“Tonight? Here?” she asked, overwhelmed.
“Yeah. The roof of the Tower is a pretty good platform,” he said.
“We all go up and watch,” I said. “He requires supervision and protection.”
“Which makes me sound like a hyperactive toddler,” Declan groused.
“Good comparison,” I said with a grin his way.
“Oh, and everyone likes to comment on how bad a shot I am,” he added. “You know… because they all excel at energy conversion and orbital potshots with the equivalent of the annual electrical usage of a hundred thousand homes.”
“And there’s popcorn and snacks,” I said.
“We’re here,” Stevens said as he turned onto the ramp that ran own under the Demidova Tower.
Ten minutes later, I was in the shower, scrubbing the stench of smoke from my hair and body. When I felt suitably sanitized, I dried off and pulled on underwear, sweatpants, and one of Declan’s t-shirts. What can I say? I like the fit and feel of my guy’s shirts. I could hear Declan talking to Kristin as I toweled off my hair and ran my fingers through it. My current bob was designed for ease of care and to limit opportunities for hands to grab it in a fight.
When I arrived in our living room, they were sitting on the stools at the suite’s kitchen island.
Declan had his rarely used divination chips out, rune side down, and was making her pick the little round circles of Rowan wood at random.
He was setting them right side up in his standard layout.
“What’s up? You hate doing readings,” I said, getting a trio of chocolate milks from the fridge.
“Because I’m so bad at them,” he said without looking up from his chips. He typically used nine randomly selected chips, three for the past, three for the present, and three for the future.
I put an open bottle of chocolatey liquid goodness in front of each of them and then slugged a third of my own.
Kristin looked at me nervously, her scent worried. I didn’t know if she was concerned that I might be jealous of finding them out here or dreading what he might find out.
“Again, why?” I asked.
“I don’t like coincidence. Weird things have been happening lately. Did you know that two days ago, some idiot tried to pick Deckert’s pocket? When the cops ran the kid’s name, it turned out he was the runaway youngest son of a Middle Eastern diplomat. Been missing for three weeks. And he chooses Deckert for a victim? Right outside the Tower?”
“I had heard that, and it just sounds like he’s stupid, not fated by God,” I said.
“But what are the odds? No, Omega don’t bother to calculate them. It’s too close to home and too close to whatever is coming. I don’t like it. And now this, today. Hmm,” he finished, leaning closer to the last three chips.
“What?” Kristin asked, almost knocking her bottle over.
“Alright, let me see if I can do this in a way that wouldn’t embarrass Aunt Ash too much,” he said.
“Your past: Gebo, Raido, and Othala. A gift, the road, and heritage. Hmm, were your ancestors Vikings?”
“Like just about every Icelander,” she said, getting exasperated.
“So, in your immediate past you received a gift, one that blends with your heritage, and put you on a new path.”
“I’m a werewolf.”
“Exactly. Viking warrior genes mixed with werewolves, and now you’re here. Which brings us to the present: Pertho, the hidden game. Aeighiz, the sign for defense, and last Telwaz, the warrior.”
She looked at him and then me. “You mentioned defense a whole bunch today and you’re all warriors.”
“And you are learning defense and on the path of becoming a fighter… a warrior,” I said.
“What about the future?”
“Sawull, Ehwaz, and… Hagall. The sun, luck, and havoc,” he said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he said, frowning at the chips. Then he swept them back into the pile and moved them all around randomly, facedown. “Your turn,” he said, turning my way.
He really was worried if he was going to attempt a reading for me. Reading a close family member was extraordinarily difficult and firmly in the realm of expert Air witches only. His aunt was exceptional at it, but while he had all four affinities, Air and Water were his weakest.
I gave him a you sure look and he nodded. No stranger to the process, mostly because of Ashling O’Carroll’s use of the technique, I closed my eyes and randomly selected three chips.
He was flipping them over as I opened my eyes. “Gebo, Urus, Jera,” he said. “Gift, power, and harvest. Next three.”
I picked three more.
“Ehwaz, mannaz, and wunjo. Luck, man, joy,” he intoned, the wheels of his mind visibly at work. He held out his palm for the last chips.
“Eywas, sowull, and… hagall,” he said, confusion flooding our bond as a frown formed between his eyes. “Strength, sun, and havoc.”
“That’s similar to mine,” Kristin said.
“Very,” he agreed. “The past: a gift… the LV virus. Power, from the wolf. And harvest…” He paused. “You—you were harvested.”
“By who?” I asked, confused. This wasn’t like any reading his aunt had ever done.
“More like what? Fate, perhaps? God? I don’t know exactly. Maybe God. His Warrior was on hand to save you the night you were bitten, both from the rogue wolf and from the government,” Declan said.
And his blood and power had mingled with mine, perhaps one of the reasons I could Change faster than any other were I’ve ever met or heard of.
“The present: luck placed you here, with me… the man.”
“Joy is because you love each other,” Kristin said matter-of-factly, eyes focused on the chips.
My own eyes were focused on his. He did love me, and God knows I love him, even if it took me so long to admit it.
“Well I do and she does, so that maybe is what it means,” Declan agreed slowly. “Probably. And last, the future: strength, sun, and havoc. Two of
