Shift

  At first, he thought she meant Ini-herit. But the Corgloresti elder hadn’t left, so that couldn’t be right. As he drank some water he had left nearby, he considered her words.

  “You know?” he asked at last, catching her understanding gaze.

  “I’ve suspected,” she clarified.

  Because her eyes and expression reflected no judgment, he relaxed a bit. Shrugging, he put his cup to the side and then sat on the ground to stretch. She sat beside him.

  “Your suspicions are spot on,” he said.

  “Well, it’ll sure be interesting to see what kind of reaction Zachariah has when he finds out you’re in love with Tate.”

  His eyes widening, he turned to her with an aghast expression. She burst out laughing and he knew then that she had been joking. That loosened up even more of his tension. He found himself grinning and shoving her in the shoulder.

  “Ha, ha.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, though she didn’t look it. “Yeah, I’ve been pretty certain about your feelings for Sophia since we went on our recent trip together. You expressed far more concern over her when she shifted and left our campsite than seemed necessary.”

  “Ah.”

  “Then I started paying attention to how the two of you interacted. I could see that carrying her in the harness was having an effect on you.”

  Now, embarrassment flooded him. “Geez, C.K. Give a guy a break.”

  She reached over and rubbed his hand, then gave it a squeeze. “Look, I just knew that it wasn’t the most comfortable experience you’d ever had. It was easy enough to see that it wasn’t because you didn’t want to be touching Sophia.”

  He realized that she wasn’t trying to be funny this time, so he let his defensiveness fall away. Releasing her hand, he reached down to grab his feet so he could stretch his quadriceps. “Yeah, well, Sophia saw it exactly the opposite way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that up until I talked with her yesterday, she was apparently convinced that I loathed the very sight of her.”

  Clara Kate’s expression reflected the shock he felt when he first discovered this. She then grew thoughtful. “Hmm. Knowing Sophia like I do, I’m a little surprised.”

  “Why is that?”

  “She rarely draws a conclusion with so little evidence to support it.”

  He snorted at that. “In her mind, she had all the evidence she needed. When I tried to tell her the truth, she blew up at me. She seems to think that I only told her how I feel so I could make her current trip more stressful.”

  “Oh, Quincy,” she said, her eyes full of compassion. She reached up and rubbed his arm. “I’m really sorry. I know this doesn’t help, but I do know how it feels to love someone without knowing exactly how they feel about you in return.”

  “It sucks,” Quincy said.

  “Yeah, it does.”

  They both turned at the sound of a throat clearing. Ini-herit stood behind them. Quincy hadn’t even heard him approach and found that quite unnerving. Also unnerving was the elder’s intent stare. He was focused on Clara Kate’s hand where it rested on Quincy’s shoulder. She seemed to realize this at the exact same time he did, as she quickly snatched her hand away.

  “Yes, sir?” Quincy asked, hoping this didn’t turn into yet another awkward situation. He’d had quite enough of those to last him a lifetime, thank you very much.

  “I have come to inform you that Amber is in labor.”

  Instantly, everything else ceased to hold as much significance. Yes, the others had left on their important mission, but there were life-changing events occurring right here.

  Quincy nodded and got to his feet. “Great. Please let her and Gabriel know that I’ll meet them at the clinic.” Glancing at Clara Kate, he asked, “So…you want to see your new brother or sister brought into the world?”

  Chapter 18

  “What are we doing here, Bertram?”

  Glancing up from his inadequate meal of a handful of walnuts, Bertram watched Tycho pace. They weren’t really sheltered from sight, so the agitated movement as well as the fairly loud question made Bertram frown.

  “Would you keep it down?” he snapped in a loud whisper. “And stop the pacing. The only thing between us and the one we are following is a couple of barren hills. For the love of darkness, any Estilorian taller than six feet could stand at the top of a hill and spot us even without the pacing. So knock it off already.”

  Although he hissed in complaint, Tycho dropped to the ground beside his companion. “I do not understand why we were asked to do this scouting by Eirik,” he said.

  At least his voice was a few decibels lower, Bertram observed. “It is not our job to understand.”

  He didn’t add that he had been having similar questioning thoughts since Eirik’s unexpected appearance. Back when they brought the Kynzesti female to Eirik to earn his favor, their leader made mention of some kind of scroll. Outside of that, they had no idea what he sought, and no amount of questioning had produced the information.

  “He tells us next to nothing and now wants us to bring in the Kynzesti and Lekwuesti females for him. I suspect that he will then do whatever he wants with them and shut us out again.”

  “Our lord is honorable to his loyal followers,” Bertram argued. “When we do this, we will be indispensible in his eyes.”

  Tycho considered this. “Do you suppose he will be inclined to share part of whatever it is the two females can find with their abilities?”

  “Probably not,” Bertram answered after a moment. That was why he had been questioning his lord more and more frequently in recent days.

  They were distracted when the being they tracked suddenly appeared in the distance, surrounded by Waresti. Bertram waved at Tycho. The two of them quickly flattened themselves in the high grass. They had created camouflaging suits of stitched-together pieces of grassy earth and now hoped their efforts paid off. Lying as still as they could, they watched as the group gathered to depart. Although they were too far away to be heard, they were obviously about to take flight.

  “Are you seeing what I am?” Tycho whispered.

  Frowning, Bertram wondered what his companion meant. He looked among the group and couldn’t see anything unusual.

  Then two of the males parted. Standing right in the center of the others were the two females Eirik sought.

  “Yes,” Bertram said.

  “Why do you suppose they are bringing the females outside of the protections surrounding their homeland?” Tycho wondered. “All this time, I thought we would have to capture someone and coerce them to get us through the protections.”

  Bertram considered the possibilities. They had followed the Wymzesti elder from Kanika’s home, figuring he would lead them to where the two females resided. Once the elder disappeared from their sight, they set up camp, knowing that eventually someone would emerge from the area of protection. They then planned on capturing that individual and convincing him—or her—to either get them within the protected area or bring the females outside of it.

  There had been concerns. Waresti patrolled the area, as did a large, black kragen and some fierce looking panthers. But as converted Waresti, Bertram and Tycho had survived many centuries on their abilities to evade detection.

  Now, their efforts had paid off. They watched as the group extended their wings to take flight. A huge mass suddenly flew out of the forest. Apparently the kragen would be going with them.

  “Is that a pair of red wings I see?” Tycho asked.

  Tilting his head, Bertram saw the wings in question right beside one of three sets of deep blue-green wings. When some of the crowd lifted into the air, Bertram and Tycho were able to see to whom the wings belonged.

  “Zachariah,” they said at the same time.

  “Why would he be within the area of protection?” Tycho mused. “Could he have been taken prisoner?”

  “No,” Bertram said as he thought it through. “They would never brin
g a prisoner within the protected homeland of the Kynzesti. He is in league with them.”

  Tycho frowned, clearly not seeing how this could be possible. Bertram was equally perplexed. But he knew that Zachariah was the former Gloresti second commander and, as such, had been relatively close to the Gloresti elder. Perhaps that had allowed him to convince them that he should be permitted within the homeland.

  “I have no idea how he managed it,” Bertram said, “but all this means is that Zachariah is another obstacle for us to get through to acquire the two females.”

  Tycho glanced at him. “We will be risking our lives to do this.”

  “I know.”

  “It strikes me as foolish to put ourselves at so much risk for Eirik's benefit.”

  Bertram nodded, coming to an immediate decision. “Agreed. I think that if we are going to put ourselves at such risk, it should be us who experiences the reward.”

  His eyes narrowing in understanding, Tycho said, “We will draw Eirik’s wrath by defying him.”

  Bertram shrugged and began thinking of how they would follow the now-airborne group without getting caught. “Eirik seems to think that whatever scroll these two females can find is worth any price. That tells me that if we get it instead, Eirik’s wrath will not be a concern.”

  “Very true,” Tycho said. He got to his feet. “Let’s go.”

  Quincy took his time arranging the delivery room to his specifications as Amber walked around to ease her discomfort. Gabriel sat on a stool watching her in case he was needed. As this was her seventh time going through this, they were all very familiar with what worked best. Unlike Olivia, who preferred to rest during labor, Amber preferred action.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” Amber said to Clara Kate through the lavender barrier as she walked past it. “Don’t be too surprised if you hear words coming out of my mouth that you normally wouldn’t, though.”

  Clara Kate laughed. “No worries, Mom. Better you than me.”

  Quincy glanced at C.K. and shared a smile with her. His smile faded when he turned back to his tools and set out a device meant to monitor body temperature. They actually didn’t know yet whether female Kynzesti would be able to reproduce. The exams he could conduct without the scanning equipment available on the human plane told him that Kynzesti females did have the right reproductive organs. However, none of them had ever menstruated.

  He knew this concerned their parents. They had hoped, with their daughters being one-quarter human, that they might also be able to bear children. Only time would tell.

  Amber stopped walking and grasped the edge of a bedrail, squeezing her eyes shut in obvious pain. Gabriel got to his feet and hurried to her side as she started breathing through the contraction.

  “Back?” he asked.

  She nodded as she concentrated on her breathing. He rubbed her lower back to help ease the pain of the contraction.

  This went on for another two hours before Quincy determined that Amber was ready to push. He and Gabriel helped her get settled on the bed in a sitting position. Her face was flushed from her efforts and, Quincy knew, embarrassment over her exposed position. No matter how many times they went through this, she was still uncomfortable with it. He found that endearing.

  “Okay, Amber,” he said as he brought his stool over and sat down. He began summoning his Corgloresti power as he instructed, “I want you to close your eyes and practice your visualization techniques.”

  Of the three sisters, Amber had the most difficult time with her deliveries. It had gotten better over time. But because faith was such a core element to a successful Kynzesti birthing and Amber had the least faith of her and her sisters, she required more of Quincy’s energy.

  He thought back to Clara Kate’s birth and the first time they went through this. They hadn’t known what to expect. Quincy operated largely off of instinct and what he knew of Kate’s labor when Saraqael’s daughters were born. He had known that it wouldn’t be a straightforward human birth and had created a number of hypothetical scenarios beforehand. None of them compared to the reality.

  They had come dangerously close to losing Clara Kate. He’d used a lot of his Corgloresti power during the birth, needing it to offset Amber’s diminished faith. After that, they had learned ways to help Amber develop the skills she needed for future births.

  Now, he waited until she opened her eyes and caught his gaze. He saw the silver glow of his eyes reflected in her gold irises.

  “I’m ready,” she said.

  “Okay,” he said. “During the next contraction, push. And focus.”

  She nodded. Gabriel rubbed her shoulders and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. Quincy brought forth more of his energy and thought of the little life inside of Amber’s womb. Gender and physical details didn’t matter. What did matter was the baby’s vitality. Its will to live. Its desire to enter the world and join its family.

  When Amber started pushing, Quincy held her gaze and envisioned her holding the baby. He thought of her nursing it and kissing its head. He thought of the milestones to come and the role Amber would play in helping the baby achieve them. He thought of the baby’s existing family and envisioned the baby as a new part of it.

  These were all things he taught her to visualize. When he felt the baby’s head emerge with a vibrant current of energy, he knew the tactic had worked.

  A moment later, her new son was born.

  Quincy wrapped the baby in the waiting blanket and then handed him over to his beaming parents. The drain on his energy after the nearly sleepless night had Quincy moving slower than usual to take care of the rest of his routine. He knew the procedure well enough that it didn’t require much thought, though.

  Before long, Quincy gave the all-clear so that Sebastian could remove the barrier. “Come and meet your brother, Jack,” Amber said to Clara Kate.

  Quincy watched the family gather around the new baby and smiled. He had just brought another part of Saraqael’s legacy into the world. It was something he eagerly anticipated every three years...though not as much as he anticipated seeing Sophia again.

  Inevitably, his thoughts turned to her.

  Within the span of a day, she had gone from seeing him as a miracle worker to thinking of him as a bumbling fool with no consideration for others. He now understood that by keeping his feelings to himself all these years, he’d severely damaged their friendship. He’d made the female he loved feel like she was somehow less than everyone else, something for which he would never forgive himself. He knew how much she valued his opinions when she was growing up. He should have seen how his avoidance impacted her.

  Instead, he had turned a blind eye to it, fearing the repercussions of baring his heart to her.

  Well, she wouldn’t have to worry about him making her uncomfortable or unhappy anymore. He would accept the harvest request put to him by archigos Ini-herit. Once Skye’s babies were born, he would be free to transition to the human plane.

  By the time Sophia returned, he would be gone.

  Chapter 19

  It hadn’t taken long for Ariana to pick up the trail to the scroll piece contained in the library. Once they stepped outside the area of protection, she used her connection to Volarius’ sword and the descriptive information she gathered from Quincy to sharpen her focus and make sure they followed the right path. After a brief discussion over their flight formation, they all took off.

  Sophia flew near the front of their group because she was there to offer Ariana support, and Ariana had to be in the lead. From what Sophia understood, Ariana’s ability was different in the air than on the ground. The Lekwuesti explained that while flying she felt a sort of “pull” in the right direction. Only when she was on the ground could she actually see the path leading to the item she sought.

  Ariana had been able to tell as soon as she tapped into her second power that the scroll piece was quite a distance from the homeland. Uriel made the decision to begin their journey by flying to cover more gr
ound. He sent scouts ahead to keep an eye out for Mercesti so that they wouldn’t be spotted. He didn’t want word getting back to Eirik regarding their efforts.

  Although conversing while flying was difficult due to the wind, Sophia occasionally checked on Ariana to see how she was doing. So far, her friend was holding up rather well.

  Without conversation to fill the time, Sophia was left with her thoughts. She pondered how frustrating it was that they hadn’t had an opportunity to test the inoculation she created for Nyx’s toxin. That thought, of course, led her to remember why they hadn’t tested it and what ended up occurring instead.

  Damn Quincy and his amazing kiss, she mentally grumbled. She didn’t stop to consider how telling it was that she focused on Quincy and not the fact that she had been cursed before birth.

  It didn’t mean anything because she had enjoyed his kiss, she told herself as she scanned the ground. She’d been attracted to him for years, after all. When she was younger, she’d even learned that what she had was called a “crush.”

  Well, he’d crushed her heart, all right. She was still reeling from the events of the past few days. Just how much had he expected her to process at once?

  Deliberately pushing him from her mind, she thought of the Elder Scroll. The artifact had the ability to turn an otherwise “normal” Estilorian into an elder. What a ridiculous thing to create, she thought. What other outcome could there possibly be than someone trying to get it and use it for their own purposes?

  Of course, back when the scroll was created all those millennia ago, things had been much different. Still, she had to believe that selfishness and greed had always been a part of life.

  “We will rest up ahead,” Uriel announced.

  Sophia almost sighed with relief. Flying wasn’t as physically draining as it was spiritually. It required one’s faith to extend and use one’s wings. For her, a being who relied more on logic than faith, she had to admit that flying made her weary.

  They landed on the outskirts of a forest and then hiked until they reached a large clearing. Noon sunlight filtered between the trees and warmed the air to a point where Sophia almost didn’t need her cloak. Still, she kept it on, not knowing when they would fly again.