“Of all of us, you were the one most concerned with how our lack of comprehending this specific human emotion had resulted in such dramatic consequences. You felt the weight of Saraqael’s loss most keenly. You also argued that the coming children would be half-human and likely prone to human emotions of this level. You pointed out we would be unable to perceive or correctly interpret those emotions, meaning we could not effectively communicate with them. It was a valid concern.
“And so, when you approached the remaining elders and said that you wanted to enter the human plane in such a way that you could gain this much-needed understanding of human nature, we listened to your plea with objective ears. It was decided that we put all of humanity as well as our own kind at risk by not educating ourselves as thoroughly as possible. And we devised a plan to make it happen.
“After much deliberation, it was determined that the only safe way to enmesh you into human society without risking your sanity was to deliver you to the human plane in the form of a baby and have you grow as a human would. To do so, we had to completely repress your Estilorian self. In essence, we had to erase everything you were from your awareness. It required your complete submission, a relinquishing of all of your power and a great amount of our combined abilities to make it happen.”
He sensed Amber turn her head to look up at him and he glanced over. One corner of her mouth rose.
I’m not surprised. You’ll always do what’s right.
Blinking in surprise, he wondered if he had just imagined her thoughts. The words had seemed startlingly clear. Then he swiveled back to Ini-herit when he spoke again.
“By the time we were ready to send you over to this plane, the girls had made their crossing and Ambryl’s whereabouts had been determined. We opted to place you geographically near her, knowing that her Estilorian guardian had been killed before a proper human guardian could be identified. The Elphresti reasoned that having you near at least one of the girls would make our tracking of everyone easier. As it happened, that decision proved to be the solution to Ambryl’s placement issue.”
There was another pause. Gabriel held Ini-herit’s creepy stare and tried to find some part of his consciousness that identified with his supposedly Estilorian “self.” He still didn’t feel any different. But for some reason, he hadn’t doubted a word that Ini-herit relayed. It was more than a little scary.
“Hey,” Amber said suddenly, looking over at Gabriel. “If you came over here after me, that means you’re actually younger than me!”
“Actually, his form was that of an infant rather than a newborn when he transitioned. And he is millennia older than you,” Ini-herit corrected in his serious tone.
After a moment of staring at the Estilorian, both Amber and Gabriel broke into laughter. It was just what they needed to help lighten the intensity of the conversation.
Ignoring their outburst, Ini-herit went on, “The Corgloresti assigned to you on this plane, Gabriel, posed as your human mother until she identified a suitable human guardian.”
“Mrs. B,” Gabriel murmured, his humor fading. “How much does she know?”
“Enough,” Ini-herit responded vaguely. “We have been able to monitor your progress using the skills of our Orculesti, who can travel to the human plane with their minds using an Estilorian on the human plane as a conduit. We observed you grow into the young man you are now. And when Ambryl joined you, we were then able to monitor her more closely than we had before. It admittedly made things easier for all of us.”
“Geez,” Amber said with a frown. “Totally Big Brother. What about privacy?”
Ini-herit shrugged. “A human concern that means little to us. Your safety was of far more importance.”
He had a point.
His dark gaze moved between them and then settled on Gabriel. “At approximately nine o’clock this morning, we lost all connection with you. Something occurred to place a barrier against entering your mind, which is why I injured you when I tried.”
Amber gave Gabriel a questioning look, and he caught her gaze while adding pressure to her ring using his thumb. She blinked as shock and comprehension sank in. Rather than explaining, they turned back to Ini-herit.
“Is that why you’re here?” she asked incredulously.
“Of course not,” he answered, “though it is perplexing.” He paused and stared at them another moment. Realizing they weren’t going to respond, he said, “We surmised that this disrupted connection might somehow be a result of your birthday and the growth of your power, Ambryl. After all, that is the reason I am here.”
“My power?”
“Your recent surge was more intense than the previous ones. If Gabriel had not acted quickly, human lives would most certainly have been lost. As it was, you nearly drowned.”
Amber looked stunned. Gabriel figured she was now realizing that the Estilorians knew literally everything about her…meaning they also knew what had happened at the pond after he had rescued her. Her face flushed and she started nibbling on her lower lip. He released her hand and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze.
“And your sisters also had surges this year,” Ini-herit explained.
Obviously forgetting all about her embarrassment, she sat straighter. “They did?”
“Indeed. Neither of their surges was as violent as yours, but we quickly came to the conclusion that this is the time to bring you all back to the Estilorian plane as quickly as possible.”
“I’m kind of relieved to hear—what?” She gaped at him.
“Since we knew you were planning this trip and Skylar lives in the area, it was quite simple to get you all together for the transition. I followed you from Atlanta to make sure nothing went awry with our plans.” Seeing their expressions, he added, “Ambryl, you are now old enough to defend yourself and understand your origins. The hunting by the Mercesti on our plane has grown steadily more persistent since your birth, putting your Estilorian form at greater risk. And, most importantly, your presence on the human plane will endanger human lives, which we find unacceptable. Our Wymzesti have unanimously predicted that by the end of this day, your power will surge to a highly dangerous level. They are rarely wrong.”
Gabriel thought about Amber’s fluctuating eye color and the near-convulsion she experienced when she touched Olivia. Then he pictured her lifeless body beside the pond, remembering all too clearly his absolute terror when he thought he had lost her. Torn, he looked down and again caught her gaze.
“I’m not going to leave you,” she said firmly. “I don’t care if I have to hide in a cave to get through the night, I won’t do it.”
“And you will not have to,” Ini-herit responded before Gabriel could. “Gabriel is coming with us.”
Fifteen minutes later, they emerged from Nick’s office two very different people than who had entered it. Still reeling and feeling like the survivor of a major catastrophe, Gabriel put his right arm around Amber’s waist as Ini-herit opened the office door and directed them through. Across the hall in an open office sat Olivia, Skye, Nick and Jean. They all got to their feet and turned to face them when they walked into the hall. Their expressions ranged from Nick’s seemingly mild curiosity to Jean’s maternal concern. Olivia and Skye both looked startled and uncertain.
“Uh…” Skye began, her gaze shifting between them. “Gabriel, um, you have a little something right—” she started to point to a place on the side of her mouth and then made a wide circle to indicate her entire upper body, “here.”
Glancing down, he suddenly remembered the blood covering them both. It seemed ridiculously unimportant now. “Yeah,” he said for lack of anything more insightful to say.
“I’ll go get you two some clean T-shirts from the gift shop,” Nick said. He paused as he neared them. Reaching out, he briefly placed a companionable hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. Then he turned and walked down the hall.
Jean had stepped forward and now reached out to rub Amber’s upper arm in a show of concern. Gab
riel felt Amber tense against him at the stranger’s touch. He gave her credit for not pulling away.
“Why don’t I show you two to the bathroom so you can get cleaned up?” she offered.
“Thank you, ma’am. That’d be great,” he responded for both of them.
“You can just call me Jean,” she said with a gentle smile, and waved them after her.
It didn’t take long for them to use the available soap and water in the restrooms to cleanse themselves of the blood on their skin. Nick provided Amber with a dark green T-shirt sporting an Alutiiq petroglyph that resembled a deer. Gabriel’s T-shirt was gray and sported a dancing human figure with the words, “I like to PUKUK.” Since Nick had taken Gabriel’s hoodie before their meeting with Ini-herit, it was still clean and wearable. Skye had an extra cardigan that she loaned Amber. It was a neon shade of pink that Amber would never have usually been caught dead in, but they had bigger things to worry about.
Ini-herit had explained at the conclusion of their time with him that they would have to leave all of their human possessions behind. In vague terms, he told them about the transition from one plane to the next, informing them that nothing would physically cross over with them. A Corgloresti would be sent to remove their things from the rental house and settle the payment with the owners. He was deliberately vague regarding what Mrs. B would be told regarding their disappearance. Gabriel was convinced she would be told they were dead, a thought that troubled him and Amber deeply.
They traveled, a rather quiet and somber group, in a passenger van driven by Nick to a different airport than Gabriel and Amber had arrived at just the day before. Ini-herit led them through the small terminal and out onto the tarmac toward a chartered plane they would be taking to Fairbanks.
Giving the girls a moment to say goodbye to their human guardians, who would not be traveling to Fairbanks, Ini-herit walked over to converse with the pilot. A pet carrier containing Olivia’s white cat was being loaded onto the plane. Amber and Gabriel stood quietly apart from the others, watching Skye talk with Nick while she wiped a steady stream of tears from her face. Olivia was equally tearful as she spoke with Jean. They hugged several times. Then Olivia took something from Jean and made her way over to Amber and Gabriel.
When she reached them, she gave them a small smile and held out the object she carried. It was a cell phone. “Here,” she said. “I know Ini-herit probably told you that you couldn’t speak with your guardian before you leave. But if it was me, I couldn’t leave Jean without saying goodbye.”
Amber didn’t say anything at first, but she reached for the phone. Gabriel started to speak, then held back. He gently squeezed her shoulder.
“Thanks, Olivia,” she said softly. “We really appreciate it. Though…I don’t know what we can really tell her.”
Giving Amber’s upper arm a brief pat of understanding, Olivia looked at each of them with compassionate green eyes that held the wisdom of someone three times her age. “Just tell her what she needs to hear.” Then she turned and walked back to Jean.
So, as Ini-herit made the final arrangements with the pilot, Amber slowly dialed the familiar number that would allow her and Gabriel to tell the woman who had raised them into adulthood that she would never see them again.
Chapter Sixteen
The plane was in the air by 2:30. It seemed impossible to Amber that this was still the same day that had begun that morning with Gabriel fixing her French toast.
He sat beside her now in the last row of the small plane. Olivia and Skye were seated beside each other across the aisle from them, their heads bent together in conversation. Ini-herit sat in the front row by himself, by all appearances completely unmoving.
“How’re you holding up?” Gabriel asked her quietly once the pilot announced that they had reached their cruising altitude. He had lifted the arm rest between their seats and was now holding her left hand between both of his on top of his right thigh.
Turning from the window and catching his serious gaze, she answered, “Like Alice after she went through the looking glass.”
That provoked a small smile, which had been her goal. “I keep wondering how the hell we got here,” he admitted. “It’s like some crazy dream.”
“I know.” She frowned, thinking of The Dream. “The shock and numbness are wearing off now. Reality’s starting to set in. I mean, holy crap!”
“Are you wondering like I am why we were so easily convinced about all this?”
Giving that some thought, she shook her head. “Actually, I think we’ve both known for a long time that I’m unusual.” She gave herself a moment to enjoy his quick, playful grin. Then she added, “I’ll admit that finding out you’re a bit of a freak, too, was quite a shocker.”
His expression sobered. “Yeah.”
Keeping her voice low and studying the back of Ini-herit’s head as though he could hear her, she asked, “Why do you think Ini-herit’s Wymzestis—or Orculestis, or whatever they’re called—lost the ability to connect with your mind this morning? And yes, I know that is one of the strangest questions to ever leave my mouth.”
He managed another smile and then shook his head. “I wish I knew. That’s right around the time that we exchanged the rings, but how something like that could affect a being from a whole other plane…it completely defeats me.”
She knew she had to let it go. Neither of them had a clue what they were getting into, so they had no chance of gaining an answer to this particular puzzle. She tipped her head to the left and settled it on his shoulder.
Sighing, she whispered, “I’m scared.”
“I know,” he said. He kissed the top of her head and held her hand more tightly. “I am, too.”
Ini-herit had told them that the Estilorians had no real way of knowing how the transition between the planes would affect any of them, particularly their minds. The chances were favorable for the girls that they would end up on the Estilorian plane with their human personality traits and memories fully intact, as this was the only existence they had ever known. But a small chance did exist that they would enter their Estilorian forms and have only the memories they retained from that plane. Meaning, they would have the minds of newborn infants.
He also very bluntly said there was a fifty-fifty chance that Gabriel would retain his human awareness. Thus, the chance was equally great that Gabriel would revert entirely to his formerly Estilorian self on the Estilorian plane, not retaining a single memory of his time as a human. Because the Estilorians had never attempted anything like this in the past, they simply had no way to know whether it would work.
Amber pondered this very disturbing possibility as the single flight attendant on the plane circulated with drinks and bags of snacks. The enormity of the risk they were taking—the very real chance that Gabriel wouldn’t remember her or his love for her in only a matter of hours—weighed on her like stone. But Ini-herit had spent quite some time impressing the importance of them making the transition with all haste to prevent the loss of human lives. She knew they didn’t have any choice.
Gabriel handed her one of the bags of dried fruit with granola and a small bottle of water. Although her stomach was a sour knot of fear, she decided to eat since she figured she was unlikely to get any other food in the near future.
Looking at him as she pulled the small bag open, she said, “You know that if you forget me when we cross over that I’m going to nag and browbeat you until you give up and fall in love with me again, right?”
His eyes filled with warmth and appreciation. Then he leaned over and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. “Well, it sure worked the first time. I’d say you have yourself a sound plan.”
Across the aisle, Olivia and Skye watched the byplay between Amber and Gabriel as they ate. The plane’s engines were too loud for them to hear any of the words they exchanged, but the feelings shared by the two of them were clear enough.
Skye elbowed Olivia. “Isn’t that something? I mean, he comes here to learn
about powerful human emotions and then falls in love with our sister. It’s just poetic.”
Although Olivia was typically more inclined to think in terms of logic and reasoning than in flowery romanticism, she couldn’t argue with Skye’s assessment. There was something almost palpable about the connection between Amber and Gabriel. It was enviable, really. And even though she hardly knew Amber, she was very happy for her. From what Olivia had gauged in only the past few hours, her elder sister was highly uncomfortable with connections with other people. It didn’t take much to deduce that Amber’s path had not been an easy one. Which made her love for Gabriel even more significant, she thought.
“It’s sweet,” she said out loud, returning her gaze to her tray table. She didn’t want to infringe on their privacy.
“Have you wondered what guys are going to be like on the other plane?” Skye asked around a bite of granola.
“No, actually,” Olivia acknowledged. “I haven’t known about all of this for very long. It’s a lot to process.”
“Oh, for sure,” Skye agreed with what Olivia had determined was her perpetual enthusiasm. “I mean, gosh, I’ve known about this for most of my life. I don’t know how you and Amber are handling it. I’m sure I’d be freaking out!”
Freaking out. Olivia supposed that was a fairly accurate term for her initial reaction. First had come the unexpected power surge. Fortunately it had happened while she was with Jean, as she blacked out almost as soon as it occurred. Jean had been warned to look for signs like that, of course, and it wasn’t even a full day after the surge before Ini-herit showed up at their front door to have the “big talk.”