Alejo was thinking fast. “But…they talk to Sam. This is dangerous, isn’t it? You know how kids are—what if he goes through a portal and can’t find his way back?” At that thought, his emotions jetted from interest to alarm in a nanosecond. Though Sam was not his kid by blood or law, Sam had wormed his way thoroughly into his heart.
“But it has not happened, nor is it likely.” Joey Hu’s soothing voice came. “If we’re right, they have been guarding this thing—if it’s even there—for a very long time. Godiva was feeding ‘squirrels’ decades ago, Doris tells me. I doubt very much that they permit children anywhere near whatever it is they hide.”
“But Squeak and the rest do this teleporting thing…”
“Teleporting from one spot to another appears to be a natural talent,” Joey said. “They would do that whether or not there is a portal. Mikhail had discussed establishing a means of communication. It’s now a very high priority.”
Alejo calmed down as he remembered that Sam had been playing with his friends for a couple of years. It was very unlikely he was about to vanish tomorrow, just because Alejo had heard about the portal today. He thanked Joey and Mikhail again for their aid, and they all rang off.
* * *
Wendy came out of the other bathroom at the same time the food was delivered. Her eyes met his, and he couldn’t prevent a secret smile—which ignited hers.
“Who wants to help me set the table?” he asked the kids. He smiled at Sam, groping about with those broken glasses on his nose, and Sam brightened like a starved puppy who’d just experienced his first ear scritch. “We’ll get those glasses fixed first thing Monday, okay, caballero?”
Sam’s earnest face eased into a small smile. “Caballero means horseman, or knight, Ms. Nelson told us. It’s kind of like cowboy, except no cows in it.” He finished setting out the silverware as Oriane fetched the plates.
“It also means a gentleman of courage and action,” Alejo said. “Your decision to get into that van was not a good decision, but you kept your head, and got away, right? I saw you running from those men while I was coming down from the sky. I was so proud of you. Can you tell us what happened?”
Wendy started doling out pizza slices and garlic bread.
Sam said, “I was scared. But I remembered that Mom said to think of what I have, and I thought of burping, and I thought that you would come, and youdid.”
He took a big bite of pizza, then said thickly around it, “As soon as they stopped, they took me right to a bathroom. I had to climb on the toilet to get out, and I fell on the gravel and broke my glasses. They must have heard me, because they banged on the door, and I started running. I didn’t know where to go, and they came after me, and then I saw Mom! And then you came. And Oriane. And that giant silver dragon, and I was safe.” He chomped into his pizza.
“That was fast thinking,” Alejo said, then turned to Oriane. “You, too!”
“Yes,” Wendy said. “You were wonderful, Oriane.”
Alejo said, “You figured out your power?”
“At first I did not know what is this feeling. I could feel in me this bright dust, and if I shook it away, things might be better, a little. When I looked at the two men running after Sam, I saw a kind of shadow over each. It was a big cloud over the dragon-man. I could see my dust had no effect on him. Though it made the other men’s shadows go into dreams, a bit.”
“We’re going to have to learn more about your power,” Alejo said. “Though I trust there will not be any more car chases until you’re older.Mucholder. And if there are, I hope you will remember to come get me first.”
Oriane sobered. “I was very frightened. I must learn many things.”
“Mr. Long is the local Guardian,” Alejo said. “He and Professor Hu will know how we can get you some lessons about being a simurgh.”
“Ah, bon,” Oriane said. “But I do not understand what it is these méchants want here? In the garden?”
Alejo shot a quick question to Wendy across the mate bond:Leave that for Sam to tell her?
After a long look Sam’s way, she gave a tiny nod.
Alejo turned to Sam, who was staring at his plate. “We’ll learn that, too, when the time comes,” he said. “Who wants more pizza?”
* * *
After dinner, Oriane ran off, saying something about Lisi. No doubt she was going to pour out the entire story to her shifter girl group.
Sam seemed fine, but he showed a tendency to stay close to his mother, and to peer through those cracked lenses to see where Alejo was in a way that twisted at his heart. He and Wendy sat on either side of Sam and watched his comfort animes until he began to yawn.
When he finally toddled off to bed, Alejo turned to Wendy at the same moment she turned to him, and the world exploded into fireworks as she hungrily took possession of his mouth. “You were magnificent,” he said, when they came up for air.
One more kiss from her, then she said, “I was terrified. But I counted on you. And you werethere.” She blinked, her sincerity reverberating right through his bones. “Do you realize how new that is for me?”
“I will always be there,” he vowed. “As long as I live.”
