When I woke up in the morning, I could already feel the power running through the house. It felt like if not all, most of the leaders had made it. I should’ve felt intimidated, but it somehow was making me feel stronger. Something about the energy called out to me.
“I can feel it, too,” Nate said. “It makes you feel like you can take on the world, doesn’t it?”
“And it’s positive energy. There isn’t a lick of negativity in the group. That’s unusual with a group this large.”
“I’m sure everyone has their own agenda, but since we’re involved that changes things a little. Let’s get dressed and go reintroduce you to everyone,” he said, giving me a quick kiss before he climbed out of bed.
“Do I get to wear my bubble suit?” I asked with an evil grin.
“I’m pretty sure that isn’t the atmosphere we’re going for in this meeting,” he replied.
“You’re probably right, what do you suggest I wear?”
“I think it’s important that you be yourself. Presenting anything else would probably be insulting to the others,” he replied.
He left to get dressed, and I started looking through my shirts. He said be myself, so remembering my recent joke, I grabbed my shirt that said Welcome to the dark side are you surprised we lied about the cookies? and a pair of jeans. I quickly threw them on and brushed the bird’s nest out of my hair.
Nate was sitting on the bed, waiting for me when I got done. He picked a nice pair of cargo jeans and a dark blue polo shirt. Good, he didn’t go for a three-piece suit, which would’ve made me look ridiculous.
“You all set?” he asked.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” I said, grabbing his hand and leading him to the dining room, where the power seemed to be coming from.
“There you guys are,” my mother said just before we got there. “Everyone is all set and we’ve put out a breakfast buffet.’
“Wow, thanks, Mom,” I said, wishing I would’ve woken up earlier to help.
“It’s no problem, honey. I know how it is being newly bonded. I expected you guys needed to sleep in a little,” she said with a wink, and then headed off to the kitchen.
“She’s your mother-in-law,” I said, turning to Nate.
“And since she gave me you, I’m very grateful that she is,” he replied, leading me into the dining room.
Inside, I found at least fifty people busy talking and eating food. I stopped and took it all in. These people were all special in some way, and I was going to be asking them to reveal that to the world. I was starting to get my nerves back just a little. I saw a few familiar faces, but for the most part they were all new to me.
“Everything will be great,” Nate said, and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.
A loud whistle sounded and everyone turned to Jimmy. He nodded his head in our direction and I could feel everyone’s eyes focus in on us. Okay, definitely feeling those nerves now. I didn’t like them, but I’d dealt with them before.
“Good morning, everyone, and thank you for coming on such short notice. I trust you’ve been well taken care of while you were waiting,” Nate said. The crowd mumbled their approval and he led me to a chair at the head of the table. “Do we have those who couldn’t make it on the phone yet?” he asked, when Rick nodded his head he continued.
“As you all know, I am Nathaniel, leader of the phoenix race, and this is my beautiful mate and queen, Avery. I know you’ve all met her at one time or another, but part of the reason why we’ve brought you all here is that she doesn’t remember the majority of you. The few she does know are only because she’s met them within the last few months.”
The crowd started to rumble a little with questions of how that was possible. They were going to love that I didn’t have all the details, but I had enough I could wing it.
“If I may,” I started and everyone quieted. “Like Nate, I too, would like to thank you all for coming. This meeting is kind of twofold. Part of it is informational to bring you all up-to-date on current events affecting the unique community; my memory issue is part of that portion of the agenda.
“The other portion is a strategy session on what to do next. The ideas we’ve come up with will change all of our lives, and I personally want to make sure every one of you is okay with the decisions we make.”
A man in the crowd raised his hand and I pointed to him. It felt like I was back in school, but I was in the teacher’s seat.
“I’m Seth, the leader of the tigers, and before you go any further, I’m pretty sure I speak for everyone here when I say thank you for including us in this. This is the first time we’ve all been brought together as a community, and I for one hope there will be many more chances for us to unite,” he said as other people in the crowd started to clap in agreement.
It made me smile. “Thank you. If I have my way, this will become at least a yearly occurrence. Back to my story, which is where this all begins. I’m not sure what you know about my powers, but I’ve been told I have the ability to see the future sometimes.
“I haven’t for sure experienced it in my current awareness, but I don’t doubt what I’ve been told. A few decades ago I saw a vision that I’m still trying to piece together, but essentially it was of the uniques battling a group of warlocks.
“Something about the vision caused me to take steps to become a sorceress. I eventually found a spell, and with the little bit of magic I could already control, I said the spell at my last bonfire. I’m told that the price for becoming a sorceress was a temporary loss of my memory and me not coming back for a length of time. I’m not sure that everyone here knows, but I was missing to the phoenix world for about a half a century.
“Even when I did come back, I went through the process all wrong. Instead of coming back as my thirty-year-old self, I grew again as an infant. I think we’ve recently figured out that adding in the sorceress part of me made it so no one knew it was really just me reincarnated. Nate found me a year ago and our soulmate bond was undeniable, even though I thought he was just supercharged with electricity all the time.”
I was on a roll, and probably should’ve stopped to at least take a breath, but I didn’t want anyone filling in any gaps on their own before I could get it all out.
“Eventually, I started regaining my memories, and he was forced to reveal what I really was. It was a bit of a shocker after living twenty-five years thinking I was a normal human. Slowly, over the past few months, we’ve been figuring out what really happened, and I’ve been trying to relearn how to be a magical being.
“Over those months, we found a note I wrote to myself explaining that there was a war coming and I did everything I could to help prepare myself. I’ve also remembered a vision of a warlock with a knife that can kill uniques. That warlock contacted us after I killed his son and daughter-in-law up in Alaska. They were doing horrible things to some of the shifters there, trying to kill them in the most brutal way possible.
“Our last bit of intelligence explains why they’re starting the war in the first place. There was a prophecy once written that I would rule our people and serve as a bridge between the human and unique worlds. I’d also bring about the end of the soulless amongst us and eventually birth the next great oracle,” I paused to let that sink in.
I wasn’t too comfortable about the ruling part, so I was interested to see their response. No one had stopped me to make Nate retell the story, so they at least didn’t mind hearing me speak.
“You mean with you around and in charge we’ll start having kids again?” a man I didn’t recognize asks.
“I thought that would be the thing everyone picked up on,” Nate said, laughing. I thought the war was a little more important than having kids. “That’s how we’re seeing it. It wouldn’t be right for the Fates to allow us to start having children and not everyone else.”
“To add to what Nate just said, the Fates, or at least the one in charge of baby making, has been trying to figure out a way to break the warlock??
?s spell that’s blocking the birth of unique children,” I said.
“I’m pretty sure we’ve already accomplished that, my friend,” Eva said walking into the room.
“You,” I said, pointing my finger at her. “I can’t believe you’re actually showing your face around here. You have some explaining to do, missy.”
“Come on, Avery, it wasn’t that bad, and it broke the spell. I’ve already been able to create a couple new bundles of joy amongst your friends,” she replied.
“You’re friends with one of the three Fates?” a woman in the crowd asked. I glanced around and everyone was staring at me in shock. Seriously, they still weren’t focusing in on the war. I was beginning to worry about where their heads were.
“Oh yeah, we are besties, even if Avery is a little angry with me right now,” Eva responded, coming to stand by me. “She’s also close with my other sisters, but they couldn’t make it to the shindig today. I’ll make sure they clear the calendar for the next one. People always say we liven a party.”
“Eva, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“Well, you know your well-being is something I’m very concerned about, so the outcome of this meeting is important to me. I think my invitation got lost in the mail though, so I had to come crash the party,” she replied. “Plus, I wanted to make sure you knew about your Faie and fox friends being in the motherly way. You’ll want to start planning the baby showers immediately. If you need any help with that, let me know.”
I looked over to Frannie, who I’d noticed sitting with Gary and his father, and she just shrugged, clearly not sure what was going on.
“Yes, that’s the Faie friend I’m speaking of,” Eva butted in. Frannie’s face lit up as she grabbed Gary’s hand.
“Really, we’re going to have a baby?” she asked Eva.
“Sure, I figure when Avery finally gives in and has the triplets, they’ll need some little playmates. Since you’re her newest best friend, I thought it’d be good if you went through things with her. She’s not exactly working to get pregnant right now, but it’s only a matter of time.”
“Ixnay ethay iplettray alktay,” I said to Eva under my breath.
It was bad enough she was revealing information about my sex life. I didn’t want everyone to know about the triplets.
“Why should I nix the triplet talk?” she asked. “I think it’s great news. You and your brother are the only set of twins in the phoenix world, and you and Nate are going to have the only triplets in all of the unique world.”
“I know, but I was keeping the exact number of children a secret from Nate,” I said.
She looked over at Nate and said, “Oops, sorry.”
“So the curse was broken when we did the bonding ceremony?” Nate asked, jumping into the conversation.
“Yeah, part of that whole true love defeating any curse mumbo jumbo. Once you two kiddies got all resynched, I felt the curse lift and went to work,” she replied.
“Just how many babies did you create last night?” I asked, scared to hear an actual total.
“Chances are anyone who did the horizontal mambo with their mate last night is going to be in for a little surprise soon,” she replied. “Exact delivery dates vary based on species.”
“You don’t do things halfway, do you? So now that you have everyone’s mind on baby making, can we try to get back to the meeting?” I asked.
“Hey, you put the idea in their heads, I just confirmed it was possible.” She found a chair and sat it next to me. “You may continue with your conversation now.”
“Thank you so much, Eva, for allowing me to continue my meeting,” I said in a terse voice.
“Oh hush, you’ll get over it once you have those three kids running around your ankles,” she replied.
Before I continued, I thought to myself, with friends like her, who needed enemies?
CHAPTER 27
War, what is it good for?