Marisa walked across the lobby to the admitting desk and smiled at the man sitting on the other side of the window. Meixiu was walking beside her, and she saw the man's eyes were jumping back and forth between them. She allowed herself a sly smile.
"We're here to see Patricia Evans."
"Uh, visiting hours are over."
Meixiu leaned forward and locked eyes with the man. His mouth slowly dropped open and the entrance door buzzed as he unlocked it. Sigrid had been waiting next to the door, so she opened it. Marisa and Meixiu joined her, and they stepped inside.
The Valkyrie lean closer to the Vampire. "Meixiu, we need the camera's shut down and all recordings of the past day deleted. Can you find the security office and get them to do that?" The woman nodded. "Come up to the room when you're done as we'll need help getting them out." With another nod, she rushed away.
Sigrid and Marisa continued to the elevators. "So how did Henry sound when he called?" t
Henry lifted Tish and gently placed her on the middle bucket seat. He tilted it back slightly, belted her in, then noticed Dayshia and Sandy were on the back bench seat with Marisa between them. The mane of blonde hair was stretched out across all three like a blanket. He grinned at Marisa."Shut up," Marisa said and snuggled in between the two ladies.Suddenly Sigrid and Meixiu rushed out of the hospital and jumped into the front seats."Sit down and buckle in, Henry!" Sigrid called back tersely as she started the truck."Where's Roger-""Now!"Henry shut up and fastened his seatbelt as the truck pulled away from the building. They joined traffic on the main roads and headed for the expressway. "What happened to Roger?""He wasn't there when we returned to the room," Meixiu said.Henry sat back and fretted about that. What did the man see? What happened to him? He recalled opening his eyes to see Roger included in the group of unconscious friends.He was also an anarchist who believe
He lifted his eyes from the floor to her and shook his head. He had a stricken expression. "No. No, I'm not. I've just ruined their lives! They would have been better off if they'd never met me.""Henry! Don't say that!" Marisa exclaimed."It's true! Look what I did! They're no longer human! I did that! Me and this damn magic inside me! And what fucking good is having the ability to cause spontaneous orgies?!? Maybe it's a damn good thing the humans killed off the Satyr population if all we can do is make people fuck!" His breathing was coming in gulps. "Wild Magic is just a curse on top! Twisting and warping people into random shapes!" A sob tore through him. "You know, I was so caught up in my troubles that I didn't even realize how much of a monster I've become until I stopped to watch Tish sleeping. I turned her into a Satyr! I was admiring how lovely she looked, and that's when it sank in! I only saw what I wanted! Why the hell couldn't I see that?!?"Sigrid grabbed his shoulders
"I'm... not human? How?""Initially your exposure to the magic was due to an accident. Do you recall the night we were intimate?"Sandy blushed and nodded."The next morning you woke and your hair was shiny and full, and you felt so good about it you decided not to get it cut."Sandy's eyes widened. "But it wasn't like this!" she exclaimed."No, you'd only been exposed to a small sampling of the magic-infused essence." She watched Sandy's eyes. "Last night you received a much larger sample, and it linked you permanently to a realm of Wild Magic. Your hair is now fully alive."Sandy realized she'd been stroking her hair on her lap. It was wrapped around her body hugging her as she was trembling."Sample... I don't understand."Marisa smiled as she tried to explain. "You ingested something at the hospital last night? From Henry?"Blue eyes widened. "OH! You mean Henry...""Yes, he's a conduit too. He's bound to a ne
The first thing they noticed was her arms. The muscles were larger and more defined. Tish had been an avid gym rat and kept fit, but this was... almost Henry's level of fitness.They both squeaked with surprise when the dropping blankets exposed her black furred lower half."She's a Satyr?!?" Sandy exclaimed.Tish stirred and stretched. A full body stretch, including her legs, right down to her... hooves."Hey," Tish said with a little smile on her lips as she looked up at her two friends. "Wow, the drugs they gave me are doing weird things to my head. You guys look funny," she said weakly."How... how are you feeling?" Sandy asked."So goooood!" she said, smiling broadly. She ran her fingers down her hard stomach muscles and, with a little frown, over her thighs. She squeezed and poked the muscles in her legs as her eyes widened."Uh, I can feel that. Guys! I can feel my legs! I CAN FEEL MY LEGS!" she cried out excitedly and sat up,
"Does he have proof? X-rays?" Sigrid asked.Sandy and Dayshia both shook their heads. "Tish wasn't allowing them to do anything until Henry arrived. Being vocal about it too," Sandy asserted.Henry looked back to Sigrid whose expression showed her doubt. "At a minimum, you'll have to avoid this doctor. That probably means you shouldn't return to work at that hospital. I'm sorry," she suggested.Tish seemed to be thinking about that. Then she looked up into Henry's eyes. "If you can heal me then you can heal others!" she exclaimed.He shook his head. "No. If we expose the fact that magic is real, then all of the Hidden Races are at risk. They'd be hunted down and killed or end up in a lab, dissected to find out how it works. A horrifying end." He sighed. "We can live normal-ish lives, hiding in plain sight in our disguises but we cannever, everletanyhumans know we exist. That includes family. They can't know!" He g
Marisa sighed. "Your new eyes are very perceptive. Henry was talking about something the Hidden Races Council has forbidden us to speak of.""Excuse me? These people can make it illegal to talk about stuff?" Sandy asked incredulously."Let's have a seat in the lounge, and I'll give you a rundown on the key players and the rules we live by."They moved into the sitting room, but Tish stopped in the doorway. "The windows aren't covered. What if someone sees in?"Henry glanced at the large windows and could see the driveway outside. "Marisa, stand in front of the window there. I'm going to go outside to see what I can see." She moved to stand where he directed as he walked outside. From the driveway directly before the sitting room windows, he couldn't see Marisa. He saw an empty room instead. He realized Walter must have added some kind of spell, enchantment, or whatever wielders called their magic, to the windows to hide the people inside. He went back ins
Henry turned to Dayshia. "How do you feel about spiders?"Tish chuckled seeing Sandy's immediate squeamish reaction.Dayshia saw it and smiled as well. "I'm fine; I love them! Sandy's the one frightened by bugs."He looked to Sandy. "Is it a phobia?" he asked seriously.Sandy looked embarrassed. "No! It's just a little aversion. Why?""The Hidden Ones are made up of all kinds of people. They come in different shapes and sizes, but all are disguised by glamor spells to appear human. Walter Zhao was an enormous dragon who looked like a dried up old Chinese man when he disguised himself. You need to practice not reacting to the strange beings you're going to see out there. Remember, as far as anyone needs to know, we're all just human. That's how we all survive. Like me, you have the advantage of having grown up as a human, so you know how to behave. You already fit in."The three ladies nodded at this and seemed to be comforted by the thought
As Meixiu guided the three ladies upstairs to get them towels, Sigrid joined Marisa in the kitchen at the back of the house. They could see the gazebo from there and Henry, sitting in it looking off into the woods."Maybe we should go see if he's ok or needs anything?" Marisa asked.Sigrid shook her head. "No, I think he needs a little space for the moment.""What are we going to do about Queen Mab?" Marisa asked in a worried tone.Sigrid gave her a smirk. "What are we going to do? What makes you think wecando anything?"Marisa's face fell."It's Henry's bargain to make. We'll offer him advice beforehand, but you know the Fae are holding all the cards.""Mother's not going to accept that you know."Sigrid nodded with a smile. "And I'll ask her the same question. What makes her think shecando anything?"They both sighed and watched Henry peacefully communing with nature; allowing
They stopped at the guardhouse where a startled looking soldier stared at them, then just waved them through. They returned to the building with the auditorium. The Colonel, the General, Hugh, and the lab coats were waiting for them. Corporal Dane handed the camera back to the technician, who accepted it excitedly. He immediately reviewed the recording and made excited sounds to his colleagues.The General was trying to school his expression but wasn't too successful."How... how are you feeling, son?" he asked softly from his tight throat.The big marine saluted him with a wide smile. "I feel really good, sir! So much better than I was after the explosion and maybe better than my best day."Hugh's expression was satisfied. "I know a lot of other soldiers who might appreciate the same chance."Mick stepped forward. "Sir, what we saw today was just short of a miracle. His body rejected the conversion, and we almost lost him. The injury he sustained created a break in the flow, and he a
Gordon took in the ribbons pinned to the marine's dress uniform. He'd done some pretty impressive things in his career. He stepped forward and returned the man's salute. "I'm Colonel Gordon Crane.""Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Endale."Gordon smiled and gestured to the soldiers, who were now all smiling at him. "I suppose your security clearance has been escalated to allow you to witness this, so let me introduce you to my squad. Up until yesterday, they were a group of highly trained human soldiers. We were charged with capturing a small group of Silver People. Instead, my people got turned into Silver People themselves. They're still the same soldiers, but you can't really call them human any longer. Not that they've complained.""We can run so fast!" Yablonski gushed.The squad burst into chuckles, and the marine's eyes widened at the odd sound."Maybe discipline has been affected," Crane grumbled, and his squad snapped to attention as the argument was over and the two men returne
"I'm not at my peak either. I had to use a fair amount to deal with Carl de Bellisle. But I don't intend to fight Nuru. I don't want her job!" she exclaimed.Sigrid snorted in amusement, and the phone chirped. Camila pressed the button. "Yes?""Your 9 AM is here," Felix said."Thank you. Please send them in."Sigrid stood to face the door as Camila joined her. "Remember our visit to Walter's cavern?" the blond asked quietly, and Camila nodded as she smiled at Nuru, who strode in with her bodyguards at her sides. They shut the door.The waves of energy radiating from the leader confirmed Camila's guess that she'd been overfeeding in preparation for this meeting. She sighed, as in contrast, Camila held back on her output the best she could. She forced a smile onto her lips."Greetings, Nuru Onwudiwe," Camila began and bowed her head to the other woman."Camila Villamor, you are not presenting the excess of power you did the other night," Nuru snapped.Camila looked up and nodded. "As I
Keeping the destination drop zone in his mind, he opened the tear, and Henry fell through to drop three feet to the grass below. The back of his head landed on the small brass commemorative plate bolted to the stone next to the bushes. Xiong winced but quickly closed the tear as he saw the beam of a flashlight approaching.He hoped their friend was okay as they'd asked so much from him. He looked back to the pile of charred remains. Something shiny caught his attention. It was up where Henry's head had been. Xiong reached down and lifted the crystal ganglion from the ground. His body must have rejected it after he was healed.Xiong couldn't inform Henry that he no longer had their transplanted capacity to wield magic. He also had no idea how Henry got it out yet completed his spell.He looked to the others. "We will bury these remains in the forest glade to honor our friend, Henry."A feeling of joy and love washed through him from the others. The Glass People loved the idea, as they
He felt Xiong withdrawing, and through the magic in him, he picked up snippets of a conversation Xiong was having with all of the other Glass People. The volume was a bit overwhelming as there were so many voices, and they were upset. They seemed to be talking about making him a Glass Person because of his injuries. To save him. Xiong was trying to tell them it wouldn't work as he'd already been subjected to the same energies, and he wasn't glass now.Henry was beginning to get seriously worried. How badly was he hurt? He felt someone close by and reached out to the mind. It was one of the Silver People.It physically touched him, and he linked minds with the young female. Concepts and perceptions were flowing through their link. She was sad. She'd heard he was the hero who'd saved all of the people on this planet and many on Earth. He imagined looking through her eyes at him, and she allowed it.He saw his Human glamor, and he looked no worse for wear. That was a relief. He dropped t
Crane shrugged. "I might have gotten more information, but Palmer's team decided to make his attempt at capturing my team.""You informed your team to run. They're now on the loose," Palmer asserted."No, they've gone to ground and will contact me tomorrow. They're still my squad. They remain devoted to the mission, as do I," Gordon asserted."But they won't come in," Baines growled."Yes, they'll come in, but not if they're going to be experimented on. Fully human soldiers would behave the same way under this threat, and there's no need for it. They've already proven they'll tell us everything we need to know." He locked eyes with the General. "Having a squad of bulletproof soldiers able to move faster than we can register with our eyes gives us one hell of an advantage, wouldn't you say? And remember, we know how to make more."That got through to the man."I'd personally like to speak to one of these Silver People," said the man with the crooked smile.Crane nodded. "We saw a repor
"Status report, Mick," Crane commanded through his mic. Their radios were shielded, so they still worked.The sergeant was still a little overwhelmed by the shared emotions, but she pulled it together and answered. "Colonel. The pseudo-clouds appear to be dead. The strike zone of the last prolonged bolt is too energized for us to enter. In the center of this zone is a body. We can't get close enough to make a positive identification or to determine if the person is alive or not. It looks to be a male based on body shape and clothing. The area is sprouting new growth unnaturally fast. Grasses and flowers are actually growing before our eyes. The four Silver People we met in Tennessee were here before we arrived, and they showed us how lightning affects the plant life where it strikes."And how exactly did they do that?" Crane asked, weariness in his tone.Mick felt a little uneasy with what she was about to confess, but she pushed ahead. "Uh, it seems we can speak mind to mind if we ho
As he got closer, he could feel every hair on his body beginning to stand on end. Little sparks were jumping between the strands, and he could taste something metallic. The rain was picking up, as was the wind, and soon he was drenched. The closer Henry got, the brighter the sparks snapping across his body became. It felt like his entire body was being pricked by pins and needles. The woman suddenly looked up at him and stopped with a look of fear on her face, clutching her child to her side.Henry looked closely at her and realized her hair was as soaked as his, but hers wasn't attracting the sparks at all.He looked past the woman and saw the tiny sparks leaping through the gap between himself and the approaching storm. He was a lightning rod! FUCK! He had to get away from her and the children! He spotted two young men running by."STOP!" he roared, and they froze in fear. "Help her get her children to cover!" he ordered, and they rushed to her and got her moving, one pushing her ca
"Shit!" Crane exclaimed.Sam looked at his friends then back to the Colonel. "These things duking it out over a city would not be good. I don't know what effect the lightning would have on people, but I can't imagine it would be good." A sudden pang of guilt made him look to the new Silver People they'd made. "You should know, we get our energy from the lightning. I guess it's how we eat."Jake scowled at Sam, but he just shrugged. He wasn't about to let them starve to death.Brenda and Jeannie went back into the barn and returned with handfuls of the silver strips, handing them out to the soldiers. Brenda took the remaining strips back to the barn when they no longer melted into the soldier's skin."We have to leave," the Colonel said, looking at Sam."That's cool with us. It's up to you what happens to your people. We're just going to keep running as that's what feels best. We won't interfere with you. I'd like to ask that you do the same for us, but maybe you don't have that author