Blood Bonds (31 page)

“Dobson called an I.N.I. on Haley and I want to know what for.”

Garrett’s eyes widened. If he didn’t know, it most likely meant this was bad. Really bad.

“When?”

“A few hours ago, I think.”

Farley did not like the look on the man’s face at all. “You can do something about this, right?”

“If you’re asking me if I can override it, the answer is no.”

“Why the hell would Dobson have grounds to call for an I.N.I. on Haley? She’s no military threat. It’s not like she’s been rubbing shoulders with Medan or something...”

No, but she did go into the Dens.
Shit.

Garrett’s stare was stone cold and Farley knew. “She didn’t have clearance?” An angry growl ripped out of his chest.

“If you’re going to start that crap, go close my door. We don’t need the entire office seeing it or hearing it.”

Farley clenched his fists and eyes shut. He willed himself back in order. Everything listened except his vision.

Garrett cleared his throat. “I don’t have any idea why Haley would be denied clearance for anything. As far as I know the only place she’s been is here, home, and any and all approved locations. Last Tuesday, she took my car to pick an anniversary gift for my wife.” The man’s eyes flashed. “She loved it, by the way. She plans on wearing it out next month when the Center has its annual dinner.”

“Garrett...”

“I know exactly where she was the entire three and a half hours. I followed protocol and had her use one of our cars. My car, to be exact. The GPS device has her logged exactly where she was supposed to be for the entire time it took that piece to be finished.”

Silence fell and Farley folded and unfolded the phone records in his hand. His eyes never left Garrett’s face and Garrett never looked away. “Then why would Dobson have grounds to call an I.N.I. on her?”

“We don’t know that he does.”

Farley didn’t think the man really believed his own words. He was just hoping. And hoping wasn’t good enough. “And if you’re wrong?”

“We’ll get through it.”

Farley bared his fangs. The only reason he didn’t get into the man’s face was because he couldn’t reach him. Standing on the desk just sort of ruined the effect.

“You should have told her no.”

Garrett closed the distance for him. “I think you need to back away from my desk before you’re kissing the sidewalk outside this building.” It killed Farley, but he stepped back. He hated knowing even though he could break Garrett in half, the man was still his Dominant. In Human society, they called it being “boss.” Unfortunately, the person in charge wasn’t decided by strength and speed.

Farley paced, crushing the papers he carried. He had to burn his anger off somehow and moving was the only way. ‘Cause biting and clawing was out of the question.

Garrett said, “I promise you, I will take care of this.”

“How?” A growl chased his question.

Garrett’s mouth made a slash.

“You don’t know, do you?” Farley kept himself rooted to the spot even though his legs wanted to tap dance all over the desk.

“No. Not yet. But let me handle it.”

“I’m telling Haley.”

“You do that.” Garrett sat down at his desk. “Now, if you’ll excuse, me, I have some phone calls to make.”

Haley waited on hold as the History Department secretary transferred her call over to Orin’s office.

“Ancient Histories, Orin speaking.” Damn, he sounded so Human. Even Haley couldn’t tell over the phone. Not a lick of Olde Tongue accent in his words. And he did speak it. All five dialects.

“Orin, it’s me.”

“Haley, just the Kin I wanted to talk to. How’s life treating you, my friend?”

“Good, pretty good. I take it you got somewhere with that ledger I sent you?

He laughed. “You could say that. Niles Fury, huh? I never would have guessed his hobby to be along the lines of sky-watching. A Kin like that? If word were to get out, it would tarnish his grisly reputation with his brethren.”

“He watched stars?”

“Apparently, he did. Those first set of dates in the book correspond with hatching records in the International Clutch Database. The second set matches up to astrological events. Specifically the dates and times of star deaths.”

“What?”

“It looks like Niles was trying to match up the hatching dates of Queens with star births and deaths.”

“And next you’re going to tell me this means something special.” Haley had been hoping for something concrete, not the wild goose chase of a mad-man.

“Actually it doesn’t. There are billions and billions of stars in the galaxy, and because of their distance, by the time we see them, many of them don’t even exist anymore.”

“Then how could he know when a star died?”

“Well, that’s the thing, he really couldn’t. There isn’t a dragon in the history of our people who has lived as long as the stars. In the grand scheme of things, we aren’t really as immortal as we think.” He laughed. “Don’t tell Medan I said that, of course.”

Of course she wouldn’t. Not “I-am-the-only-god” Medan. Nope, Haley liked her arms and legs firmly attached, thank you.

“Mum’s the word.” She reached for a candy. “If the dates of star deaths can’t be determined, then how do you know that’s what he was cataloging?”

“Now, now, I never said they couldn’t be determined.”

“So his dates were on mark?”

“Yeah, they actually are.” Orin sounded impressed. Really impressed.

“How?”

“Because just like Kin, stars give off a metaphysical signal.”

“And what? He had a metaphysical telescope in his pocket or something?”

Orin laughed again. “You’ve been hanging around Farley too long, he’s made you snarky.”

“Snarky?”

“Yeah, that’s my new word of the month. I give myself a Hershey Kiss every time I get to use it.”

“Orin, you seriously need a hobby.” Haley sat back in her chair and glanced up at the clock. Hopefully everything had gone okay with Bauer. She was already going to one funeral this month. Why Humans had them, she couldn’t understand. Dead was dead. Everyone getting dressed to go stand over a metal box and cry just seemed like punishment for the living.

Orin said, “It’s called an EMR.”

“What is?”

“The telescope they use today to listen for metaphysical signals. It stands for Earth’s Metaphysical Radiation.”

“You know, I don’t know what it is about you people and your fancy professional titles, but you’re the second person today to assume I have any expertise in the area of science outside basic Kin physiology.”

“Well, I’m by no means an expert, so don’t ask me to explain all the metaphysical science behind it. I only know what I’ve read. Which is metaphysical energy doesn’t have to travel through space like light or sound. That’s how they’ve looked at and listened to stars for decades. Our planet also gives off a metaphysical signal. By tapping into the waves produced by the Earth, they can quote-unquote
hear
the stars as they are born, and as they die. It does have its limits. Seems only certain stars transmit on the Earth’s signal. They’re working on a way to try and go beyond the limitation now.”

“So did he buy one off eBay or what?”

“Of course not. They’re still experimental and extremely expensive.”

Haley stared at the phone a second before putting it back to her ear. “Orin, I was joking.”

He coughed. “I knew that.”

She wondered if he still blushed. And if he did, he just had to be glowing.

Orin said, “Anyhow, I called one of the professors over in the Astrophysics Department, had a chat with him about some of these dates. I can only confirm the last fifty or so, but they’re right on.”

“Why only fifty?”

“It’s only been in operation for about three years.”

“Then how did he get all those dates--centuries worth?”

“Honestly? I think he might have been able to hear them.”

Haley stood up. She couldn’t go very far, the damn phone was one of those tethered models. “Heard them? Stars?”

“It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Telepathy in Kin isn’t all that uncommon. Sometimes we’re born with certain types. And look at the Link bonds that create metaphysical ties with a Human host, even what Queens can do to other Kin. There are some obscure documents where all sorts of abilities are referenced.”

“And do any of those same documents reference other popular Kin fairy tales?”

Orin chuckled. “You know, the Human Bible has a lot of unbelievable references in it, too.”

“When did you convert?” Haley sat on the edge of her desk and picked out the last green candy. “This I’ve got to hear.”

“You know what I mean. Sometimes an ancient people can only describe things as they understand it. And if anyone qualifies as an ancient people, I think we do.”

“Touché.” She bit down and the candy went out with a loud crunch. “So what do dying stars and Queens have to do with each other?”

“Well, that’s where you get into all those fairy tales you don’t care for. Olde Lore says the power of Queens is dictated by the stars. Her life, her strength, everything is written into the heavens. That if a Female Kin is born at the moment a star dies, then she gains the power it releases. It’s called
oobura
, and basically it translates into ‘the taking of power.’ Like
feeding
. Because of the Male to Female ratio in our species, plus the star qualifications, it’s a fairly rare occurrence. But Niles appears to have dates going back as far as three thousand years.”

“Please tell me you don’t believe that kind of tripe.”

“Of course not. Metaphysical biology and astro-metaphysics are two completely different creatures. There are some similar sciences between them, but they are as different as night and day. To expect one to predict the other.” Orin made a disbelieving sound. “But what I believe, and you believe, is completely irrelevant. Niles believed this, or at least seemed to. And if he believed it, then there are others who will, too. Others like the Queens.”

“That’s ‘cause they’re Hive bound and stuck in their ways.” She winced.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell if you don’t.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that.”

“Haley?”

“Yeah?” She dug in the jar of candy hoping to find one last green survivor.

“Your name is in this ledger. You know that, right?”

“Yup, I saw it a few times.” She didn’t find one so she settled on a yellow. “Please don’t tell me I’m destined to become a Queen holed up in the ground for eternity?”

“No.”

She gave an exaggerated sigh. “Good, ‘cause there is no way I’m giving up my shoes or my panty collection.”

Orin was quiet. Haley ate another piece of candy. “You still there?”

“I’m here. Haley, I don’t know quite how to tell you this because it sounds ridiculous.”

“And the whole Queen stardust thing doesn’t? C’mon, spit it out.”

“There is no way to verify the accuracy of the date beside your name, but I did some checking. A star didn’t die on the day you were born.” Well, Haley wasn’t going to cry about it, that’s for sure. “The date that appears by your name seems to correlate with global events that were believed to have been a catalyst by the passing of an interstellar storm.”

“Are you going all
Star Trek
on me? ‘Cause I really hate the whole ‘use the force’ bit, and that green guy, Yoda, he creeps me out.”

“That’s
Star Wars
, not
Star Trek
.”

“Oh, yeah.
Star Trek
has the pointy eared dude.”

“Haley, this isn’t a joke.”

“Sure it is. Niles followed me around because of some Olde Lore that has absolutely no basis in the real world. And apparently a bunch of Queens hate my guts because of this same hand-me-down tall tale.”

“You’re angry.” He sounded surprised. Haley cracked another piece of candy in his ear.

“You bet. I’m getting strong-armed by Medan because of some stupid
Star Wars
versus Captain Kirk and his merry men story that is so ridiculous you’d have to be brain dead to even consider it.”

Orin’s sigh rattled the receiver. “Haley, I remember the night skies the day you were born. It was terrifying. Beautiful, but terrifying. Everything on the planet with a metaphysical binding felt it. Many of us thought we were going to die.”

Curious, she asked, “What happened?”

“We don’t know for sure, because we only have x-rays to study the ripples that are still millions of light years from our planet. Apparently, there was some sort of cataclysmic event that left a void in space. And if Niles could hear stars dying, then the day of your birth he was probably deafened by them. The event was biblical, but we won’t see the changes in our sky for millions of years. It’s the metaphysical pulse it created that caused so much upheaval. Theoretically, even the frequency of the Earth would have been supercharged. You’re pretty young, but there are several of us who remember the strange heavenly events. Fire falling from the sky, night becoming day, electrical storms. It was seen all over the world.”

“Wow, you really know how to make a girl feel special.” She was trying to be funny, but Orin didn’t laugh.

“Just be careful. Queens have killed for less.”

He was right, which didn’t make her feel better.

Farley came through the door with a wad of papers in his hand, eyes swimming with bits of gold and the anxiety coming off in sour waves.

“Hey, Orin, I gotta go. Farley’s here with something important.” She hung up. “What the heck got under your skin?” He handed her the papers and she scanned them. “One phone call a week it looks like. This is great, but--” Farley went to her door, closed it, and turned the lock. “You okay?”

“I’m okay.” He kept staring at the floor.

“Well, something’s wrong.”

“I think we should leave.”

“Leave?” When he looked at her, she realized what “leave” meant. “Farley?”

“Dobson has called an I.N.I. on you. And that can’t be a good thing.” His hands clenched and unclenched. “We should just leave. Get out of the country; go somewhere, anywhere but here.”

“I’m not afraid of Colonel Dobson.”