed David back into the bed and peeked under the bandages at David’s neck, staring in shock at what he saw. Brendan leaned closer and inspected where Noah was looking. All of David’s wounds were gone.

“You two going to kiss me and make it better?” David joked at the look of shock Brendan knew must be playing on his own face.

“Okay,” Noah told him bending down to plant a very passionate kiss on David. The sight of these two boys set off a little growl in his throat, that for the first time he didn’t feel guilty over. Only just now realizing he’d unconsciously inched closer to the bed, he felt a blush rise to his face. Of course the nurse would take this time to finally get the door open and rush in to see her patient lip-locked with what appeared to be a thirteen year old boy.

She cleared her throat loudly, “Boys,” there was a definite tone of warning to her voice. “Am I interrupting something here?”

“No ma’am, just two overly affectionate sixteen-year-old boys. You know hormones. They’ll keep it up whether you come in or not.”

The nurse shook her head. Brendan was surprised at how casually she was taking it all in. “Well there’re going to have to come up for oxygen, because I’m going to need to check on my patient.” She smiled wickedly, “either that, or I’ll turn the hose on them.”

Brendan watched as the two boys slowly separated and heard David whisper in Noah’s ear, “I saw and heard everything.” Something seemed to pass between them, and Brendan got the feeling that something was passing unheard by the rest of the room’s occupants between them.

Noah meekly moved out of the nurse’s way, and Brendan could feel him turn on the “poor lost little boy” charm. The nurse smiled down at Noah tousled his hair, and seem to forget that he was there as she turned to checked David’s chart. Looking around at the room for the first time she shook her head, and then looked at the rest of them, “Nobody’s hurt?”

“No ma’am. We all dove for cover.” Sharon told her. “You might want to be careful though. There is a little glass on the bed.”

“Well, we’re going to have to move our young charge here to another room.” She indicated the mess all over the walls including the large pieces of glass embedded in the far wall and door, “It’s a small wonder somebody wasn’t killed.”

Yeah, that small wonder’s name is Noah. Brendan thought. He remembered seeing Noah go stiff against David’s bed for a few seconds as if he were seeing something the rest of them couldn’t. Then he seemed to fly into action, so fast that even Brendan had trouble following his movements. He gestured in a thousand different directions at once, sending the shrapnel that was once the window flying harmlessly into away from the room’s occupants. “Yeah, a miracle,” he said somewhat distractedly.

“We’ll help you get him moved,” Delia said, coming over to help the nurse get David up and into one of the chairs that had been shielded from the debris by a small chest.

“No peeking,” David told her playfully.

“Aww, why not? I’ve seen it all before,” she smiled back.

Brendan saw the nurse give Delia an arched eyebrow. “Now sweetie, you know there’s just something about a man in a hospital gown. They just don’t want anybody to peek. I think it has something to do with the cold,” she said winking at Delia.

“Believe whatever you want,” Brendan heard Noah say under his breath, “but I know that in this instance all the cold in the world wouldn’t make a difference.”

“I’ll be right back. I need to find another room for you and get a chair,” the nurse told them heading out the door.

“Well, that went better than I thought it would,” Sharon said to nobody in particular.

“What? You were expecting her to run screaming into the hills?” Noah asked.

“Well I didn’t expect her to take you and David trying to swab out the backs of each other’s throats so calmly,” Sharon said.

“Didn’t you see the rainbow pin on her sweater?” Noah asked.

“Well, now that you mentioned it,” Sharon replied, “…uh…no.”

“So, when are you going to have Noah over to meet your dad?” David’s mom asked him before they got out of the car at home.

“When Dad’s home for more than a day, and is not holed up in the office with his computers. I know he’s doing important stuff, but sometimes I really wish he hadn’t taken that contract with the Navy,” David hoped he didn’t sound bitter, as he climbed out of the car. His legs were still a little sore around his upper thigh, but for the most part he didn’t feel any worse for the wear. Although he denies and even claims that he wasn’t able to, David still suspected that Noah had had something to do with his almost miraculous recovery.

“Now David, you know that contract’s important to your father’s business.” She told him opening the front door.

“I know Mom, but you asked when he’d get to meet Noah. Well, to be honest with you, he’s got to be here to meet him.”

His mom stepped out of the way to let him enter, “Well, your father did say he was going to take some time off.” David walked into the house to see his father standing there in the foyer waiting on him.

Without thinking about what he was doing he flung himself into his Dad’s arms, “Dad!”

“How’re you feeling, Squirt?” his looked up to him and asked him.

“Better. When did you get in?” He turned and gave his mom a smile. “How long are you here for? Why didn’t Mom or Nana tell me you were here?”

“Whoa! Slow down. I got in last night. I’m going to be spending a lot more time at home,” David saw something pass between his Dad and his Mom, “and they didn’t say anything because we wanted to surprise you.” His dad led them into the living room.

David followed sensing there was something else on his Dad’s mind. “What do you mean you’re going to be spending a lot more time at home?”

“Well, you know I’ve got this assistant I’ve had for long time who insists that he can handle the Navy contract, so I’m going to let him. That way I can spend more time with you guys.” It sounded suspiciously like something had decided it for him, but David wasn’t going to push it.

“Great!” David was surprised by his own feelings of anxiety over what his father was telling him.

David’s father sat down on the sofa and indicated that David should sit down too. “You’re mom tells me you’ve got a new friend.” David could sense the unease in his Dad’s voice, “A boyfriend?”

“Yeah, is that a problem.” David made sure that there was no question to his tone.

“No. Not really, son,” his Dad told him. “It just takes a little getting used to I guess. I mean when you came out to us last year, we told you that we’d love you no matter what, and that’s the truth. It’s just now we as your parents have had to go from the possibility of our son having a boyfriend, to that being a reality.” David was glad that his dad could at least be honest with him about how he felt. “That’s going to take some getting used to.” He sighed, “You’re mom says he’s a little on the young side.” He saw where his Dad glanced over to the hall leading to the mother-in-law suite where Nana stayed, “Your grandmother has already told me she approves of the boy and to leave you alone about it. But, I still want to meet him.”

“No problem,” David told him, “Oh and Dad, he’s only a few months younger than I am.” He grinned at his father, “I can give him a call right now if you want. Say, invite him over to dinner?”

His dad chuckled and leaned back on the sofa, “How about tomorrow night? Tonight, I’d like to spend one evening with my family before we get inundated with future in-laws.”

“Sounds good to me, but I’d better warn you, when he gets here tomorrow night, you’d better get to him before ‘Bit does.”

“Oh? Why pray tell?” his Dad asked.

“Because you remember how quickly he took to Sharon and Brendan and all of them?”

“Yeah,” David knew his Dad was surprised at how easily David’s younger brother had taken up with his friends. This was the same younger brother who thought anybody that wasn’t in his immediate family was a monster out to eat him.

“Well, the first time ‘Bit met Noah, he crawled into his lap and started stealing his fries. By the end of the evening, he had fallen asleep in Noah’s lap.”

“Well, I can’t argue with a reference like that. Mother thinks he hung the moon, and ‘Bit likes him, so I guess I’ll have no choice but to get along with him.”

“Well, you could decide to dislike him, but it’d make things awful difficult around here,” David grinned.

“Yeah, like no more baklava,” his Dad kidded him. “Now you go and get some rest. Your mom tells me the doctor told you to take it easy for a while.”

Getting up from the couch, “Oh yeah, take it easy. No stairs, no surfing, no baths- showers only, no lifting anything heavy for a few days. What these people think I live in a single story wall-to-wall six-inch padded room. If I listened to them, I’d sleep on the sofa, and never get up.”

“That’s our David,” his mother said as she sat down next to his father. In an instant David realized that it might not be so bad having his Dad home all the time after all. “Always wanting to get into something. You just take it easy or I’ll send your Nana in there to set you straight with Charlie.”

“Aye-aye ma’am,” he told her in his best British accent and saluted her. He loved giving his mom a hard time about the fact she’d been an ensign in the British Navy when she’d met his father. “Just as soon as I hug Nana.”

Knocking on the door to his Grandmother’s room, David stuck his head in, “Hiya Nana? How’s the most beautiful girl in the world?” Nana was sitting in her favorite chair under a large picture window and reading one of her romance novels, or as she called them, her smut books. “Hello David. I thought I heard you come home. You are feeling better?” she asked him.

He nodded as he bent down and kissed her on the forehead, “Much better. Thank you.”

“And Noah? He is feeling better too?” she asked, and David wondered how she knew Noah had been injured the day of the freak storm that had hit the coast.

“Yes, ma’am. Much better. He’s coming for dinner tomorrow night,” David grinned at her.

“Ah, coming to meet the family- officially of course. I remember when my Eric brought your mother home. I liked her. She had a backbone, not like all those other girls he’d brought to meet me. I think it has something to do with the red hair.”

“Yes ma’am. And what is it about Noah that you like? Because I know he’s not about to fight with you the way mom does.” David knew that his mother and grandmother so loved their little mock fights. He knew that in some ways, his mother was closer to his Dad’s mother than she was her own.

“Oh, I don’t’ know. The boy’s got spirit where it counts. I think it might be the way he looks at you when he thinks you’re not looking back. Or maybe it’s the way you look at him when you don’t think he’s looking back. Trust Nana on these things, she’s had lots of experience with them.”

“You’ve had a lot of experience with gay kids falling in love?” David asked.

“Gay, schmay. Love is love, and it doesn’t matter if you love someone the same as you are or you love someone who is different.” She patted the bed next to her chair and whispered to him conspiratorially, “Sit down here and I’ll let you in on a little secret. Back in the camps, I saw a few come in wearing the pink triangle. I saw how they wept over each other- and how they took care of each other- as much as anybody can take care of anybody else in those hellish places. I saw how they were treated by some of the others. That’s when I realized that love is love and should be cherished wherever you might find it.” She rocked in her chair for long minutes before continuing, “That’s why my David and I were so close, and why I get along with your mother so well. We love each other because we were alike, and because we’re different. I understand your worry over your Noah. After all, your grandfather had to face his family for marrying me- him being a good Jewish boy and me being Rom. Then your father came along and married a good Catholic girl. You’re great grandmother is turning in her grave.” She smiled at him wickedly, “with any luck. I never did like that woman. Always cussing at me in Hebrew, and giving me the sign against the evil eye. I had to learn the language in self defense.” She shook her head, “like I’d have wasted a good curse on her.”

“So you like Noah because he makes Mom and Dad nervous?” he asked somewhat shocked at the idea.

“Partially, but I have to admit the boy grows on you. Besides, he doesn’t make your mother and father any where near as nervous as they let on. They just want to make sure you’re serious about this thing.” She patted him on the cheek, “Besides, he makes you happy, and that’s all that matters.” She gestured suddenly toward the door, “Now, off to bed with you.” She waited a few seconds, “And tell your father to stop eavesdropping at the door.”

David stopped at the door, “By the way Nana,” he let his voice become serious, “I met one.”

“One what, David?” she asked.

“The ones you used to tell me stories about.” He told her remembering the long conversation he’d had with Lecroix.

The old woman simply nodded, “and what did he tell you?”

“A whole lot of everything and a big bunch of nothing all rolled into one.”

“Good. Listen to what he told you. It’s probably some of the wisest words you’ll ever hear.” David left the room feeling better than he had in several days. What had happened in the hospital still troubled him. He was just beginning to understand exactly what it was that Noah had put himself in front of in a vain and completely unnecessary attempt to protect him.

“Dad,” he said to the door, “Nana says to stop listening at the door.” He heard a scurrying from the other side of the wall, and smiled. “Gee Nana, I think we’ve got mice. Maybe we should get a cat.”

“I think we already have more cats than we can deal with,” she grinned back at him.

“Cats are for the good,” he told her opening the door.

“As you are soon to find out my little David,” she said softly while going back to her book.

David spent the next day laying around his room and playing on the computer. A short phone call, confirmed Noah’s coming to dinner the following Saturday evening. “Your Dad wants to meet me?” David could see Noah swallow hard in his mind. “Why?”

“He wants to meet the man who’s stolen my heart,” David teased Noah, “unless you don’t want to come and meet my Dad.”

“Uh… sure. I think. I’m not good at these family things anymore though,” Noah told him.

“That’s okay. Neither is Dad.” David told him.

“Sounds like a recipe for disaster if you ask me,” Noah told him.

“Look, you’ve already got Mom, and Nana on your side, not to mention ‘Bit.” He smiled at the nervousness Noah was feeling. It was about time Noah felt a little of the nervousness he’d caused David in the first few weeks of their relationship. Noah might be younger, but he was a whole lot more experienced in areas that David was still afraid to enter too quickly. “I bet with just a few minutes, you’ll have Sprite won over too. That just leaves Dad.”

“ ‘Bit was easy. All I did was feed him french fries. I mean what if your Dad doesn’t like me.”

“Don’t worry, Dad’ll like you.” David wasn’t about to tell Noah that his Dad would probably give him a big break when he found out about Noah’s parents.

“I’m not looking for pity, David,” Noah told him over the phone, and for a moment David found himself wondering just how much Noah could read from him. Dating a telepath could have its drawbacks.

“It’s not pity you’re getting,” David told him, “My Dad is just weird. It’s the whole Jew married to a Gentile thing. I think it warped his brain somehow.”

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that,” Noah told him.

“Oh, what about it?”

He could literally see Noah smile over the phone line. Maybe this telepath thing wasn’t so bad after all, “Well, in the vernacular of the trade, you’re father’s Jewish, but you’re uncut.” David got the distinct feeling that Noah was actually blushing over the line.

“Yeah, but mom’s a good Scots Catholic girl from Edinburgh. Nana tells me that they had quite a row over it, but mom finally won out. Dad won’t talk about it though. But I’ll tell you this, I’ve discovered something from being raised in two faiths. You’re considered to be what ever your mother was, so I guess I’m a good Catholic boy.”

“Too good if you ask me,” Noah sent an image directly to David’s brain of why he thought David was too good.

“Ah, um… we’ll talk about that later. We’ll get around to it, I’m just not ready yet.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Noah told him. “But I’ll be there for dinner tomorrow night. How should I dress?”

“Jeans and a tee-shirt? I’m going to be in sweat pants,” David emphasized the helping verb in that sentence.

“Okay, jeans and a shirt,” Noah told him. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Well, I’m going to get off here and get some rest now. See you in my dreams,” David told Noah, wondering if he really would. Lately a golden-haired woman dressed in lavender talking to Noah haunted his dreams. She spoke of a great many interesting things, and Noah had a few interesting things to say himself. He hadn’t realized just how much the kid cared about him.

Lying down on the big bed facing the beach he was grateful for the fact that his parents had allowed to convert the pool house into his rooms after Sprite was born. I’ve really got to stop calling people by nicknames. He had an unobstructed view of the waves crashing into the beach and the setting sun. Best of all it allowed him a modicum of privacy that he’d never had while living in the main house. Rolling over he hit the power button on the stereo beside his bed and then returned to his waves while the strains of the latest pop artists filled the room.

CHAPTER 13

David awoke the next day in the same position he’d fallen asleep in. He spent the day helping his mom around the house, and doing light chores. Nobody would let him do anything more strenuous than pick up Sprite, and then only when her diapers needed changing, or she needed fed. Brendan and Delia stopped by for a short visit to check on him, and make dire predictions about dinner tonight. “Yeah, yea, dire predictions. You just know mom’s making fried chicken tonight, don’t you.” He smiled and elbowed Brendan in the ribs, “The cat in you just can’t pass up a tasty bird.”

They joked for a while and finally left him to prepare in solace. He was actually grateful for their stopping by. It gave him a brief respite from his own worries about dinner. As much as he’d tried to reassure Noah last night, he still had his own concerns as to his father’s reactions to his having a boyfriend. Especially when said boyfriend looked to be at least three years younger than himself. Finally, his grandmother had sent him scurrying to his room with her cane to take a nap saying, “If you sit here and worry yourself silly, you’re going to embarrass Noah tonight. Now go and take a nap before Charlie and I have to have words with you.”

He hadn’t realized just how much he one person could sleep until he awoke several hours later to his father knocking on the door telling him to get up. Looking over at the clock he realized he’d slept most of the afternoon away, and it was already five-thirty. Noah was due in half an hour. Jumping up, he grabbed a quick shower, dressed and headed across the patio toward the main house when Nana caught up with him. “Uh, uh, boy. Go back in there and at least put on some nice jeans. You’re not going to embarrass me by wearing those things to the table.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he’d learned a long time ago there was no use in arguing with Nana. Ten minutes later he was heading back to the house dressed in a pair of khakis and a nice polo shirt. The khakis weren’t all that comfortable, but for a nice evening without Nana hassling him he’d put up with them. They were a little on the tight side, and he couldn’t believe he needed new clothes already.

Entering the back of the house, he heard the doorbell ring. “I get it!” he heard ‘Bit yell.

“‘Bit, you know you’re not supposed to open the door,” his mom called after him. He never did find out who got it first. All he heard was, “Noah!” and then ‘Bit giggling. A minute later, Noah entered the room carrying ‘Bit on his shoulders and a large fruit basket in his hands. He smiled shyly at David and actually managed to blush, “My mom always told me never come to dinner without a gift of some kind, and Martha wouldn’t buy the bottle of wine I wanted her to.” Noah suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared at him.

“What’s my fly open,” he looked down the check the aforementioned device.

Then he was hit by what Noah was feeling over the link. “You’re gorgeous,” Noah half whispered. A long silence ensued as he and Noah only stood there sharing what the other was feeling holding the fruit basket and a squirming three year old between them.

The silence was finally broken by ‘Bit’s giggling. Looking down the young boy was unsuccessfully trying to stuff a grape into the long-suffering cat’s mouth. The cat was having nothing of it and was looking for it’s main chance to escape. “ ‘Bit, you know you’re not supposed to torment Professor McGonagall,” he bent down and rescued the cat from his little brother’s ministrations. He looked over at Noah, “at least he was trying to put it in the right end this time.”

Both boys laughed, and the tension was broken. “Come on. Mom and Nana are in the kitchen. Mom’s making fried chicken.” He turned and grinned at Noah, “I hope you have more of an appetite than usual. Mom’s been cooking all afternoon, and she’ll be disappointed if you don’t eat much.”

Noah smiled at him, and David immediately wondered how he could get him to do it again, “Don’t worry. I think I’ve got this appetite thing figured out. I made it a point to get some extra practice in today before coming over.”

“Practice? What kind of practice?” David was a little confused.

“You know. The stuff I’ve been working on with Delia. We figured out that when I do something,” he closed his eyes for a second and David felt Noah’s mind reach out to make sure nobody was listening before continuing, “unusual I burn more energy and when I burn a lot of energy I get hungry.”

“So what did you do to burn energy?” David asked.

Noah just winked at him, and he suddenly got the image of Noah lifting Brendan’s car repeatedly without touching it. Brendan was standing in the background looking like he was about to have kittens. “I see. Brendan is never going to forgive you for that, you know. After all he likes that car better than he likes food.” He smiled at Noah and pulled Noah to him, with his free hand while setting the cat down. “But first,” he kissed him seriously. “I’ve been wanting to do that for two days now,” he finally said coming up for air.

Noah just smiled back at him: fangs and all, “All you have to do is ask.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Want to watch the meteor shower with me later?”

“Will there be more of that?”

“Possibly.” David told him. “Depends on how the meteors are falling.”

“David, was that Noah at the door?” Nana called from the kitchen.

“Busted.” He whispered to Noah, “Yes, ma’am. We’re on our way in now. Had to save the Professor from an armed ‘Bit.”

“Armed with what?” His mother asked. “I’m not going to have to take the cat to the vet again am I?”

“No ma’am. He was just trying to feed her grapes.” David told her as the two of them entered the kitchen with ‘Bit in tow.

“Wait a minute,” his mother said, “We don’t’ have any grapes.”

“We do now,” David held up the fruit basket. He set the basket down on the counter next to her. “Uh, mom I think I need to go clothes shopping again,” he told her quietly.

“What my son actually wants to be seen in public with his mother? In a clothing store?” she chided him.

“But mom. I figured we could take Nana with us. That way I would be seen with the two most beautiful women on the Gulf Coast,” he said stealing a raw carrot and kissing her on the cheek.

His mother swatted him away and turned to face Noah, “Don’t you pick up any of his bad habits now.” She teased Noah, “flirting with women old enough to be his mother and his grandmother.” She indicated the basket, “thank you by the way, although I don’t think the cat feels as such.”

“I’m not old enough to be anyone’s grandmother thank you.” Nana said to nobody in particular.

Everybody laughed. David watched his mom look Noah up and down carefully, obviously appraising the younger boy. “Well, I hope you’re hungry, I took what David normally eats, factored in Brendan and then doubled everything. Hopefully that’ll get us through the evening.”

“You mean you cooked enough for the Seventh Fleet?” Noah asked.

“Possibly. Someone may have to do without an extra helping of mashed potatoes if ‘Bit catches the cat again.” She shook her head, “For some reason he’s always trying to feed her what ever we’re having for dinner. Darnedest thing too, the cat never seems to try and bite or scratch him. She just sits patiently and waits to be rescued.” David got the feeling that it had something to do with the long talk Brendan had had with her right after she hissed at ‘Bit once.

“Sounds good. Brendan has been waxing poetic about your fried chicken all day,” Noah told David’s Mom. “He seems to think it ranks right up there with the Declaration of Independence as a national treasure.”

“Yeah, Brendan’s angling for the left over patrol,” David told Noah.

“Well you know Brendan, before he’s finished with one meal, he’s already thinking about his next one,” Noah told David.

“Yes, it just irks me that that never gains a pound either. I think he has multiple tapeworms.” She sighed, “but still it’s nice to have your cooking appreciated by somebody,” she gave David a playful look. “Remind me to send Brendan a plate home with you tonight, Noah.”

“Mom, I hate to tell you this, but there’s not going to be anything left,” David told her, “I haven’t had any decent food in two days.” David reminded her, “I spent most of yesterday and today asleep and I’m starving. I’m a growing boy.”

“Oh dear,” his mom said to nobody in particular. Then she turned and smiled, “Don’t worry Dave, I’ve got plenty made. I wouldn’t let my growing boy,” she looked over at Noah, “growing boys, go hungry.” She shooed them both out of the kitchen. “Now you two go and set the table, and call your father to dinner. Last time I saw him, he was heading toward his office.”

“Yes, ma’am.” David sighed, “c’mon Noah. You grab the silverware and I’ll grab the plates. Then I’ll see if he’s willing to come out of his office.” David was somewhat disappointed that it had taken his father less than a day to disappear into his work again. Leading Noah, into the dining room he broke out his mom’s good china that she reserved for holidays and company coming. He looked back at Noah and winked, “We get the good stuff tonight. Next time we get paper plates and plastic spoons.”

“I’d settle for those any day,” Noah winked at him, “No dishes to wash.”

David laughed at the inside joke. On more than one occasion over the past few weeks, Noah had found himself doing dishes after a meal he hadn’t eaten. “You’re just going to have to learn to keep an appetite.”

“Living on the Gulf Coast that’s going to be kind of hard, I think,” David had absolutely no idea what Noah was talking about.

“Huh?”

Noah just smiled, “I’ll tell you later.” David could see Noah steel himself for something, “You go get your dad, and I’ll finish up here.” Suddenly he understood, Noah was facing David’s parents, a particular ritual that David would never have to face as far as Noah was concerned. Then again, Noah just had to deal with David’s Dad. David on the other hand had discovered he had to deal with four very protective werecats.

David gave him a quick kiss, “wish me luck,” and headed toward his Dad’s office on the front of the house. Reaching the large double doors, he took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and knocked on the door. Usually his dad didn’t like to be bothered when the doors were closed, which was most of the time, but he’d been the one who’d insisted on this dinner, so David just guessed he’d have to be bothered.

“Yes?” his dad’s voice came through the door.

“Dinner,” David was surprised when his dad opened the door without hesitating.

“Good, I’m starving. The smell of your mother’s cooking was driving me crazy so I had to duck in here to keep from raiding the kitchen before it was ready,” his father smiled at him. David wasn’t sure how to take that. Looking into the room behind his dad, David noticed the computer was off, and only small hardback book lay on the table beside the easy chair. It looked like it had a dragon on the cover.

“Uh huh. It should be on the table by the time we get in there.” David said simply for the sake of saying something.

“Is your uh... friend here yet?” His Dad asked.

“Yeah, Noah showed up about a half hour ago,” David told him. “He’s helping Mom and ‘Bit set the table.”

His dad clapped his hands together eagerly, “Good, I can’t wait to meet him.”

Noah watched David’s back as he left the room. He could see as well as feel the tension in him. He didn’t need the link to know that David was nervous, about Noah’s meeting his dad. He got the feeling that there were some interesting family dynamics playing out here, and that somehow he’d become sort of a catalyst. Turning back to the table he sent a quick silent prayer up to whatever Creator might be listening that the evening would go well. He’d been doing that a lot lately, since his talk with Vincent. He wasn’t sure what he believed about God, but now he was beginning to believe that there definitely was one. “The table looks nice,” Nana interrupted his thoughts.

“Yes, ma’am,” Noah replied.

“Relax, Noah. Things are not as bleak as you might think,” she told him. Something about the elder Mrs. Rosen always seemed to relax him. Of all the people in the world, he felt the most comfortable with this old woman, who according to David had survived Auschwitz. What ever it was, it put him at ease like nobody else he’d ever been around.

“Thank you. I’ll try to keep that in mind,” he tried to reassure her.

“You listen to your Nana. I know these things. You just leave Eric Rosen to me.” She grinned at him.

Noah smiled at her. “I’ll do that.” He sighed, “I just wonder…”

“Oh? And what would you be wondering about?” she asked.

Noah shrugged. “I was just wondering what my parents would have thought of David. I hope they would have liked him.” He was surprised to find himself thinking of his own parents right now. He was further surprised to find that the thought brought a lump to his throat. He discovered that he still had some issues to resolve about their deaths, even after two years.

Before she could reply, David returned with his father in tow. Mr. Rosen was a short stocky man in his late forties with hair that is that dusty brown shade that wasn’t quite brown and not exactly blond either and was beginning to gray at the temples. He was starting to show that middle age spread that so many men his age experienced. His eyes were a deep gray blue and a keen intelligence shined behind them. Noah was almost knocked down by the nervousness the man generating. He could feel himself suddenly under an appraising gaze that seemed to penetrate to his very soul. This was a man who didn’t take things at face value. “Noah, this is my Dad,” David said, “Dad, this is Noah Hale, my boyfriend.”

Noah could see the look of surprise that flashed across Mr. Rosen’s face and suddenly vanished. An awkward moment seemed to be suspended in the air where neither Noah, nor evidently Mr. Rosen knew exactly what they were supposed to do next. Finally taking the initiative, Noah thrust his hand out, “Nice to meet you, sir.”

Recovering quickly, Mr. Rosen took Noah’s hand and shook it. It was a firm grip, neither crushing nor limp. Noah remembered what his dad had taught him about meeting people and gave a gentle squeeze back. “You too, Noah.”

“Well, now that nonsense’s over and done with, we can sit down and have a nice dinner,” Nana interrupted. Mr. Rosen shot her a long suffering look and smiled.

“Don’t you roll your eyes at me young man,” she told him. “You’re not so big I can’t take you two outta’ three.” She was grinning widely.

“Yes, ma’am.” It seemed to Noah that even Mr. Rosen reacted to Nana in the same manner as he and David.

“Good, now let’s sit down and eat. I’m hungry.” She said, taking the chair to left of the head of the table. Surprisingly, he noticed that both David and Mr. Rosen seemed to head for the one at the head of the table. For a second the elder Mr. Rosen and the younger one seemed to lock eyes. Noah could feel the beginning of a challenge swell up in David.

Before the tension could build though David’s attention was distracted by ‘Bit reaching up for him, “Up now.” David glanced down at his little brother, and Noah could feel his thoughts suddenly shift to something far gentler as he picked ‘Bit up and set him into the high chair next to his mother. There was something else going on between David and his father that went far beyond David simply asking his boyfriend home to meet the family.

David’s mom rolled her eyes and smiled at David and his father. Her thoughts matched his own. But hers were much more revealing. She understood something Noah didn’t up until now. David and his father had to re-establish who the adult males were in the house. “So Noah, how’s school going?” she asked.

“I’m slowly getting caught up. I think that if I keep at it, and manage to bug Sharon enough to help me with my Algebra two I may even pull off all A’s this semester.” Most of Noah’s schoolwork was pretty easy once he was able to fill in the gaps he’d missed in junior high. Algebra though was giving him fits. It was pure logic, and lately logic hadn’t been of a whole lot of use to him. Fortunately, Sharon was a very patient tutor.

“Catching up?” Mr. Rosen asked. “How’d you get behind?”

“I missed some school after my parent’s died,” Noah wasn’t sure how much David had told his parents about where and how he lived for the last two years. Somehow he didn’t think he’d told them that Noah had spent two years as a prostitute on Center Street.

“I’m sorry,” Mr. Rosen gave David a questioning look, “I didn’t know your parents had passed.” Noah could feel his own emotions begin to well up inside him, and hoped that Mr. Rosen would let the subject drop. He did his best to try and block what he was feeling from the link he shared with David, but wasn’t sure how successful he was.

“So Dad, how’s that new contract with the Navy coming?” David asked trying to change the subject.

Mr. Rosen seemed to take the hint, as he turned back to David. Noah wasn’t sure if it was his emotions showing on his face or the fact that David had practically growled at his father. “We got it. That’s why I’m going to be able to start spending more time at home.” Mr. Rosen’s mind opened up suddenly to Noah. He wasn’t sure how to deal with David or Noah for that matter. He was starting to feel that he was a stranger in his own home, and that he didn’t know his own children, especially this man-child who was his eldest son. My God, when did he clear six foot?! Mr. Rosen’s mind-voice came to Noah. I’ve missed so much, and now he’s fighting me trying to make it up.

“What do you do Mr. Rosen?” Noah used a technique he learned to use with his tricks. Turn the conversation back to the customer to keep them from asking too many questions about him.

“I build computer systems for high-stress environments,” Mr. Rosen told him. “You know, an onboard computer that won’t crash just because somebody hits it with sledge hammer.” He looked over at David and smiled, “Or, pours a can of Coke on it.”

“I take it David did something like that?” Noah smiled at David.

Mr. Rosen laughed, “Yep. He poured a whole can of Jolt Cola down the A drive of my first business computer. Shorted the whole system.” Noah watched as David blushed deep red.

“Remind me to keep him away from my computer then.” Noah jabbed at David.

“Don’t worry Kitten, somehow I think I’ve outgrown that kind of thing.” Noah got the whole story over the link. David had done it to get his father to finally get off the computer and take him trick or treating. David hadn’t poured the coke into the machine until well after midnight. He’d been put off all evening and completely missed going out that Halloween.

Noah saw David’s mom and Dad exchange glances at the use of pet name. He didn’t have to use his telepathy to know that they were worried about a relationship developing to the point of using nicknames in so short of time. They didn’t and couldn’t understand what was going on between him and David. Hell, he didn’t even understand it all yet, and he’d had at least three people who claimed they knew what was going on try to explain it to him. “Just remember, you pour coke down computer and I’ll de-wax your surfboard,” he threatened David.

Everybody laughed at the joke. “De-wax my surfboard and I will pour coke down your computer,” David told him.

“Deal,” Noah replied, as the table degenerated into the passing of food around and requests for different dishes. Noah noticed that David, his mother, and grandmother all seemed to be able to anticipate each other’s requests as well as ‘Bit’s. David was even able to anticipate his own needs and desires for food due to the link. Noah could feel that Mr. Rosen was feeling left out. “Mr. Rosen, would you please pass the corn?” Noah asked, hoping to bring him into the family atmosphere of the table.

“Corn!” ‘Bit waved his cob around to show everyone that he knew the word. “See David?” He shoved the piece in David’s face.

Pushing his brother’s hand down, “Yes I see ‘Bit. Wave that at me again, and I’m going to eat it.” He made sudden biting motions at ‘Bit’s piece. The small boy erupted into peals of laughter as he yanked it back onto his own plate.

“My corn!” the boy told everybody at the table.

“No growling at the table ‘Bit,” David told him.

Everyone smiled at the small boy as he nodded and began to tear into a piece of chicken. “Sometimes I think that boy’s part cat,” David’s mom said.

Noah and David exchanged quick glances, and Noah watched David’s eyebrow arch up questioningly. “Nah, can’t be, Mom,” David joked. “He’s not quiet enough.” Noah couldn’t help but think of Nelson’s habit of playing his stereo so loud.

“You can’t compare him to an adult cat. He’s definitely still in cub stages,” Mrs. Rosen argued. Noah noticed Nana being very quiet on the subject.

“Come to think of it,” David’s father interjected, “He’s just like you were at his age.” Noah knew David was about to retort with something unpleasantly sarcastic.

*Don’t,* he quickly sent along the link.

*Don’t what?* David sent back.

*Don’t push your dad. He’s trying to figure out how to do what he thinks you need him to do. This is just as difficult for him as it is for you. He’s not trying to take over your life.* Noah sent back.

*And you know this how?* David asked him sarcastically.

*Duh?! You’re carrying on a mental conversation with a telepath, and you have to ask that question. Here I thought you were the bright one.* He returned just as sarcastically.

“No Dad, according to Mom, I was a little more cat-like. At least that’s what she tells me.” Noah picked up a silent *Thank you,* from the link.

“That’s what we’re trying to tell you, David. You’re both just like a couple of cubs.” Mr. Rosen said.

“No Dad. I might not be a full grown tiger yet, but I’m not a cub anymore either.” David jabbed back.

Mr. Rosen leaned back in his chair and looked at his son, and then over at Noah. A slow smile seem to come across his face, “I can see that Dave.” He leaned forward and gently tweaked David’s cheeks, “But like you said, you’re not quite grown yet.” Suddenly the tension seemed to drain away from the table. Noah got the impression that some kind of unspoken truce had been declared and the family could move on.

“So Noah,” Mr. Rosen directed the attention back to him, “Got any plans for after school? I mean when you graduate?”

Noah shook his head mildly amused. He’d never really thought about that much over the past few years, but suddenly something occurred to him. “I haven’t given it much thought really, but now that I think about it. I think I’d like to do what my Mom did.” Considering his own abilities, he could probably do fairly well with that.

“Oh?” Mr. Rosen asked, “What did she do?”

“She worked for the State Department” Noah laughed lightly, “she taught people how to play nice in the sandboxes.”

“She was a diplomat then?” Mr. Rosen asked.

“Yes sir. They both were.” Noah answered wishing that Mr. Rosen would change the subject away from his parents. “They were both killed two years ago in the embassy bombing in Tel Aviv.”

A long awkward silence followed. Thankfully Mr. Rosen dropped the subject. “Mom?” David broke in, “is it still all right if the others come over and watch the meteor shower from the roof tonight?”

Mrs. Rosen looked over at her husband, for affirmation. “I don’t see why not,” she finally said. “After all, it’s a warm night.” She winked at him, “Just be careful up there. Nobody falls off, okay.” She gave him a stern look, “And nobody, I mean nobody goes down to the beach. If you want to swim, we’ve got a perfectly good pool out back.”

“Yes ma’am,” David replied.

The rest of dinner passed in relative quiet with most of the conversation steered toward safe subjects, such as meteor showers and cat-like tendencies. Noah was glad when it was all over though. He kept thinking over how he could have handled things differently. If it hadn’t been for his telepathy, he’d have been convinced that he’d completely blown the evening. As it was, he could tell that Mr. Rosen had been reluctantly impressed with his performance and was genuinely sorry for pushing certain subjects. He also caught a brief mental note from the man to look up what had happened two years ago in Israel.

After clearing the table and helping David load the dishwasher which for Noah’s part consisted in keeping ‘Bit from helping. “So, what time are the others actually coming over to watch the meteor shower, or was that to distract your dad to different topic of conversation.”

“Actually, they are coming over, but not until about two a.m.” David grinned at him, “You haven’t seen my roof, have you?”

“No. Should I have?” Noah teased him, “Is that where you carry out all your conquests?”

David snorted. “No, nobody’s been conquered up there. But it does have a wonderful view.”

“View of what?” Noah asked, not sure he was comfortable with the direction the conversation was going with David’s parents so near by. He’d had his share of tricks in semi-public places, and even one occasion where the man’s wife was sleeping the next room, but never with his own heart at stake.

“Of the ocean, the beach, and the skyline. Nothing sinister.” David grinned, “Unless you count the fact that I’ll be staring at you all evening and probably miss the meteor shower all together.”

“David?” Mr. Rosen called.

“Yeah Dad?” David answered.

“Be nice,” Noah whispered.

David quickly kissed him, “I will.”

“Come here please.” Mr. Rosen called. Noah sensed a great nervousness from the older man. Then he got an image of exactly what the man had on his mind, and almost fell off the stool he was sitting on.

“On my way Dad.” David replied, as ‘Bit slid down from Noah’s lap and ran into the other room.

“David kissed Noah!” he announced to the living room in general, as David disappeared into his Dad’s office.

Noah finished up the dishes and was about to head into the living room when David came back into the kitchen shaking his head and blushing a very deep red all the time muttering to himself “I can’t believe he did that.”

“What?” Noah asked pretending he didn’t know what had happened.

David stopped looked dead at him, “My father, you know the short guy in the office,” he whispered forcefully, “just gave me a brown paper bag with twenty-four condoms and a two week supply of lube in it.” He sat down on another of the stools, “Now that’s not the bad part. The bad part is they’re glow in the dark.”

“Well at least he didn’t get the flavored ones.” Noah chided David.

David looked around and Noah realized he was making sure that ‘Bit wasn’t in the room, but bent down and whispered to Noah non-the-less, “When I finally get to taste you, I don’t want artificial flavors in the way.”

It was Noah’s turn to blush. “Trust me, I feel the same way.” Quickly scanning to makes sure nobody could see, he ran his hands up the inside of David’s thigh, and stood on the rungs of the stool to kiss him deeply.

After what seemed to be too short a time, he felt David pull away. “Better save some of that for later.”

Noah glanced down at the front of David’s slacks, “You’d better stay in here for a while.” He indicated the growing bulge in the front with his eyes.

“Oh I forgot to tell you. It’s not the roof of this house we’re going to be on. Mom? We’ve gone to set the roof up with the telescopes and such.”

“Be careful David.” She called back, and Noah knew that she knew exactly what the boys’ plans for the evening were. He also knew that she knew that he knew that she knew what the plans were, and so on. David took Noah by the hand and led him out the back door, across the patio to the pool house. Stopping in the shadows under the eaves long enough to steal a quick kiss, they made their way into the pool house, which served as David’s bedroom. It was the first time Noah had been inside David’s room, and he took a moment to look around.

The room was large with a huge king-sized bed against the far wall. Next to it was a very expensive stereo system. Posters of waves crashing into the shore covered the walls. On the wall opposite the bed was a television and DVD player. On walls across from each other were a computer and weight bench. The whole room was decorated in deep reds and golds, that stimulated the senses, and relaxed the mind. Standing in the center of the room was a wrought iron spiral staircase leading up to what Noah presumed was the roof. “C’mon,” David told him reaching for two large cases sitting at the foot of the stairs. “I’ll give you the grand tour after we finish setting up.”

Noah nodded and grabbed the case David left behind and followed him up the stairs, out through a hatch and onto the roof. It was a perfect night for stargazing. The sky was clear and there was no moon to reflect unwanted light. Only the lights from the city in the distance promised any kind of interference with their stellar observations. “It’s going to be a great night,” David put down the case he was carrying and looked around.

Noah set his own case down and looked David up and down, “promises, promises, promises.” He grinned wickedly.

“I always keep my promises,” David told him slowly walking toward him. Noah looked up into the bigger boy’s face.

“So far at least.” Noah replied as he reached up and around David’s neck, pulling himself up on his tiptoes to kiss him solidly.

Noah felt David wrap his arms around him, and lift Noah into his arms. He felt his fangs slowly begin to descend against David’s tongue. The contact sent shudders through his body, that he knew were echoing along the link they shared. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain against his own tongue and quickly pulled back, as he felt David get hit with a similar wave. This time the wave came from David, and not him. Looking into David’s face, he saw him reach up and gently run his fingers along a similar set of fangs half way descended from his own upper canines.

“Ummmm….Okay, I know I’m not a vampire. I was out in the sun all day today. I’m not going to freak out here,” Noah could feel the confusion and panic rise in his friend.

“You’re right. You’re not turning into a vampire,” Noah sent calming messages down his link. “No more than I am.” David wasn’t listening to him. Noah knew how he felt. Not long ago, David had talked him down from the same place David was in now. “Be careful though. If you try to talk too fast they’ll cut your tongue to ribbons,” Noah joked. He could feel the electricity building in David as he reacted to Noah’s blood the same way he’d reacted to David’s several weeks ago. “Now you understand what was happening to me.” He smiled, “Although, you do look good in fangs.”

Suddenly David began to laugh. “This is just one of those times when you just have to go with the flow. Right?” David said through bouts of giggling as he collapsed into a heavily padded deck chair.

“Depends how far you want to go,” Noah told him. “And do you think you should use the word flow with your fangs extended?”

David reached up and pulled Noah down into his lap, “probably not,” he smiled and brushed the tips of his fangs along Noah’s neck, “but this does give a whole new meaning to the term nibble and lick.” It was Noah’s turn to react to the pressure from the fangs. Without thinking, he shoved David back into the deck chair while slamming himself against sharp pins at his throat. He felt the skin part as they sank into his the soft flesh there. Suddenly his hands were clawing at their clothing as he felt the gentle pressure David was generating with his mouth against the wound. He could feel the explosions of passion that his blood was setting off in David’s body. Noah had an almost overwhelming urge to do to David what was being done to him. Furiously his hands clawed at David’s belt, as some dry part of his mind registered surprise that the usually resistant David was doing the same thing. Somehow without ever removing David’s mouth from Noah’s neck the two boys managed to disrobe each other.

Before David could react Noah reached down between them, raised himself into the air and managed to impale himself on David as he twisted and sank his own fangs deep into the juncture between the bigger boy’s neck and shoulder. As the blood hit his tongue he felt an explosion of pleasure blast through his body to match what was happening inside David. Trapped in the sheer ecstasy of their embrace Noah’s pleasure being echoed by its reflection from David through the link, he never even noticed the pain of accommodating the much larger boy without the aid of lubrication. He felt David sit up and twist, so that Noah was on his back. Noah wrapped his legs around his lover’s waist and pulled himself tighter against his hard muscular body. As David slowly moved in and out of him, never breaking the contact of fangs to throat, Noah felt the last bits of himself give way to the link they shared. Their mind reached out in a silent call for their Pride.

Noah wasn’t sure exactly when the others arrived, but he did remember that first distinct brush of fur across his skin quickly followed by moment of fear quickly followed by passion. As the night wore on, their sharing became complete with each member of the Pride sharing mind body and spirit with the others, and with the perfect forging of the Pride all of Noah’s reservations were burnt away. The pride bond was forged. Across the Gulf Coast in what appeared to the mortal eye to be nothing more than a swamp, a pair of lavender eyes opened in the hidden cellar of a nineteenth century mansion, and a golden haired woman sat up with a smile. “We’ve returned,” escaped from her lips.

Somewhere across town a rather startled man, calling himself Lecroix felt a call he’d not heard in four hundred years go out across the city. Smiling to himself he put away the book he’d been reading. Preparations had to be made, for he knew he was the only one who remembered Ashleigh’s last promise.

CHAPTER 14

“Eric, you’re not going out there and check on them, because you told him you trusted them,” Noah heard Nana’s voice. Rolling over he could see light streaming in through the open hatch above him. He hadn’t remembered moving down the stairs, but evidently at some point during the night they had managed to make it safely down the spiral staircase. He felt something soft and warm curled up against his side, and something rather heavy lying on his stomach. But the real kicker of this morning was the warm air that kept wafting over his groin with the steady rhythm of a person’s breath. Looking down he saw David draped across Brendan’s naked back and just inches from his morning distress.

You’re the one who told him that you trusted them, and then gave him that brown paper bag, and don’t you for a minute think I don’t know what was in it. I might be an old woman, but I’m not that old. Noah suddenly realized that he wasn’t hearing Nana’s voice with his ears but with his mind. You can’t give him toys and then expect him not to play with them.

Mother?! Mr. Rosen interjected.

Well. Mrs. Rosen continued, It would be like my giving you a plate of baklava and then telling you not to eat it. Her lecture continued, What? You don’t think this old woman knows what goes on in young boys’ minds? I’m not so old that I can’t remember the things your father and I did.

Mother, that’s an image I really don’t need! Mr. Rosen’s voice began to fade from his head, it ranks right up there with the image of my son having sex with another boy.

What? You think you’d keep him in short pants forever? was the last thing he heard before the voices finally went away.

Noah shook his head to try and clear the jumble of thoughts that seemed to suddenly rush in on him. As if he were flipping through channels on a radio station- no more like a television, because he was getting images as well- he could sense the dreams each of his friends’ were experiencing at this moment. That combined with David’s breath and slight nuzzling was having a visible effect on his own state of mind as well as body.

Stretching his arms out wide he felt a tight stiffness in his shoulder as the memories of last night washed over him. Reaching up to his shoulder he felt one very deep and jagged set of fang marks where each of his friends had bitten him in turn at various points during the night. “Hmmm…” Delia purred next to him as she recalled the previous night. Am I going to suddenly pick up each of their thoughts and memories every time I think about one of them?

*Hope not,* Delia’s mental voice answered sleepily,* because what I’m thinking right now would get you awfully embarrassed in gym class.* And then she went so far as to show him what she was thinking. She looked down at his groin and giggled. *See what I mean?*

“Don’t you know it’s not polite to point and giggle?” Noah made it a point to speak aloud.

“That’s okay, I’ll kiss it and make it better,” David said as he leaned down and proceeded to do so. Mentally he sent along the link, *Of course she wasn’t giggling about it last night. Now what was that thing you did with your tongue?* He sent trying to pull off the same effect.

Suddenly all of last night came rushing back in on him. Somehow what had started out as something between him and David alone had evolved into something that went way beyond anything he’d ever imagined. His emotions were still as raw as other parts of his body, and he tried to sort them all out. He felt a link to each of his friends, very similar to the one he shared with David, yet none nearly as strong. He wasn’t sure if was because of the newness of the links, or if there was a fundamental difference in them. Before he could sort it all out, he became distracted by other things and after a short while forgot that he’d even considered the question that something might or even could be amiss. To use an old cliché, nothing that felt this right could possibly be wrong.

Lecroix felt the sun slowly sink below the western horizon. He could feel his own strength and energy slowly return to him. Owing to differences in time zones, he’d been unable to do little more than leave messages in key places to make preparations for what was coming. The first thing that would need to be done was to acquire a dogcatcher to deal with the abominations that had recently begun to plague this small suburb. He had the perfect people in mind, and it would be a delicious irony to have two such as they to pave the way for the return of what was to be. Then again, he’d always had something of a flair for the dramatic. He’d used it to keep the Turks out of his kingdom six hundred or so years ago, after consulting Ashleigh of course.

Emerging into the early evening air on the veranda, he could feel a cool breeze wafting off the Gulf. He liked this city by the sea. It was so unlike his homeland across the forests of Europe. It was warm most of the year, and here, snow was unheard of. Here was a land where the inhabitants worshipped the sun as much as any deity. Here was a people who’d taken a continent and carved it into the greatest empire the world had ever known. If there were ever a people who were heir to the Romans, the Greeks, and Sumerians it was this wildly successful, overly emotional, band of “mongrel’s of Europe.” Theirs was a civilization that proved Socrates right more than any other in history, for they practiced his concept of the free exchange of ideas with wild abandon, and created from it one of the very pillars of their civilization. That is why he liked the Americans so. They were honest, brave, foolish, and open hearted all at the same time. Oh, he’d heard the complaints of other people about them, but those detractors were like the ones his father described even six centuries or more ago- the losers, the jealous, and those who would hook their wagons to the coattails of greatness.

“My friend, you are given to a great deal of contemplation lately,” an unexpected voice came from the shadows.

“I have reason enough,” Lecroix didn’t turn to face his visitor. It would do no good, if Lucien chose to attack- which Lecroix very much doubted he would do, little could be done to prevent it, nor would it’s effect be much more than annoying for a few small years. When had he grown so old that to consider an attack by one such as Lucien to be little more than an annoyance?

Laughter came from the shadows where he knew Lucien was sitting on a low wall in the shadows of two palm trees. Letting his own senses expand he could feel where the damned had willed the very rocks of the earth itself not to reveal his presence. “you brood too much. It’s not good for the soul.” Lucien finally chose to emerge from the shadows, his eyes glowing yellow in the soft candlelight Lecroix preferred over the hard electric lights of this age. Gently easing his lithe form into one of the large overstuffed chairs deck chairs, Lucien sat silently for minute.

Taking the opportunity to carefully study the form that Lecroix knew to be still for only a heartbeat at a time, he could very easily see the mark this man had made on the world. He and his brother, under another name had founded an Empire, and then watched it slowly choked to death by bureaucracy. Finally breaking the silence, “Haven’t you heard, our kind does not have souls.”

“Says who?” Lucien asked with a slight smile. Turning his gaze fully on Lecroix the wolf came ever to the surface, “I understand you have problem you wish to have taken care of?”

“Haven’t you read the literature of the age? We are either soulless or demon possessed. Whatever the case may be, in this age at least it is believed we are soulless.”

Lucien chuckled, “Yes, and I can remember a time not too many centuries ago that it was believed by the wisest men in the land that goats breathed through their ears. That is until someone had the sense to go and ask a goat.”

Sensing the rekindling of an old amusement he and this one shared, “and there was a time when the world was believed to be the center of the universe, and the heaven’s but a painted piece of glass high above the sea.” Lecroix smiled.

“Oh and let’s not forget the one about deflowering a virgin will cure all your ailments,” Lucien jabbed at him. “Not that they aren’t good for a light snack. Or so I’m told.” Lucien chided him about some of his own ancient proclivities.

“And of course, that one forgets to remind you that they come with new ailments all their own.” Long years of absence had not stripped away the friendship he shared with this one, like no other damned in the world. In a different world, and a different age, they might have been even closer than the friends that they were. But being separated by centuries between their births, and even greater gulfs of differences between their deaths, they’d still managed to forge a unique friendship from their albeit unusual beginnings.

“So tell me you young pup. What is it you would have me do?” Lucien smiled wolfishly at him.

Lecroix only raised an eyebrow, “I thought that of all people, you would have heard the call that went out this past night.”

“Oh I heard a great deal on the winds last night Lecroix, but I’ve learned not to believe them until I’ve seen for myself.” He leaned forward, “I felt the call. But I felt something else mixed into it.”

“What?” For Lecroix hadn’t heard nor felt anything other than the call for a binding that had went out from the spiritwalker.

“A reawakening of a part of me that has slept for a long while.” He reached out and played gently with the candle next chair. Picking it up, it flared briefly to light, and then sputtered gently until finally settling down to a slow steady burn. “But enough of my musings. What is it you wish of us old friend?”

“Whether it is this place or the people who inhabit it, I am unsure, but our young spiritwalker and his pride are not alone here. There has been an explosion among the population of the ” Lucien chose his words carefully, “abominations here.”

“Ah, the mongrels have bred themselves into the majority again?” Lucien asked. “You want me to thin the pack?” He smiled wickedly, “Or take it out completely?”

“If we act too hastily, we risk tipping our hand to the huntress who stalks these streets.” Even Lucien respected Lecroix’s strategic skills.

“A huntress? Here?” Lucien mused, “I supposed it makes sense. If there wasn’t a hunter or huntress backing them then they wouldn’t be so bold.” He picked up looked at the book Lecroix had been reading for amusement of late- an amusing tale of dragon hunting in the twenty-first century, “where is her sorcerer?”

“I am unsure, but I’ve felt his presence before.” Lecroix gave a Lucien a serious look, “Four hundred years ago when Benjamin and Victoria died. Again a hundred years ago in the bayous of Louisiana.”

“So you think it is he?” Lucien put down the book, “I thought even the sorcerers frowned on body stealing.”

“I have the impression that this one has little that he frowns upon.” Lucien remembered his own experiences with the man over five hundred years ago in the Turkish courts.

“Well, this time we’ll just have to find a witch that will keep him from coming back. A curse or two on his soul just might improve his disposition.” He gave Lecroix a gentle jab, “I have to say it’s done wonders for yours old friend. At least you’ve stopped that ridiculous practice of impaling people and living in abandoned churches.”

“I have never lived in an abandoned church.” Lecroix told him.

“Oh wait, that wasn’t you? I could have sworn that was you. Tall, dark, handsome, brooding…” he chided Lecroix, “sounds like you to me.”

Lecroix shook his head and smiled. He had an idea of who it might have been, but that was neither his nor Lucien’s business, “It was not me.”

“So you have werewolf problem, and think that an old wolf like myself might be able to help you out,” Lucien changed the subject.

“It would serve all our needs I think,” Lecroix told him.

“Our needs, their needs, or,” Lucien leaned forward, “your needs, Vlad?”

“It does not matter. For now, they are all one and the same.”

“Very well. I have little to make life interesting any more. Perhaps, I’ll finally come across something that might kill me,” Lucien seemed to sink darker into the morose that threatened him a century ago. Vlad had recently had a similar conversation with a recent acquaintance about this very same subject, and had in the stillness of his own soul reached the same conclusion. Heaven help the world if either of his conversation partners ever found something that powerful.

“Don’t count on it just yet. Besides, you might still find there is something in this world left for which to live.” Lecroix wasn’t about to tell him all he knew.

“Vlad my friend, I’ve had only a few bright spots in my entire existence: You, my brother, my wife, and my children. All my children but one are gone, my brother walks the same path as you and I, and if our wife were to return tomorrow, I’m not sure she’d accept what her mates have become.”

Lecroix only smiled, “Now my old friend, you sound like they do.”

“Who?”

“Our young pride of course.”

“Our young pride consists themselves of two true-breeds and a witch-cat?”

“No. They consists of a four young werecats- including one sidhe-cat, a young former male prostitute,” Lecroix forced himself to not react to that thought. Although he’d hoped he’d made it clear to young Noah that none among the Forsaken or Damned would do more than raise an eyebrow at his former occupation. He himself still had terrible memories of his own brother allowing himself to become one of the Sultan’s concubines in his youth. He continued, “Not to mention, a young elementalist who could be your Michael all over again.”

“Michael never had children,” Lucien protested.

“I’m not saying that he did. I’m only saying that the boy bears an uncanny resemblance to both Michael and Ashleigh.” He smiled, “with a little fey-cat tossed in.”

“Well, we should be thankful that he doesn’t resemble Michael more in that case. I should think that one of Michael’s breed still wandering the earth is enough.”

“I quite agree. Somehow I get the feeling that young Noah would be rather distressed to wake up only to finding himself sharing a bed with a saber-toothed tiger.”

“True, true. But look at it this way.” Lucien smiled his best wolfish grin, “No other werewolves can say they have a saber-toothed tiger for a son. I think it’s a rather spectacular accomplishment on our parts. But enough reminiscing, what are you really up to Vlad. I know you too well, to think that this is just simple clean-up operation. After all, the wolf is your animal, even more so than mine or my brother’s, and if it hadn’t been for their treachery six hundred years ago, you might still be allied to them.” He leaned in, to show Lecroix his own wolf form, “You could call these abominations to you or send them away at your will. Sorcerer or no.”

“I don’t want to tip my hand just yet,” Lecroix smiled and wanted to make point, “Remus.”

“It’s a name, Vlad. One I’d go by again, if there weren’t quite so many misleading connotations connected to it. Ironically enough, in this country very few of them have anything to do with the founding of the empire, and everything to do with a group of children’s tales. Besides, if old friends, can’t call each other by their true names then they aren’t very good friends are they. Should you wish to call me that name, so be it.” He shifted back to human form, “Just remember some names bring the wolf a little closer than others, oh son of the dragon.”

“Well, I suppose I should be thankful that you and your brother have finally stopped calling me hatchling.”

Lucien leaned back in his chair, “that has more to do with Vincent than with you. A friend of his showed us what a real dragon looked like a couple of centuries ago. We sort of felt it best not associate a friend with that particular name anymore. But seriously, what forces are truly at work here? I haven’t survived for over three millennium by not realizing that there are always unseen forces at work with our kind.” He stood, “And I want a look at this pride of yours when you feel it’s appropriate. I would hate to see one of them caught in any sort of crossfire, while we’re getting rid of your rabid dog problem.” He turned to leave “I’ll also need lodging near a burial ground. Michael feels that he needs to be here for what ever is happening.”

“Do you think that is wise? I understand that he is your son, and you love him, but with a huntress in the area, do you think he would be entirely safe?”

“When dealing with sorcerers and huntresses, do you not think it’s best to have the spirits on your side? Not to mention, he keeps rambling on about the fact that his mother will be here. Perhaps her spirit has finally broken whatever bonds have kept her from him.”

Lecroix replied, “He’s your family. I just would hate to think what Vincent would do to any of us should anything happen to him.” He was careful to leave out what Ashleigh would do when she recovered as well, and in this particular case he feared her wrath a great deal more than Vincent’s.

“I would agree with you, but Michael does as Michael pleases. Unfortunately, he has a great deal of his mother in his disposition. He tells my brother that he wants to come and play with the kitties.” He stopped at the door, “Oh, and Vlad? We never hurt family too much, and you are after all family. The deaths of Victoria and Benjamin cost you too much for you not be family. Had you been born a few centuries earlier, you’d have been a welcome addition to our pride.”

Michael wandered through his new city taking in all the sights and smells surrounding him. He came here, because the spirits had told him to come here. He never questioned the spirits as to why they wanted him to do something not that he didn’t wonder himself, but he never voiced them. He only did what they told him to do. It was through this trust- that he knew others considered it child-like- that he’d managed to survive for all these long years. For no passage of time is quick to a child.

He liked this city. It was cleaner than New Orleans. It was sunnier and the part of him that was a cat liked the sunshine. It didn’t smell of dead things either. It was a city rooted firmly in this last century, not in one two centuries past. The spirits that walked here did not carry with them the deep sense of sorrow and sadness that those of his own city did. Here, even in death they were bright, and vibrant, like a child on his first outing in the spring. He knew there was danger here too. He could smell them on the wind. He’d already come across at least three different packs of werewolves, and something had them all excited. His father would never allow this many of the weak blooded to invade New Orleans. They would have been killed outright just as much of as a reminder of just who ruled the Big Easy as an act of mercy. For what most people didn’t understand was that werewolves like vampires became weaker and more animalistic as their lines were diluted and they were tied too deeply to the phases of the moon. They lost their humanity too easily and devolved into mindless animals that understood only the pack and strength. If they stayed in control too long, even Michael knew that they would do irreparable harm to the psyche of this city. They were like parasites, that once moved in were almost impossible to cleanse from the body.

He’d spent the past few nights studying his new surroundings. New Orleans had its share of unnatural denizens, being represented by several covens of witches, more than a few wizards, and the occasional werecat, but it was primarily a vampire city. The vampires ruled it and controlled its destiny. Here, in fewer days than he had toes on his paws, Michael had encountered more Neos than the law should allow, several Kinter- who were not much better in attitude than the Neos. Someone really should start teaching them manners when they turned them. There is an art to this, Grandpa always said so, and someone was just not living up to the standards these days.

He’d also sensed the presence of a Pride, he hoped for the chance to play, for no matter how serious the werecats are, there was always time to play. There was also a presence that he hadn’t felt since before his first change, and they were linked to the Pride. I think I shall go to the beach. Cats like to play in the sand.

Gerin watched his son wander this city for three nights, poking his whiskers into some of the most interesting places- just like a cat. In a span of so few evenings he’d already managed to identify most of the city’s unnaturals, and probably without ever realizing what it was he was doing. Most people thought of their son as an idiot, and Gerin would not be the quickest to defend the boy’s intelligence, but he also had something deeper. Some uncanny sense of what is right and wrong in the world, and knowing where to come down on a particular issue had allowed to the boy to survive several centuries as he walked a fine edge between this world and the next. It had been Michael and his need for care after Ashleigh’s death a hundred years ago that had stopped Gerin and Lucien from removing London from the face of the earth. Now it would appear that Michael who would help him find the parameters of this situation as well.

The boy just seemed to wander to wherever the mood struck him, stopping to rest when the he was tired, or to play with a group of children in the park as if that were the most important thing in the world to do if they caught his eye. Michael had always been very careful around mortal children, Gerin believed it was because he was so child-like himself- always watching after them, and making sure they stayed away from danger, and that danger stayed far away from them. I wonder just how many people he has eaten over the years for bothering his friends.

Gerin knew that it was Michael who’d been responsible for convincing New Orleans’s Chancellor to make children off limits for feeding purposes. Not that Garion had taken much convincing. The boy- and Gerin still thought of the tall handsome man who ran the city of New Orleans as being a boy, not yet having reached his first seventy five years on either side of death- had an innate sense of what was the right or wrong thing to do in any situation. Too bad he had to prove that he was the one actually ruling the city and not Lucien or I. But I suppose I can see where others might get that impression at first. After all, we did run the city until he came along- just like Ashleigh told us to. Scariest thing was that she knew that boy was actually coming. Even told us to be nice to him. After what he did in London, even Vlad would make it a point to be nice to him now. Should they ever meet, although I’d still like to know who brought him across, in the old way too. That at least kept the sorcerers and other riff-raff far from New Orleans. The particulars of the London incident had cost Garion a great deal in enforcing, but when it was over, New Orleans had become the safest city in the world to grow up in. It also became the safest city for the unnaturals in the world, for between Garion and his right hand, nobody broached the peace in the Big Easy and lived very long. Gerin wondered who would rise to enforce the peace in this city. Perhaps the Pride he’d sensed here earlier. That would be a unique situation, for werecats were notorious for being poor administrators. Better yet, perhaps Lecroix would stay. It would be nice to have the pack closer. Well, at least on the same continent. I wonder how the sorcerers liked that last little present I left them.

He watched as some knew zephyr struck his son and the boy headed toward the beach. Water? He wants to go play in the water? This from the boy who once went ten years without bathing? At least the water here is clean. Following the boy along, he watched him cover a surprising amount of ground with what seemed to be just a casual lope down the boardwalk. As the sun finished sinking under the western waves, he could see a group of teenagers playing a rather cutthroat game of football along the water’s edge under lights of the boardwalk. Circling around instinctively to keep the wind carrying his scent away from Michael, he sat and watched his son try to join this group. Michael seldom tried to interact with older kids, they had lost too much of their innocence by the time they were this age to fully accept the boy. Gerin was hoping this would not turn into an unpleasant scene.

CHAPTER 15

Noah ducked under Brendan and charged past Nelson, only to have his legs clipped neatly out from under him by a smiling Delia. Rolling with the fall, he instinctive came up in a half crouch smiling. *Looks like our little kitten is starting to pick up a few things.* Brendan’s mind voice chided him.

“Hey, playing with you guys, you either adapt or eat sand,” Noah told him. “And sand is used for litter boxes damn it.” He grinned and waved his hand across the beach, “You guys do know how to flush don’t you.”

“Why you little…” Delia came crouching toward him, he could see her claws flexing in and out when suddenly he was blind-sided by Nelson and flung out across the waves to land face first in the surf.”

Mental note to self… watch them all. Especially the quiet one. Noah sputtered his way back to shore, glad that he’d decided to play barefooted. In the distance he could see someone approaching. At first his eyes told him that it was David, but he felt the link he shared with him pulled him from a different direction. Whoever it was, wasn’t giving off any aggressive body language, so he filed it into the back of mind and climbed from the surf. Looking over to Nelson, “I will return the favor. I already had one shower this morning.”

“That’s okay Kitten. You needed another one. You still smelled like David.”

“And that’s a bad smell?” Noah wrung the water from his shirt.

“No, just distracting.” Brendan told him. Noah could feel down the link he shared now with Brendan that there was really no jealousy involved in the accusation, just some good-natured ribbing.

“You two have been worse than a couple of rabbits lately,” Nelson told him.

“Ooh rabbits. When’s supper?” Brendan piped up. Noah saw Brendan’s eyes light up at the thought of his next meal.

“Well, David’s mom did say that she was making fried chicken tonight. And that we were all invited.” Delia looked down at her watch, “and since it’s only five o’clock, by the time we get cleaned up…”

“I’ll have died from starvation,” Brendan protested loudly.

“It should be ready,” Delia shot him a dark look.

“Hey Noah. We’ll see you in about an hour. We’re gonna’ go wash our face and hands and change our clothes,” Brendan yelled back, already heading up the beach.

“They all ran off. I wanted to play,” the newcomer who’d quietly sat down on the beach and watched the exchange told the air. Noah let his mind reach out, only to find a child-like disappointment that reminded him of ‘Bit. Walking over, he sat down next to the much larger boy. Looking him up and down, it was scary how much he looked like David. He was slightly taller, and definitely lankier than David, but there was something about the set of his jaw, and his eyes that were David.

“You live around here?” He looked over at the boy, realizing that he probably had wandered away from somebody’s house somewhere. Not knowing the neighborhood that well, he wasn’t sure if he could find out where the boy belonged, and from the brief glimpses he’d seen in his mind, he knew he couldn’t back track to find out where he’d come from.

“Yes. We only just arrived. Uncle hasn’t found a place for us to live yet. He’s still looking. Papas are the new dogcatchers in town,” the boy told him. Noah got the image of two tall powerfully built men coming from the boy’s mind at the word papas. It didn’t take much of a jump to realize this boy’s home was as unique as the one he was trying to build for himself with the others. “My name’s Michael. Michael Grey.” The boy waved at him, “What’s yours?”

“I’m Noah. Noah Hale.” Noah looked around. “Do you know where you’re staying no?. I mean, somebody’s going to miss you if you wander off.”

“We only just arrived a few days ago. Father hasn’t finished his business in town yet, and Papa’s around. Besides, I have things looking out for me.” Noah got half images of formless faces that the boy believed were watching over him. Noah realized just how close this boy was to Center Street, and just how easily he could disappear if the wrong people came across him.

“Is there someone around here watching out for you?”

“Oh, yes. Marie’s with me. Marie goes everywhere with me. She doesn’t think this city is as pretty as hers, but she says it will do for the time being.” The boy held up a finger to his lips and whispered conspiratorially, “Everybody thinks Marie’s crazy. But she’s not. She’s just a witch.” Then as if a new thought had suddenly entered his mind unbidden, “Do you like dogs? I’m a cat person myself.”

Noah shook his head, “No, I can’t say that I do like dogs. I’m sort of a cat person myself too.” He really didn’t want to get into the almost instinctual dislike that had come over him recently of most canines.

“You have to watch dogs really close,” the boy continued. “They aren’t always what they seem. And if you see a big white one, a real big white one,” he stressed the second emphatically, “he’s friendly. Well, as long as you play nice and don’t try to hurt the family.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Noah told him absently, letting his mind reach out. He suddenly got the feeling that there were three different conversations going on here, and the he wasn’t sure if he was privy to any of them. He could sense nobody else in the area, just sand, beach, and the occasional shark offshore.

“So? How long have you had your cats? Are they big cats or little cats? I like tigers, but cheetahs are fun too.” The boy continued randomly, “and cougars. Have you ever heard one scream when they’re mad?”

Without thinking, Noah rushed to answer the boy’s questions, “A couple of months, a little bit of both. I like tigers and cheetahs and cougars too. I’ve heard a cougar scream when he was mad. It can be kinda’ scary when you’re as little as I am.” Noah smiled up at the boy, for some reason suddenly feeling as if he needed the little boy inside him for protection.

“You shouldn’t do that you know. It confuses people.” Michael told him.

“Do what?” Noah asked.

“You’re not a little boy. Neither am I, but it makes everyone more comfortable to think I am.” Noah suddenly sensed something deeper inside this boy who wasn’t all there.

“I’ll try to keep that in mind. Just that certain subjects are still a little hard for me to deal with right now. Big dogs and cougars being among them.”

“You need to remember to keep you Pride close to you, spiritwalker,” Michael suddenly shifted gears on him again. This time a much older voice seemed to be talking to him, and one whose gender he wasn’t entirely certain of came to the forefront, “Things are about to start changing very quickly. Not all is what it seems to be. The sorcerers want you out of the picture. We want you to remain.”

Noah shook his head, “Just who are you?”

“I told you. Michael Grey.”

“Okay, then what are you that you know about cougars and tigers and things not being what they seem?”

“Oh. I’m one of those things. I’m on your side. Me and Garion. Have you met Garion. No of course not. He doesn’t leave New Orleans all that often anymore. You’ve met Uncle and Grandfather. You’re going to meet Papas. And the spirits tell me that other very interesting people will be here soon. Perhaps even mother will come to visit.” Suddenly Noah got the image of the golden haired woman from his dream. “There’s a secret there, and I’m allowed to tell. Uncle made me promise.”

“What? That your mother is still alive?”

“Shhh. It’s a secret. Nobody knows that she had to put herself back together. You see, I would know if she were really dead, because then I could talk to her.” The boy was rambling again.

“So, you like cats?” Noah tried to direct the conversation back to something that made more sense.

“Well, of course I like cats silly. I’m a cat.” The boy put his hands on his hips and beamed proudly, “I’m the only one like me.” Suddenly Noah was hit with the image of the biggest damn cat he’d ever seen. The thing looked like huge bob-tailed cougar, standing almost seven feet at the shoulder and with eighteen inch fangs coming out of it’s upper jaw. “See,” the boy said proudly. Noah felt a primitive reaction to run and hide build up inside him. He was sure the boy had no idea the effect he had on people when projecting his cat this way. “But there’s no reason to be scared of me. I’m not going to hurt you. In a way, we’re family, and Papas tell me that we should always take care of family. I’m confusing you aren’t I?”

Noah swallowed hard and nodded, “You could say that.” Then looking around, for someone who was supposed to take care of this child, “Are you sure there is someone here to take care of you.” As strange as Michael might seem, Noah wasn’t about to go off and leave him unattended on the beach.

“Yes, there’s someone here watching. One of my Papas.” He smiled, “But if I’m confusing you, ask your questions.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Partially I’m here, because the spirits told me that I need to be here. And I wanted to see the first pride in four hundred years.”

“How did you know about our pride?” Noah asked, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer.

“Well, you bonded. You sent out a call.”

“Yeah, but I thought we just called Brendan and the rest of the pride. I didn’t think we’d called the whole world.”

“Not the whole world silly.” Michael chided him. Noah wasn’t sure how he felt about being chided by an idiot savant, “For the most part, only those of the same line as you and your pride were called. The Forsaken, the Damned, always know when a new pride comes into existence. It calls to us, our blood is your blood.”

“I thought Forsaken and Damned were vampires. You’re a werecat.”

“Can you keep a secret?”

Noah nodded, “I’ve done a pretty good job so far.”

“I’m both. I wasn’t supposed to be a vampire, but there was this accident, and it was the only way to save me. Papas weren’t happy about it, but Mama said it was the only way. She said that I had something that I had to do, and that I had to still be around for it. But you’re right, I am a werecat, just like Mama. And you don’t know how glad Papas were that I didn’t turn out a little more mixed up. Beyond just being able to see and talk with spirits.”

“Okay. I’ll keep that to myself.” He looked around again, and still could only find sand and water determined to be only sand and water.

“Noah, you’re not going to find him, if he doesn’t want to be found. When we’re done with our talk, he’ll collect me and we’ll go have McDonalds, and then go find Papa.”

“I’m sorry. I just worry about you being out here by yourself. It’s not too safe. There are a lot of wolfies out lately, and I’d hate for them to find you by yourself.” Noah could feel his own need to protect coming fiercely to the surface.

“Noah? Do you know how to catch a fake werewolf?” Michael asked.

Noah shook his head, “What’s a fake werewolf? One wearing a Halloween mask?”

“No. A fake werewolf is bloodline created by magic.” Michael leaned back on the beach, “a real werewolf, is born, not bitten, and not changed by one of those stupid belts, but born. And to catch a fake werewolf, you send a real one. Now here’s the tricky part. You have to remember Noah, the real werewolves, are on your side, just like the werecats.” He paused briefly, “and you can tell a real werewolf, because they’re closer to the earth. They feel and smell like they belong to the earth. The fake ones feel and smell like the moon.”

“What does the moon smell like?”

“Like tarnished silver.” The boy continued, “You haven’t met a real werewolf, but you will soon.”

Once again, Noah cast his mind out. This time he felt for something the boy had mentioned. There, north along the beach he felt a section of sand that just seemed too preoccupied with being just sand. It was as if it were saying, nothing here but sand and water. He smiled to himself briefly and gently sent, *Hello. Are you his guardian?*

*What? No, I’m not his guardian! I’m his father!*

*I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t here on the beach by himself. There are some rather unsavory pack animals running around here lately, and I wasn’t going to leave him here unattended.*

“Oops,” Michael interjected, “Papa thinks he’s a much better hider than he really is. But we don’t tell him that.”

Noah smiled, “He was doing a very good job of it. You just told me how to find him though.” Shaking his head, he got the image of a huge white werewolf loping along the countryside. A werewolf that spoke fluent Latin. *Sorry, I just wanted to be sure he was safe.* He sent his mindvoice out to the man hiding among the dunes.

*Not a problem young spiritwalker. He has that affect on people.*

*I can tell. It’s just that I’m usually the one having that affect on people. It’s a little strange to have my own defenses turned on me.*

*Yes, but you cultivated your image. This is just what he is.*

*I’m not sure there is any just to anything about him.*

*True. But for Michael, he’ll always be in this state. This is part of the price he pays for his abilities. You at least will eventually grow a beard, my young friend. Michael will always remain as you see him now. I must go. Send him to the boardwalk when you two are finished with your conversation, young spiritwalker. Ecce Viaii young one.*

“Your father seems to be nice.” Noah turned back to Michael, finally satisfied that there was indeed someone to take care of him.

“Oh yes. Papas are ever so nice.”

“What’s it like growing up living forever?” Noah leaned back feeling more comfortable than ever in Michael’s presence.

“Interesting. There are a whole new set of rules that apply.”

Noah prodded him, “like what?”

“Like… be careful who you talk to about certain things. Never stay in the same place for more than a hundred years at a time. Always have lots of new identities. Never keep all your valuables in the same spot. Guard your allies closely and your enemies even closer, because an enemy you know can eventually become a friend, but new enemies can be more dangerous than ten old ones. Always know who rules the city. And what unnaturals are around you. Also, each city has different rules. Find out what they are and make sure you live by them or you will die by them. Take my city for example. You don’t hunt children, you don’t hurt children. If you’re a vampire you only feed in the designated areas or off willing people- you’d be surprised how many people are willing though. You don’t fight with the werewolves- we have real werewolves there. No sorcerers or huntresses are allowed in our city.”

“That one would seem to be hard to enforce.”

Michael giggled, “You would think so wouldn’t you. But Uncle Garion went to London and explained things to them. They tried to hurt his wife. He hurt them. Really bad. Let’s see what else. Oh if you turn a child, you’re dead. No questions, no explanations, you’re dead.”

“This Garion seems to be a formidable person,” Noah told him.

“Well of course. He runs New Orleans. A Chancellor has to have an… what was it Grandpa used to say, an iron grip in a velvet glove. Garion’s iron grip is his friend Frank. Frank’s crazy, he thinks this is all a dream he’s having in a coma in some hospital. Do you follow the news?”

Noah shook his head, “Not in a long while.”

“Well, remember maybe hearing about all the warehouses the drug dealers in New Orleans were using on the docks going boom a few years ago?”

Noah replied, “Can’t say that I do. I’ve been pretty busy trying to stay alive the last few years.”

“Well you see, Frank has a thing for drug dealers. He doesn’t like them. He won’t even eat them. He just blows them up. New Orleans doesn’t have drug trade anymore. Not even on Bourbon Street. We also don’t’ have any kidnappings. Garion lets us eat kidnappers. We have very few other bad guys. If you obey the rules, New Orleans leaves you alone to live your life. If you don’t’ obey the rules, somebody is likely to eat you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind if I ever get to visit.”

“But Garion would like you. You could be his kid brother. Of course you’d have to be almost fifty to be his brother though. Garion got changed in the early seventies.”

“Isn’t that kind of young for a vampire to get that powerful that quickly?”

“It can be, but in a lot of ways vampire society works just like mortal society does. You see mother named him her heir long before he was ever born. She saw him coming, and she made Papas promise to run the city until he came along. I like him, he gave me a teddy bear.”

“What about this city? Who runs it? What are its rules?” Noah asked.

“At this time, nobody. I guess Uncle sort of keeps his eyes on things here, but he’s only recently arrived himself. You could do worse than having Uncle run this city. He’s very good at things like that. He ran a whole country once.”

“A whole country?” Noah asked.

“Hmm hmm. A whole country. They got upset with him after that whole thing with the Turks.”

“With the Turks? What happened?”

“Oh, he and mother got together and impaled a whole bunch of them,” he told him.

“Impaled a bunch of them? And you think he’d be a good person to run the city anyway?”

“Well, look they only impaled them because they kept invading and killing anybody who didn’t convert. I mean what would you do if an evil Sultan invaded and kidnapped your big brother and did mean things to him, and wouldn’t give him back.” Michael had a way of boiling down politics to simple terms.

“It’s been my experience of late, Michael that all Sultans are evil, and that particular religion should be wiped off the face of the planet. But then again, I’m angry. Those stupid towel-heads killed both my parents.” Noah knew his anger was irrational, and probably what he felt was as bad as what the Pates’ felt about him, but God damn it, he had a right to hate those animals.

“You and Uncle should talk about ways to get rid of them.”

Noah shook his head and smiled, “I don’t know. I may grouse about that particular group of people, but as long as they keep their situation to themselves, I don’t care. The problem is that they brought their fight to my family. Now I can’t have any sympathy for whatever their situation might be. I won’t do anything to hurt them, but by God, I would never do anything to help them either. If that makes me a bad person then so be it. I hope they all rot in that stinking piece of desert they’re fighting over.” This was a side of Noah that he usually kept very well hidden, even from his friends, but for some reason, Michael’s presence let him express the darker side to his soul.

“Nah, it doesn’t make you a bad person Noah. It makes you human. And Uncle really isn’t out for the whole lot of them. Just a select few. He could care less what happens to the rest of them.”

“Then your Uncle is probably one step ahead in the game from me. I think it would be the best revenge in the world if somebody would come up with a cheap source of energy that would put that bunch of lying, killing bastards, out of business. While the rest of the world steps out to the stars, I think I would love to see them stuck with nothing of value to sell, including their faith. I would love to see their people slowly turn on them because that repressive group of don’ts they call a religion has kept them stuck firmly in the thirteenth century.”

“Well, anyway we were speaking of the city. Who would you suggest to oversee things?” Michael asked, as the lamp above their head flickered in the dying light and finally snapped on.

Noah shrugged, and struggled to put the hatred he suddenly felt rising up like bile inside him back into place, “I don’t know. Why do we need someone. Can’t the mayor and the rest of the city handle things pretty well?”

“Are you going to be the one to tell the mayor that he has vampires living in his city, and that abominations roam the streets. Are you going to tell him that there is a group of kids living over off Carter Avenue that includes a guy who can read minds, and make people do what he wants them to?” Michael winked at him.

“I uh… guess not. I don’t think the world is quite ready for Forever Knight to come out of the closet.”

“These things have to be cultivated.” Michael seemed to struggle with the last word, “You have to build a working relationship with select mortals who know about you. Mortals can no more keep the unnatural populations in line than the unnaturals can keep the mortal population in line. Each has its own rules that must be followed, and very seldom and only in very select cities do they apply across all groups. I mean, this is basically a retirement community. What would happen if all these people suddenly realized that they had the chance to live forever?”

“We’d have more old men and women cruising the boardwalks?” Noah joked.

“Somehow I don’t think that a community of elderly Neos is what you really need. Something my Grandpa taught me is that with great power comes great responsibility. Not everyone who is granted the gift of immortal life, truly deserves it, or has the mental capacity to choose who should live and who should die. Death brings change, and change is something the mortal world constantly needs.”

“How did you get so wise?” Noah wondered before he realized the words had slipped out.

“I had very good teachers.” He smiled, “and it doesn’t hurt to be… what’s the term… over the hill.”

“I guess with age does come wisdom,” Noah told him.

“Sometimes. But I’ve known quite a few wise young boys and more than a few foolish old men.” He smiled, “But speaking of teachers, you need one.”

Taken something aback Noah replied, “huh?”

“You’re a spiritwalker. You need someone to help you. Someone to introduce you so to speak to the realm out there.”

“I thought I was the only one left. How could someone else teach me?”

“You’re the only spiritwalker. You are not the only spirit. Besides, the realm about which I’m speaking has more to do with unnatural politics than anything else.” He smiled, “Trust Uncle Vlad. Although he’s not very sociable, he’s very wise and an excellent politician. And remember, sometimes it’s best to listen to the wind. It can tell you such interesting things. You have the capacity to speak to the spirits as well as the mind.”

“Huh? I thought I was a telepath.”

Michael smiled, “That is the power you use to talk to the living, but being a Spiritwalker is more than just talking to the living. It also includes the power to talk to those who are no longer living, and sometimes those who’ve never lived. I had a friend once, a long time ago who could even talk to those who haven’t lived yet. But he died. Just listen to the wind. You’d be surprised at what you might learn.” Michael told him as he stretched and stood, “Relax. Open your mind, and feel the differences in the world around you.” Noah closed his eyes and did as he was bid. He slowly felt the his senses fade away so that only the inner sense that was his mind was left. He could feel the same dead electromagnetic field coming from Michael that he found around Vincent. He could sense the short scrub grass growing in the dunes reaching out for the mid-day sun. He could feel the scurrying of a hundred crustaceans around him.

The beach might appear to be deserted to the naked eye, but to him it was teeming with life. I wonder if this is how a shark feels. His thoughts began to stray toward the billions of life forms he could feel calling from the ocean. “That’s far enough,” Michael broke in. “You can lose yourself in the water and never realize it. For now, think about the land.” Noah shifted his mind from beaconing call of the city of life in the sea and tore himself back to the beach. “Now, I want you to think about me. And once you think you have got it, I want you feel outward from there.”

Again, Noah did as he was told, as a whole new world of existence began to open up to him. He could still sense the stillness of death around Michael that made him what he is- one of the damned. Pushing the thought down for later consideration he continued his mental explorations. Below the death pall that surrounded Michael was something else, something more primal. He slowly let his mind peel back those layers until a shining beacon of being was uncovered. Noah immediately recognized it as Michaels other form. The smilodon stood grinning at him like the Cheshire Cat. Slowly he let his mind push out from Michael while trying to maintain this same depth. He wasn’t sure of what it was a depth, but he could feel his mind cutting through layers of reality like an oar moving under the water.

At first he wasn’t even sure he’d contacted something else, its touch was so light, but then it came again and again. On the fourth pass he made it a point to concentrate on the touch and suddenly felt his awareness yanked through the pudding into a clearness of sight and sound he hadn’t been expecting. “That’s better I think,” a singsong woman’s voice came as she slowly took form.

Tall and elegant, with long hair pulled back into a bun behind her head, the most striking woman he’d ever seen in his life stood before him. She was dressed like something from Gone With the Wind, except she was black. “So you’re the young man that has my Michael in such a tither. Well, you look like you can do the job.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Noah told her, not sure what to say. “Are you a spirit?” Noah decided to just be blunt, and hope not to offend anyone, but he was tired of getting answers to questions he hadn’t asked and none for the ones he wanted.

“Yes, I am. My name’s Marie,” she bowed slightly. “And you would be?”

“Noah ma’am,” Noah plunged on, “you must be the one Michael said was a witch.”

“Witch woman, Voodoo Queen, I’ve been called many things. Some of them were not very nice either. But then again, I wasn’t always a nice woman. I did what I had to do to survive as a slave and then as a free woman in New Orleans.” She smiled slightly, “In a way, you and I young Noah have been comrades in arms. Or at least comrades in the bedroom, for I too practiced at one time the oldest profession in the world.”

Noah blushed deeply. “I understand doing what you have to do to survive.”

“Yes you do. Probably more than any man it has ever been in my experience to meet. But that is neither here nor there. It’s a little late, but it is time to begin your education,” she answered with that strange accent that was part Creole, part Southern, a little Cajun, with just a bit of Upper Class British thrown in. “You have much to learn and little time in which to learn it, and Michael is the best person to teach you this particular aspect of the world that surrounds you,” she smiled, “After all, he’s lived between your world and mine all his life. You will find young Noah that the denizens of this realm, when they discover that they can speak with you, will be loath to lie to you. For people such as yourself are rare, and to be treasured, for you are one of the few through which we can contact your realm. Listen to us, we have a wealth of information and we only speak to those we choose. It is even rarer though, that those we choose can speak back.”

“I’ll keep that in mind ma’am.” He let his mind reach out as felt Michael standing beside him, “And I’ll be sure to listen to what Michael can teach me.”

“You’ll have to listen a little closer to Michael than most. He tends to impart the important liberally dispersed among the observations of a child. Simply listen to him as you would a member of your pride.”

“Yes, ma’am”

“You’re thinking that I’m rather strange aren’t you young Master Hale.” Marie continued. “But then again, those of us who are not exactly mortal, are strange anyway. Just trust Michael, listen to what he tells you.” She smiled and gently kissed him on the forehead, “And remember to listen for our voices on the wind. We will help and guide you, because there is a secret that not even the Forsaken are aware of that when you are ready and the time is ripe, we will reveal to you.” As Noah looked confused, she backed up and looked him up and down closely, “You must have been very popular dear one.”

Noah just blushed wondering how it was that he could feel the physical touch of a spirit, “yes, ma’am.”

“Be good, and trust your pride,” were the last words Noah heard as the realm of mists dissolved around him and he found himself sitting alone on the beach. Looking around, Michael was nowhere in sight.

“Somebody just pulled a Batman,” he muttered to himself and headed off toward David’s house.

“Where’s Noah?” Delia asked coming through the backdoor at David’s, as she made it a point to stay out of Brendan’s way.

David looked up from where he was pulling home-fries from the deep-fryer and smiled, “I thought he was with you guys.” She watched him as his eyes went slightly out of focus for a minute and a secret half smile came across his face for just an instant. Delia wondered just what he felt down his part of the link they all seemed to share. She knew that she too could, if she concentrated reach out and feel Noah herself, but David seemed to do it with an ease that she envied. “He’s fine. He’s coming up the beach now. He says he’s got something to tell us.”

Everybody filed into the kitchen while David finished up with the last of the meal preparations. “Mom and Dad have taken ‘Bit to the mall, so we’ve got the place to ourselves.” Brendan’s face suddenly fell, and even without Noah, she could sense his disappointment. “Don’t worry Brendan,” he threw a potholder at the crestfallen boy, “she left us plenty of fried chicken.”

Delia was astonished at how quickly her group of friends had processed what happened three nights ago. Something had opened up between all of them. It was a sharing that went to an instinctual level. Of course the sex was nice, and she’d found her own appetite for it increasing to the point that poor old Nelson was starting to look just a little haggard. She didn’t need the link to tell her that Brendan was feeling somewhat hard-ridden himself. Oddly enough, even though there was a great deal of sharing, between all six of them, they still ended up pairing back down to their original couples. Briefly, she wondered to herself how David and Noah were dealing with their nightly separations. At least Brendan and Nelson lived in the same house as she and Sharon. *It ain’t easy. But we cope.* She heard David answer her down the link.

“I didn’t know you could do that,” she told David. “I mean, I thought Noah had to be the one to relay the messages between us.”

“Nope. It seems that since the other night things are getting easier,” He winked at her and wiggled his eyebrows, “ Besides my dear, there are many things I can do that you don’t know about.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah, I can cook, clean, and with the right persuasions I’ll even do windows.” He wiggled a finger at her.

“Somehow I get the feeling,” she looked down at herself, “that I’m not quite equipped to do that kind of persuading.”

Walking over, he put an arm around her waist, “My dear, you can attempt to persuade me anytime you want. We’ll even invite Nelson along so he doesn’t get jealous. But I have to warn you, I take an awful lot of persuading.” He patted her on the bottom and quickly danced out of the way of the elbow she threw at him.

“What about Noah? Aren’t you worried that he might get jealous?” She found herself wondering.

“Noah? Would you be terribly jealous if Delia tried to persuade me?” He asked the smaller boy who just walked in the back door.

“Persuade you to do what?” The boy was distracted. Suddenly she got the strangest spoor off him. It was part cat, part dead, part wolf, with a whole lot of lilac and Spanish moss mixed in.

“What happened?” She watched David go over to him, and brush his hair out of his eyes. Noah over the last month or so had sort of let his hair become longish, and Delia got the feeling that he was consciously trying to rid himself of any overt preoccupations with his looks. The results however tended to amplify his youngish features. Now he looked even more like a kid, but somehow she got the feeling that David didn’t mind too much. He seemed to have almost unconscious need to play with Noah’s hair. It seemed to her that he like the other men of her family was becoming shaggy.

Noah just looked up and kissed David. “I just had the strangest couple three conversations,” he looked up at the rest of the group, “with that kid on the beach, who by the way turned out to be a smilodon. Have you ever had four different conversations at once, with the same person at the same time? Toss into that one with a guy who claimed to be a “true” werewolf, and a New Orleans’ voodoo queen.”

“Werewolf? What werewolf?” Delia could watched Brendan tense up at the mention of the word werewolf. She knew that he still hadn’t quite forgiven David for fighting Matthews without him around to help.

“You could say I just got a small lesson in werewolf politics,” Noah told them. Delia felt something unfold down the link to envelop her, as the whole conversation and experience neatly deposited itself into her own memory. Looking around she could see where the rest of the group was similarly trying to process this sudden influx of data. Noah’s power seemed to be growing with each passing day, just as her control of her own abilities too seemed to grow. Their nocturnal activities of three nights ago seems to have awakened more than just a sexual appetite.

“Wow. That’s intense,” Sharon said from off to her left.

As she slowly came to understand the whole of the conversations Noah had had with the boy calling himself Michael, another thought came to her. “Just how many of these strange conversations have you had lately?”

“You mean besides the one with the guy calling himself Lecroix, the old man named Vincent the Grey, a woman named Ashliegh, Michael and a ghost named Marie? I think that about covers it all.”

“Not quite,” David told the group sheepishly. “I sort of had a long talk with the guy named Lecroix. Do the really strange dreams I’ve been having lately count?”

“We don’t want to hear about your wet-dreams, Rosen” Nelson chided him.

“Yes we do,” Brendan kicked in, and David blushed.

“Thought you weren’t going to go out and buy any tee-shirts,” Sharon told him.

“Sharon I don’t have to buy the tee-shirt to ask about the dreams,” Brendan told her sarcastically.

“How come I get the feeling we all missed something here.” David told nobody in particular, as he finally led the rest of the group into the dining room where there were piles of fried chicken and home fries on the table. Setting down the rest of the food, he plopped himself into one of the chairs.

“So, how’re things working out with your dad home now?” Nelson sat down in a chair next to Delia.

“So far, so good. We’ve only managed to step on each other’s toes fifteen or twenty-times in the last three weeks,” David said. Indicating the food he continued, “dig in.”

“David, Honey,” Sharon said, “it’s only been three days since your big dinner date.”

David screwed his face up just before taking a bite of chicken, “only three days. It seems like three weeks. I guess it’s not going that well after all.” He shook his head, “I’m just having trouble adjusting to somebody who’s almost never been there in the past suddenly looking over my shoulder trying to tell me how to run my life.”

“I guess I don’t help matters all that much either. Do I?” Noah said almost apologetically.

“What do you mean by that?” David asked. Delia was afraid where this might be heading.

“I just don’t think your dad likes me very much. Actually I know he doesn’t I make him nervous. Every time I come around he almost knocks me down wondering if…” Noah broke off, looked down and blushed deep red. He continued at a barely audible whisper, “I’m… I’m… If I’m a top or if you are.”

“You just let me handle Dad.” There was a hardness to David’s voice that worried Delia.

“David, don’t do or say anything stupid,” Noah almost pleaded.

David reached out and took Noah’s hand, “I’m not. It’s just that Dad hasn’t dealt with the reality of my being gay until you came into the picture. I guess he was hoping that it was just a phase or something that I’d outgrow, and now he’s suddenly got to deal with the fact that I have a boyfriend. One I’m not giving up.” He smiled, “for any reason.”

“What about the dreams?” Brendan broke in. Delia was sure that it wasn’t just idle curiosity any longer, but Brendan’s way of diffusing any situation was about to rise. She tried an experiment. Briefly closing her eyes she felt down the link she shared with each person at the table. Finally settling on the one she felt connecting her to Brendan she reached down that link and opened her mind. An insatiable curiosity was resonating back at her, along with a deep worry about the safety of his friends. Pulling back satisfied with she had found, she made a mental note to practice this particular exercise in the future. Somewhere in the back her mind a small still voice noted that she’d used some of the techniques Noah had been taught by the boy called Michael.

“What about ‘em,” David asked through bites of chicken. “I can’t do what Noah did, I have to tell you verbally, so ask your questions.”

“Brendan’s just wanting to know if he was in them,” Nelson chided.

“Do they have anything to do with all these werewolves or undead that’ve been suddenly popping up in our lives lately?” Brendan asked, waving a chicken leg.

“Sort of.” David replied pouring himself another glass of ginger ale. “There was you, and Nelson, and Delia, and Sharon, and this huge blond guy and this guy with really dark brown hair, and this woman with long golden hair,” he pointed over at Noah, “Like the one you told us about. And this guy who looked like he’d spent a really long time out in the sun and really needed a good bottle of moisturizer. Oh yeah, and that Lecroix guy.” Noah chuckled quietly. “What’s so funny?” David asked.

“You’ll never guess what name all the other vamps call him,” Delia noticed that there were already two stripped chicken breasts on his plate, and wondered just how he’d managed to expend that much energy in the past hour.

“Mr. Happy?” Nelson asked.

“No, Vlad. And according to Michael, he’s got almost as big a hate on for the towel heads, as I do.” Noah told them. That remark worried Delia. She’d never known Noah to express a hate for anyone in the past, not even the Pates, but over the past couple of weeks, she’d noticed a few times when he’d seemed almost rabid in his dislike for anything Moslem.

*Relax, Priss. He’s just finally letting his guard down, and realizing that he doesn’t have to be perfect all the time.* David’s mindvoice came down the link. *I honestly think he’s just now starting to deal with his parent’s deaths*.

* Still, it’s not good for him, to channel all that grief into a hatred for one group of people.* She sent back. *Besides, it’s not very attractive.*

*I think it’s temporary. It’s all part of letting his guard down. Besides, I still find him attractive, and if anyone deserves a little slack for hating that particular group of people, I think Noah Hale qualifies, along with about four thousand other families.* David sent back. Verbally he continued, “So anyway, we were all sitting around in this big room, and the blonde woman was pissed about something. Even though I was sitting in arms reach of her, I couldn’t hear what she was saying. The only thing I could understand was that we had to get them back, that they were in danger, and what she was going to do with some sorcerer named Bartholomew or something.”

“Anything else?” Brendan asked.

David continued, “Well, then it kinda’ devolved into the whip cream, chocolate sauce, silk sheets type of dream. That and scantily clad people with well oiled bodies.” He smiled at Brendan. “I really am going to have to buy us all a bunch of thongs.”

CHAPTER 16

Lucien stood outside the address listed on the card. He looked up and watched a sliver of the moon rise high above the palm trees behind the large elegant wooden house in front of him. “Just who are you Mr. Grey Dalton, and what is your involvement with our little pride?” he quietly asked himself, as he mounted the short steps leading to the large wrap around porch. For a moment he considered simply walking in without knocking, but if Mr. Dalton was truly nothing more than a good Samaritan, that would be a little heavy handed. Best to use his manners first. He could always kill him later if he needed to, so he knocked and waited.

After just a few short minutes a pleasant faced young woman in a business suit answered the door. “Yes?”

“Hello,” he nodded, “I’d like to speak with Mr. Dalton, please.”

The woman smiled, and held the door open, “Please come in.” She lead him into a large foyer that had been converted into a reception area. The floors were highly polished maple hardwood with large area rugs thrown down to protect them from the furniture. A set of hardwood stairs led up and to either side were huge pairs of maple double doors. The ones to the right, stood ajar and through them, Lucien could see the form of someone working at a large desk, his back to the door. “Who can I say is calling, and in reference to what?” the woman asked pleasantly.

“Lucien,” he replied, not deigning to give a family name. “And it’s business matter.” He put just enough of command in his voice to make sure that he got in to see Mr. Dalton and was surprised when she simply smiled at him unaffected. “Please wait here.” She disappeared into the room and spoke briefly to the man behind the desk. Less than two minutes later she returned, “Please go in.”

“Thank you my dear.” He strode into the room as the man behind the desk stood and turned around. Grey Dalton was medium sized man with mousy brown hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in a tweed suit, complete with waistcoat and a cotton shirt. Lucien was reminded of a British headmaster more than a lawyer. Behind the wire-rimmed glasses, there was an intelligence behind his eyes, that belied his physical appearance,

“How may I help you?” Dalton asked in a perfect Oxford accent, as he came around and closed the door behind Lucien.

Lucien didn’t turn to follow him, but instead faced the desk, where he could see several legal documents lying in neat file folders. Dalton finally returned to his desk and indicated two large comfortable looking leather chairs next to the large bay window. “Would you like to sit down,” Dalton didn’t wait for an answer but chose the seat closest to the window. Lucien was unsure if the man had chosen it to keep himself visible to the street outside, or out some other desire. Lucien took the other seat.

“Ms. Jackson said that you wanted to discuss some business issue with me?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Lucien began, “Tell me Mr. Dalton, exactly what kind of solicitor are you?”

Dalton leaned back into the chair and crossed his ankles. “I mainly deal with family law, although I have dealt with estates and some aspects of business investments. Do you think my services might be something in which you would find your self in need?”

“In a way Mr. Dalton, you have already done me a great service. You see, I’ve come to speak to about your placement of several children.” If his statements had any effect on the man, Lucien was unable to ascertain what it was. Dalton seemed unflappable.

“I’m glad to have been of service, but in what way have I served your interests, Mr. Lucien?”

“I wish to inquire as to why you placed those particular children together.”

Dalton leaned forward, “You will understand my reticence to discuss such legal matters with a stranger whom I hardly know- lawyer client privilege being what it is and all. I need to inquire as to what your interest in any children I might have placed would be?” Somewhere under that calm British exterior there was a veiled threat behind that question. Lucien, quite adept at looking through such veils saw it for what it was.

“I quite understand your reluctance in such matters. But in this situation, we are both looking out for the best interests of the children involved. I’m simply here to make sure that no one harms them.”

“Mr. Lucien, I can guarantee you that no one will harm those children ever again. I’ve been retained to watch after their interests, in legal as well as financial matters. I’ve even put a doctor on retainer to cover any,” he paused as if looking for a word, “special medical needs they might require.”

“Yes, I’m well aware of Dr. Rice’s credentials.” Lucien was surprised at this man’s cool. Not many mortals could sit across and look him in the eye. Perhaps this man wasn’t as mortal as he seemed.

Dalton leaned back, “I still need to know the nature of your inquiry. I have to consider the welfare of my charges to be first and foremost, and while I’m sure that you have nothing but their best interests at heart as well, I would still question your motives until I know them.” He leaned back and smiled, “After all, it is not often that five teenagers manage to attract the attention of a Damned as long lived and accomplished as yourself.”

“Very well, it’s six teenagers not five Mr. Dalton. And while you may be looking after their financial and legal safeties, I’m here to evaluate their physical safety.”

“Their physical safety is the responsibility of Mrs. Martha Corsairs.” Dalton told him, “if they have any specific needs beyond that, then she informs me and I am authorized to employ whatever methods necessary up to and including body guards.” He smiled, “Of course none of us thinks it should come to that. My employer is very much concerned that these particular teenagers are safe.”
“Then your employer has already set into action methods for dealing with the huntress and sorcerer that are stalking them, and the werewolf packs that have already attacked them. Or perhaps your employer is going to let them fend for themselves.”

That seemed to penetrate Dalton’s invulnerable exterior. “Mr. Lucien, if you think that you can be of service in these matters, I would be most appreciative of your help. If there is indeed a threat to my charges such as you suggest, I know my employer would want the threat dealt with.” Dalton replied.

“You really don’t believe me, do you Mr. Dalton?” Lucien commented.

“I have no reason not to believe you, Mr. Lucien. Your successes in New Orleans for almost a century speak for themselves. I would be a fool not to believe you.” Dalton replied.

“Your employer has you looking for the sixth, or is he aware that the sixth has already been found by your charges themselves?”

“I wouldn’t know, Mr. Lucien. My employer simply sends the children my way or brings them to my attention and I do what is needed to ensure they are put in a safe place. I am unaware of a specific number of children that are needed or for what they are needed. I am only aware that they all have special needs due to their unusual states, and I make sure that those needs are met.”

“What of the last one then? What special needs have been required for him?
Lucien felt it best to probe to see what he could find out.

“So far most of his needs have been on a legal or financial level. I did have to make an unusual agreement with that one about the medical exam, but my employer was willing to go along with it against my better judgment.”

“What kind of agreement?”

“All of the other children had to have a medical examination before being placed in Mrs. Corsairs’ home. That particular child refused to even consider seeing a doctor.”

“And why would that be against your better judgment Mr. Dalton?” Lucien asked.

“Because he had spent several years living on the streets, making money in a less than legal manners. He needed to be checked for his own safety as well as for the health of the other children.”

“I can assure you Mr. Dalton, he has since had a examination, and is in perfect physical health,” Lucien stretched the truth, but Vincent would have known if anything is wrong with the boy. “I’m curious as to why he would resist being looked after by a physician.”

“I believe it might have something to do with the time he spent overseas after his parents’ death. He was quite upset about the idea of needles.”

“Ah, I understand,” Lucien told him, “I’ve found that many foreign physicians simply prefer to medicate their patients in times of great stress, whether willing or not.”

“That was my thought as well Mr. Lucien, but far be it for me to question the professionalism of another man whom I haven’t met.”

“Mr. Dalton I question anyone’s professionalism who sedates a thirteen year old boy, because he’s just seen the embassy in which his parents reside blown up simply because the medical staff doesn’t wish to deal with him.”

“That of course is your prerogative Mr. Lucien, and while I tend to agree with you, polite society does not allow me to express such opinions aloud.”

“Mr. Dalton if there is one thing I’ve learned with all my years, it is that polite society can go hang themselves.”

“Well of course sir, you have that luxury. For me to be able to carry out my employers wishes I still have to function within it’s boundaries.”

“Oh, I completely understand. Now back to the questions at hand. Does your employer intend to do anything about the sorcerer?”

“Mr. Lucien, I’ve never dealt with sorcerers on huntresses on any great level. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Sniper from a great distances with three bullets to the head.” Lucien smiled, “some modern conveniences are wonderful for these situations. But alas, you being a legal-minded man didn’t hear me say that.”

“Didn’t hear you say what sir?”

“You are strictly human aren’t you Mr. Dalton?” Lucien asked.

“I am mortal Mr. Lucien. I can die as easily as any man, and I have no unnatural gifts to help me do my job beyond a love for learning and hopefully a keen mind.”

“And how many people know of your placements?” Lucien asked.

“My employer, several judges who were necessary for the various court orders, and at least one federal judge who was recently asking questions about the charge we discussed earlier. I believe he was a friend of the boy’s parents at one time. In the meantime he’s been extremely helpful in dealing with some legal matters brought up by the boy’s previous foster placement.”

“Good, good. Eventually Mr. Dalton, the sorcerer will track you to these children. Probably in an attempt to get information. I will warn you, he won’t be subtle, and he won’t be nice. He’ll make me look like a pussy cat. I would suggest, if you know a good witch, or wizard have them ward this place. Preferably, with something using blood and silver.”

Dalton nodded, “thank you for the advice Mr. Lucien. That has already been taken care of. My employer has many old friends from both of those professions, and has seen fit to call in such favors. Although I am only a mortal man sir, and have no gifts of my own, my employer has gone to great lengths to see to my safety. If I should fall into the circumstances you’ve described, while I might not survive the experience, the sorcerer would get nothing of use, and most probably not survive either.”

“Don’t underestimate this particular sorcerer Mr. Dalton. He’s far more powerful than any who’ve come before him, or since.” Lucien stood, “Oh, and Mr. Dalton, I would suggest you get a dog. Dogs absolutely hate the smell of abominations. Something with a good bite.”

“Thank you Mr. Lucien, but I don’t think a dog would get along with Snowball very well.” Dalton told him.

“You’d be surprised, Mr. Dalton. I can give you a name of a wonderful breeder of cat-friendly canines.”

“That’s not the problem Mr. Lucien.” Dalton tapped the edge of the table quickly, and the largest white tiger, Lucien had ever seen in his life came padding into the room. “You see, I don’t have a very canine friendly cat.” The tiger affectionately wrapped itself around Dalton and began to purr.

“Well, you do know a good breeder. I haven’t seen one like him in quite a while.”
“Like I said Mr. Lucien, my employer has many friends from the old countries, and arranged for me to come into Snowball.” He reached down and scratched the huge beast’s head behind the ears. “He’s actually very affectionate, and intelligent. More so than any dog,”

“True, I’ve found his particular breed, are only affectionate to those whom they like, and as my wife would have said: They’re cats, of course they’re more intelligent.” They both laughed at that.

“Then I take it I have passed some sort of test Mr. Lucien.”

“Of course Mr. Dalton, in matters such as this, there is truly no middle ground. You are either for us, or against us. If you’d been against us, this evening would have not ended quite so pleasantly. You understand how these things work. But as it is, we can at least ally ourselves in this matter to see to our charges’ safety.” He stressed the word our.

Several weeks had passed since Noah’s meeting on the beach with Michael, and he felt his power grow inside him. More and more, he could easily switch from one of several different senses he’d never known he’d possessed. His otherworldly lessons with Michael were paying off. At the same time he felt a similar growth among his friends, as their own control of not only their shapeshifting increased, but their ability to share thoughts with one another and to mindspeak. He found that he no longer had to be in the vicinity of any of them, for them to carry on a conversation that didn’t involve him. Delia had even managed to learn to walk through walls without first knocking them down. It was as if those selfsame lessons were bleeding over to everybody. Maybe they were. He wasn’t quite sure how this bond thing worked just yet.

As pleased with the growth in his abilities as he was, he was finding his relationship with David growing more and more frustrating. You’d think being a telepath would make this relationship thing easier. Hell, David’s dad had been around so much that they hadn’t been able to get more than a good grope session going lately. On top of that, something seemed to be nagging David lately, and he couldn’t get him to talk about it. He knew that he could probe to get the answer, but felt that would be a violation of David’s trust. Maybe if we just head out and spend the evening on the beach alone, he’ll talk to me about it.

Heading up the stairs leading from the beach to David’s house, he worked his way around the converted pool house where he already could sense David was not, when he overheard the object of his quest’s frustrated voice. “What did I do now?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong David, it’s just I’m worried that you’re getting too serious too fast,” his father’s voice carried.

“Too serious too fast?” David asked. “How would you know what is too serious or too fast for me?”

“I know that this can’t be good for you spending all this time with one boy.”

“Oh, so you want me to go out and sleep around?” David asked.

“No. That’s not what I mean. I just mean you might want to cool things a little. Noah’s a nice kid, but he’s just that. A kid.” Mr. Rosen’s voice became more serious, “and so are you.”
“Dad he’s the same age I am.”

“I can’t believe that. He barely looks like he’s out of short pants.”

“Yeah, well, I hate to tell you this, but he is. And as for spending all my time with him, which would you prefer. Me in a stable relationship with someone who’s my friend and my own age, or in an unstable relationship with someone who’s older than I am, and only goes out with me so he can fuck a kid.”

“David! Watch your mouth.”

“Oh come on Dad, isn’t that what we’re really talking about here. Whether or not I’m having sex and who I’m having it with.”

“No it’s more than just that son. I mean I don’t want to see you used by somebody.”

“Dad, I’ve got news for you. Noah is not using me. As a matter of fact if any thing, I’m the one who pursued him.”

“I don’t know son. I’ve heard some different things about him around the neighborhood. They say he’s got something of a reputation.”

“Dad, Mrs. Miller thinks that the paperboy has a reputation, and he’s her grandson.”

“I’m not talking about Mrs. Miller.” Noah could hear the hesitation in Mr. Rosen’s voice, but couldn’t bear to bring himself to let his mind reach out for where Mr. Rosen got his information. “Some of the older kids say that he used to hang around down on Central.”

“Dad, he used to live in one of the low rent apartments on Central. And what are you doing listening to a bunch of assholes who’ve never liked me from the first place and are just trying to cause trouble. If you want to talk to somebody about my relationship with Noah, why don’t you talk to some of my friends. You know, the people who know me.”

“Look son, I haven’t been talking to anybody really. It’s just that that new girl who lives down the block said that she’d seen him down on central. Said that he was a prostitute.”

“Oh, the new girl down the street. You mean the one that carries switchblade and butcher knife in her boot and runs around with the biggest bunch of bullies and drug users in school? Oh wait, you didn’t know that about her did you? I mean why would you care that she’s dating the same guy who with a bunch of his friends attacked Nelson and Noah in the hall. You know, the guy I got suspended for two days for fighting in the locker room with after he jumped me.”

“So she’s lying.”

“What does it matter dad? You’ve already decided that you don’t like him. Anything I do or don’t say you’re going to blow off. I mean, you won’t even give him a chance. You decided you disliked him on sight. No, it’s not even that. You decided you didn’t like him because you think I might be sucking his dick, or he might be riding my ass. Which is pretty big from a guy who hasn’t even been in my life for the last eight years. Oh, and just for your information Dad, I’m the top. He’s the bottom.”

“That’s more information than I needed David. Still, I wish that you would cool it with Noah for a while.”

“Cool what? I mean you obviously think there’s something going on that isn’t. Let’s face it, we’ve had sex once, in two months. It’s, not truly a staple of our relationship, we actually do have things in common. We’re friends first, lovers second, and lately it’s been a long second. I mean, I can’t even hold his hand while we’re watching television without you huffing and puffing. Can you honestly say that you would be acting this way if I was porking that new girl Kara whose opinion you seem to value more than your own sons?”

Noah could hear a long silence as Mr. Rosen seemed to consider what his son had said. He knew his past was eventually going to come back and haunt him, but he hadn’t expected it to come from the girl Vincent had told him was a huntress. “I don’t know son. This isn’t any easier for me either. I honestly don’t know how your mom and grandmother deal with it as well as they do.”

“Maybe because they know there is nothing wrong with my relationship with Noah, because they were here from the beginning. Part of our problem is that we haven’t really seen each other for eight years. I mean you blow in you blow out. When you were here, you’d lock yourself in your office. Now you want to pick up like I’m eight years old again. I’m not. But I’ll tell what. Why don’t you talk to Noah about that. He didn’t have his dad there for him for the past couple of years and misses all that kid stuff. Why don’t you ask him if he wants to go play catch. I’m sure he’d love to do it. Let’s face Dad. I’m not ‘Bit, you can’t make up to me for the fact that you haven’t been here for eight years with a trip to McDonalds. You left me to raise myself, so I did. Don’t complain about progress so far, if you haven’t had any input.”

This fight was starting to hit below the belt. Since it concerned him, Noah wasn’t sure that he’d be the best person to interrupt it, but someone had to before they said things that couldn’t be taken back. He quickly headed around the other side of the house and rang the front doorbell.

David’s voice still came to him over the mindlink, “Dad, I love you. I really do, we can’t have the relationship we used to, but there is nothing to say we can’t build a new one. And for that you’re going to have to trust me.”

*It’s me love.* He sent silently along the link. The active use of the bond drowned out the rest of David’s conversation with Mr. Rosen.

*I’ll be right there.* David sent back. Noah felt a sense surprise in David’s mindvoice. It was almost as if, David hadn’t expected him.

*Thought maybe I should ring the bell. Sounded like you two were about to come to blows*. Noah was not about to start keeping secrets from David, now.

*No, we haven’t quite got that far yet.*

*Wanna’ go to the beach?*

*Sure. Grab the boards, I’ll teach you to surf.*

*Maybe I should wait until someone answers the door first.* Noah smiled.

*Well, ‘Bit should be there in about five, four, now.* Right on cue, the door opened and suddenly Noah found himself with an arm-load of agitated three year old.

“Noah! David and Daddy are fightin’ about you!”

Noah felt himself blush as he looked up to see David’s mom come into the foyer. Noah was sure that she’d heard what ‘Bit said. “Now ‘Bit, you know you aren’t supposed to open the door by yourself.”

“I know Mommy, but I only do it when it’s Noah. He’s the only one that uses the front door.”

Mrs. Rosen took the small boy from his arms. “Well then, we’ll just have to teach him to use the backdoor like the rest of the family won’t we.” She smiled weakly at Noah.

“Hello, Mrs. R,” he smiled down at ‘Bit, “I guess I don’t have to ask if David’s home.”

“Oh, he’s home. He and his father are having a discussion,” she indicated the door at the other end of the foyer, “in the office.”

“They’re not talking. They’re yelling. Daddy is at least.” He smiled conspiratorially, “David’s just got his mad voice going. And he’s using words I’m not supposed to know about.”

“Maybe I should come back another time then,” Noah smiled weakly, hoping that Mrs. Rosen wouldn’t agree with him.

“No, no, no, ‘Bit’s right. David does have his mad voice going, which means the conversation is almost over, and you’re the perfect person to cheer him up.” As if on cue, David walked from the office. Noah could see in his eyes where he was seriously considering slamming the door, but at the last minute decided not to. “And our hero returns from battle,” Mrs. Rosen attempted to put as positive a face on a bad situation as she could. Noah was almost knocked down by her concern.

David walked over and put an arm around his mother, “Don’t worry Mom, no blood involved.” He kissed her lightly on the cheek.

Brushing David’s hair from his eyes, “I’ll try to talk to him,” Mrs. Rosen told both boys.

“You do that Mom, but just remember that as long as he keeps listening to trouble makers who I have by the way turned down, then he’s going to believe what he wants to no matter what anybody says,” David told her. Turning to look at Noah, “Is it all right if Noah and I hit the beach?” Noah could see Mrs. Rosen considering the request. He sensed the conflict over the beach. David interjected, “It’ll be all right Mom. We’ll be together. Besides, we’ve got a new dog catcher in town, and I hear he’s been doing a really good job.”

“Okay,” she finally relented, “Just be back before dark. I don’t want any more hospital stays.” She shooed them out the door, “Out of either of you.”

“I don’t want to stay in the hospital anymore too Mom. The food’s terrible.” He shook his head and seemed to try and copy his father’s demeanor, “and the smells! Oy!”

His mom chuckled at the joke, and swatted at David, “You two just be careful.”

“We will,” David steered Noah out the door, “We love you ma!”

Twenty minutes David and Noah were playing in the surf, their surfboards forgotten and the fight with his father, shoved to the back of David’s mind. For the hundredth time today, he marveled over what was happening between him and Noah. He could feel the line of connection between them thrum with energy. Feeling in a playful mood he came up behind the smaller boy and put his arms around him. Whispering in Noah’s ear, “Wanna’ see something neat?” he smelled the faint hint of vanilla mixed with the salt water. Noah nodded and David could feel him swallow hard. David smiled to himself thinking that it was about time that he had the same effect on Noah that he had on him. He closed his eyes and concentrated for a second, while tightening his grip on Noah, “Hold your breath, and what ever you do, don’t let go.”

He could feel the astonishment in Noah’s mind coming over the link as he willed the waves off shore to do what he had in mind. Locking his own feet firmly into the sand, he pushed at the waves with his mind, and could feel the water gather and push upwards. Finally, when Noah’s panic seemed to be at its peak, he opened his eyes to see a forty foot wave come crashing toward the shore at them. He could feel Noah struggling against his grip with a strength that surprised him as the wave crashed into the shore around them, leaving the small area in which they were standing untouched. Noah was trembling in his arms, and he could feel the boy suddenly go slack. If it weren’t for David holding him, the smaller boy would have collapsed to his knees, as the water swirled around their legs.

“Kitten!” he turned Noah around to face him. He had a look of terror on his face.

“Don’t ever do that again!” Noah told him. “At least without giving me a little more warning. You scared me out of a year’s growth.”

“Uh… elementalist? Water?” David told him.

“I know what you are,” he pointed to his head, “up here. But suddenly seeing a fifty-foot wave come crashing at me, I didn’t have a whole lot of time to think about that.”

“Noah, you know I’m not going to do anything to hurt you.” David felt hurt by Noah’s lack of trust.

“I know that. It just you just scared the hell out of me.” He smiled and his voice softened, “Look, I trust you. I love you. But, you caught me off guard there. I didn’t see it coming, and suddenly no matter how hard I fought, I couldn’t get away from it.”

“Okay, okay. I won’t do it again.” David wanted the conversation to end. He didn’t want to fight with Noah.

*It’s okay. You just surprised me.* Noah’s mindvoice came to him. *Really, it was just like having someone jump out at me and pin me to the ground.* Something in the voice changed, *Did you realize that no matter how hard I was struggling, I couldn’t get out of your grip there? It was like we were rooted to the ground and I was trying to move the Earth itself.*

“Maybe, Earth is one of my elements.” David told him.

“I think all the elements are yours,” Noah pulled himself up by wrapping his arms around David’s neck. “Just like I’m yours.” Noah kissed him seriously and sent along the link, *I’m sorry I reacted badly. You just scared me. I know you didn’t mean to, and I’m genuinely impressed. Just next time, give me some kind of warning. Okay?*

*I’m yours too, and I won’t do it again.* He returned Noah’s kiss. You know this mind link thing can be useful. We can kiss and talk all at the same time.*

*I thought kissing was a form of communication.* Noah pulled away. “But we do need to talk.”

“Okay,” he led Noah up the beach by the hand. “What do you want to talk about?”

Noah plopped down on the sand next to him. David could see where the smaller boy’s heart was still pounding against his rib cage, and realized just how scared he must have been. “Actually, that was the question I was going to ask you.
“What do you mean?” David wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

“I’ve got the feeling there’s been something you’ve been wanting to talk to me about, but for some reason, won’t bring up. What is it?”

“Cause I’m not quite sure how to approach it,” David sighed and realized that he was going to have trouble keeping birthday gifts a surprise around Noah.

“How ‘bout head on?” Noah suggested.

“Okay, this is going to sound like I’ve gone and lost my mind, but considering who I’m going to bring up, I guess it’s not really that odd.” He could sense the confusion coming from Noah. He took a deep breath and plunged on, “I know all about the Tior stuff, and I think you should try to publish it, but then again I could be prejudiced, but then again, I like it and think it’s really good stuff,” He ran the words out as quickly as he could. “And now you’re going to ask me how I know about the Tior stuff aren’t you?”

Noah just stared at him in shock for a long time. Then bowing his head he started chuckling, “You’ve been walking on eggshells because you somehow found out I want to be a writer?”

“Somehow? You wanna’ know how I found out? The little shit popped into my head, right along with his side-kick- what’s her name, Flitter- she’s nice. We won’t talk about the lewd comments he’s been making. I don’t think they’re possible unless you have wings and a tail.”

Noah just stared at him, “He popped into your head?”

“Oh yeah, we had a long conversation,” David told him.

“David, Tior’s a fictional character. He only exists in my head. He can’t pop anywhere.”

“About three foot tall, dark red hair, blue eyes, and pointed ears. Smokes a long pipe, carries a wicked looking short sword, and has a thing for guys in tight pants. Which by the way, I’ll wear if you want me to. It might be difficult getting out of them.”

“I know who Tior is, and what he likes. I created him.” Noah shook his head, “But David, Tior’s not real. He’s just a stupid character I created a few years ago, and have been writing about to keep myself sane. He can’t do anything.”

David smiled at him, “I know that. Give me your hand,” he held out his own for Noah to take. Noah obliged with a worried look. David could feel the tension in Noah’s hand, “relax. It’s not going to be another wave. I promised I wouldn’t do that again.”

“I’m not worried about that,” David could suddenly sense that Noah was actually more concerned about his own sanity.

“Hey, remember Noah. You’re a very powerful telepath. So maybe, maybe Tior’s your subconscious.”

“I know I’m a telepath. That’s what’s got me worried. If I’m using it subconsciously, then I might be hurting people without realizing it.”

“Noah, you’re not hurting anybody. Actually, I think it’s more of a case that maybe you think you should really do something with those stories, and this is your way of pushing and prodding yourself to do it.” Noah just nodded, and David knew he wasn’t entirely convinced. “Tell me something? How long would it take you to get them all typed up and cleaned up?”

David sensed another hesitation inside Noah. He was hiding something and was feeling guilty about it. David could feel as well as see the struggle going on inside Noah. At last a resolution was reached, “Already done. How do you think I keep myself busy on all those nights when I don’t sleep?”

“Wasn’t sure, but I figured you’d tell me when you wanted me to know.” David shrugged.

“Well late at night when everyone else is asleep, the house gets really quiet. It’s easy for me to sit and write then.” David could feel Noah gather his courage, “That’s when I usually go out onto the back porch and type.”

David nodded, “Okay so you’ve got Tior all put together. Have you thought about publishing him?”

“I’ve thought about it, but to be honest, I’m not sure how to go about it.” Noah shrugged, “I don’t know where to send it or how.”

“Ask Mr. Dalton. Nana always says a lawyer’s gotta’ have some use.”

Noah smiled, “I’ll think about it. It would be fun to get him published, but I don’t think the fantasy world is ready for gay halfling bard wizard.” He shrugged, “I might even get sued over it. After all, I think the only place the world halfling shows up is in Dungeons and Dragons. Wizards of the Coast might not like the idea of somebody writing about halflings without their permission, especially if he turns out to be gay.”

“I don’t think they have the term halfling copyrighted,” David reassured him, “but you could always find another name for his race.”

“I’ll think about it,” Noah told him.

“Look, I’m sorry you caught an earful of my conversation with my father this afternoon,” David told him, putting an arm around him.

“It’s not a problem. I knew my past would eventually come back to bite me in the ass.”

“The thing is Noah, I don’t give a damn about your past. It happened. It’s over. This,” he pointed toward the ground with his free hand, “is the present.” Gesturing to the world around him, “and that’s the future. That’s all that’s important right now.”

“Yeah, but how quick would your Mom and Nana turn on me if they found out that what your Dad said is true?”

“Noah, they know.” David told him, “Nothing goes on in that house that they don’t know about. And I’ve got news for you love, they’re the ones that raised me to believe that the future and the present are what’s important. Not the past. My father’s biggest problem is that he’s trying to recapture the past, and we’ve all moved on to the future.”

“You’re mom and Nana know?” Noah asked in surprise.

“Noah,” he pulled the smaller boy into his lap to keep him from bolting, “I wanted to ask you out from the first time I met you. Right after you got jumped by Matthews and his bunch, I just about drove Mom and Nana crazy. Finally, Nana came out and we talked. About you mainly. Then when I decided that if I was going to go after you, I’d better get some idea in how to go about it, so Mom and I talked.” Noah just nodded and swallowed hard, “Who do you think I would go to for date advice? ‘Bit? Somehow I just don’t think you’d have gone for peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an episode of Pokemon.” David chuckled and pointed toward the house, “those two beautiful women in my life” he smiled conspiratorially, “you never know when they are listening, are the ones that kicked me in the ass to get me in gear before I let a good thing get away.”

“You told your mom, I used to be a prostitute?” Noah asked incredulously.

“Noah, she heard the rumors two days after I ever met you in school. You know the bimbo that we know as the huntress now?” Noah nodded, “Well, she asked me out and I turned her down. I mean turned her down flat, with an unequivocal no, get the hell away from me you frigging skank. Well, she went ever so helpfully running to my mother with this, there’s something I think you should know about your son bit, and of course she told her tale and Mom and Nana threw her out the door on her ass telling her it was none of her business. Trust me, Nana used a whole list of Rom words that I’m still not supposed to know the meaning to.”

“But did they believe her? I mean, it’s one thing to hear a rumor, and something else to know that it’s true,” Noah asked.

“They asked me, and I told them what I knew. I’m not going to lie to them, and then their reply was that as long as we were happy it didn’t matter. It was the past.” Noah just nodded, and David knew that he’d given him a lot to think about. “Noah you’ve got to realize something here. No matter what my father says, or does, you’re mine and I’m not letting go.” He paused a second to let it sink in, “And I hope you feel the same way.
Noah smiled, “Oh, believe me, I feel the same way. I just don’t want it to cause you any problems.” He bowed his head, “especially with your parents. Family is too important to give up on easily. I should know.”

“You’re right about family. You shouldn’t give up on it. Don’t you get it Noah? We’re family, and I’m not giving up on that. I’m not giving up on you. Besides, the problems with my dad really have nothing to do with you and me. They have to do with the fact that when he started his business six years ago, he left. We saw him twice a year for a week maybe. He left us, he left me, to raise myself. Now he can’t deal with the outcome. You can’t complain about how something turns out that you’ve left to grow on its own.”

“I know David.” Noah looked up at him, and once again, David marveled at what beautiful eyes he had, “I guess I need to think about this thing for a while. I’m kinda’ confused on how to go forward. I’ve got to figure out how to balance what you’ve told me, what I know, and what you’ve given me to think about.” He sighed, “It doesn’t have anything to do with not loving you, because I do with all my soul, or not wanting to be with you, because I’m going to be with you if I have to kill every huntress and werewolf between here and London, but more to do with how to do it that won’t hurt you or your family.”

“You’re not listening here Noah. You are,” he stressed the last word, “family.”

“I know that David. I’m talking about how to build us without tearing down you and your dad. I don’t want it to be a him or me situation. I’m not going to let it come to that.”

“It won’t come to that. I won’t let it. Dad and I just have to work on our common ground. I have to realize that maybe I can’t be quite so independent around him, and he to realize that I’ve been doing his job for the last six years.”

Noah smiled seriously, “By the way…”

“Yes?”

“I’d love to have someone to play catch with.”

“Well, we’ll have to find a couple of balls and catcher’s mitts, but I’m willing to play anything you want.”

“Careful about those kind of promises. I know a few games that grown ups play.”

“Oh, really? And uh… exactly what do they involved? I mean we’ve got to know that we’ve got the right equipment and all.”

Noah smiled and brushed his hand down David’s side, “trust me, we’ve got the right equipment.” He pulled his hand away. “But right now, I sort of need to think about some things.” Noah smiled and sent along the bond. *Mainly about how to try and do what you suggested about Tior. Don’t worry love, I’m not going anywhere.*

“Good,” David replied out loud and kissed him, “I’d hate to have to try and track you down. I mean it’d waste so much time we could have to play so many of those games you mentioned. I’d really like to learn to play a few of them.” David stood and looked down. He realized that Noah was suppressing his little-boy aura but for some reason seemed even more like one right now without it. He held his hands out to him, “C’mon love. Get up before you get sand in places that can be very uncomfortable. Let’s go raid the kitchen, and then I got the new, Brendan Frazier movie on DVD, and I know how much you like him.”

Noah got up and followed him to the house. The two boys spent the next several hours watching videos and talking to the television screen. Sometime nearing midnight, Noah left for Martha’s.

CHAPTER 17

“David?” Mr. Rosen called from the door. David rolled over and out of the neatest dream he was having about flying with Noah.

“Yeah, Dad?” He wiped the sleep from his eyes and pulled on a pair of lounge pants before opening the door. He saw his dad standing at the door trying to see into the room past him. “C’mon in.”

Entering the room his dad asked, “Is Noah here?”

“No, he went home after we finished watching movies last night. Why?” David sighed, glancing toward the bed, “we’re not going to pick this conversation up where we left off last night are we?”

David’s dad shook his head and David could see worry in his eyes, “Martha just called. She said that Noah didn’t come home last night. She said that the others didn’t know where he was either. She hoped he was here with you, and had just forgotten to call.”

David suddenly felt himself reach along the link he shared with Noah and felt only the faintest contact. It was as if he was very far away, or something was interfering with contact. * Noah?* He sent down the link, but got no reply. To the others he sent, *My house. Now.* To his father he said, “Dad, you give Martha a call and tell her we’ll find him. Tell her not to worry.”

David’s father nodded and turned to leave, “Son?”

“Yeah?”

“I really don’t want anything to happen to the boy.”

“Good, because if something has, when I find them, they’re going to be in a world of hurt. Nobody, hurts my family and gets away with it.” He stripped out of his lounge pants and pulled on a pair of jeans, “Oh, and Dad?”

“Yeah son?”

“Thanks.”

“Not a problem.” His father left and David once again tried to reach down the link to find Noah, and was once again turned away. He picked up his wallet and started looking for Dalton’s card. Finally finding it he called the number to the lawyer’s office and was surprised when the man himself answered.

“Yes?”

“Mr. Dalton, this is David Rosen. Noah’s missing.”

“I know David. Martha already called me. Do you have any idea where he might be?”

“Not yet. But I was wondering if you had that dog-catcher’s number.”

“I’ve got better than that. I’ve got him right here. He wants to speak with you.” David heard him handing the phone off.

“Sir?” David said into the receiver.

“There’s a warehouse about two blocks from the school. You and your pride meet us there in an hour.” David could here a tone of command in the voice. “More than just your spiritwalker is missing.”

“We’ll be there,” he told the man wondering who or what else was missing. Hanging up the phone, he sat down on the bed to pull his shoes on. Before he could finish, Brendan, Nelson and the girls were coming through his bedroom door.

“When was the last time you saw him?” Brendan asked before David could even look up.

“Last night when he left here, about midnight. I’ve got an idea who took him, and when we find them, we all get to rip them into tiny, tiny little pieces.”

Noah awoke, with something pounding in his head. He opened his eyes, but saw only darkness, as he tried to raise his head, only to sense a cold heavy weight settled on it. Trying to reach up to remove whatever was over his head, he discovered that his hands were tied. Somewhere in the room someone stirred beside him. “Who’s there?” he asked.

“Just me,” Michael’s voice came to him.

“Michael, why can’t I move?”

“All tied up.” Michael told him.

“Then untie me.” Noah tried not to sound too demanding, but this was not a game he wanted to play.

“Can’t. I’m tied up just like you are. Only thing is, they don’t got the helmet on me.” Michael seemed to be calm.

“Poor, poor spiritwalker. Caught so soon and so easy,” another voice came from the darkness. This one was female, and Noah immediately recognized it as the huntress. “Oh well, I guess this time it’ll be easier taking you out of the picture.”

“Hey Noah?” Michael’s voice had a singsong quality about it, “ever see a dead person with all their blood but still walking around before?”

Noah shook his head, “Can’t say that I have.”

“There’s one standing right across the room from you. She just hasn’t got the sense to lay down and die yet.”

Noah tried to reach out with his mind to find the owner of the voice, suddenly his head was filled with pain that traveled the entire length of his spine. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he screamed.

“They always try that the first thing. Do you people think we’re stupid or something. We’ve been hunting your type for centuries. We know how to make you never want to invade someone’s mind again,” Kara’s voice sounded smug.

“That’s okay Noah. Ignore her. I think the bleach has gone to her brain. Either that, or it’s all the in-breeding. After all, you did know that her Daddy is her own brother.” Noah hoped the idea of someone like Michael questioning Kara’s intelligence was insulting to her as he thought it should be. “So tell me huntress, or is it stupid-bent, I’m not sure which these days, do you actually get off on screwing your own brother or is it something cultural. Oh wait a minute I used too big of words for you. None of those are in the I-CAN-READ- Index.”

Noah heard a loud slap. “Shut up,” was Kara’s only verbal response.

“Awww what’st he matter. Did I hit the wittle nail on it’s wittle head?” Michael continued to taunt her with his best Tweety imitation. “You know why we never make your kind vampires?” Michael continued. “You’re not bright enough. We’d rather make a dog a vampire than a huntress. At least they can be house-trained.”

Again the slap, but this time Kara was silent. “Michael, don’t push it right now,” Noah said through mask covering his face.

“Oh, all right. She’s not bright enough to get most of it anyway. I think I’ll just sit here and play in the dirt.” Michael told him. “You wanna’ play in the dirt with me?”

“Not right now, Michael,” Noah struggled against his bonds again, hoping that some of his strength would return to him. Pulling against the bonds at his back he realized that his wrists were in some kind of manacles.

“You can pull on those all you want spiritwalker. They’ve been enchanted so that nothing in the mortal or immortal realms can break them. “You’re welcome to try though. I might even find it amusing enough to let you live until after I’ve killed the rest of your little pack.” Her voice softened, “Oh and I hope you haven’t corrupted David too much. I’ve decided to keep him.”

“Sorry sister, you’ve got the wrong plumbing,” Noah struggled with his bonds even more.

Kara chuckled and Noah heard what sounded like metal scraping against metal, “that’s okay. I can always take yours. Besides, once my pack is finished with him, he’ll just beg me to take him.” Noah heard a door close behind her. It opened again and she continued, “Oh, and be sure and try and call your feline friends. I want the your pride here. That way I can eliminate the rest of them.” Then the door closed, cutting off the sound of her chuckling.

“Damn that girl’s a bigger drama queen than I am.” Noah muttered under his breath.

“Relax, the more you struggle, the more you do what she wants you to. You need to conserve your strength.” Michael told him.

David entered the warehouse with the sign “Forever Knight” above the door, throwing out his own senses to determined who was in the building. There were five masses against the concrete. “Hello?” He called to the darkness.

“Over here,” he recognized Lecroix’s voice.

“I don’t like this,” Delia said at his side as she and the others flowed into their cat-forms.

“Thanks all the same, but I think I’ll stay right here until you turn the lights on. I don’t know you well enough to trust you,” David told the darkness.

He was rewarded by several chuckles, as the lights suddenly exploded across the warehouse, revealing what looked like a nightclub in the process of being put together. Standing next to the bar were three men and a golden haired woman. Nodding to the two larger men, “You two I only know from Noah’s memories.” Turning to the woman, “you I”ve seen in my dreams and I must say it’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.” Turning to Lecroix, “and you my Grandmother says I should respect so I will.” Finally turning toward the shadows in the back of the room, “And you must be Vincent the Grey, that Noah told me about.” He was rewarded with a tall elegant man gliding out of the shadows. “Damn, I’ve got to learn to do that,” he muttered to himself.

“It’s not possible,” one of the larger two men said.

“We’ll discuss it later,” the woman told him.

“We’ll discuss it now” the second larger man that David figured was Gerin from the way Noah had described him indicated where David was standing. Turning to face Lecroix he continued, “why didn’t you tell us about this?”

Lecroix played with his fingernails, “you didn’t ask.”

David heard Brendan’s mindvoice. *Gee, sounds like a conversation between you and Noah.* The four cats seemed to pool around his feet.

“We’ll discuss it later,” the woman reiterated, and the tone of her voice told everyone that she was not going to argued with. “Right now, my baby’s missing.”

David looked at the rest of them, “I’ll talk to you until I’m blue in the face when this is over with, but right now I want Noah back. If you’re not going to help us, then point us in the right direction and get the hell out of our way.”

“This is the time when I should make some kind of comment about the impatience of youth, but on the whole I have to agree with the boy. We can deal with squabbles about parentage later. Right now, my grandson, and the last spiritwalker are in the hands of a huntress,” the man David figured to be Vincent said.

“Skank that she is,” David said to nobody in particular.

“This is not over,” The tall blond man growled, and David could see him begin to shift.

Without thinking, David reached down and grabbed Brendan and Nelson by the scruffs of their necks. “Easy you two. I’m told he’s on our side.” He could feel the two werecats struggling to pull away from him.

“Aren’t we all just drowning in testosterone here,” Delia said shifting back up and walking toward the woman. “I’m Delia,” she pointed to where Sharon was sitting crouched in a half cheetah form, “that’s Sharon, and the other three balls-for-brains are David, Brendan, and Nelson.”

The woman smiled at Delia, “I’m Ashleigh. That’s Vlad, although I think he’s calling himself Lecroix these days,” she pointed toward the dark haired man playing with his fingernails. Then indicated the two large men who looked like brothers, “These are Lucien and Gerin, my husbands,” and finally the tall man in the shadows, “and that is Vincent, my father.”

Delia sniffed the air, and indicated Lecroix, “Oh, you’re the dead thing we kept smelling.” David could see that she suddenly realized what she’d said as she turned bright red, “oops, sorry. I’m going to go stand behind the tall person and shut up now.”

Ashliegh chuckled, “well, she pegged you this time around didn’t she.”

Lecroix only bowed, “I’m impressed, most creatures can’t tell the difference among out kind.”

“You all smell different,” David told them, “she smells like lavender with a hint of the other two thrown in. They smell like steel and blood,” He pointed to Vincent, “I can’t quite place what he smells like, I’ve never smelled it before. But you all have an underlying smell of deep rich earth. At least to me.”

“Leave it to an elementalist to define us in terms of the elements,” Lecroix said to nobody in particular. “But none of this helps us get our two missing back.” He went around behind the bar and sat on one of the stools. “It seems our opponent has made the first move. Now it’s time to determine if we’re going to react or counter-strike.”

“If by react or counterstrike you mean wiping them off the face of the planet, tell me who I have to hit first and how to hit them,” Nelson half growled in his werecougar form.

“When we get rid of them, do we get to eat them?” Sharon asked from his side as she smiled to show a mouthful of sharp fangs.

“By react or counterstrike, I mean do we regroup our forces and wait for another blow, or do we hit them before they can strike again. Both strategies have their merits.” Lecroix told her. “As for eating them, you could I suppose but werewolf and huntress blood is rather foul.” He bowed to the werewolf standing next to him, “no offense of course.”

“We hit them now, and we take them out of the equation,” David replied, surprised to find the men Ashleigh had indicated as her husbands saying the exact same thing in the same tone at the same time as he. All eyes seemed to turn to them. “What? They took my mate, and I want him back. And for taking him they die.”

“He’s one of yours alright,” Lecroix said to nobody in particular.

David pulled Brendan and Nelson’s ears until they turned their gaze on him, “This werewolf is ours. You can kill all the others.” Something in his tone must have told them that he wasn’t kidding, because all they did was nod and return to a crouch. Letting them go, he straightened up. “Now how do we find Noah and Michael?”

“How did you know it was Michael missing?” Sharon asked.

“Because she called him her baby. Didn’t you pay attention to what Noah sent us about his meeting with Michael. He’s her son,” David told her.

“How do sorcerers usually hide?” Brendan asked the group across from him.

“Usually through magic,” Vincent replied in his German accented English.

“Question?” Delia held up her hand, “Do they know we have an elementalist? Or that you all are in town?”

“I would say that they don’t expect you have an elementalist yet. Otherwise, they wouldn’t try to take the spiritwalker by himself. If they knew of David, then they would know that taking Noah without him would only result in a very angry elementalist. I am sure that they know that I’m in town at least, possibly Vincent, and definitely Romulus and Remus.” He indicated the two men by Ashleigh, “Ashleigh’s being here I suspect is going to be something of a very nasty surprise.”

“Romulus?” Brendan growled next to him, “Funny, his ears don’t look pointed to me.”

“Ooh, this one has a sense of humor,” Lucien said.

“Shut up. It’s not you’re name he’s making the joke about,” Gerin told his brother.

“What? I like the Romulans. A very honorable bunch,” Brendan protested.

“None-the-less, I would say that some of our forces are known to our enemy, and some will be a surprise. As I am sure they are going to have forces we don’t know about as well.” Lecroix bowed, “Such is warfare.”

“If you asked me, they picked the wrong bunch to start having a war with,” Delia told nobody in particular. “I mean the last person I truly want to piss off is someone who can hold back the tides if he’s pissed enough.” She clapped her hands, “so where do we begin?”

David smiled, “first we take Sharon back along the route they grabbed Noah from. Let her do her little empathic thing. Maybe we can get some clues that way.”

“I would also suggest that each of you look deep inside yourselves. You are bonded to our little prostitute,” Lecroix said, as all five of the pride turned to Lecroix and growled. David wasn’t happy with that particular term being applied to his mate.

“Put down your hackles, it’s only a term, and perhaps a poor choice of words on my part,” Lecroix said. David however wasn’t convinced that Lecroix had misspoken. “More importantly, your link to him might give some clue as to which direction to find him.”

“They’re blocking me,” David said under his breath. “I’ve already tried. Something is interfering with our link. All I can sense is that he’s alive, and relatively unhurt.”

His senses cut off by the heavy iron mask, Noah was unsure of how long Kara had been gone when she returned. This time, he heard a second set of footsteps as she entered the room. “Well, you have been busy haven’t you,” a man’s voice echoed through the air. “One damned,” there was a pause, “of some particular worth after all, if nothing else as bait for those two bastards we’ve been hunting for a while.” Noah could sense him turn, “And our spiritwalker. All trussed up and mindblind. Very good my dear. Very good indeed.” Now all we have to do is wait for his Pride to come to us. I told you that dealing with werecats would be easy. Luckily he hasn’t found his elementalist yet. Otherwise, we could be in quite a bit of trouble.” Noah wasn’t about to open his mouth about David.

“Bartholomew!” Michael’s voice echoed. “Ooooh, Papas are going to tear you limb from limb. Still having a problem getting it up?” Noah wasn’t sure where Michael was getting these sayings, but he got the feeling that they were hitting dead home.

“Silence, or I’ll give myself leave to kill you now, you little abomination,” Noah could hear the voice becoming angry.

“This coming from someone who is his own father? What you can only get it up for your own daughters? Besides, if you kill me, you’ll never get Vincent.” Michael taunted the man some more. Noah found himself wishing against hope to be able to see past the iron mask on his face.

“You’re sleeping with your own father? And you think David will want that kind of sloppy seconds?” Noah decided to try and take some of the attention away from Michael. Suddenly the lights exploded against his inside of his eyes, as something powerful slammed into the mask. He felt himself literally picked up by the force of the blow and flung until he hit a metal wall. There was an audible crack and he felt pain suddenly shoot up the outside of his calf. He hit the concrete below hard, and felt several ribs snap, as it felt like something was piercing his chest. For long seconds he lay there in the sand covered concrete. Great, now I’ve gone and got myself to bleeding with a vampire within arms reach.

“Ooooh Uh oh. Bad, bad, bad. Trouble, trouble, trouble,” Michael began to chant on the other side of the room.

Breathing as shallowly as he could, Noah struggled to his feet, only feel his right leg give under his own weight. “Leave them,” the man’s voice said. “A hungry vampire, and a poor little bleeding spiritwalker. We’ll come back in a few hours to have two corpses.”

“Master?” a third voice, one that seemed familiar to Noah broke in, “the set up is complete.”

“Then let’s see how long it takes him to die. You’re in for a rare treat my dears. This particular event hasn‘t happened in quite a while.” The man continued. “You see dear, a wonderful thing happens when a spiritwalker dies. With the proper prepartions, you can trap their essence, and use it to power all kinds of spells.”

“Listen,” Michael seemed to tell nobody in particular.

“Master, if the spiritwalker dies now, won’t it make tracking the rest of the pride that more difficult?” Kara asked.

“That’s true.” There was a second’s pause, “Shorten his chain, Matthews.” The man barked an order. Seconds later, Noah heard the rattling of chains coming from the direction of Michael’s voice. “I would stay out his reach if I were you, my young whore. You don’t want to end up as his lunch just yet do you? But then again, one of your profession, may enjoy his technique.” The three left laughing.

“I’ll technique him. Noah? Move your leg, the bleeding one, about three inches to your right.” Michael told him. Noah wasn’t sure exactly what Michael wanted, and there was the issue that the man called Bartholomew had brought up, but he did as he was told.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to eat you. I don’t want that kind of stomach cramps.” Michael said. “Now we wait. Good idea. Getting yourself bleeding that is.”

“What? I wasn’t trying to get hurt. I was trying to keep them from hurting you.”

“Oh. Well then, lucky for us they drew blood.” Michael guessed.

“Why? And what are we waiting for?” Noah asked.

“Shhh. They’re coming back. Just play along with me. They put a guard outside the door.” Michael then began humming to himself. “Earthworm, earthworm,” then the hum again. Finally he broke the rhythm, “Noah? Do you know the wonderful thing about the element of dirt?”

“No, I can’t say that I do,” Noah replied trying to ignore the pain in his chest and side.

“Ahhh, you can find anything in dirt. All you have to do is know how to look.” Michael told him. “It’s not that everything attracts dirt, it’s that the element,” he seemed to stress the last word,” of dirt, attracts everything to it.” Noah wasn’t sure if it was the pain, being mindblind, or simply fear, but he knew Michael was trying to tell him something, he just couldn’t figure out what it was. “You see also, blood is like water. It seeks out, its own.” Michael continued. The he continued with his song, “Earthworm, earthworm, inching along.” Finally, in exhaustion, Noah sat down hard on what seemed to be some kind of break in the floor, where concrete met dirt. He could feel his pants leg once again soaked by his blood.

“Noah, would you like to hear a story?” Michael asked.

Lecroix watched as his old friends and his new, spread out to search for the two missing boys. He realized that history and literature had not treated him well, and took some satisfaction in knowing that most people would be surprised to find that he actually had friends. He’d felt rather vindicated that these young ones hadn’t batted an eye when he was introduced as Vlad. All the boy named David had said to him was that his grandmother of all people considered him a person to be respected, so he would. Perhaps this country wasn’t in as bad a shape as some made it out to be after all.

He watched as a frustrated young woman walked an area with her eyes closed. He’d known a few empaths over the years, most of them being a werecreature of some sort and wasn’t surprised to find that this particular pride was literally erupting with gifts. An empath, a sidhe-cat- a gift in itself, a mage, and a primal tiger, not to mention the spiritwalker and elementalist were among the many blessings this Pride carried. He expected great things from these youngsters. The girl called Sharon seemed to become more and more frustrated as she tried to pin down exactly where Noah had been taken from. The rest stood a short distance away watching so as not to interfere with her abilities. Finally she shook her head, “I can’t find anything. If he came this way, he didn’t leave a trail.”

“That’s okay. You gave it your best shot. Now we just have to find something else to look for,” David told the girl. Lecroix had already pegged him as the alpha male of the group. A little unusual, in that the spiritwalker wasn’t that, but not unheard of. He watched the boy’s natural leadership ability come out. “Okay guys, any other suggestions?” He also noticed the boy kept sniffing the air, like a cat trying to place a scent. “I smell blood.” He became more definite, “I smell Noah’s blood. He’s been hurt. We have to find him now.”

“I’m open to suggestions boss man,” Brendan said.

“We know where the huntress lives, why don’t we go beat the answer out of her?” Nelson suggested, and the empath agreed a little too readily.

“You’ll have to keep an eye on that one. She’s a little blood thirsty,” Lecroix leaned into Ashleigh and continued, “But she’ll produce awful pretty grandbabies won’t she.”

“Hush you,” was Ashleigh’s only reply. “We’ll speak of such things later. After we’ve found our lost cubs. After all my dear Vlad, more than one pride may be reassembled here today.” She smiled at him sweetly, “Tell me, what is the significance of this new name, Nicholai Lecroix? All of your young friends here seem to find it amusing.”

Vlad cleared his throat. He’d hope that using that particular name would allow him to attract a clientel for his new business venture. A name that nobody would take seriously, but would allow him to hide in plain sight. “It was meant as a joke. It seems our kind have become rather popular of late among certain circles. That particular name comes from a theatrical production called Forever Knight, about a vampire police officer, who wants to be human again.”

“And do you wish to be human again?” she asked. “Do you wish to leave us?”

Vlad chuckled and considered the question. “Not at all. But you have to understand that there is a great deal of vampiric literature out these days portraying our kind as tortured souls struggling against our natures to recapture our humanity. It’s made us quite popular.”

“Well, since you do not wish to leave us, perhaps you’d wish to join us.” She smiled and slipped her arm through his, “Oh and Vlad, ignore the popular fiction. You never truly lost your humanity. Only had it slightly bashed, and that was long before you became one of the Forsaken.”

Vlad chuckled, “I’m told by your small one that I have that particular trait in common with our young spiritwalker. We both seem to have, how was it described, a hate on for the followers of Mohammed.”

“Well, we could always employ the same method as we did then. I wonder how they would react to it today.”
Vlad shook his head, “Not very well I’m afraid. This is a kinder and gentler time. These Americans tend to react poorly to such displays of retribution.”

“Oh well, it was a thought. I’ve never cared much for that particular perversion of religion. I rather like being a woman, and I’m not about to walk behind or turn over my autonomy to any man.” She continued, “Nicholai, yes I do think I like that name, do think over our offer.”

“Our offer, or your offer Ashleigh. Neither of your husbands have brought the matter up to me,” Lecroix told her.

“It’s our offer.” She blushed, “But if you wish to discuss it with them, feel free. After all, you are our family, in what ever manner you choose.”

“I’ll consider it. I might just decide to stay here in Carlton. It’s a pleasant little hamlet, and I find that the climate agrees with me. Its denizens keep me young and on my toes. Much in the same manner as you described your young Garion to me once.”

“Ah yes, but I described Dr. Leger to you before he was ever born. And New Orleans is his for ill or good. I shall have to find a new home.”

“Oh for heaven’s sake, use the brains the Creator gave you. You’re an elementalist, ask the very earth itself to tell you where the boys are.” Lucien broke in finally. Lecroix understood Lucien’s frustration. His own son was among the missing.

David looked up at the man confused, “I’m not sure how to do that. I mean I can smell his blood, but that’s about as far as I can go.”

Lecroix saw the boy look over to him for help. He was forced to simply shrug, “I have had little experience with such things. I became what I am just a few centuries before the last of your kind were murdered.”

Lucien went over to the boy and knelt down in the sand, “here, kneel with me. Put hour hands in the sand.” Lecroix watched as the boy did as he was bid, “feel the Earth, think of your Noah.”

David closed his eyes and Lecroix could see the dawning of understanding come across his face. “They are in a warehouse.” The boy opened his eyes, “two blocks from your club.” He told Lecroix. Then turning his attention to Ashleigh, “Michael’s okay, but Noah’s been hurt. I think it’s a broken leg…and some internal injuries. For some reason he’s not healing.”

The tiger named Brendan interjected, “Oh, they are so dead when I get my hands on them. Let’s go.” He headed up the beach.

“Don’t become impatient. We know where they are. Now we scout out the situation, to make sure we don’t walk into a trap.” Gerin told Brendan, “The boys were taken as bait most assuredly. If we go charging in there, we might get them killed and definitely will suffer losses ourselves.”

“Perhaps we can use the elements to our advantage,” Lecroix wondered when Vincent would finally deign to address the problem.

“I don’t understand sir,” David said.

“Elementalists were given certain abilities that come natural to them. One is the power to pass through the elements unharmed and unimpeded. They can even carry along with them, those of their pride and their blood.”

“We’ve all shared blood,” Delia volunteered.

“We know dear,” Ashleigh told her, “otherwise your bond would not be complete.”

“Sorry, but we’re kinda working from a blank slate here on our end,” Delia volunteered, “I mean how are we supposed to know what we are supposed to be if nobody shows us?”

“That is a situation we hope to rectify very soon, dear one.” Ashleigh answered her.

“As I was saying,” ‘Vincent continued, “and elementalist can propel himself and carry others along with him unharmed through the elements. Now that you’ve pinpointed your mate, you simply will the Earth to take you and those of your blood to him.”

“That would kind of put us in under their defenses, wouldn’t it.” David looked around at his friends. “Especially if you guys,” he indicated the Vincent and the group, “were to attack the perimeter. While they were distracted dealing with you, we could slip in and grab our friends, and head out. If we time it right we can be in and out before they ever know what hit them.”

Lecroix was impressed with the boy’s tactical abilities, “you have a keen military mind young, David.”

The boy blushed, “I watch a lot of History Channel.”

“More like a lot of Star Trek,” Brendan broke in.

“Hey, James Kirk is my hero,” David snapped back.

“Argue later boys. Let’s get Noah back now,” Delia told them. “If his leg’s broken, he’s in pain. If he’s in pain then you three are going to be really really grumpy and when you three are really really grumpy then other people get hurt. A whole lot of hurt.” She looked over at Ashleigh, “I think they use it as anger management therapy or something.”

Ashliegh raised an eyebrow at the girl, “and you don’t get grumpy?”

“No ma’am, not at all. Sharon and I just go shopping.”

Vincent walked over and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “perhaps we’d better get started. I’m going to show you how to go ahead of us, but you need to wait until you hear the fighting outside before you try and escape. That way their attention will be facing outward and not on yourself. It should take only a matter of minutes for us to reach this warehouse. Head toward the sea. That is the direction from which we will be attacking.”

The boy nodded, “yes sir.”

“Now, follow my instructions to the letter,” Vincent bent down and began to instruct the boy as the rest of his pride as well as the others gathered around and prepared for their individual parts.

Lecroix watched silently wondering why he had a premonition that things were not going to go quite the way they were planned. Battles tended to take on a whole life of their own, and none ever went as they were supposed to. He had yet to encounter a battle plan to survive the first engagement with the enemy. Taking out his cell phone, called the number where he’d managed to stash his own reinforcements. It was always best to be prepared for these kinds of situations. He hoped that man Leger sent him was as reliable as the good doctor assured him. He didn’t entirely trust the man. He seemed to have an unhealthy delight in playing with fire. Not a sane trait in a vampire at all. Turning back to see what progress was being made, even he was surprised to see the pride as well, as Vincent and the rest of his friends simply swallowed up by the earth. “Oh dear. I guess that answers that question. If we live through this day, this is one story I simply must hear.” He forced his own body to change as he loped off down the beach in the direction of his club. He always did have a penchant for wolves.

CHAPTER 18

Ashleigh Grey suddenly found herself sliding along through the sand and earth of the City of Carlton at the whim of another. This was not a situation to which she was accustomed. She much preferred herself being the one in charge of these things. As quickly as the journey began, it ended and she found herself standing in what could only be called a dungeon.

Her son with an iron collar and chain, was playing in the dirt, while the boy she’d come to know as Noah lay half conscious nearby, a shattered bone protruding from his lower leg. All around the room there were implements of torture, including an iron maiden standing in the corner. The lighting was low and consisted only of a single candle by the door. “Darkness we can use to our advantage,” she said to no one in particular, as her husbands and father gave her questioning looks. “I’ll answer your questions later. Right now we attend to the children,” she told them, while wishing for the true darkness of the night. Even with the precautions they’d all taken to walk in the sunlight, they were still weaker while that particular orb sat high in the sky.

David and his friends rushed immediately to Noah’s side, and tried to break the chains holing the manacles behind his back. “Damn it Rosen, think,” the boy admonished himself. “Okay, what are they made of?” He seemed to close his eyes, “simple iron.” She watched him try and break them, but no matter how much power he exerted the chains refused to part. “Okay, if I can’t break them, change them.” Again he concentrated, but the chains remained as stubbornly strong as ever. “All right, check for markings. We’re dealing with sorcerers here.”

Ashleigh genuinely enjoyed watching the boy’s mind work, but for now she had her own concerns. Kneeling next to her son, she quickly checked him over as he scrambled to embrace her. “Momma! I knew if I could get him to play in the dirt, you could find us.”

“Yes, you’re a good boy,” Ashleigh comforted him, “Now what kind of chains did they use on you and him.”

“The girl said they were enchanted, just before Noah made her hit him.”

“Oh, and what did he say to make her hit him?”

The boy grinned, “something about doing bad things with her daddy and then David. He did it because he thought she was going to hit me again. But I only told them what Wallace told me to tell them. Wallace doesn’t like Bartholomew.”

Glancing over to where David was trying to free Noah, Ashleigh saw the Asian boy named Nelson slip between the two and examine the lock. “Let me take a look. I’ve always been better at locks than you have.”

Ashleigh felt a surge of magic run through the room, and there was an audible click as the chains holding both boys parted. As the others helped Noah to his feet, Ashleigh saw Michael suddenly turn and face the door. “They’re coming.” He suddenly shifted down into his saber-toothed tiger form, and growled, “mongrels are with them.”

“Well then, we’ll just have to get rid of the mongrels won’t we,” she told him stepping back into the shadows.

The door burst open and in strode a current huntress, a brassy little bleached blonde with no fashion sense. Ashleigh could see a resemblance to the one she’d gutted four hundred years ago, as well to the hunter who had managed to incapacitate her at the turn of the last century. Evidently Bartholomew was line-breeding himself. With her was her Guardian- whom Ashleigh immediately recognized, and a dozen or so of the mangiest-looking mongrel werewolves she’d ever seen. “Boy it’s time to go join your mother!” Bartholomew bellowed as he moved toward Michael. Stopping in mid-stride the guardian looked around at the intruders, “So, you’re all here after all,” he rubbed his hands together gleefully, “you’ve saved me so much work.” He threw his hands out dramatically, as the sleeves of his loose fitting shirt were slung back, “Who to torture first, decisions, decisions, decisions. Secure them.”

“Boy he’s cocky isn’t he.” The weretiger said from the side as he metamorphosed up into his half form, extending his claws. Several of the werewolves charged him, as he and Michael leaped into the fray. For just a second Ashliegh felt sorry for the mongrels, but only for a second, as the howls of pain began.

The girl Ashleigh had identified as the huntress charged into the room toward where Noah was pulling the helmet off his head, but slowed when David stood up and faced her. “Hello Kara,” he said. “Hear any good rumors lately?”

“Oh boy. Don’t you just take the cake, charging in here trying to rescue your sicko-boyfriend. I’m going to enjoy kicking your ass, then letting Matthews and his buddies ride it for a while.” She kicked out at his head.

“Matthews? You mean they finally unwired his jaw,” David replied as he ducked under the kick, “Damn, and here I thought I at least crushed it. Guess you can never tell with these mutts.” He came up with an upper cut of his own but the girl danced out of his way.

“You’re way out of your league here, Rosen. You don’t know what or who you’re dealing with,” the girl spun around with wicked slash from a blade she’d produced.

Again, David ducked under the blow, and maneuvered her between himself and a large mangy looking werewolf who’d homed in on him. “That’s with whom or what you’re dealing, Kara. If you’re going to use clichés, at least don’t butcher them.” This time his duck was anticipated as he caught her foot right in the jaw and was driven backwards.

“English smenglish. It gets the job done,” the girl said.

Ashleigh continued to watch the fight from her vantage point in the shadows and realized that none of their opponents had realized she was there. The boy named Nelson and the girl, Sharon had formed up to keep any attacking werewolves off Noah as he undid the straps on the helmet. Pulling the accursed device from his head, he suddenly grunted in pain. The enchantments from the containment helmet removed from his body allowed his own gifts to suddenly re-emerge and Ashleigh watched the bone from his leg pull itself back down the wound, with a loud cracking.

Turning her attention back to where Bartholomew had retreated behind several of the larger werewolves, she watched as he prepared a spell. Suddenly reaching out and grabbing one of the nearby mongrels he sliced across the creatures throat as blood poured from the wound. Ashleigh could feel the energy being released by the spell and the spilt blood. Realizing she’d have to distract him, she worked her way along the shadows cast across the walls toward him, she hoped she could get there in time. If she played her hand too soon, in her weakened state she could very easily meet the final death this day.

Directing the energy he was gathering toward the corner where Michael currently had one werewolf pinned under a back paw as he raked another across the throat, Bartholomew screamed, “Now you join your misbegotten mother!”

Stepping out of the shadows, Ashleigh had to act quickly. Using the manacles with which Michael had been bound, she slapped them down on his wrists from behind. After all, an enchantment was an enchantment. “you always did talk too much, Bartholomew.” She smiled and watched the energy of the spell expend itself uselessly against the manacles.

The man spun and faced her, “You! You’re dead.”

“In a manner of speaking,” Ashleigh replied. “You never were a very thorough opponent, Bartholomew. If there was one thing I ever learned from Vlad it was to always make sure an enemy was dead before you moved on. Speaking of which, I’m hungry and you’re invited.” She grabbed the man by the back of the head, ripped his jaw around until she felt the snap she wanted and then sunk her teeth deep into his throat.

She could feel his heart still beating as she began to drain him. It would take several long minutes before it stopped from the damage done to his spinal cord. That was more than enough time to finish off a good snack before she moved on. She realized that the manacles she’d snapped on him would keep him from using any contingency spell he might have. This time this particular soul-jumping sorcerer would meet the final death.

As she felt his heart finally give out, she slowly stood and like the lady she was, daintily dabbed the corner of her mouth, “Sorcerers. Always a hearty meal, but a terrible after-taste.” Looking around she saw that most of the werewolves had either met their end were cornered by five large cats, a huge white werewolf and two very angry vampires. Only the huntress still stood, as she battled both Nelson and David.

Both the elementalist and the werecougar were covered with several vicious wounds. David was bleeding from several places along his arms and chest, and Nelson was favoring his right knee. The three battled back and forth across the main floor, and Ashleigh was impressed with the girls ability to fight both an elementalist and a werecat simultaneously. Although Ashleigh did have to concede that David was fighting more like an angry husband than an elementalists. “Enough!” She barked so loud the whole room became silent. Every eye turned to face her, “David, stop playing and finish her off. You have the power. Use it.”

“Yes ma’am.” David answered, and she could feel the ground rumble beneath her feet, as the whole room began to shake apart. Suddenly a column of earth rose up from under the huntress to surround her.

“Poor, poor huntress. Only now do you realize your mistake,” Ashliegh told the girl as the stone entombed her up to her neck. “How is this possible you ask?” Ashleigh smiled, “because he is the elementalist. That was a possibility that you forgot to consider.” She turned to grin at her husbands, “I love this new age, where women are allowed to make the same mistakes as men.”

“Huh?” Brendan asked.

Ashliegh smiled at the boy, “She was thinking with another part of her anatomy than her head, my dear boy.”

“You mean the huntress had the hots for our David?”

“What’s the big deal. You’ve wanted to get into his pants for almost a year now,” the girl called Sharon said as she held Noah down while his leg healed.

“Yeah, but I’m not some sick evil twisted bitch fucking her own dad. Or was that brother?” Brendan told the room in general. Ashleigh realized that this new century was going to take some getting used to. “Besides which, he’s ours. It’s okay if we have our way with him.”

“Finish her off elementalist, otherwise she’ll come back to haunt you for years,” Ashleigh lay down the last test for him.

She saw the conflict boil up in him. He was struggling with what he wanted and what he knew to be right. She hoped he’d make the right decision. The one that would protect his pride. “I can’t.” David lowered his hand, “not like this. She’s helpless, she’s not that important to me.”

“If you don’t, then she’ll report to the rest of the hunters who you are and where you live. If that happens then you and yours will be hunted for the rest of your lives. Your parents, and families will no longer be safe,” she told the boy.

David turned back to face the girl, his hand going up once again to deliver the final blow. She watched the girl too, as she looked him defiantly in the eye. David’s hand came back and stopped, and lowered. Once again he drew in a deep breath and Ashliegh could see him considering her words. Drawing his hand back again, he stopped for the third time. This time he turned and faced Ashleigh, “I can’t.” He shook his head. I can’t kill in cold blood…” He paused a moment, “Besides, if I kill her, I’ll never be able to hide my Pride and protect them. It’s just not in my…”

Suddenly before the boy could finish his sentence, Lecroix and another man came bursting into the room, guns out and ready for a fight. “You were supposed to wait until we got here before you started,” the tall dark haired stranger yelled, as he looked around at all the dead bodies. “Damn, I always miss all the fun. My dream and I can’t even have any fun. I’m going to have to talk to my brain about this.” Then his eyes seemed to stop and rest on Michael’s wereform. “Hiya Mikey. Havin’ fun yet?”

“Hiya Frank,” Michael replied shifting up into his normal visage, “Just waitin’ on you. Mom’s trying to convince David over there to kill the huntress, but he doesn’t want to do it.”

“Civilian huh?” Frank asked.

“White hat,” Michael told him, “like the Doc.”

“Oh, do-gooder.” His face got serious, and he indicated where Kara was entombed, “this the huntress?”

“Hmmm huh,” Michael told him, “the slayer of the defenseless everywhere. Corrupter of mongrels. Oh, and,” Michael whispered to him like it was big secret, “she’s a druggie.”

Faster than even Ashleigh could follow the newcomer whipped out a long pistol, of the style that was just coming into use when she last faced a huntress, pointed at the girls head. There was a quiet expulsion of sound and the girls head seemed to explode. “Now that’s just too damn low to let live.” He turned and looked around, “So, who’s up for dinner? I hear they’ve got great Mexican in this town.” He turned to face Lecroix, “ Besides Nick, you promised to feed me.”

Ashleigh suddenly looked at the others, “He’s not one of mine. I do not know from where he came, and I don’t want to know.”

Ashleigh watched David move over to Noah and pick him up. “Can we get out of here?”

Lecroix only smiled, “Of course. I’ve got some people coming to clean up.”

“What about them?” Delia asked about the few werewolves who were groaning on the floor.

“They’ll be dealt with,” Lecroix told them. “Can’t have too many questions in my city.”

Lucien commented, “your city huh?”

“I thought I might stay on a while. The city agrees with me, and I with it.” He indicated the newcomer, “And like Mr. Castle says, it has wonderful Mexican.”

“One suggestion,” Gerin told him as he threw an arm across Lecroix’s shoulders, “more public parks. The place needs more trees for moonlight strolls.”

“In which you will be joining us.” Lucien added, “Won’t you?”

EIPILOGUE

Two days later, Noah entered the Rosen home, through the back door this time. His leg still pained him, so he was stuck walking on a cane for the next few weeks. It had taken quite a bit of explaining to do, and just a small bit of his power to finally clear things up with the police. Between himself and Mr. Castle who really seemed to have a way with police, they were able to convince the authorities that Kara and Matthews had kidnapped him as part of a gang initiation. No charges were filed and he was allowed to go home with very few questions. Now he had to face his biggest foe. Mr. Eric Rosen.

“Hello Noah,” Mr. Rosen said, “How’s the leg?” So far so good, Noah thought.

“It’s getting better sir. The doctor said I’d only have to use the cane a few more days.”

“Well, just start taking lessons from mother on how to use it strategically,” David’s Dad told him.

“Strategic uses of a cane. Hmmm. I don’t think she teaches that one.” Noah told him.

“Well, most people are too old to learn it by the time they start walking with one.” Mr. Rosen told him. Noah could sense that the man was getting serious, “Look Noah, I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier.”

Noah smiled, “I won’t tell you that it didn’t hurt Mr. Rosen, because I won’t lie to you. But, I understand where you were coming from. You just wanted what was best for David. Believe it or not, so do I.”

“So with that in mind and said,” the man reached under the counter and pulled out two baseball gloves and a ball, “want to play catch?”