Chris
It had been such a rush of emotions that I had to curb for fifteen years. A person who could actually talk and tell me things that made sense, and I was back on Earth in a second. I was wringing my hands for another hour before Selena came in, and we moved to my room. "She is awake. Don't worry… we will be there the whole time. You focus on Ira when he comes back."
"Has she said what she wanted to find out?"
"She needs to go see Rodrigo. And wants to meet with… Beatrice. She said that's all. Just a few hours."
I could give her that. Let her and Caleb bond. "That's all we have before Ira comes back anyway."
"Okay," Selena said.
I didn't want to ask… "Does she want to see me?"
Selena's lips pouted to the side, and she shook her head.
It hurt. I wanted to be there. Help her. Protect her. I stormed out in a temper. She came all that way. It took me a minute to teleport to all five sites and meet up with Ira on the other side of the planet. I wasn't born yesterday. I was quick to get next to him. I took the glass plate out of his hand and teleported away from him.
I had never told him about how strong I had become. I could go at it all day long. I could even carry Jamal with me. When I stood far away from him, the realization hit… His face contorted. "You have your grandfather's gift." We stood staring at each other. "Is she here?"
I nodded. "Sammy, as well." I sneered. He swore and turned away from me… after a few moments, he turned back. "That cannot be all… What else is going on, Ira?"
"No one can know she is your second child… Can you imagine the havoc! If there is a way for the species to cross? Not only that… But that a girl is in charge of the teleporter tech and is happy to share it with the universe. She would open up all the borders, and they would be streaming in."
"I'm sick of you telling me what will happen… You blame her for control and manipulation, but you're worse! You can't even see it. You're just like her."
"I'm not doing it for myself! She is a selfish girl…."
"You have no idea how selfless she is! We could negotiate with her if you could give her a chance."
"Chris, there hasn't been a queen on En-gannim for five thousand years. That is five generations of men who have changed and cultivated the society they live in. If you think she will stay in power for long… You are wrong… They are probably planning at this moment… And where is she? She is here. Doing just what she wants."
"You're just speculating! You have no idea what would happen. Marcus is there. Do you not understand that!"
"I HAVE TO! You will not take all the factors into account for your people."
"They are not my people or Caleb's! When you put my mother on Earth and didn't go with her. You signed away any claims your sons had on the throne. You should have brought me back… No one wants me in that position or trusts me to take over… Give it to someone else. Hell, you will be living so long anyway… You have almost two thousand years left, Ira! You could take all the pregnant Riphaths into that city and have them sleep with men willing to come and go and start a whole freaking new era."
"How would we withstand attacks from the vampires when they invade with that machine and Earth's guns and bombs… Just to live forever, Chris… Not to mention Brylee. The werewolf army is the one to beat Chris. They are our only rival. Don't you understand? If an army of vampires, the other half werewolves… and the humans… flying around. Teleporting everywhere… Will you see Riphath mounts of death? Their medicine is to such a degree that we will have deaths, and they would have creatures being sent home fixed and shipped right back."
Ira sat down in the sand, defeated. I had never seen him like that. My father was taller than me. Jet black hair. Still thick on his scalp regardless of how long he had been alive. Mine was sunkissed brown. Our face shape was almost identical, up to the beards we both had. The same mouth and sad eyes. Ira's face was just a little softer than mine. A little boyish. Pretty. He was so negative. "What if she sides with us, Ira. What if Earth stands with her, and they stop negotiating with Brylee… She can't just teleport where she wants to."
"She can…."
"She might have one, but to travel a five hundred thousand soldier army… No way… Ira, you stole Caleb from her for fifteen years. She's asking for a day… I haven't even spoken to her. So I'm leaving you here… I need to be home if she needs me." I left a water pack on the ground. I'll come to get you tomorrow. I teleported out, taking his glass plate with me.
***
Juliet
When I woke up, I was in Michael's arms. We were in a house and not in the dirt. I stiffened. He didn't let me go. "I'm sorry honey… Ira isn't in the city." I blew out the only frustration I had. The fathers and mothers of the men I loved. "Where is Chris? I can't face him yet."
"I know… don't worry. He's okay…." Michael smiled.
"What?"
"We… are giving you till morning..."
I turned into Michael. He looked good. Better. He seemed his old self. "Thank You for everything. I couldn't have done this without you."
"It's almost nighttime. If you want to go and talk to Rodrigo before the sun comes up, you have to go talk to the elders before dusk."
I sat up and crossed my legs. The chains were still not around my neck, and I didn't have anything to keep my hands busy with. My wedding ring was still absent. I picked up his hand and placed it on my cheek, nestling in. "What's up?"
I shook my head and turned around. Didn't he understand… The next few hours would determine the rest of my life. I let my legs fall from the bed. I felt my side. It wasn't too bad. I opened the curtain and walked out of the room. My gaze traveled left, and I saw Caleb sitting at the kitchen table. It was small and round. They didn't need much space.
"Caleb."
His head snapped up. I walked over to him. He came closer, and it was a bit different, knowing who he was. I didn't know what to say to him. Did he even like being touched. Would he like me, knowing I was his mother? He wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me onto his chest. "This feels really weird." I laughed lightly. "You are almost my age." I nodded against his chest.
"Will you take me where I need to go?" He pushed me away and helped me put my shoes on. "I need to eat."
Caleb laughed and got up. I took his hand. Caleb's eyes drifted downward. "Why are you holding my hand?"
"What do you mean?"
"No one has done that in a very long time."
"Should I let go… are you uncomfortable."
He shook his head and held onto me.
"We need to go to see Beatrice."
Caleb helped me down the stairs, and we walked for a while. Caleb's eyes traveled down to our hands a few times. The Riphaths that walked past eyed us skeptically.
"Intimacy isn't very big on Zoreah." Caleb tried to explain… "Chris calls it… real connection… I never knew what he meant. But I haven't met you before, and we've been together for only a few minutes… and I feel you more than I do anyone else…."
"You're a very sweet boy… I'm glad Chris raised you to be one… That's why I fell in love with him… He is so gentle even if he is strict or overprotective."
Caleb agreed with me. "It's over there." He pointed to a little hut. We were almost on the outskirts of the city.
There was a very old woman sitting and grinding at something. We stood before her, and I manifested, waited, and her head came up. I dropped my manifestation and sat down. "What do you want, vamp? Heard you were in town."
I chuckled. "World peace and everything that's nice… Can you please let Caleb visit me on En-gannim?" Caleb wanted to say something, but I squeezed his hand. "If there were treaties before. Can't there just be treaties again? We will come and go by invitation. Help you with water or whatever you need."
"What about Chris?" Beatrice asked.
"Chris is a big boy… he has to decide for himself. I don't ask anyone to do anything for me… If I do, they asked me to and need it for some reason."
Her rhythmic beating in the mortar became strained and louder until the last heavy thud. She stopped and sat back. "I have seen it all. Vampire lust will settle in your veins eventually… Give it a hundred years, Juliet."
"It would mean a hundred years of peace… Of quiet…" She regarded me. Not with her eyes. "Can I touch you?" Beatrice nodded. I took her hand and put it on mine and Caleb's, which were clutching each other. She felt our hands. "Species can mix…." Her hand pulled away.
I grabbed hold of her hand again… I put the swatch that Chris's mother left for him in it. She felt it immediately. The softness and smell were unmistakable. Beatrice ran her fingers over it. "Mhmm. Haven't felt this in a long time." She smiled. "These are very rare…."
"What is it?"
"It's a teleportation swatch… Whoever puts it on you will be able to come to you whenever they want… Linked over space and time. No matter the distance."
I grabbed Caleb's hand. She snorted. "Wouldn't give it to my child… they might just come unannounced, if you know what I mean."
Caleb and I giggled, glancing at each other.
"Wouldn't give it to Chris with two other husbands…."
I cleared my throat… "Three… maybe four…" Caleb drew in a breath. Beatrice whistled. "That's if Chris still wants me."
She chuckled softly. "You are just a little girl. More human than anything else."
"I keep telling everyone that… What did you plan that night with Selena six years ago."
She shook her head. "I didn't like it. Never thought that a peaceful nation should try and delve into that kind of thing… But the council wanted a baby. A Riphath from Chris and Selena. To secure the stance."
"It doesn't feel enough reason."
"Ira always believed Chris just needed to get over you. If Chris embraced the life we had created… Ira believed he would have completely forgotten about you. That night, he wanted to push the situation in that direction."
"Did Brylee stab him in the back?"
"I still don't know what happened."
"I brought a new communicator. Can I send a message to my vampire husband… Louis is really nice… You will like him… Marcus… maybe you'll learn to like him…."
She smiled. "You know Juliet, you have proof that what is going on between you and those two vamps is true and pure… But how will you know with the rest? Why don't you leave Chris here."
I cleared my throat again. Going to give my second sales pitch of the day.
She licked her lips and folded her hands on her lap. "I'm very intrigued about what your proposal would be."
"Well, my mom said I should… Live here… Have one husband with me here for a year… That is a few months on Earth… Marcus wants to have a baby, and I'm inclined to give him one… The others can come and go if they want to… Will let me see who really… wants me." I squeezed her hand. "I could, for one Earth year… have all five husbands..."
She giggled. "Your mother is a smart woman." I squeezed her hand again… "If I rule En-gannim from here… Would that not put your mind at ease. Bring Zoreah into the mix. I want to change En-gannim completely. My beacon points home continually… But I could go home whenever I want to… No other vamps would be allowed. Not even my mother if you don't want it…."
"I like you, Juliet. I like your plans. They are basic and straightforward… It doesn't seem that you really care about world domination."
I squeezed her hand for the last time and sat back. "I really don't, Beatrice… I don't know why Ira hates me so much. Does he even know Brylee is Louis's mother?"
She drew in a breath. "That was a shock to Ira. It came out at the fight. They fought for hours when they took Rodrigo and Ahasuerus to the city."
Her cataract eyes were as glossy as Ahasuerus's, giving away her age. "Brylee didn't want to relent… Do you think she can be brought to reason?" Beatrice asked.
I scoffed and snorted. Got up and started pacing… walking slowly back and forth. Unable to sit still anymore. "She killed her youngest's son… Mateo's wife and their little girl." My chin quivered at how close we were to saving them. Beatrice's hand covered her mouth. "I was so close to saving them… Chris's ex-wife did it… Shot them in their sleep."
Caleb stood up and wrapped his arms around me. "So no… I don't think she can be brought to reason. She is determined to have her own daughter… Her husband is her one weakness."
I sat down again, suddenly tired. I didn't want my other shoulder to cover…
"I can even understand Ira's reluctance. But I also know you hold a lot of the cards here. And you seem more sensible than that man."
I was quite… Beatrice kept going with her rhythm into the mush…
"I feel there is one more thing you want to ask about… Or else you wouldn't be at the oldest Riphath alive… But I won't tell you… Even if you asked. Unlike Ira… It is something I know we can't control. It cost so many lives to eradicate the brandings… To split the worlds. The only problem we had back then and what you will face in the future… Is that evil people also fall in love."
***
Caleb
I loved the fact that Juliet included me in everything. I knew Ira and Chris had their issues over the years. I didn't see Juliet and me having that kind of problem. She was too… intense. We were walking just a little bit further out of the city. I didn't think she knew Chris was following us, and I wasn't going to tell her.
We needed to be in the teleporter cave to go to the city where we came from. She was quiet and kicking stones along the path, dragging her feet through the sand. "It seems like you have everything figured out… mom."
She snorted. "It might seem like that, but I can tell you I'm as lost as the next person… It took me a whole year to figure out who I was and what I wanted. I thought I would have to take over Zoreah to get to you… But I like this way better."
"Me too. If we can just get Ira to come around…." She nodded, took the backpack off my shoulder, and reached in for a device. It was a glass plate that was bigger than the small teleporter Ira used. Juliet took out the old one and replaced it. The screen lit up immediately when she lay it down. She stared at it for a while.
"What's wrong?"
A nervous chuckle escaped. "I have to tell my other husbands what I had done…." We giggled. "What do you think I should say?"
I thought about it. "Let me send the message." She pulled her mouth in an upside-down smile and stepped away.
"I thought you were not allowed to read and write."
"Chris and Rodrigo took it upon themselves to educate me. I'm very well-read."
"Do you like Rodrigo?"
I nodded. "We met when I was ten, and we went regularly. He's not so bad."
I typed a few sentences into the plate and sent the message. "You are surprising me, Caleb... I didn't know what to expect."
"You're not angry that I'm this old?"
She didn't hesitate and shook her head. "When I found out… You were already five… I have to tell you, I was a little sick of all the politics and the lies and how hard it was to get anyone to tell the truth. Nothing surprised me anymore. When I was seventeen, and met Louis. It was the worst thing about him… That he didn't want to share. Or talk to me. Or tell me what was going on. I was so frustrated when I grew up… It kinda didn't matter anymore. So much mattered when I was younger… But I won't do that to you…."
"Why did you fall in love with him if he didn't make you happy?"
Her thoughts drifted for a moment… "It was his acceptance of me. Who I was. How I was. He didn't waver in giving me what I wanted… He might have one flaw, but you will soon learn that love… It goes beyond a person's faults… personality, or where they are in life… If it is unconditional, of course. Reciprocated."
The plate dinged, and she turned away. She didn't want to see and circled the platform.
"The message is from Louis… He says that they will come for you when you are ready. Will have someone at the communication station the whole day… He says… There will be consequences…."
She was shaking her hands nervously. It was funny… "That's not so bad… What did you say?"
"I said… Hi Louis. This is Caleb. My mom is fine, and she and Michael are here, not on their honeymoon. She lied… I will take care of her." Juliet ran over, kissed my cheek, and wrapped her arms around my neck. "You're very affectionate."
She pulled me to the middle of the platform and teleported us out to the city. I knew Chris would be there before us, hiding somewhere.