Moon Shimmers(10)

As we headed back to the patrol cars, I tried not to think about what the morning headlines would say. With Steve Trentallon there, chances were good there would be a full-scale hate piece in the Tattler the next day and that would spur on a new round of pickets at every store owned by a Supe. Luckily, the All Worlds United in Peace organization would be out to counter-protest. They were an offshoot of the United Worlds Church, and had grown to include a number of the local churches, temples, and mosques, as well as other pro-environment, pro-unification organizations.

Delilah must have been thinking along the same lines because she said, “I should contact Neely and ask her how things are going. We haven’t had much chance to do anything but sort out the aftermath of Menolly’s trip to the Sub-Realms.”

“Yeah, I know.” I glanced over at Menolly, who was walking silently beside Vanzir. Her trip into the Subterranean Realms to rescue her wife had left her shaken and a lot quieter than normal. I wasn’t sure what had shifted, but ever since then she seemed more thoughtful and less prone to fly off the handle. Maybe it was the fact that we were finally one-up on Shadow Wing, the demon lord. Or maybe it was just the realization of how close she had come to losing what was most precious in her life, but there had been a subtle change in her nature.

I glanced up at Smoky as a tendril of his hair looped up and around my shoulder. A dragon’s hair had a life of its own and the tendrils could maneuver around like an arm and hand.

“Yes, love?”

“Just happy to be with you,” he said.

I leaned against him, resting my head against his shoulder. As we approached the patrol cars, Smoky said, “Vanzir and I will go back through the Ionyc Sea. You girls drive home together.”

“All right. We’ll see you there.”

He wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off my feet to meet his lips, his hair billowing around him like a cloak caught by the breeze. “Don’t be long,” he murmured.

“I won’t,” I whispered, wanting him more than ever.





BY THE TIME we found my shoes and reached home, it was nearing midnight. As we pulled into the driveway, I saw the lights were still on. That was nothing new, given how many people lived in the old three-story Victorian. Weathered and from another era, still the house stood strong. Thanks to the men, it was in good condition—freshly painted, and any damage was always immediately repaired. We had bought the mansion when we first came over Earthside, with money that our mother had put aside for us when we were young. It had grown over the years. She had opened bank accounts for us, gotten Social Security numbers for us long before Earthside knew about Otherworld, all on the chance that we would one day want to visit her homeworld.

The house sat on five acres originally, but thanks to Smoky’s purse and his good will, we now owned almost ten more—four acres of wetlands, five acres of usable land, and Birchwater Pond. Otherworld had once been my home, and still was to some extent, but this house signified home to me. And within a couple weeks, I was going to have to leave it. I caught my breath, worrying my lip. I wasn’t the only one facing a move.

Menolly and Nerissa would be going to live with Roman in his mansion. Delilah would stay here with Shade and Rozurial—one of our companions and a member of our extended family. And she would keep Maggie with her.

The thought of leaving Maggie was harder than anything else. I had found the baby calico gargoyle a few years back. She had been destined to be a harpy’s lunch, but I had managed to save her and she was like the little sister we all doted on. A woodland gargoyle, she would grow slowly. She wouldn’t even be out of the toddler stage for another fifty or sixty years. We all agreed that the Barrows weren’t the ideal place for her, and neither was a vampire’s lair, so that left Delilah to take over as her mother.

As we headed to the house my mood slipped deeper into a mire. Trying to shake it off, I paused for a moment by my herb garden, which was to the left in the front yard. I knelt, running my fingers over the spearmint, crushing a leaf under my nose to release the vibrant, sharp scent. Mint was soothing. It refreshed the mind, and I had been cultivating a particularly concentrated strain. My tears backtracked as the fragrance cleared my sinuses and washed over me with a calming effect.

“Coming?” Delilah called.

“I’ll be right there.” I broke off a couple of stems of the mint for some fresh tea and headed up the stairs.

As we entered the house, I could tell something was up. This wasn’t a typical Thursday night. For one thing, Iris and Bruce were both at the table. Everybody else was awake and gathered in the kitchen, as well. Nerissa and Roz were poring over a sheath of papers, and Hanna—our housekeeper—was holding Maggie, who was sucking her thumb. Chase had arrived before we had, and he was frowning as he leaned over Nerissa’s shoulder, reading the page she was holding. Trillian and Morio were spreading out maps on the kitchen table.