Angelo cleared his voice. “May I speak?”
“If you have to,” Wyatt said.
“I’m sorry for my reaction when I first met Mia, but when the volo did its magic, it brought her whole mind back with it. Even though she was quick to block my entrance to her mind, I knew I had been there before. Confused, I thought it may have been a soul jumper who preys upon little girls. After I had calmed down, I knew that the mark I left was indeed a tracking mark, but put there out of love and not to warn others of a soul jumper.”
“So, you were in love with her twenty years in the future?” Nordin asked.
Angelo raised his hands. “How am I to answer that?”
“Moving on, I see Orion’s eyebrows knitting. What is it you came all this way to tell me?” Wyatt asked.
“I may have inadvertently, in my investigation into Mia Cooper, caused her to be put on the extermination list of the Council of Women.”
“How?” Wyatt asked.
Orion told the story of his conversation with Fredericka Cooper, ending with him listening at the window. “Her own grandmother ordered her to be killed. They weren’t pleased with the product of their manipulation, and now they can try again. But Mia must be removed before the Coopers have another child. Why? I think it’s because she would love the child and once more stop the creature from becoming a bitter, demon-hating assassin. Two Mias would attract attention. So, our Mia must die.”
“We can protect her,” Wyatt said. “But I have to find her first. Angelo, does your tracker still work?”
“I have no idea. It has a very short range. I didn’t feel her near until I landed at your house.”
“There are two Others from an extermination squad watching this house. I don’t know if they know yet that she isn’t here. I don’t know how they would find her unless they can backtrack and find where I manipulated the weather. Anticipating this very thing, I landed them a good walk from their destination.”
“Do you have the list of names?” Orion asked.
“We have more than that. We also have the location, as of two days ago, for all but Burt Hicks.”
“Burt Hicks?” Angelo questioned. “Is he a child?”
“Maybe a teenager, why?”
“I think there is a missing persons report out. Let me explain. My vocation is to save children from demons, monsters, both human and not. I have access to police reports. Birds bring me information. Let me call out, and we’ll see if Burt Hicks is still missing and where he went missing.”
“Do you think the council already has him?” Wyatt asked.
“I don’t know.” Angelo excused himself and walked out onto the balcony. His eyes searched the street where he saw the Others standing in the shadows. He mentally called out to his little spies and gave them instructions before he walked back in. “There are Others out there. I think we can still work under the assumption that they think she is here.”
“But for how long?” Wyatt worried.
“I think we should follow the trail and see if we can be of assistance,” Orion said. “You, Wyatt, and your interesting henchman are welcome to join us.”
“I think I’ll attract too much attention. You birdmen have a knack of moving unseen, where Sticks kind of stands out.”
“He seems to be a lad of high caliber,” Nicholai said. “But he is young.”
“There are no age requirements on heroes,” Nordin stated.
“Gentlemen, because of his advanced age, my host is tired. You’re welcome to spend the night here. Nordin will make the arrangements. Sticks, thank you for your service. You have proven to be a friend in whatever dimension you are residing in.”
Wyatt and Sticks left the room, Sticks for his trees and Wyatt for his bed. Nordin stood ready to either escort the birdmen out or prepare the guestrooms.
“Nordin, may I ask an intrusive question?” Orion asked.
“You can ask, but I reserve the right to not answer.”
“Very well. Why were you in the park?”
“We were assessing young Sticks’s qualifications as a suitor for Mia should it fall to her demon bloodline to protect her. Hybrids aren’t thought of very highly, and Wyatt thought that by having her bound in a marriage contract with an earth-residing demon who hadn’t come of age yet, he would be guaranteeing her safety from the demon race.”
“But she’s human,” Angelo said.
“She’s a quarter human, a quarter birdman, a quarter angel, and a quarter demon. I understand in her thirty-first year she exorcises the demon. I also understand she is transfused with superhuman blood and takes on crone DNA to fill the void left when the demon leaves. She is not human; she is all,” Nordin stated. “Sticks had no problem with taking on a creature like Mia.”
“I think that is very admirable, but I don’t see Mia as damaged goods,” Nicholai spoke up. “She is the best of all of us. Sticks will be getting a good mate.”
“No, no, no,” Angelo said. “I’m sorry but don’t we have as much claim to Mia through her grandfather? Orion, you may be needed to step up and claim her. If you do so, bind her to me,” Angelo requested.
“Aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves,” Orion protested. “I believe Mia may succeed in her quest. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure this happens. There is too much at stake. Not just a girl’s happiness but the balance. We must keep the world in balance or there will be no world.”
