Chapter 30

“I don’t know what else to say to her. I’ve tried everything. She won’t come here, but she wants me to spend the night with her all the time.” muttered Zachary as he continued to pace just behind Xavier, who was watching his wife practicing her telekinesis powers.

It had been nearly seven weeks since Felix’s funeral and Kristine’s graduation which she ended up not going to after all. Both she and Amy were still trying to recuperate from everything, so Kristine had opted not to attend the ceremony. Amy hadn’t complained since Kristine had called and arranged for the diploma to be mailed to her.

Much to Zachary’s irritation, nothing he could do could convince Kristine to go with him to his world like she had said she would once school was over. Even when Nikki had made the suggestion that they should tell Amy the truth, Kristine had said no. Kristine didn’t think Amy was stable enough to handle the truth, especially since she’d had a hard time believing it herself. Besides that, Amy had suddenly thrown herself into the crusade against the Mayor and the gang with renewed vigor.

It had been the only thing that seemed to keep Amy going. She was determined to make all of them pay for Felix’s death despite the fact that Felix’s killer was already dead. Amy was taking her pain and loneliness out on the others who were associated with Billy. She was working so hard with the lawyers and other members of her group to gather enough evidence to put the Mayor and his lackeys away for good.

In fact, Amy was constantly working on that case that Kristine never seemed to see her mother at home any more and if she did see her, she was usually dead asleep from exhaustion. When Kristine told Zachary of how hard her mother was working herself into exhaustion, he’d told her at least she wasn’t taking pills to get to sleep any more. Still, Kristine felt Amy had just traded one unhealthy habit for another.

It was because of her mother’s new fanatical behavior that Kristine didn’t want to tell her the truth or leave her all alone. As the weeks had flown by, she and Zachary had constantly gone round and round about that. Even Nikki and Xavier had tried discussing things with Kristine, trying to find a solution to the problems.

Unfortunately, they were at a stalemate. Kristine wouldn’t leave Amy and she wouldn’t tell Amy the truth. All Zachary could continue doing was visiting Kristine when Amy wasn’t around to know it and often staying the night since Kristine now locked her bedroom door and Amy was always too exhausted to check up on her anyway.

Everyone knew Zachary would have volunteered to stay permanently with Kristine, but there was no way he could leave his world with the threat of war looming over them, despite the fact that all the scouts had returned unharmed and there hadn’t been any more attacks.

Having successfully placed the three boulders on top of each other, balanced them, then put them back where she’d got them, Nikki turned to Zachary, “She’s torn Zach, torn between you and Amy. The two people she loves most and it’s not easy for her. I think she’s afraid that if she left, her mother would fall apart and Kris thinks it will be her fault if Amy does. So, she’s staying to be the support her mother needs. But she also needs you to support her. That’s why she wants you to stay with her. I know this may sound bad, but Kris needs you to replace the strength and energy she spends on Amy every day.”

Zachary growled, “Which is why they should both come down here, we could all support the both of them here! They’d be protected.”

Nikki sighed, “While that may be true Zach, we have to respect Kristine’s decision. This is her life and her mother’s life we are talking about. Even I can’t make these decisions for either of them.”

Xavier nodded his agreement, “Nikki is right. Believe me, I know how you feel. Every time I had to leave Nikki behind would drive me crazy. I’d constantly worry about her well being. Especially since I was the one to foil the gang’s last attempt on the girls and got to hear the things the leader said about Nikki.”

Zachary ran an impatient hand through his hair, “Yeah, but you didn’t have to wait that long for her to come to you, did you?”

Nikki and Xavier looked at each other for a moment, before Nikki laid a reassuring hand on Zachary’s arm, “Xavier may have worried about me being up world for a while, but he knew I was coming. I’m sorry Zach, but Kris and I are different people. I came because I’m Xavier’s ulhi’maos and we didn’t have a choice. Kris has that choice, she has the freedom I didn’t have.”

At Xavier’s frown, she added, “It’s a freedom I willingly gave up because I didn’t think I really had any ties left up-world. True, Kris and her parents were my second family, but I knew my place was with Xavier. For Kris, Amy is the last true family she has and she doesn’t want to lose that. If any one of my family was still alive, I’d definitely have a very difficult time leaving them behind.”

Zachary nodded, “I know, you’re right. I just wish there was more I could do.”

Nikki nodded and looked up at her husband, “What if he went up to stay with them for a little while?” She turned to look at Zachary, “You wouldn’t have to tell Amy that you aren’t human, but what if Kris introduced you to her and you stayed with them? Or you could stay in the barn and go spend every day with them if you think Amy won’t let you stay with them?”

Zachary shook his head, “I can’t leave, Nikki.”

Nikki looked back at Xavier, “It’s been quiet for weeks. The borders are well protected and the scouts didn’t find any evidence of a war brewing on the other side. Can’t we afford to let Zach spend some time up world?”

“I wish I could, leijha’mi, but we can’t afford to relax now.”

“He’s right,” Zachary agreed, “just because all is quiet doesn’t mean we can relax and let our guard down. That may be exactly what the rebels want.”

“Well, we have ways of contacting you if things start happening.” replied Nikki.

“What would it look like to our people if their second in command decided he wanted to disappear for a few days vacation when there is that threat of war? It may be a silent threat, but it’s still there, lurking in the back of everyone’s mind.” said Zachary as he folded his arms over his chest.

Nikki sighed, “Well, I tried. I’m sorry Zach, I wish I could come up with something better.”

He nodded, “Yeah, so do I. Listen, I should go see if there’s any more news from the border.” He looked at Nikki, “then I’m going to head up world. Got anything you want me to tell her?”

“Just that I miss her and hope she’s doing better. Tell her how sorry I am about not being able to go see her as often as I want to and that I love her.”

Zachary grinned, “Maybe I should write this down?”

As Nikki stuck out her tongue, Xavier chuckled, “Oh and don’t forget to tell Kris that I miss her too and that I’m not mistreating her best friend and that Nikki and the baby are both doing fine. Oh and tell her…”

“Okay, okay! I get the picture!” interrupted Zachary as he too started to chuckle with his friends.

Nikki nodded, “Good. Now go, you’ve already interrupted my lessons long enough.”

Zachary’s eyes danced with mirth as he said, “Yes, your highness.”

Nikki giggled as he took his leave. When he was gone, she turned to Xavier, “So, what did you think of that last exercise?”

He raised an eyebrow, “It was good.”

“But?”

“Well, the boulders weren’t stacked up straight enough and the second one wasn’t put back in the exact same place…” he began, then stopped as Nikki gaped at him.

“What?” he asked trying not to laugh at her expression.

“Are you serious?” she stared at him for a moment before she growled, “You’re not serious!”

As he laughed at her indignation, she playfully swatted his arm, “Ouch! What was that for?”

“Oh, it didn’t hurt, you big baby! Be serious! How was it?”

He beamed at her, “Perfect.”

She blushed, “Really?”

He nodded, “Yep. I couldn’t have done it better.”

She grinned, “Great! Okay, now that I’ve accomplished that, can we please move on to the training rooms?”

Xavier sighed, “Nikki…”

“Nuh uh, you can’t say no!”

“It’s too risky!”

“It’ll be fine.”

“Nikki, you’re…”

“I know! I’m two months pregnant! Just two months! I can do this. Trust me, I won’t overdo it.” When he still stood there shaking his head, she continued, “Don’t you think it’s better that we do this now before I get too big to even move? I mean, once I have the baby, will I even have time to train? I’ll be too busy trying to balance my work and taking care of the baby.”

Xavier was about to protest some more when Nikki began to pout. It was something she rarely did. So, when she did, it rendered him helpless. With a sigh, he grudgingly relented and let her lead the way to the training rooms so he could teach her to use her new superhuman strength, reflexes, and agility to the best of her ability.

**********************************************************************

Zachary frowned at the maps on the table as Kegan stood next to him, “They can’t be that good! How is it possible for none of our scouts to find any of them? Shouldn’t there be a sizable army by now?”

Kegan shrugged, “If that’s really what they are doing. It could be that these attacks were just someone random who wanted to place the blame on the rebels to throw us off.”

“We thought of that, it just seems too planned out to be a coincidence. These were strategic moves.”

“Okay then, that right there begs the question. If they were strategic moves, who is planning them? There has to be someone in charge.”

Zachary nodded, “I agree. And if there is, what is the reason for attacking us? What do they want?”

Kegan sighed, “My guess is that they want our land. If they are attacking military personnel, then that tells me they are trying to break down our defenses. What better reason to break the defenses than to get to the core.”

“Well, our core would be the King and Queen.”

“True, but something tells me they are actually going for all of it, not just to get to the royals, but to take the land.”

“What makes you say that?” asked Zachary.

“Just a gut instinct, I guess.”

Zachary looked at Kegan for a moment, before turning back to the maps. Anyone else would have scoffed at Kegan’s gut instincts, but not Zachary. He knew better. Kegan may only be second to Jules’ position, but he’d grown up knowing this stuff. And Zachary had grown up with Kegan.

He knew Kegan was a natural at tracking and putting pieces together. He was also gifted at reading signs that no one else seemed to see. Zachary had spent way too much time in his friend’s presence not to trust his gut instincts.

**********************************************************************

Xavier grinned as he raced Nikki across the room, heading for the flag on the wall. It was a race to see if she could beat him to retrieve the flag which was also positioned high up on the wall where neither of them could simply reach up to get it. He turned to see Nikki trailing slightly, then turned back around before coming to a sudden halt as he nearly slammed into the wall. He heard Nikki’s laughter as she breezed right past him, shattering the illusion.

He growled, that’s not fair!


Why not? You didn’t say I couldn’t use illusions. You just said I couldn’t use telekinesis.


No, I said you couldn’t use your mind powers.


Xavier, you said telekinesis, not mind powers. I heard you correctly.

He growled again as she vaulted into the air, reaching for the flag, then landed in a crouch next to the wall with the flag in her hand.

She was smiling as he came up to her shaking his head, “You are way too good at this.”

She laughed, “What? I was just improvising.”

He started chuckling at her innocent look, “Yeah, I agree with you there.”

His smile began to fade a split second after her laughter died. He’d just taken a deep breath to calm his racing heart only to get a good whiff of her scent. He watched the realization dawn in her eyes and saw the slight tremble she gave. As she blinked, her eyes began shifting to orange. His smile came back instantly as he licked his lips.

Nikki backed up into the wall with a soft growl. Gee, I can’t do anything, can I? First Zach interrupts, now this.

“Mm hm. But this is a very good interruption. It puts you in bed, which is where I wanted you to be in the first place.” he replied as he dipped his head and nuzzled her cheek.

She let out a sigh as her body responded to his nearness. “Remind me to be angry with you for saying that later. Right now, I really want to be in bed with you too.” The moment she finished saying that, he fused his lips with hers.

When she parted her lips to allow him access, he slid his tongue inside. She moaned when his tongue caressed hers and slid her arms around his shoulders, leaning her weight against him. Xavier let out a groan as he felt Nikki’s warmth pressing against him and moved slowly away. The whimper she gave tugged at his heart, but he didn’t want to get too carried away out in the public training room.

He took her hand in his and tugged gently, “Come on dimo agalo, let’s get to our room before this gets out of hand.”

She nodded and took off running at his side. Together, they raced across the grounds and over the river’s bridge into the castle. Both of them were using their unnatural speed to make it to the bedroom without being stopped by anyone. Since no one was looking for them, all they appeared to be were two blurs as they whizzed by those lucky enough to encounter them.

In seconds, they were in the privacy of their bedroom and shedding their clothes before pouncing on the bed. Once there, they slowed down again and came together for a gentle kiss. Without needing to speak to each other, they both knew they wanted to take this as slowly as possible.

Nikki sighed into Xavier’s mouth as he rolled them over and pressed his body against hers. She slid her hands down his back and lifted her hips to rub herself against him. He waited until she tilted her head back before he began to kiss and nibble his way down her skin. She continued to let her hands wander all over his body as he continued to use his mouth to pleasure her. She gasped as he took a sensitized nipple into his mouth and teased it with his tongue and teeth.

Soon, she managed to roll them over so that it was her turn to tease his body. His fingers ran through her hair as she nipped and teased his collar bone, his nipples, and made her way down his chest. Then she slid up his body slowly and sank down onto him. As she began to ride him, he rolled them over again.

She wrapped her legs around his, then slid them higher to his hips. As he picked up the pace, she tightened her hold on his shoulders, bringing his chest flush with hers. Together they panted as their heart beats sped up and they pushed each other over the edge. Nikki’s body held his in a vise like grip as her scream mingled with his cry of her name.

It was while they were locked together, sharing their climax that a warmth spread through the both of them. With the warmth came an awareness. A tiny flicker at the back of both their minds. Nikki closed her eyes in bliss and hugged her husigos to her.

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she heard his awe-laced voice in her mind, Atia hawi esi meon asou o‘syn?

**********************************************************************

Kristine had just finished washing the dishes from the dinner she’d actually gotten to share with her mother when she heard the sound of breaking glass from the living room. She grabbed the dishtowel to dry her hands and made her way out of the kitchen just as Amy came rushing in.

Amy grabbed her daughter’s hand and began running for the back door, “Hurry. There’s not much ti…”

She was cut off as the back door banged open to reveal a smirking Scully. “Well, hello ladies.”

As one, the two women turned to run in the opposite direction only to find other gang members blocking their way.

“Aw, now, you two wouldn’t be trying to leave my pleasant company, now would you?” drawled Scully.

Amy turned to glare at him as she hissed, “Now why would we want to be entertained by slime?”

“Slime?” he asked with a mock look of hurt on his face. When she continued to glare at him, he tsked and said, “Amy, Amy, Amy. You should have known better than to try anything against my father. Didn’t the tragic passing of your best friend Lindsey teach you anything?”

“How the hell do you know that?” yelled Amy.

Scully laughed, “What? Did you think your lawyers were the only ones who could dig up the dirt?”

“You bastards! Mark my words, you will all burn for this!”

As the others began to laugh, Scully narrowed his eyes at them, “No Amy, you are wrong. You and your friends will be the ones to burn.” He nodded to the four men behind the women. “Take them away.”

As they grabbed the protesting women, he gave the orders to the small group behind him, “Torch the place, make sure nothing is left standing.”

As Scully led the way out of the house, with the men dragging the two women between them, Amy’s voice could be heard loud and clear.

“You’ll never get away with this you hear me? You may take us away but the others will get justice. None of them will ever quit until every last one of you has paid!”

As her mother continued to yell at Scully and struggled with her captors, Kristine did her own struggling and managed to twist her arm free long enough to grab the tooth necklace, pressing down hard.

Her captors grabbed her arms again and tossed her into the trunk of the car with her mother. The trunk closed as they heard Scully’s voice menacingly say, “How will your friends get justice if they are going to burn with you?”

**********************************************************************

Xavier nuzzled Nikki’s stomach and smiled. When her fingers slid through his hair, he lifted his head to gaze up at her. She caressed his cheek and sighed, “Well, my lord, we will have an heir.”

Xavier nodded and slid up to lay beside her. Wrapping his arm around her body, he looked into her eyes, “Nikki, I want you to know that it wouldn’t have mattered to me if it had been a girl.”

“I know.”

He kissed her lips, “All I wanted was to have a family with you. Even if we only had girls, I’d still love you.”

She laughed, “Girls, huh?” She turned on her side to face him with a serious look, “Don’t feel guilty about this Xavier. This is our baby. Ours. No matter what it would have been, I would have loved it wholeheartedly because we created it. We were lucky that our first is going to be a boy.”

He sighed, “Idi agalo esu.”

She was just about to reply when Teether’s voice sounded in both of their minds, Xavier, there’s trouble. Kristine has activated our tooth.

Immediately both of them were out of the bed and scrambling for clothes.

Kourita, Teether. replied Xavier before breaking the link with his tiger and linking with Zachary.

Zach, where are you?


In my office, why? came Zachary’s reply.

I need you to meet me at the manufactory building immediately. Teether just informed me that Kris activated the tooth.


I’m on my way, came the answer.

**********************************************************************

The three of them stood just outside the barn doors staring at the blackened, smoldering ruins of the house. Nikki was the first one to react.

“Kris! Od’yia dimo! No!” Xavier caught her before she could go running towards the barn.

“Shh, Nikki. I don’t think she was in there when it went up.”

Zachary nodded, “He’s right. She activated the tooth. If she had enough time to activate the tooth, then she must have had enough time to get out.”

He turned to Xavier, “I’ll have a look.”

The two of them watched as he made his way around the ruins. After several long minutes, he spoke to them. There’s a lot of footprints around both the front and back doors. There’s a few that are distinctly smaller than all the others.


Those must be a female’s prints and hopefully they’re Kristine’s, replied Xavier. I have to go get Teether, Zach. He can track the tooth.


Fine, go get him, I’ll start searching.


No. If you say there are a lot of footprints, then it was a large group. Wait until I return with Teether. The three of us can fight them better.

Four, came Nikki’s voice.

Xavier turned to look at his feigos, I don’t think so, Nikki.


She’s my best friend. I am not going to sit by and do nothing.


Nikki, growled Xavier in warning.

Zachary came running up to them, “There‘s no time to stand here arguing! Let’s go get Teether and hurry back. Kristine’s life may be at stake!”

Translations
leijha'mi - beautiful
dimo agalo - my love
husigos - husband
atia hawi esi meon asou o'syn - what will we name our son
idi agalo esu - I love you
kourita - thank you
od'yia dimo - god my (my god)
feigos - wife