CHANGELING: Book Two in the Weaver Series Read online

  Jaz looked at us then away at Kal’s assertion.

  “How secure you must feel with your DNA protocols that mimic what the Imini can do naturally. What was meant to be a relationship of give and take has turned parasitic, Tal. What will the Aniy do when the Imini tire of their rude, non-paying tenants?” Dry sarcasm crackled in Kal’s words as if dead leaves rustled in his voice box.

  Her Highness turned ashen and closed her lips against whatever scathing remark wanted to escape from her mouth. She gave a nod at Vel and asked semi-politely, “May we leave now?” The words nearly choked her.

  Vel gave a nod. “I will escort you out of Denu. You may not return without permission. Mez will contact you when he regains consciousness and no one of the Imini will keep him from you. We do not make a habit of interfering in bonds of blood. That said, if any harm should come to anyone in my family,” he paused to dart a glance at me and Jaz before he continued, “I will take that to mean you no longer wish to continue our alliance. Am I clear?”

  Fid Tal threw back her shoulders and the heavy woven copper collar of her tunic slid sideways at the sudden movement. “Are you so sure you speak for all Imini? When you are out of your caves you lack the protection of the rock. How will you farm and tend your herds if the Aniy choose to interfere? Be careful what fights you start; the Aniy are very good at finishing them.”

  Vel gave a sad, resigned smile. It made him look tired and wise. “How will you destroy us if you all die in your sleep? It would take but a few thoughts and no strain to collapse Bleo on all your heads. Should war begin it will be with loss and grief on both sides. Perhaps then, you should not start it at all, Fid Tal, especially over something as fragile as pride.”

  No other threats or words of entreaty for reason were exchanged. Vel did something to the floor and it began undulating, moving the capsule of squished remains out of our living room and into the main passage. Her Highness, Flotsam, and Jetsam followed, making it a gruesome but dignified parade.

  Cass gave a shaking exhale. “That is so damn creepy, Silver. I’m moving that up to the top of my ways not to bite it list—numero uno with flashing lights and everything.”

  I announced to the room, “I hope they think to bend some light around that thing so no Imini run screaming. By the way, Jaz, I would like to thank you for saving our lives. I’m not even sure what Pez had aimed at us but Mez was worried, whatever it was.”

  Lil reached out to her mother and then dropped her extended hand. Jaz was off in her own world with a shell-shocked expression on her face. She looked like a woman who’d just realized something. Lil’s soft voice was the only sound in the room. “Modor?”

  Jaz covered her face in her hands and shuddered. She stayed that way for quite a time before anyone realized she was crying. Kal was the first to react as he pulled his sister into the crook of his arm and rested his chin on the top of her headdress. Lil came next with a worried frown as she molded herself to her mother’s side. We were at a loss.

  Comforting was not our strongest point. Fight for our life, yes. Console and reassure, no. We’d never felt more alien than we did in that moment. They’d included us in their family with words, but we weren’t really a part of it and awkward instances like these only served to prove that. Maybe other people with a different past would have walked over and joined the group hug but we weren’t those people so we wandered back into our warren quietly.

  Mez was restless. His head jerked side to side and a film of sweat made his dark skin almost iridescent in the blue light. He was probably fighting against the sedative for consciousness. I wondered if he’d been trapped in his body, listening to the showdown as it unfolded in the other room. One look at his uneasy, fidgeting form and surprisingly enough I wanted nothing more than to crawl onto the bed and curl along his side. So much for our prior train of thought.

  Cass sighed and gave over our body’s controls. “I’m off to tell Gerome about today. He may want to talk to you later. No healing while I’m gone. Our reserves are still recovering. The drugs will wear off soon enough, Silver.”

  Before I could even argue back against her chiding tone my sister was gone. Our body felt tired. Every bruise and sore ligament or muscle chose our energy low moments to sing for attention. Their harsh notes were a symphony of chimps playing Beethoven. Our joints creaked in protest as I lowered our body onto the bed. If I turned sideways and threw an arm over Mez’s chest I had just enough room. The nice firm muscle where his arm joined his shoulder made a good solid pillow. His head stopped rocking back and forth and I felt an exhaled breath of relaxation stir the hair on our crown. Our body immediately and unconsciously began to mimic his slower breathing pattern and for the second time ever in my remembrance, I fell asleep.

  Chapter Sixteen: Ground Rules

  There were no dreams. Blank blissful blackness ruled until it didn’t. I had no clue how long I’d been out but it couldn’t have been too long because the arm wedged under me and into Mez’s ribs still had feeling. Kal loomed at the side of the bed, with a silent considering expression. He was standing in the exact spot that our clothes frame had been. I mourned the loss of the taupe robes Zik had altered. It was never good to be attached to material things, so I let it go.

  Cass popped back in. “Oh good, you’re awake! Since when did you start sleeping?”

  “Since the Bindao and I think it only happens when I pilot. If you’re in control I don’t get tired, I just sense that our body is ready for rest. How can you stand being so vulnerable?”

  Kal waited for us to sit up before he spoke. His words were drawn out and amused. “Sil has come and gone with Zik. You slept through it. There is no need to travel to the lab.”

  Consternation and cold fear filled us—someone had been near without our knowledge. What would Sil’s tests show? Would they reveal our ability to circumvent the DNA protocols? We assumed our body had mimicked the Imini ability to restrict access to their caves from Jaz but not mold the rock at a whim, which was actually kind of interesting, since she’d gained the ability to bend light but not teleport. It was a partial share. Our body could do something and we had no idea how yet. This would require further study and many carefully worded questions of Sil spaced out over time to avoid suspicion. Cass flared irritation at my distracting, loud thoughts.

  Mez made us jump when he placed a hand low on our back. Apparently he was recovered and awake. For how long, though? Cass was in charge physically and something in our eyes must have tipped him off when she turned our gaze his direction because he withdrew the caress as if his fingers were a dying spider.

  Cass aimed us at Kal, “Is Jaz okay?”

  It was typical of my twin to inquire after others immediately. I wanted to know as well but I would’ve just waited until the next time we saw her and observed her silently or searched her out in the Web to monitor her essence. The blue light in our warren made the button front shirt Kal wore have a grayish tint that reminded us of deep water. He noticed Cass’s attention to his clothes and plucked at the hem to tug the cloth away from his chest. Aw man, he must have assumed we were thinking of his scarred skin. I aimed our eyes at Mez’s feet where they hung comically from the end of the mattress as Kal answered my sister’s question.

  “She will recover in time.” His words were clipped as if in reprimand.

  I thought it through with my twin. If the Imini could control the stone and mold it to their will, couldn’t Jaz have just immobilized Pez? Had she panicked and took him out or did revenge for her first husband’s death play a part? Maybe once the anger had faded the truth was too much to bear? The Imini were peaceful as a general rule. Their ways reminded me of the Quakers on Earth, except it had nothing to do with Christianity. Annis, not God, was revered but not with altars or organized religion—it was a way of being and central to Imini identity. Kal’s mother’s people were simple in their pursuit of harmony with life. Jaz would most likely lack harmony for years and years to come, not that she’d had it since
Lil’s father’s murder. That brought about another question.

  I asked Kal, “Will there be civil war because of this?”

  Mez sat up at our side awkwardly, leaning on his palms. “No. The Aniy will not risk a battle on two fronts. If they war with the Imini then the resistance will strike and a civilization that has struggled through millennia will crumble. The Galactic Alliance would be in disarray and commerce between galaxies would cease for a time. Bending is heavily used in transit.”

  I asked, “So, what now, Kal? Do The Elders want us to report?”

  Cass was keeping our facial muscles locked down and I could tell she was nursing some anxiety behind the opaque walls she’d put up against me. I hated it when she shut me out. Our body gave my sister’s worry away, though. I’d watched her every breath for eight long years and saved her sanity by removing memories and experiences that tore her apart. Some Cassandra knew about now and some she still didn’t. Keeping one’s twin sane in the hell of isolation we’d endured had been a full time job. Now Cass had learned how to limit my access and it was driving me bonkers—not because I wanted to control her, but because I wanted to make sure she was okay. If she was struggling with something I wanted to be there to hold her hand, so to speak.

  Kal answered our question with barely moving lips. “Yes, The Elders will require an explanation, eventually.” He clapped his hands then rubbed them together. The sound of his palms as they created friction was crisp as if two smooth pebbles were rubbing against one another. “You three need to eat. Come with me. All things will unfold in time and of their own volition.” He presented us with his broad back and disappeared into the tunnel with the expectation that we’d follow. It was an old move we were sick to death of.

  Cass stood but I canted our eyes at Mez and she sighed. My sister eased back and I stepped in so our knees didn’t buckle and send us collapsing to the floor. I walked us around to stand at the end of the bed and tickled the calloused bottom of Mez’s massive dark brown feet. Holy cow, they were huge! Mez jerked away and scrambled to stand. His smile was ear to ear as all seven feet two inches of him came toward us. I took a step back and that only encouraged him.

  Lightning fast he darted out a hand to tug on a chunk of our hair. It was true, he was quick but we were quicker. I caught his thumb on the way out and turned it in an unnatural direction. He was forced to follow or entertain the idea of a broken bone. Mez knelt then used his greater body weight to tug us off balance. Consciously, I released his digit as our own hand turned in an overextended angle and relaxed our muscles for the landing.

  Mez wrapped us up, pinning our arms to our side and his serious face was way too close. We weren’t helpless. Our forehead would smash nicely into his nose or we could even bite down on any available soft flesh in reach. Then again he might bite back and his razor tipped teeth were much, much sharper. I recoiled at those thoughts. I didn’t want us to maim each other but the struggle was doing strange things to our insides.

  Cass threw out, “I’ll give you a minute, Silver.”

  She was gone and suddenly I was alone, nestled in Mez’s arms. I wanted to run. I wanted to fight. I did none of that. His chest was pushing against ours with every breath. He shifted his grip from a firm controlling prison to a warm cradle. Long fingers slipped into our hair as he cupped the back of our head. My lips parted and his eyes became my whole world. Two tiny reflections of our face stared out from the glassy orbs and without thinking I assigned one of them to me and the other to Cassandra.

  Kal’s deep voice echoed back through the tunnel from the kitchen area. “None of that until you are of age! I will not say tradition was not upheld in my home. If you are going to transgress, go sneak and hide like every other respectable youth.”

  Mez smiled and kissed us anyway. It was a hard dry press of his soft lips against ours but it made our stomach flip and blood rush into our ears in a tornado of white noise.

  Somehow Kal knew because he growled from the kitchen. “Mez!”

  He murmured against our cheek close to our jaw, breath hot. “I could not resist.”

  I squirmed to be let go, feeling trapped and unsure in his physical intensity. Mez relented by dumping us on the floor. Our elbow cracked into the hard surface right on the funny bone. He stood in a blur of long muscled limbs and swirling black robe to take a lurching step over our prone form. A brilliant smile split Mez’s lips as Cass resurfaced in our brain.

  “What the heck! Why does our freaking elbow hurt? I leave you alone for fifteen seconds tops to smooch and you guys keep fighting…morons!” Her voice was acerbic.

  She slid into the driver’s seat with grace, dropped our cupped elbow to brace the floor and knee swept Mez. We pushed in tandem, putting a little English on the retaliation. He folded like a cheap lawn chair and hit his right elbow on the floor. The hiss of pain through his teeth was extremely satisfying. We jumped to our feet and ran to the tunnel while he was still down. Automatically Cass slowed our steps right before we got to the end, composing our features into the semblance of an angel.

  The air pressure changed at our back as Mez approached but his footsteps slowed, too. Kal looked at us like we were idiots. Food was out on the table and we were starved. From behind came an alarmingly loud gurgle from the area we imagined Mez’s stomach to be. Kal struggled to keep the aloof superior expression on his face and failed miserably. Mez shoved us aside and gamboled to a chair like an enormous hungry puppy.

  Cass regained our balance with bad humor and said, “Really? Grow up.”

  Our progress to the table was much more stately and dignified if a little over done. Kal had prepared roly rice again but the familiar zing of Vel’s secret sauce wafted up to our nostrils. We did a double take. Since when did Kal know how to make Vel’s sauce? Kal gave us a sideways, closed mouth smile before he scooped a giant serving into Mez’s shallow bowl. With an extra mouth to feed there weren’t going to be any leftovers, damn.

  Kal mumbled under his breath, “Vel sent Lil with sauce while you were still asleep.”

  Just how many people had come by while we’d been obliviously dead to the freaking world? It wouldn’t surprise us if there’d been a parade. Sleep was looking more and more unattractive to me. At least when Cass did it I could monitor anything she heard or felt and act as a guard against attack. Sheesh!

  Mez remarked, “It smells edible.” His face said he wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about.

  Cass held our bowl closer to Kal’s ladle, saying in a defensive tone, “Just you wait. It’s more than merely edible. You’ll be addicted just like we are. It’s the heroin of sauces.”

  Kal filled his own bowl and sat down with a frown. “I know what your Earth heroin is. That is not an accurate or appropriate description, Cass. This has nothing to do with artificially stimulating pleasure signals in the brain. Please be quiet and eat.”

  I rolled our eyes after Cass turned our head away so Kal couldn’t see us do it. Mez smirked and kicked us in the shin and then placed his foot on top of ours, effectively pinning it to the floor. How the heck were we going to live with him if he kept being this annoying?

  In that vein, I said to Kal through a mouthful of food that was distractingly scrumptious, “What’s the plan for tonight? How long is Mez allowed to stay in Denu and is he gonna live here? Where will he sleep?” Based on Kal’s earlier chiding about a kiss and despite our little joint nap, I doubted co-sleeping was on the horizon. Our bed was too small anyway.

  Kal pointed his empty spoon our way. “Eat then talk. If I have to say it again I am going to make you skip The Hub tomorrow and help with the herds.”

  Cass took control and chastised me as she shoveled another heaping spoonful into our gaping maw. Mez was staring at us in amazement. My sister wiped some sauce off our chin and slurped it off our palm. “What?”

  “Stop being deliberately disgusting, Sister. You’re grossing me out and I can’t even see us.”

  “Quit being a baby, Silver. If
he can’t handle us like this then he isn’t your guy.”

  Mez took his first bite under Cass’s watchful eyes. His face got confused as the tart hit his tongue making the muscles in his jaw clench visibly and then the heat came making his brow draw with concern. Mez’s eyebrows straightened when the sweet took hold. I wondered idly if we’d looked this comical at our introduction to Vel’s secret sauce. His etiquette was worse than ours after that. There was a limited supply of food and it was a race to see which one of us finished first. When both of our hands collided as we reached for the serving ladle at the same time, Kal clicked his teeth at us and took over.

  While he divided the remains of our late lunch equally into our bowls he spoke. “Jaz says there is sufficient space for a warren to be made for Mez.” He paused and gestured at the tunnel, “Over there.” Kal got serious. “If he stays here for any time you must both give me your word that you will abide by the rules of my home. I will be watching.”

  Silence prevailed. The chair creaked a little when Kal sat heavily. He seemed exhausted at the prospect of policing us. I didn’t think he needed to worry much. Cass would kick Mez out with prejudice if he ever came around when she wanted privacy for us.

  My sister chirped, “You’re not kidding. By the way he’s cutting off the circulation to our toes with his ginormous foot. Tell your super special boyfriend we don’t want to play footsies anymore.”

  I slid into complete control of our body and the pressure on our foot eased immediately. Mez’s whole attitude changed. He knew. Mez sensed somehow when I wasn’t in control and irritated Cass physically until she put me back in charge—the crafty devil. Kal could always tell us apart, too. Maybe it was just the power of acute observation but we were going to have to ask. Someday we might need to fool someone as to which one of us was running the show. If our mannerisms where giving us away we needed to find out.