Thanksgiving Day was a success of sorts. Vinni played his part as the injured husband and Julie the doting bride. She’d had difficult moments: staring at the coffee pot. Repeatedly turning on and off the mixer. Falling silent for long spans. An unusual delight over the toilet. Each time, Vinni, one of the guys, or Mr Brown tried to intercept her but weren’t always successful. Julie played it off as being overly tired, and if the Reaves had suspicions, they didn’t voice them.
Shortly after the huge midday feast, Julie pulled him aside. ‘Everything okay?’ he asked.
‘Yes. It’s just weird.’
He raised an eyebrow and waited as she gathered herself. ‘You guys had it easy. With us being married, Sari feels like Coleman’s wife by proxy, which is something she never expected. I’m trying to figure out whose thoughts are what and sometimes, when…ooof.’ She blew out.
He started to hug her. Would that make Sari feel worse or better? He opted for running his hand down her shoulder. ‘You’re absolutely right. We barely figured things out without all the emotions, except I was already head over heels about you. You’re both doing great.’
Her grin showed him that Sari was included. ‘If we duck out, don’t get worried.’ Julie kissed him and strolled to the kitchen.
His reassurances obviously helped Julie, but they weren’t doing him any good. His arm itched in the plastic sling. What if the Reaves started asking questions they couldn’t answer? Julie was doing her best, but they had to know something was off, didn’t they? Thank God for Flea’s antics. The guy was the ultimate distraction.
He scratched his ‘broken arm,’ fighting the urge to rip the sling off and toss it outside. The thoughts of all he might miss if they didn’t succeed in stopping the Kafla weighed on him. Life with Jule was at the top of the list, but what would happen if enough Kafla got through to start a hive? What if some idiot here stumbled into the Realm? He loosened the sling’s strap, but at a reprimanding look from Knife tightened it back up. How did people wear these things for more than a day?
Dread lurked at the corner of his perception. It felt like if he turned fast enough, he might see the cause. His fears were bad enough, but this seemed worse because he had no idea why it gripped him its vice.
<I think it’s me.>
What? You’re the expert on all this.
<Oh, I’ve spent years fighting Kafla and lost a lot of good friends to them. That’s the problem. I…I don’t know if we’re enough.>
The room lurched, and Vinni sat down in a rocking chair before he fell. His dread no longer lurked, it was pounding on the front door.
But…aren’t…Sari…
<She is the real expert, Vincent. And for now, we don’t know how much of her has come through. I’m glad to have her, but she’s an unknown quantity. And…>
…if the right skills don’t carry over, or if Jule and Sari can’t work together to tap into the kind of power we do…
<Exactly.>
He put his head back against the smooth walnut slats of the rocker and closed his eyes, taking slow deep breaths. Hopefully everyone would think he was resting or his arm hurt or something.
We can’t rush off down the mountain.
<Julie isn’t ready anyhow, not yet at least. Like this she’d be a liability in combat.>
Flea called her name, and Vincent opened his eyes. She yanked her head toward the sink, away from the refrigerator. She must have been staring into it for too long.
The Reaves already have enough to wonder about with Julie going all zombie-girl. We can’t get them involved and there’s nothing we can do here, now. Let’s just get through today.
<You’re right.> Coleman hesitated. <Vincent, I know we need to be honest with Julie, but let’s give her some time to adjust before…>
We tell them it’s hopeless?
<Remember how hard it was for us? Can you imagine having to deal with that possibility as well?>
Vinni tried to run through some calming exercises, but nothing worked. Crap. He itched his arm. Somehow, they made it through the day.