The Seven (Fist of Light Series) (19 page)

A high-pitched giggle escaped me before I shut it off. Sure seemed to be doing that a lot, lately. Manly men can’t giggle. They chuckle. My pain returned with my sanity, and either Jas saw it in my eyes or the bond actually worked. He went and picked up the pain meds from off the floor of the airplane, careful to maintain his balance. He handed me a bottle of water, seemingly making it appear from thin air. Then I took the proffered pills and downed them efficiently.

“It will take some time for the bond to solidify, and more time to figure out what effects it will have upon us. For now just rest, there’s plenty of—”

Jeeves popped in beside the bed and stared down at my uninjured hand curiously. “I’m impressed. You’ve formed quite a durable bond with this one.”

Jas jumped back, which happened to be in sync with when we touched down on the runway. He wind-milled his hands comically and futilely before falling on his back with an audible
thump
. I decided that flying wasn’t so bad after all, especially when I scored free entertainment out of the deal.

Jas regained his composure quickly, extending his hand from where he lay upon the ground. “Nice to meet you. Jeeves, I presume. You bear a striking resemblance to someone I once met.”

“Now you’ve gone and done it, boy,” Jeeves accused. “My ambiguity has been comprised!”

The morphine thwarted my rebuttal and formed a stranglehold upon my thoughts, subduing them with brutal efficiency. I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

S
unshine filtered lazily through the retracted velvet drapes. An appropriately impressive flatscreen hung on the wall. Marble flooring kept the room both brisk and comfortable, which leeched the necessary willpower required to lever me out of the heavenly bed I currently occupied. So instead, I absorbed the details of my surroundings for a time, acclimating myself to yet another room.

I brought myself back on task with extreme difficulty and examined the aged writing desk situated up against the far wall. It was an old four-poster number that intrigued me at first glance. Okay, my opinion
was
slightly affected by the big, cushioned chair before it. Hey, what the hell, I’ve always found that the comfortable things in life are worth enjoying. And so, finally, I absorbed the warmth of the expensive silk sheets and basked in the sunlight that streamed through the window. After an interminable amount of time, my body supplied me with the energy necessary to sit upright. I started curiously about halfway through getting into a sitting position, sensing that something was…
different
. A search through my recent memories soon provided an answer.

Sliding my hand down to where there should have been a good-size gash, a deep incision into my body, I felt almost nothing. I exhaled a questioning “hmmm,” and threw off the covers before sitting up and was shocked to see that my previously puckered and swollen stitches were smooth and unblemished. The outer layer of skin had already mended itself, and my efforts to test the limits of my recently healed body had me standing instantaneously. No pain whatsoever made itself known to my nervous system. I stretched vigorously, backwards, forwards, to each side, and was gratified, for some masochistic reason, to feel a twinge of discomfort at the movements. The news report jarred me out of testing the bounds of my injury any further.

“…And in recent news, a freak weather system has been reported over the city of San Francisco. I don’t know what to make of this, John. As you can see here…” She panned to a live screening of the footage.

Everywhere the video there was an enormous pitch black and roiling cloud, if it could even be labeled as such. The twisting mass reached beyond its bounds, as if grasping at the unwary souls currently commuting the streets below. My feet made an audible slapping noise as I slid off the bed and walked up to the flatscreen, trying to get the best view possible. Just looking at it set all my instincts on overdrive. A wrongness pervaded everything it came in contact with, and I couldn’t help but step back after a few seconds. I analyzed the swirling mass that the reporter was calling a “freak weather system.” This wasn’t any weather system that, by chance, had showed up on the weekly report at seven. It was something else entirely, and although its origins were unbeknownst to me, I felt deep in my bones that it was
bad
.

The doors flung wide, and Jas practically slid into my room, a half-expectant look on his face. “Did you see it? Did you?”

Eventually, his eyes focused on me, then on the TV, on me again, and finally back to the television. I pointed at the screen suggestively while he glanced at me for an affirmative or negative response.

“
I
saw it, however, Caleb was busying himself with admiring the scenery,” Jeeves asserted as he flashed in next to the television.

I offered a hurt expression. “Just analyzing the room in order to be more knowledgeable of my surroundings in the case of an attack or siege. I would do nothing so simple-minded as admiring the scenery, good sir! For example, presently I analyzed that Jas didn’t fall on his ass when you appeared, this time.” I smiled winningly, showing off my pearly whites.

“Hey, that wasn’t my fault!” Jas rebuffed me. “The aircraft’s landing put me off balance!”

I snorted, unconvinced. “Yeah,
right
. Except you fell
before
the plane touched down.”

“Boys,
boys
, let’s stop this farce before it wastes any more valuable time.” He turned his attention to Jas. “You did indeed start like a spooked hare and subsequently fell, which most likely instigated a chain of events that will lead to your eventual demise.” Jeeves said it all so deadpan serious that I found myself bursting with laughter directly after he finished delivering his statement.

Jas started to protest instantly against doing any such thing. “I merely wanted to create breathing room, so no one felt an intrusion of their personal space.”

“Ah, but you are such easy sport,” Jeeves said, feigning sadness.

The two shared smirks before letting the matter drop, and I rummaged through my huge closet, trying to find some clothes that would do for some exercise. Settling on a pair of lightweight shorts and a thin cotton T, I pulled the shirt over my head with as much haste that could be mustered and repeated the process with the shorts. The two had kicked it off all too well, I thought grimly. My work would have to be sustained at twice the optimal level in order to stay ahead. The only consolation was the fact that Jas had probably matched my own loss of face when his fall was combined with the electro-shock therapy incident.

“So,” I said, “The cloud-that-is-not-a-cloud. What the hell is it?” I ogled the screen, but the news had already progressed to the next story about a recent missing person case.

My attention diverted to Jeeves when he spoke. “I have no foreknowledge of any such being existing in this realm. We can’t do anything until it makes its move, if it’s anything more than supernatural cloud coverage.”

“My father has no leads either,” Jas said.

Nodding resolutely, I proceeded to turn off the TV. “I’m a tad anxious to get started on learning how to control my abilities, if you get my meaning. And also quite surprised that nothing occurred during my recent
incapacitation
.”

“Your energies were mainly focused on healing the wound to your body,” Jeeves pointed at my healed stomach. “It’d probably be a fine idea to take those stitches out, before we begin your training. But hurry, we have little time to spare.”

Jeeves flashed out, and I refrained myself from yelling, “Beam me up, Scotty!”

I didn’t know the meaning of all this rushing about, but Jas led me out of my room and to the doctor that they had on hand. Which was very, very helpful to my predicament. I didn’t fancy having a go at the stitches myself when another opportunity presented itself, and Jas would surely make a mess of me. Then it would be another stab wound that needed healing. We passed through lengthy corridors, which branched off in several directions at every intersection. There were stained glass windows depicting various predators of the animal kingdom, and I had no doubt as to the meaning behind their presence. The sunlight warped and bent, traveling through to create colorful images upon the floor. I looked interestedly from one to the next as Jas led me through the halls.

All the twists and turns we made were beginning to make me dizzy and disoriented, so an escort was a given until I was able to get my bearings. For a while, I studied the many doors set in the hallways we passed through, but soon found they were all simple wooden jobs that were mass produced in order to maintain a high holding capacity.

“How many of your Clan actually will show up here?” My question filled the silence.

“For the festivities?” Jas grinned. “Near all of them. The Were are well known for their parties, although no one of any other persuasion is allowed besides those who are bonded.”

“And for when the Clan Meets?”

He chuckled and patted me on the back. “You’re a slow one, aren’t you? Didn’t I just answer that?”

“Oh. So a Meeting is really just an excuse to have a roaring party?” I felt the corners of my mouth start to tug upwards.

His expression darkened. “Usually. But there are things going on in the supernatural community that cannot be ignored. The Fae interfering in this world, your appearance, and no doubt the other Seven, and this…” he pointed at the lifeless TV screen, “thing.” We came upon a set of doors not varied in the slightest from the other domiciles.

The doctor was a wrinkled old man with kind brown eyes and a scraggily beard. His back was slightly bent with the weight that comes with age and occasionally wisdom. His movements, however, were still lithe, enough to clearly emphasize that he wasn’t someone I cared to mess with whether he was eighty or eight thousand years old. So, I quietly studied his simple woolen robes that disguised the wiry strength he possessed.

“Ah, my first patients of the day. Your need of me is not of grave importance, I hope?” He gazed searchingly at us, and I found it difficult to maintain the contact for long before breaking off and studying the cold marble floor, identical to the marble in my own room.

Jas spoke up softly, which was almost reverent, for him. “No, Master Healer, sir. Caleb here needs some stitches removed.”

The Healer busied himself with his work for a minute more before giving us the time of day. Instead of bursting out with a joking retort, I waited patiently. My instincts were telling me that this man was to be respected, and I gave him that. When he finally provided us his attention, he merely shuffled over and examined me from head to toe before proceeding with his work. He came forward, shuffled slightly, and lifted up my shirt. I didn’t stop to wonder long how he knew where my stab wound had been, because he made his equipment appear from thin air and started working on me before there was the slightest chance to speak. The stitches were out before I could even let out a yelp, but it followed close on the heels of the Healer’s small, shuffling steps as he traversed the room to dispose of them.

“Don’t be such a baby,” Jas spoke into the silence after my screech.

I glared daggers at him. “Just didn’t expect it, that’s all.” Lowering my voice, I asked. “Doesn’t speak much, does he?”

Jas spoke just as softly, if not more so, cupping his hands toward me. “He’s a quiet old lion. Best say your thanks and be gone.”

“Ehhmm—” I began awkwardly.

The old man turned, revealing the depth of his age, like a snapshot of the Sahara when it was once a vibrant ocean teeming with life. He focused his intense eyes upon mine, as I struggled through an immobile mouth to speak my part.

“Thanks for the time and the trouble, Doc.” I extended a hand.

His aged, yet vitally strong hand gripped mine in a firm shake. “Don’t come back too soon, or I’ll give you more than that stab wound to remember me by, boy.” I couldn’t place his accent, but immediately decided that English was just one of the many languages he was fluent in.

I grinned. “I’ll do my best, sir. Can’t make any promises, though. Life seems to be getting dangerous these days.”

He nodded his head sagely. “That it is. You watch yourself out there, young man.”

While walking out of the room, it sure felt like I had unknowingly taken a test, and I wasn’t sure if I received a passing grade. At least this time he had called me “young man,” instead of “boy.” Jas led me through a maze of corridors, and I finally experienced the beginnings of a feel for their symmetrical depths. There didn’t seem to be a lot of complexity to their design, however the mammoth expanse was sure to get newcomers confused, if not lost. I was reasonably sure that self-navigation of the mansion would come soon enough, and then the fetters that bound me to a guide would be broken. Not being able to get my bearings irked me, and so I took ample time to study the mansion, absorbing every detail.

“You got that old man to say more than I’ve ever heard before,” Jas said.