Lawked Flame (8 page)

“
Uh...” Lorenzo's eyes widened as
she sniffed the hot beverage.

“
How do you like your tea,
dearie?” Olga asked, watching her take a sip.

The beverage was different. Neither sweet nor sour.
She took another sip, and then another, until the cup was drained.
She smiled at the old woman who stared at her. “I take my tea, like
my men, strong and straight.”

Lorenzo turned red but remained silent. Olga tilted
her head as though trying to figure out something and then walked
off muttering.

Alayna pointed to her empty cup. “That was good.
What was it?”

“
Fre tea. I am surprised and
pleased you like it. It is an acquired taste and many do not care
for its bite.”

She frowned at him and then the cup. “Bite? I must
have missed that. It was smooth and satisfying.” She looked up as
Olga walked in with a platter of cookies, biscuits, danishes, and
crullers. “Ohmigod, I am definitely coming back here next weekend.”
She beamed at Olga. “I need to make a reservation for two days.”
She thought of the bathroom upstairs. “No, make that four days. I
love this place,” she said, excited at the thought of her return
trip, grabbing two cookies that looked like oatmeal.

“
Will your brother allow you to
return?” Lorenzo asked.

“
Pfft,” she said. Her mouth was
stuffed with something so light and tasty, it melted on her tongue.
Eyes closed, she savored the flavors, oatmeal and something else.
“Umm, that’s good. My brother has nothing to do with me coming back
next week. I borrowed his Land Rover this weekend, it’s an
expensive truck and I’ve got to get it back to him. Next weekend,
I’ll drive my car. I just need the directions, no more wandering in
the woods.”

Sitting slowly into her chair, Olga glanced at
Alayna. “You will bring your family? Your husband? Children?”

“
No,” she
snapped, immediately contrite at the shock on Olga’s face. Her face
burned as she swallowed hard around the lump in her throat. “I’m
sorry. No husband. I’m divorced. We couldn’t, or at least
I
couldn’t, have any
children.” The last of her sentence tasted bitter, she had hoped
she was over her ex-husband’s betrayal.

Olga patted her hand; her taupe
eyes gleamed in the dimness of the room. “It is okay. With the
right man, you have many babies.” She pointed at Alayna and smiled,
her face sun-bright with her conviction. “You see, Olga tell you
the truth.”

Alayna’s mouth dried and her lips tightened as old
hurts surfaced. It must’ve been something in the tea she decided as
her tongue loosened and she talked about her disappointing
marriage.

“
We tried. For years, my husband
and I tried to have children. The doctor couldn’t understand why I
didn’t get pregnant. There’s nothing wrong with my...” She searched
for the right word and came up short.

“
Plumbing,” Olga said with a
grin.

Lorenzo frowned and opened his mouth. Olga waved him
down. “Listen to me. I am old and I know these things. You will
have many babies. Two and three at a time.”

Alayna gasped. “Not three at a time.”

Olga tapped the table. “Yes. You were born to do
this, to be a good mother. It has left you empty, this not having
the baby in your arms.”

Alayna’s eyes filled as the root
of her pain and fears surfaced. No one knew or understood the depth
of her desperate desire to have children. Even she didn’t
understand this bone-deep need to be a mother. Her ex-husband had
told her a number of times he was content with just her.
Inexplicably, there was a craving inside that ached and longed to
be filled. Over the years she’d stopped going to weddings and baby
showers because it hurt too much. So instead, she sent gifts with
excuses.

“
I’ve...I’ve always wanted
children.” That was an understatement, but it was all she was
willing to give at the moment.

“
You shall have them.” Olga’s
words were forceful and definite, as though she knew what the
future held.

Alayna watched the color rise on the older woman’s
face. “You sound sure of that.”

“
I am.” Olga stood and returned to
the kitchen.

Alayna stared at the doorway for another moment and
then looked at Lorenzo. “Wow. I’m going to be a mother and have
triplets. Where do I sign up?” Her heart leapt at the words while
her mind scoffed and told her to forget them. She knew she would
never forget what the older woman said and took a second to secure
the promises in the corner of her mind.

He chuckled. “Olga’s predictions have a reputation
of being accurate. I will start looking at appropriate gifts for
your children.”

His words made her dizzy with joy
and happiness. If only they came true. Picking up a chocolate
Danish, she pointed it at him. “What about you? Has she talked to
you about your future? How many kiddies are you going to
have?”

Lorenzo’s smile disappeared and
was replaced by what she termed his blank face. She knew asking him
any personal questions would cause him to shut down, but he’d been
talking more and more as the day wore on, and the time felt right
to share.

“
My future does not hold children.
It is filled with pain and disillusion. No one has to tell me
that.”

The monotone of his voice scared her. He believed
what he was saying. She touched his hand. He jerked and stared into
her eyes. For the space of two heartbeats they gazed at each other.
“It’s okay to follow your heart.”

His eyes widened and he snatched
his hand away. “What, what are you talking about?”

For a moment she wondered if she'd misread the
signs. Maybe he was metro-sexual or bi-curious. And then she
remembered how his eyes had lingered only on the big male at the
store, and never any females. She pressed on.

“
Is there someone you have strong
feelings for?”

He stood and moved to the other side of the room. “I
cannot say.”

“
That’s fair. We just met today
and you don’t know me. But I have a few friends who are gay and
they live happy with their partners.”

“
Gay?” He frowned and returned to
the table. “What is that?”

“
Men who love other men. We call
them gay.” Out of respect for so many of her friends, she would
never go into some of the other names they were called.

His brow furrowed and then cleared. “Men who love
men are happy? This is gay?”

“
Some are happy, some are sad. But
that’s with any type of relationship. It’s the toss of the
coin.”

“
Toss of the coin?” He shook his
head and stared at the table.

She hid a smile, pleased he had not been offended
with the men loving men comment. He was so cute when he worked
through something. “Yeah, things could go either way. You follow
me?”

His head whipped up. “Where?”

She burst out laughing. “It’s just an expression
that means do you understand. You’re out of touch, you gotta learn
the language.”

He stared at her and then smiled. A small dimple
appeared in his cheek. “You are correct. I must learn the language
and I ask you to teach me.”

“
I will. Hang with me buddy and
that smile will be on your face for good.”

“
Hang? Buddy?” He chuckled and
shook his head. “I will not ask what they mean. I will leave it for
my lessons. The day is long past and you need to rest.”

Chapter 7

Khayden lay on his bed with his arms beneath his
head and stared at the ceiling. According to Aspen, the newest
virus would attack over a half million humans and contaminate water
supplies in third world countries. They were racing to find a way
to contain the spread of the disease, but he feared it would take
more than a few months.

Thousands would die. No matter
what he and his people did, it never seemed to be enough. He was
running out of answers with mounting frustration. At a time when he
should be focusing on destroying Geleet, the enemy of his people
who were now targeting humans as well, all he could see was a pair
of dark eyes set in a cinnamon toast complexion with a full head of
curly hair. Viciously he pushed away the image.

His lip curled.
A human Kee
. If Clotho
was to be believed, the salvation of his people was in the hands of
a human, plus something else, female. An acidic taste coated his
tongue at the thought. Unbridled anger ripped through him. He shot
from the bed and threw the glass from the table next to him,
stopping it just before it hit the wall. Palm opened, he stretched
one arm toward the glass.

For a few seconds, his anger
boiled at his untenable situation. Once it reached its peak, he
balled his fist. The glass crumbled and fell as tiny shards to the
floor. Unsatisfied, he opened his palm and commanded it to
regenerate. Once it was whole once more, he threw it against the
other wall.

Unable to sleep, he paced the length of his resting
place, his fury rising. The temperature in the room rose as he
battled to calm down. The last thing he needed was to start a fire
with the furniture. Nature’s Mother had saved his people with the
creation of the Frejyn plant; he realized he owed her a debt.

But to grant a human the power to unlock him and his
people took repayment to another level. The human would gain powers
and co-rule with him. There were so many unknowns. Did the humans
have gelatal layers? How would he unlock and bind a human to him?
Could she withstand his abilities? Most of his own people could
not.

It made no sense. He threw another glass against the
wall, and threw up a mental block as it shattered.

“
Do you need
help?
” Benicke and Royce asked
simultaneously.

Damn, they must have heard the
noise. This was his private pity party. No one else should be privy
to their leader’s wrath over something he could not change. Worse,
over something in the end he knew he would accept.
“No!
”

Jaw clenched, he tapped down the
scream locked in his throat that threatened to choke him. The
inability to change the situation chafed him. Chest heaving, he
threw himself onto the bed and counted to ten. His heartbeat
slowed. He counted to ten again, slower this time. The red haze of
fury lifted and he could think.

Through the centuries his people had been patient,
waiting for him to mature and unlock their collective powers so
they could mature. The Gramiers had hoped one of their own Kees
would do the deed. He had met them all and nothing. So it had come
to this, an alien solution in an alien place.

Rolling to the side, he gazed at
the picture of his parents and wished he remembered more of them.
Shame flashed before his eyes as he wondered what his sire would
say or think. It had been his sire’s will that brought them to this
planet for safekeeping.

Would he agree with Clotho that human Kees were
better than no Kees at all? Khayden mulled the question for a
moment. Straightening out on the mattress, he exhaled. His sire
would have done anything to save his people, which he proved by
giving his life to ensure their safe passage to Earth. He could do
no less. In some ways his life was forfeit, he had no choice in the
matter. Swallowing back the bitterness, he accepted his fate. He
would woo the human creature and do his duty to his people.

Khayden thought of the female at the store. If she
were the sampling of human females Nature’s Mother had chosen,
things would not be so bad. She was exquisite. Compared to
Lawkmerian females she was tall, a little over five and a half
feet. The oversized coat hid her body, but he believed that would
be pleasing as well.

Sighing, he placed his hands beneath his head. He
needed to discover what human females liked and did not like in
order to bed her.

“
We must bond in haste. How do I
get her to agree?”

Silence answered him in the darkened room.

He studied the ceiling as if the answers were in the
white paint. Her reaction to him didn’t bode well. What had set off
the sneezing fit? When she had gasped for air, he'd thought to
contact the Murlins for some type of cure.

Ironically, once she stopped
looking at him the sneezing stopped. That was the first time he'd
received such a response. It was confusing. Clotho claimed she was
a Kee, yet she could not stand to be in the presence of the Master
Lawke. If all the human Kees rejected him there would be no
unlocking. And all of this speculating would be a waste of
time.

With the Geleets breathing down their backs, he had
no time to waste. He wondered if there was a way to insure the
human was a Kee or not before he approached her.

Frustrated, he sat up. Clotho said the human Kee
needed to accept him and their alien lifestyle. She'd warned him
that may take some time. He groaned trying to reconcile the two
needs.

####

Alayna tossed and turned, caught in the trap of her
dreams. Initially, her surroundings felt dark, cold and damp, like
the forest after a light rain. Prisms of light lit the leaves and
traveled slowly down the trunks, exposing the death grips of the
parasitic vines. Beyond the trees she saw water. Excited she ran to
the banks of the pond and stuck her toe into the warm clear
water.

“
I tried to find you,” she
murmured while looking around for a landmark to identify her hidden
oasis. Her eyes skipped over a few fallen logs, a large boulder,
some sort of canister, and landed on a large male lying on his
back, his hands folded beneath his head as he looked up at the
clear sky.