Two days ago Matias and Quinn had returned from their honeymoon. And whilst Nico had spent the remainder of that day with his brother cleaning his boat from top to bottom. Gigi had a consult with Quinn, a practising psychiatrist, below deck. Thinking perhaps if her icy flushes weren’t physical, they might be mental. No luck there.
Though the foursome did have an excellent dinner out at the marina restaurant that night, courtesy of Matias and Quinn, in thanks to Nico for the lend of his boat.
Moving up behind a laughing Gigi, standing at the wheel, he encouraged her to steer the boat more westerly. Revelling in the feel of her warm body nestling back against his, her light perfume teasing his senses. He hadn’t planned for the two of them to spend the night out on the boat, but when he pointed out the secluded little protected cove, she’d nodded happily. Setting about teaching Gigi how to safely drop the anchor and moor.
“Here.” Handing over a glass of wine once everything was locked down and stowed away appropriately.
“Thanks.” Gigi snuggled back on the cushions laid out on the bow deck. The boat rocking gently beneath them. The afternoon sun headed towards the horizon but still giving off plenty ofAutumnal heat. “I’m betting life on a boat isn’t like this all the time.” She raised her glass in a silent salute before taking a sip.
“I suppose it could be. My parents’ boat was a working vessel, but we had plenty of down time.”
“What was it like, growing up on the water?”
“I remember feeling sorry for all the children I saw when we pulled into various Ports, feeling very superior. No trudging off to school for us. Or being stuck in a classroom. We had lessons, my mother saw to that. But when we weren’t reading or studying there were so many adventures on offer, so much to explore, to discover. My brother was my best friend, still is, and the crew, they were honorary aunts, uncles and cousins. What was it like, growing up here surrounded by magic?”
“Like you, we didn’t know any different. We spent our earliest years running wild, dreaming of what we would do when our powers kicked in. And then we spent our teenage years desperately trying to get a handle on and some control over our powers when they finally did appear. Wackiness ensued. Fires. Floods. Things appearing and disappearing. But the family and our teachers, they treated each of us with kindness, with encouragement. Even whilst ducking fist sized snot-balls or avoiding sudden hail storms inside.”
“And your powers, when they came in, were there a lot of hiccups?” His question idle, but there was amusement glinting in his eyes.
“You already know, don’t you? Who blabbed? The Great-Greats? One of my cousins? Merciful Lady, they all had a story to tell, didn’t they?” She scowled, glaring Nico’s way. “It’s not funny. At every family get together, every time they start reminiscing, it’s always, remember that time Gigi made lamingtons and everyone’s hair turned green. Or, remember when Gigi’s rock cakes caused all those sinkholes. No one ever seems to bring up when my cousins burnt down the gym becausethey were holding a fire burping competition. Or how Darcy trapped three of the teachers in an elaborate snare, then slapped a label on it called –institutionalised- and entered it into an art show competition as a live piece.”
“Really? Did she place?”
“No. But only because, and I quote, the small minded establishment dictators have no understanding of the spaces between art and life which are full of inevitable death. She was nine at the time by the way.”
Nico couldn’t stop laughing. He could totally picture a mutinous nine year old Darcy demanding an explanation of why her art piece had not earned a prize. Speaking of whom. “Have you heard from her today?” He’d been checking his phone less and less often as the days passed by, almost dreading the moment he’d see a message from Darcy. Which so wasn’t fair to Gigi.
“They’re still waiting for Qetesh to wake up from her last tussle with Aunt Sarah’s bone borer worms. They did too much damage too quickly. Though Darcy thinks the worms have potential, if only they can be made a little less ravenous and vigorous.” Gigi shuddered, noting Nico looked a little queasy also. “Having Neith watch the experiment was a good idea. She won’t stop talking. But she can’t lift your curse. And it appears Hathor never shared with her daughters any useful details regarding the Cabal’s plot or who is running it, or even who is a member.”
“And what about Hathor’s plans for Sunny? Surely if they were supposed to grab the baby, they must know what she needed her for?”
“Neith claims her mother only ever stated that Sunny would ensure Hathor got her fair share of the planet once they conquered it. Not very helpful.”
“Do Drum or Nell have any clue?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, is Sunny displaying any magical or abnormal behaviour?”
“Please, she’s been glowing since she was in the womb. That baby is mega magically juiced up. They all are, the babies I mean. You saw what Asher is capable of, constructing weapons, hunting down his grandfather, and he’s only seven months old.”
“Well that’s a clue in itself, isn’t it? You said your generation waited until puberty for your powers to appear. How come Sunny and the others are different?”
“Rumour has it the High Council are looking into it. But my guess, it’s the end result of all the recent super powered up melds impacting the grid over the Sanctuary that protects and powers us. Look at those who’ve recently melded into the family, five immortal Maat Warriors, a Makura Princess, a Valkyrie and your sister, the Goddess of Fire and Justice. All bringing with them a mega major magical boost to the system.”
“Are you saying it’s going to blow?”
“I hope not. It’s not my field of study, but I assume the system has to keep recalibrating every time we have a powered up addition. Which would mean short term instability, surges, peaks and troughs, power leaks and energy redistribution, explaining why several relatives’ powers have revved up or changed over the last two and a half years, and why the babies are being born with powers. More interesting to note is that the older the children get, the more power they’ll be drawing from the grid, so…”
“They’re already born kickass, what will they be capable of in ten, twenty years’ time?”
“Exactly. Hold on. We know Sunny glowed in the womb by tapping into the sun. What if Hathor somehow saw or sensed the power drain and made the connection. Actually, what if Sunny is capable of draining power from more than just the sun? Weknow she was tapping into Nell’s powers unwittingly, but what if she can take magic, power, from others, say like deities?”
“That would make her a very useful weapon to have if you were a member of a Cabal of assholes and thought one or more of them might try to betray you when it comes time to dividing up the spoils.”
Gigi picked up her phone, sending Darcy off a text. Let’s see if her cousin agreed with their deductive reasoning. Putting down the phone she studied Nico, lounging on his own set of cushions a few feet away. He looked relaxed, no, he looked happy. “You love being on the water, don’t you?”
“I think it’s in the blood. I do come from five generations of treasure hunters.”
