Hunted

- 20 - BONDING

“Not a good idea,” Aunt Janelle said after I explained our plan to drive Remy’s SUV to Fun Park so Cardinals could use it to teleport in and out through. She and Grampa were lingering over their lunch in the kitchen.

“Don’t you think the locals will notice that many people coming out of such a small car?” Grampa asked.

“Fine. Then we’ll walk or take the local transit bus.”

“All of you walking down the hill or taking the bus will draw attention too,” he insisted. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you proper transportation and make the necessary arrangements.”

Their reluctance was annoying. It was obvious they didn’t like the idea of us going downtown. It took them three days to ‘plan’ the whole thing. They reserved the bowling alley for an entire afternoon, set up an account, and asked for certain drinks and snacks to be served. I was surprised they just didn’t demand the owners to close it down for us. The bowling alley was part of a complex which included an arcade, an inline skating rink, and a play area for children.

Of course, during those three days I had to deal with my team bitching about our enclave. How boring and quiet it was. I had no choice but to invite them to my place.

“I have a desktop and a laptop computer, TV and a gaming console,” I picked up the remote from my dresser and passed it to Nio. “The controllers and video games are all down there,” I pointed at the pile under the console. “I’ll borrow more from Sykes and Remy’s if you don’t like my selection.”

Kent took the computer chair, but instead of rebooting the desktop, he reached for my stash of books. The rest of the guys settled on the floor, leaving the lounge for the girls. Fiona took the lounge, but Cat-eyes Eva knelt by the guys and started talking video games as they flipped through my collection. I grinned when they chose my favorite. It was one of the two games my mother had designed before she died. She’d worked for a software company in Seattle before she’d hooked up with Valafar.

“Are these your parents?” Onora asked, lifting the electronic frame from where it usually sat on my dresser. I hadn’t noticed her nosing around until she spoke.

“Yes.” The flip side of playing hostess was dealing with overly curious people. I took the frame from her and slipped it facedown into my drawer. I hope she got the message to stay away from my things.

It didn’t stop her. I decided to put away my photographs before they came over next time. Bran didn’t seem to mind hanging out with them. I, on the other hand, missed my time with Izzy and the others.

The day of bowling couldn’t come soon enough for me. The excitement hung thick in the air during training and at lunchtime. I was the one in a crappy mood. No one remembered it was my birthday. Not Grampa. Not Bran. Not Kylie. I knew the senior Cardinals were busy tracking down Gavyn, who’d disappeared again. Still, that was no excuse.

We piled in the bus the Earth Cardinals had made out of an SUV and took off toward town. Ironically, the bus had Guardian Tours plastered on its side. The first person I saw inside Fun Park was Kylie’s boyfriend, Cade, playing one of the arcade games. He waved and indicated the entrance to the laser tag room, which meant Kylie was in there. She’d been gone a lot since I refused to mind-blend with her. Either she was still pissed at me or she’d really been out of town.

“Mr. Falcon’s party?” a woman asked before we reached the bowling counter.

“Yes,” I said. “The others are right behind us.” While the woman led my team to tables near the lanes, I went to talk to Cade.

“Kylie is playing laser tag with Amelia and Nikki,” Cade said, his eyes on the screen as he blasted alien invaders. “So how long is your friend going to study bats?” he asked.

“What?”

“Your blonde friend. Kylie’s been driving her to and from Whistling Caves every night for the last week. Since we’re supposed to take her tonight again, I wondered how long she has to do this.”

“I don’t know,” I said slowly, but my mind raced. Kim must have been using the cave to teleport out of the valley undetected. She’d needed someone to pick her up at her house and take her back. Other than the housecleaning company, Kylie was one of the two humans who came and went inside our compound without arousing suspicion. The other one was my other human friend McKenzie, who was in Europe for the summer.

“Why can’t she ask one of you to take her?” Cade asked.

I shrugged and said the first thing that popped in my head. “It must be a surprise for one of us.”

Cade made a face. “Bats?”

“Yeah, they make good pets. Oh, there’s Kylie.” I hurried away from his side before I could tell another senseless fib to cover the last one. Who kept bats for pets? I didn’t give Kylie a chance to go to Cade. After I hugged Nikki and Amelia, I grabbed Kylie’s hand and pulled her toward the bowling area.

“You’ve been keeping a secret from me,” I whispered.

She grinned. “I keep lots of secrets from you. You have to be more specific.”

I glared. “Kim and the cave.”

Kylie exhaled. “Oh, I’m so happy you know. You have no idea how much I wanted to call you and…” She stopped and studied me with narrowed eyes. “You read my mind? After you promised not to?”

“She can do that too?” Cade asked from behind us, making me jump.

“Of course I can,” I said with a false smile. “All Gypsies do.”

He grinned and asked, “What am I thinking right now?”

“You want to buy pizza and drinks, but you’re not sure you have enough money for the three of us.”

Cade looked like he’d swallowed a fly.

“You don’t have to buy me anything. I’m here with friends.”

“I’ll have a slushy.” Kylie giggled and pulled her boyfriend’s arm until he gave her a kiss. Then she gripped my arm and pulled me up the ramp to the bowling side of Fun Park.

Cade was still watching us when we reached the counter overlooking the lanes. Regular people were being turned away, so the stools were unoccupied. The Guardians were still pouring in, but most of them went straight to get their bowling shoes, then to the seats by the scoreboards.

“Do you think he’s buying the Gypsy angle?”

Kylie laughed. “Oh yeah. It would never cross his mind that you are anything else. It never crossed mine.”

“Good. Now back to you. Why are you getting mixed up in Guardian business?”

She rolled her eyes. “Kim told me about the lockdown, which you forgot to tell me, you meanie.”

“I would have if you’d bothered to call me back. I thought you were out of town again.”

“I was, then I came back. Is it true they destroyed all the portals and you have, like, a gazillion Guardians secretly training at HQ?”

“Hundreds,” I corrected.

“Gazillions sounds more urgent and exciting.”

“There’s nothing exciting about it.” I was a bit jealous of Kim. Okay, not a bit. A lot. Kylie was my friend, and I was supposed to tell her Guardian news, not Kim. “They closed the only portal. When did Kim have the time to tell you all this stuff?”

“While I drove her to the cave,” Kylie explained. “The first time she texted me to pick her up, I thought you were in trouble or something. Once she explained about how you guys are secretly training and everyone was depending on you, I knew I shouldn’t bother you.”

“So you’re not mad about the mind-blend thing?”

She snickered. “No. I, sort of, understood why you couldn’t do it. You’ll get around to showing me everything after your powers are stable, right?”

“Right. Did she tell you why she needed to sneak out?”

She looked toward the food counter to check on Cade, who was talking to Nikki and Amelia near the food court. “I told Cade that Kim was studying bats, but she told me she was carrying messages back and forth between you and your allies. So, is it true about the secret training?” Kylie leaned forward, her eyes wide.

I was tempted to tell her the truth, that Kim had gone to see her boyfriend, but I couldn’t do that to either of them. Kylie wanted a chance to help us, even though there never seem to be anything for her to do. And Kim was in love.

“Yes, we are training, but all the Cardinal Guardians are here.” I indicated the chairs near the lanes that were filling up fast.

Kylie’s eyes popped. “How many in all?”

“Sixty. We’re going to have a bowling game.”

She made a face. “Bowling? That’s boring.”

I laughed. “You should sit with us and watch. You’ll change your mind about what is boring and what isn’t.”

She blinked. “They’ll…you’ll let me sit with you guys?”

“Of course, silly.” Lucien appeared at the entrance of the room and looked around. Since we were only nine in the psi team, I’d invited him. Plus, I sucked at bowling and he’d said he was good. Apparently, bowling was a pastime in Xenith. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to Lucien, Master Haziel’s great-great-great-grandson, and my Psi Team.”

She followed my gaze over and her jaw dropped. “Whoa, he’s hot. They all are. Is the really pale one with black hair a Nosferatu?”

“Yes, but don’t worry, he won’t combust in the sun or feed on anyone.”

For a moment, she just stared at the group. “Thanks for the invite, but I think I’ll pass. Cade, Nikki, and Amelia are waiting for me.”

“Chicken,” I called after her, then started around the long counter toward the others.

The Air Team had fifteen members in all, nine men and six women, and from their expressions they still weren’t getting along. Sykes winked at me, but kept his distance because of Lucien. They had to make nice. It was hardly time for old feuds. Remy’s Earth Team was the largest. The tension within the other teams hadn’t disappeared, despite the fact that Master Haziel had pitted them against SGs like he had with the Psi Team. Maybe the fact that there were fewer of us made it easier to get along.

We paired up, each team using six of its members for the first round—Psi against Air, Earth against Energy. Lucien and the two Water guys, who arrived with Remy, joined our team to even out the teams. The extra Cardinals opted to be timekeepers and subs. Even though we had four lanes designated to the teams and left the remaining eight empty, no humans were allowed to bowl. Warm-up was fun, with a lot of teasing.

At first, everyone used their normal skills, which wasn’t exceptional by human standards. Then suddenly a ball veering off-course changed directions. A gust of wind shot past a bowler and made the ball move so fast it was a blur. Balls rose in the air without being touched, and spun as they raced down the lane, or rolled at never-before seen angles. My personal favorites were the smoking balls that left behind charred lanes, which Earth Guardians fixed.

Each team tried to outdo each other, with Izzy and her timer friends awarding higher points for more spectacular moves. People started to line up along the wall surrounding the lanes. Others moved closer. The glamour had to be working still, since no one else was pointing.

“Do you wonder what they see?” Onora asked.

“A bunch of serious players,” I said, watching Sykes. He had an energy ball the size of a grapefruit. He pressed it against the bowling ball, making the red decorations on the ball glow. Then he walked forward and took aim at the pin. The ball shot off toward the pins like a rocket, charring the wooden lane for a moment before Remy repaired it. “With the majority of us dressed the same, they probably think we are some kind of a bowling team.”

The games became more competitive and loud, with opposing teams doing whatever they could to stop the ball from reaching the pins. The drinks kept coming. Then pizza. The crowd watching us grew bigger and bigger.

Then the people walked away, went back to their video games and playing pool. Only a powerful psi could influence an entire room like that. Even as the thought flashed in my head, Grampa appeared.

I checked my watch. It was seven. We’d lost track of time, and going by his expressions, he wasn’t happy.

“I’ll take care of the bill,” Grampa said. “Go home, change, and head to the cafeteria. Stay with your group.”

The SGs and all the senior Cardinals, including Bran, were already in the cafeteria when we arrived. The tables and chairs had been moved to leave an empty area in front of the room.

“What is going on?” Eva asked.

“I don’t know, but the senior Cardinals love to hold unexpected meetings around here. It’s usually over something bad.” The SGs had stayed behind this afternoon, but after a week of training, I was sure they needed some R and R too. “Or maybe we have some kind of entertainment.”

“No, I vote for bad news,” Onora said as she sat across from me.

I shrugged. She was such a glass-half-empty person.

“Maybe this is about your human friend,” she added. “The one you were talking to at the bowling place.”

I frowned. “What about her?”

“Her psi energy is larger and brighter than in most humans,” she said.

“She could see through the glamour,” Nio added. “I heard her thoughts.”

“Don’t you mean you read her thoughts?” Onora said and chuckled. “I saw you checking her out.”

“Did not,” he said with disgust as though he wouldn’t be caught fraternizing with a human girl. He had just sunk lower in my book. “She’s a medium.”

Nio looked skeptical. “A real medium, not a faker like most human psychics?”

“Or Gypsies,” Onora teased.

I hoped she was teasing because my Gypsy relatives were pretty magical people. Before I could respond, Grampa stood and everyone’s attention shifted to him.

“Today is a special occasion,” he said, glancing around the room before finding me. “My granddaughter turns seventeen and we have a family tradition we’ve honored since she was a child. Because of the crisis with the Tribe, we have decided to do things differently this year. So with great pride, allow me to introduce you to the amazing…Stromboli Circus.”

I covered my mouth and fought tears. He remembered. After all the bitching I’d done, he had not forgotten my birthday.

Lights dimmed. Beams from four clairvoyant crystals converged at the front of the room and an image of a man appeared. He looked splendid in black pants and shiny matching boots, white shirt with a bowtie, a red and gold embroidered jacket and a sequined black cape. He wore white gloves and carried a bowler hat and a sparkling walking stick.

The moustache didn’t fool me. I knew the twinkling eyes, cocky swagger and wiggling fake eyebrows belonged to Anton Kalderash, my cousin three times removed or second cousin twice removed. I could never tell the difference. By the time he started to spark, tears had filled my eyes.

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, today is a very special day because one of our very own is celebrating her seventeenth birthday. Tonight’s performance is dedicated to my great niece, Lil. Wherever you are, ves ‘tacha, sastims!” he added, using the Roma term for ‘beloved’ and wishing me ‘good health’ the Romany way. “This is your day.”