When they reached the vestibule before the front doors Camila set the clothes on a small table there. "Now Stanley. Quickly please." He blinked at her then dropped the robe and kicked it forward as he stepped back from the ladies. He twisted the ring and snapped back into his human form. Marisa stepped close with his clothes and he dressed himself as quickly as he could. "Camila..." Walter's voice was doing that omnipresent thing again but this time he didn't sound happy. "Yes Walter?" she answered cautiously towards the ceiling, now assuming there were hidden cameras. "How is it that Stanley alters his form like a Dragon?" the voice returned, slow and calm but there was an undercurrent of barely contained rage. This confirmed her suspicions about the cameras. "You would need to ask Baba Yaga that question. This was her doing. Remember, she took Stanley as an infant. She hid his true form from him his entire life. She didn't ask the Fae to give him a glamor and I believe you are
"We've been worried sick about you all day! Roger spotted a video of you being abducted online. We went to your office but you weren't there and no one could reach you or any of the executives." "Was it the Russian mob? Were they after you to get them back door access to the financial data at your office?" Roger blurted excitedly. Stanley looked at him in surprise. "Roger, shut the fuck up!" Dayshia growled. "Can't you see he's still shaken by the ordeal?" "I- I didn't really see them too well. I was drugged and woke up in an old building by a bay. It collapsed while they tort- hurt me but I managed to get away. They didn't." It was the truth or at least enough truth for him to say convincingly. "Holy fuck!" Roger blurted as the others stared at him in horror. "Oh my god, Stanley!" Sandy exclaimed and pulled him into a hug and once more he was enveloped by her hair. When she recovered from her shock she held him out at arm's length to look in his eyes as her locks settled to re
"That's what happened. The building just crumbled and I got out of the room but they fell through the floor." Stanley said. "They?" Morris seized on the detail and pressed. "The small man and two others. I didn't see their faces as it was dark and dusty from the basement falling in." "Then what happened?" Harmon asked. "I found my bag in the next room so I went upstairs and called a friend to pick me up," Stanley said and yawned widely as he was quickly fading. It had been a very long and eventful day. "Why didn't you call the police?" Harmon asked bluntly. Stanley glared at the man and let some of his exhaustion into his voice. "I just wanted to go home. My kidnappers were dead or at least badly injured. Punished enough. I didn't know who they were and at that point I didn't care." "The police have been looking for you ever since the video was released last night. Why didn't you come forward, contact us?" Morris asked. Stanley sighed. "I didn't know about the video and I just
There was a team working on welding in new rebar in place to rebuild the floors. "According to the report, the floors just fell in last night. Wouldn't a safety inspector have to inspect the building and sign off on it before it could be fixed?" Hillsdale asked. "I got the inspector's certificate. I wouldn't send my crew into an unsafe worksite." Reggie insisted. "The building is sound. It's built like a bunker! That's what makes this so weird! I have no idea how these two floors failed so spectacularly. The damage is so localized!" The cops looked themselves but aside from the obviously missing floors they could see no evidence of a blast or shockwave. "Who ordered the repairs?" Harmon asked. "I'd have to check the work order. It's in my truck. I think the company was Ulysses something. The check came from a numbered company and it was good. We were paid in full to do an expedited repair. Replace two damaged floors," Reggie explained. "Let's go look at that work order," Harmon
He blinked in surprise and his face flushed in embarrassment when she finally released him. "What- what was that for?" he asked, flustered. "We're just concerned about you," Sandy said. "Is someone going to address the elephant in the room?" Roger asked when he wandered into the living room with a serious expression on his face. Stanley looked at him with trepidation. Everyone else just waited. "What's in the BOX!?!" Roger whined, pointing at the crate. It was Sandy's turn to blush. "Never you mind. That's just for me. I'll open it later." Roger moaned in frustration while Tish and Dayshia looked intrigued. Sandy waved her hands dismissively. "Let's just get dinner served before it gets cold." Stanley was quite content to let Sandy keep her secret as he had one of his own that he could never share. They got plates and served the spaghetti with a rich meat sauce. The garlic bread was hot and buttery and they went quiet for a while. Stanley brought the wine out of the fridge
"Good night, Stanley," Tish said sweetly and he nodded in a daze. Dayshia's kiss caught him completely by surprise as it was so quick and intense then she was disappearing down the hall to the living room. He turned back to the door and into a deep and sensual kiss from Sandy. God! She felt, and tasted, amazing! As the kiss parted, a lock of her hair reached forward to stroke across his lips. Sandy didn't even appear aware of this as she was looking him in the eye with a smile. Then she stepped back, closing the door and he was out in the hall. He made his way to the elevator and up to his floor. He let himself in and locked up. He had to lean back against the door to catch his breath. He wasn't at all sure what had just happened... but his body sure liked it. He stripped off his clothes and got ready for bed. But sleep wasn't quick to claim him tonight. Back in Sandy's condo the three women were busy grinning at each other. "He's a pretty good kisser! A little gentle for my ta
She threw him a bored look and turned to the other detective to answer. "They're a competitor of VRL. I believe my aunt knew the president." "Used to be a competitor. Closed up shop. No forwarding address." Harmon said with a scowl. Marisa didn't have to fake her surprise and Detective Harmon frowned as another lead seemed to be going cold. "Any idea why this tool Ulysses would want to kidnap little ol' Stanley here?" Morris asked Marisa. The detective was getting under Stanley's skin. He scowled at Morris. "Why don't you go ask him?" "We tried. His office was cleaned out, right down to the cement floors and even those were scrubbed and polished. Anything you'd like to tell us about that," Morris growled at Stanley in return. Stanley just shook his head in confusion at the man. "What the hell would I know?" "I'm not buying this bullshit about the floor just falling in so you could miraculously escape! I wanna know what really happened in that basement! What secrets are you hidi
"I will not explain how it works. The witch obtained the ability to disguise him at the cost of one of my kind. This is a debt I will see her repay." "Now I know you are boasting. She is too powerful for you to kill," the Queen smiled. "I won't harm a hair on her head... but I'll still have revenge for the life she took." He waved his hands and frowned dismissively. "But that is secondary to the main goal of ridding ourselves of the Humans. The witch made a fatal error when she took the ability from my kin to hide her pet Satyr. Because of her hubris, she's given me the means to destroy all of Humanity. With your help, of course." "You still haven't offered any proof that you can deliver what you say you can," the Queen said with a frown but he saw she was intrigued. "You are aware of Sympathetic magic?" he said to her. She tilted her head at him with a frown indicating she wasn't impressed with his stupid question. He nodded in apology. "I'm a master of its use. I'm also the on
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