Vulcan's Kittens (Children of Myth Book 1) (14 page)

“Alice, you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole,” she muttered. A valley full of bones, mythical beings that might not be magical, and a mixed bag of toddlers and kittens. And she could see whatever it was that powered the immortals, and was having really weird dreams that might not be dreams.

She carefully did not focus on the power that rippled through the valley. One glimpse of that had been enough. Walking down the stairs, she could see Bes and Coyote walking with the horses near the mouth of the valley. She realized there was no fodder for the horses in the blackened valley. If Coyote was going to be gone for awhile, they needed to be somewhere they could eat.

She walked around the nose of the skull to where the little garden was. As she’d caught a glimpse of it before, she had thought it had raised beds. She was right, but the beds were made of yet more bones. She chuckled to herself. Coyote was nothing if not practical. There were green beans and cucumbers that needed harvested.

Once she had enough for all, she headed back up the stairs, glad of the fresh air. She had no desire to roam around the eerie valley, though. She kept getting flashes of power out of the corner of her eyes, the umber of the dead monster more often than the green of Coyote.

Dinner prep while keeping an eye on the children kept her busy, until she heard footsteps on the stairs. Coyote came in first, the resemblance to his beast form acute as he raised his nose, sniffing audibly. He walked to the sink and washed his hands, looking at what she was doing.

“Look, Bes,” he called jovially. “She has made us ambrosia!”

Linn laughed. “The secret must be in how hungry you are.”

“I could eat a bear,” the stocky god chimed in cheerfully.

Linn pulled another piece of rabbit from the skillet she was frying in and put it on the draining rack.

“Go ahead and start. I just need to finish up.” She slid another piece into the sizzling fat. “You don’t have any bigger pans,” she told Coyote.

He shrugged. “I don’t have company often. If you will come to cook, I will get a bigger pan.”

Bes collected the little girls and put them on cushions so they could reach the table top. He fed them and himself until Linn sat down and took Patricia’s bowl from him.

“You feed Moira,” she told him.

“Moira?”

“We picked out names today. This is Moira...” She pointed at the black-haired toddler who had gone by Spot Two. “This is Patricia, or Patch...” She pointed at the redhead who looked up from the green bean she was playing with and smiled at all of them before going back to her amusement. Linn was sure she wasn’t going to eat that green thing.

Linn leaned over and fished Spot One out from under the table into her lap, grunting slightly at the effort. He was easily twenty-five pounds already. “And this is now Gareth.”

Bes smiled. “Good name.”

The kitten inspected her plate and then looked up at her hopefully. Linn shook her head at him. “I don’t think so. You’ve had yours.” She put him down again.

“What about the big one?” Coyote asked, grinning at the byplay.

“He likes his name,” Linn answered. “For now, at least. Blackie is a pretty stubborn kitten, aren’t you?” she cooed at him. He came and sprawled next to her and she reached down to tickle his furry stomach.

“I will clean up tonight,” Coyote announced. He patted his stomach. “Thank you, Linn, for the meal.”

Bes nodded. “Thank you, child. You cook well.”

Linn could feel herself blush.

Bes stood. “I need to get my bedroll. Linn, I need you to relax and get some rest. We have a long way to go tomorrow.”

Linn nodded. “I think I'll lie down with a book.”

Coyote went over to the library and looked for a minute. He pulled out a worn hardcover with no dust jacket and handed it to her. “Try this one.”

“Thank you.” Linn looked at it curiously. She hadn’t read it before.

She curled up on the couch and started the story. She looked up when Bes covered her with the afghan. He grinned at her. “Just like your mom.”

Linn nodded and remembered that she needed to call her mother. “Can I call her?”

He shook his head. “No cell service here. You can call her tomorrow. Long drive to the airport.”

“All right.” She went back to the book.

He laughed.

Linn just read. Her mother used to tease her that the world could end and she wouldn’t look up from the page.

Chapter 19

From Idaho, Sekhmet and Steve returned to the high path and traveled south faster than they could have in a car or airplane. The featureless tunnel of the high path warped perceptions, and it was hard to see one another, but they could talk, and did.

“The Shiwanna child first, and then what?” Steve asked.

“She’s young, maybe five? So we will need to take her to Sanctuary and then go on to the next one.”

“So we are only bringing the young ones in... the children who have not yet matured.”

“That’s what I was thinking. I don’t think we will get too much of an argument from parents. Although the Shiwanna can only loosely be called parents.”

“This is true.”

Sekhmet thought about this as they loped along in companionable silence. The Shiwanna were a group of immortals who had become the Zuni gods of clouds and rain. They had pooled energy and created another one of them, as a human child, and were raising her in Colorado.

“What is it about humans,” Sekhmet mused, “that makes us so optimistic?”

“That we risk having children?” Steve inquired.

“Yes. We know, of anyone, how terrible life can be. Yet we choose to continue, and to multiply.”

“Not all of us continue. And the children... that’s a new thing again.”

She nodded, before remembering he couldn’t see her. “Only in the last hundred years. It’s been so many centuries... since the Old Ones first came to Earth. Children were common, then.”

They fell, then, letting go of the high path and drifting to earth. Reforming, they ran on, the vision of people on the streets running over them like water. All mortals saw was what the god wanted them to see... which was nothing.

The Shiwanna lived on a small commune in New Mexico. Sekhmet and Steve paced up the dusty driveway, letting themselves be seen by the shy band of immortals. They were met at the door.

The tall, silver-haired woman spoke with the peculiar resonance of many voices coming from one mouth. “Welcome. Enter, and refresh yourselves.”

Sekhmet bowed her head, forehead to the packed earth floor. Steve did the same. Respect was an important part of the immortal’s peculiar culture that had evolved over the centuries. Without it, wars could have raged out of control.

They followed their hostess into the courtyard, not seeing anyone else. She pointed to a low table, which held a platter of food and bowls of water. “Partake, and the pool is at your service, as well.” She went back out through the door.

Sekhmet and Steve looked at one another and shrugged. “Might as well. With this heat, I’d love a dip in the pool.” Steve walked into the water without further comment, paddling when it got deep enough and ducking his head under, letting the cool water roll through his glossy black fur. Sekhmet jumped in and splashed him joyously. Big cats, unlike their smaller domestic cousins, loved the water.

They both climbed out and shook in the courtyard garden. “At least they won’t have to water the plants today,” Sekhmet joked when they were done.

They ate, and drowsed in the sun, fur drying, waiting for their hosts to show themselves. Sekhmet lay next to Steve and rested her chin on his back. “I didn’t expect this,” she commented.

“Me, neither.” He stretched lazily, careful not to disturb her.

“A mini-vacation. More relaxing in a couple hours than I’ve had in... I don’t know how long.”

“We should do this again.”

Sekhmet lifted her head and looked at him. “What? Run around the world rescuing children?”

“No... take a day at the spa.” He rolled over and licked her face. “We should build a house with a pool like this.”

“How very... human. To live together in?” She eyed him dubiously. Steve was not exactly one to seek commitment.

“At least some of the time?” Now, that was more like him.

They were interrupted then by a solemn, big-eyed little girl dressed in a jumper and white blouse. She carried a little knapsack. She dropped an awkward little curtsey as they sat up and looked at her.

“Hello, my name is Cloud,” she piped in a sweet, high voice.

“Hello, child.” Sekhmet greeted her gravely.

“I am ready to go now.”

They looked at each other. The Shiwanna were not normal, even by immortal standards. This self-assured little being was in keeping with their ways.

Steve crouched. “Climb aboard, Cloud.”

She scrambled onto him, a small smile on her face. He stood and she clung to his fur.

“Ready?” Sekhmet asked.

The small child gave a little nod, and the three of them ran for the High Path, and sanctuary.

Chapter 20

Packing two toddlers, the kittens, a teenager, and a burly Egyptian god into the truck was a chore. Linn held the toddlers and the kittens sat on her feet, mostly. By the time they pulled into Grangeville she was exhausted.

Bes shot her a sympathetic look. “Two more stops and then we get to the airport.”

She stayed in the truck for the first stop, but at the second one, where they picked up the rented minivan, she sighed with relief as she buckled the girls into their new car seats. The kittens hopped in eagerly, and Linn climbed into the passenger seat.

“Get some sleep,” Bes recommended.

Linn glared at him. “Are you going to make me?”

He chuckled. “No, just you had it worse than I did during the drive out.”

She sighed. Trying to keep four wiggly children out of his way had been a challenge. “You have a point.”

Leaning her chair back, she closed her eyes. She didn’t awaken until Bes shook her shoulder. She sat up and looked around. They were in the rental parking lot at the airport.

“We’re here,” Bes told her.

She climbed out and opened the sliding door. The two kittens poured out and took up position on either side of her. Linn giggled. “Look, they are guarding me.”

Bes came around with Patricia. “Here, hold her.”

Linn frowned at him. “Hey...”

Bes pulled Moira into his arms. “Come on, we’re being met.”

Lin juggled the little girl and her pack. She had put Lambent into the pack to avoid uncomfortable questions at the terminal. She had to trot to keep up with Bes.

“Where are we going?”

“Hawaii. Keep up.”

“Hawaii?!” Linn squealed. Then she stopped. “What is wrong with you?”

Bes ignored her and pointed. “Look, there he is.”

Linn spotted him immediately, the tall, dark man standing so still in the midst of the crowd. His power flared like a torch above him, iridescent waves of many colors.

“Bes, who is that?”

Bes hurried his steps, holding out his free hand to the tall Latin man. “Quetzalcoatl! You came yourself.”

The Mayan god took the extended hand and pulled the shorter man closer, bending to kiss both his cheeks. “I had to meet my grandchildren.” He kissed the top of Moira’s head.

He took Linn’s hand and kissed the back of it gently. “The brave protector of my children.”

She blushed and handed him Pat and he started off, waving them to follow. “Come, come. I haven’t much time.”

The small group started through the terminal. Linn realized the people couldn’t see them. The crowd just flowed around them like they weren’t even there. She watched people walking and talking right past her as though she were invisible. The kittens were glued to her side, eyes wide. She felt weird about the whole thing. She had been isolated all summer, and had spent time fleeing through the woods ahead of angry gods. People made her feel jumpy and nervous now.

She was distracted by this for a moment, and then refocused on Bes. Something was wrong. She sped up to catch up with him. “Bes...” she started, just as they reached a nondescript door that Quetzalcoatl swept open and waved them through.

They stepped out directly onto the tarmac. Linn looked around for a second, stunned at the level of noise and activity. Then she scooped up the kittens. They were heavy to carry, but she was afraid they would run out into trouble. It was noisy enough that she might not be able to call them back.

Quetzalcoatl led them to a small business jet and once they were all in, pushed the button to retract the stairs. “Make yourself comfortable,” he bid them affably. “But buckle up, we have a hot take-off.” He went into the tiny cabin

Bes and Linn buckled in the toddlers. As Linn turned from strapping Moira into a chair that looked more like an overstuffed recliner, she saw that Bes had already strapped in and had his eyes closed. She went and sat beside him, buckling in. She laid her hand on top of his.

He turned and looked at her, smiling faintly. He took her hand in his and then closed his eyes again.

“You’re afraid of flying,” she stated firmly, sure of what she was saying.

He hesitated before responding. “Yes, I am.”

“You’re an immortal.”

He looked at her again. “Yes, I am, but we still have fears. Do you think the Old Ones would be trying to end civilization as we know it if they weren’t afraid?”

“You don’t have to fly.”

He grunted. Linn thought it might have been one of his belly laughs under other circumstances. “I wasn’t going to try to walk the high path with four babies and you, child.”

He closed his eyes again. Linn felt the shudder as the plane broke the bonds of Earth and leapt into the sky. He tightened his grip on her hand momentarily, and then pulled it away.

“Bes?”

“Yes, Linn?”

“Have you ever had your own children?”

He looked at her again, and she couldn’t see a trace of power flickering in his eyes for once. They were just dark and sad.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Oh.” Linn wasn’t sure what else to say, so she took his hand again, feeling the leathery calluses and the strength in it.

She looked around the cabin, at the kittens, sprawled on the soft carpet, asleep already. The twins were already drooping, half asleep. This was so different from the last plane she had been on, where all she was worried about was dieting and being able to access the ‘net. She looked down at herself. Curves intact, but to be honest, it seemed so unimportant now.

She wondered what was going to happen next. Her adventure was over, it seemed. She was flying off to be a glorified babysitter. With Bes, and this Sanctuary they had been mentioning, she was going to be redundant. She sighed. The kittens were safe, that was what mattered.

She unbuckled and went forward to the cockpit. “May I come in?” she asked softly.

Quetzalcoatl looked around at her, smiling. “Of course.”

She slid into the empty co-pilot’s seat and looked out the window. Mountains below them, still. “I love the view from up here.”

“Bes asleep?” He looked concerned, and she realized he knew how Bes felt about flying.

She nodded. “He did this for me, didn’t he?”

“Yes. He didn’t want you to have to travel alone.”

“Do you know why he doesn’t have children?”

Quetzalcoatl looked startled. He twisted around in his chair to face her directly. “In a way, he does. He raised many immortal children, you know. He considers two of them his in all but blood. He’s in the background, but in a very important way.”

“I’ve gathered that. That’s why Grampa called him to be our babysitter.”

He nodded. Unlike most immortals that she had seen, who appeared to be fully human or fully beast, his eyes were large and golden. Serpent eyes. He blinked, slowly. “He is patient beyond most immortals’ reckoning. For all our timelessness, few of us are known for our foresight. Even your grandfather was reckless, in his time.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of reading all summer. Trying to figure out... what you are.”

He chuckled. “Smart girl, and brave.”

“Well, Grampa said you aren’t gods, but he can’t... won’t tell me what you really are.”

“Neither can I, child,” he said gently.

Linn nodded. “I know that and am not asking. I think I can figure it out on my own.”

He laughed. “I really can’t wait until you meet the Scholar. The two of you should be... formidable.”

“The Scholar?”

“Hypatia of Alexandria.”

Linn felt her eyes widen. “Really? The librarian... I didn’t know she was an immortal.”

“Not many did. She always eschewed power. Her talents lay in connecting the pieces of a puzzle. Which is why your grandfather has recruited her mind in our struggle against the power-mad ones who would destroy our home.”