Insidious Winds (25 page)

He looked uncharacteristically nervous. “I… I was
going to set him down, but the visor said kids need a car seat. Does a
five-year-old need a car seat?”

“I have no idea. I don’t think we should move him much
until he wakes up and we can be sure he’s not hurt.”

Darwin finally emerged from the truck so that Henry
could lay Scott down on the back seat. “What do we do with him now?” Darwin
asked. “He can’t exactly come back to the university with us. It’s dangerous.”

Henry shook his head, not taking his eyes off the
kid. “It won’t be dangerous. Next semester, he can start at the children’s
school, but I’m not… I’m not ready to let him go.”

Scott was an adorable little kid. “Actually, I doubt
it’ll be that dangerous,” I said. “You might have to fight off the women with a
stick, though. There will probably be two hundred women fighting to mother
him.”

Henry scowled until Scott started to squirm. It took
a few minutes, but he finally opened his eyes… wide. His eyes widened in fear
of seeing us until I thought he was going to hurt himself. Then, before trying
to get away, he sniffed the air. Recognition filled his eyes and they locked on
Henry.

Can a shifter identify a family member he never
met by their scent
? Apparently they could, because although the kid sat up
slowly and scooted away to the other side of the truck, he didn’t scream.

“You don’t have to be afraid,” Henry said gently. His
accent faded very slightly, probably in an attempt to seem more familiar to
Scott.

“You smell different than everyone else,” Scott
whispered to Henry.

“Do you know why?”

“You look like me. Are you my daddy?”

Henry nodded and struggled to swallow. I knew that
his overwhelming emotion was causing his throat to close up, but when Scott
made the same swallowing motion, I realized the kid had a lot more in common
with his father than his shape-shifting abilities and his appearance. Then, to
my surprised, Scott crawled closer to us and reached for his father. Henry
didn’t hesitate; he picked up Scott and hugged him as if he would never let him
go again.

*          *          *

Maseré had made short work of cleaning up the
evidence we left behind, so we headed back to the university. Darwin drove
while Henry and I sat in the back with Scott between us. It had been quiet for
half an hour, since both Scott and Henry were deep in thought. Henry kept
stroking Scott’s hair as if he couldn’t believe he really had his son back.

“I knew you were looking for me,” Scott said.

Henry dropped his hands in shame. “I don’t want to
lie to you. I had the chance many years ago to---”

“Was it because they moved me?” Scott interrupted.
“Is that why it took you so long? Do you know who took me? Did you send them to
jail?”

Henry put his hand back on Scott’s head. “The people
who took you are very, very bad people, and no, they’re not in jail. If I ever
tell you that the bad people found us, you have to trust me. Can you do that?”

He nodded.

“They took you when you were still a little baby and
they lied to me. They made me think I would hurt you if I didn’t stay away.”

The child thought about it, but I figured he was too
young to really understand. All he knew was his father was back, and in my
opinion, that was all that mattered. He had a father who loved him and would do
anything for him.

“Are we going home to Mommy? Does she know you found
me?”

Henry’s throat instantly closed up again and his hand
froze in Scott’s hair. “The bad people killed her,” he whispered after a few
minutes.

“Are they going to take me again?”

“Never.”

“Why did they take me?”

Henry didn’t answer. “Because they wanted your dad to
be a bad man and he wasn’t one,” I said.

*          *          *

When we got to the school, Scott had fallen back to
sleep, so Henry carried him up to our room. Fortunately, we only encountered a
couple of people on the way. However, I knew that word would get out soon.

He laid Scott down very gently in his bed. “We need
to get him a kid’s bed. If he has to go to the bathroom or something at night,
I do not want him trying to climb the ladder.”

“Are we going to try to hide him?” Darwin asked.

“For two months?” I responded. “Not likely.”

“No. Addison is building the trust of the students,
but she does not have a very full schedule. She can watch him while I’m in
class and I’ll take care of him for the rest of the time. In August, he’ll go
to the children’s school.”

“Is it safe?” I asked. I knew the students who had
been taken as sacrifices were returned, but it still worried me that they were
taken in the first place.

“It has to be. Scott needs to be with other
paranormals his own age.”

Darwin pulled a spare blanket out of his dresser and
pulled his pillow down. “He can sleep on the floor tonight so that he doesn’t
have to climb the ladder. In the morning, we can find him a little bed and
introduce him to his new step-mummy.”

I woke up, immediately
suspicious of the peace and quiet. It was Saturday, which meant Darwin and
Henry should be arguing over laundry and homework schedules. I sat up and
looked around my room. Darwin was gone, probably with Amy since he knew that he
could touch her. Henry was still asleep… on the floor, in his jaguar form.
Scott was also in his cat form and looked like a little kitten next to his dad.
That could have had to do with the fact that Scott was actually curled over
Henry’s neck with his head on top of his father’s.

Henry must have sensed that I was awake because he
opened his eyes and his cat ears flicked back. When his right ear moved in
front of Scott’s face, the little cub opened his mouth and clamped down on the
ear. Henry didn’t move or make a sound; a picture of patience.

After a few minutes, Scott shifted, went over to his
father’s bed, and tried to reach the blankets. Henry, seeing that his son was
too short, shifted, pulled down the heavy blanket, and dropped it on Scott. The
boy grunted as it engulfed him completely.

“We need to get Scott some new clothes,” I said,
pointing to the pile of torn garments on Henry’s chair.

The kid pulled the blanket off, which left his black
hair a mess. “Who’s Scott?”

Henry moved the clothes and sat in his chair to be at
eye level with his son. “When the bad people took you and put you in the
orphanage, they didn’t tell anyone that your name was Scott. The orphanage made
up a name for you, but it wasn’t what your mother and I named you.” He didn’t
say anything more, obviously waiting for his kid to say something.

Scott shrugged. “I like the name Scott.”

I was impressed by the child’s understanding and
awareness. Then again, he was a shifter, so that might have increased his
mental and emotional development. A jaguar in the wild was dependent and
probably already had offspring by the time they were five years old.

“You talk funny,” he said.

Henry showed nothing but patience on his face. “It is
called an English accent. I had a family in another country once and they were
very good people, so I talk like them. When I came back to America, I kept my
accent because I wanted to always be the person they were proud of. Also, I can
say anything I want in this country and people think it’s Shakespeare. We need
to talk about where we are.”

I left them alone so Henry could explain the
paranormal world to him. By the time I returned from my shower, Darwin was back
and they were ready to go to breakfast. Scott had on his jeans and one of
Darwin’s gray hoodies, which went down to his knees. Darwin frowned at it. “I
tried to shrink it, but I was afraid to leave it in the laundry for long
because someone might have mistaken it for Jackson’s.”

After Jackson made a very racial comment in the wrong
class, his clothes were targeted. Everything he had was now pink and too small
for him. Most of the students who put up with him before now stayed away from
him in fear of being lumped in with him. Although we all knew the clothes-stainer
was a member of Darwin’s pranks club, he was deemed “The Pink Avenger.”

When we walked into the dining room, it only took a
couple of seconds for everyone to spot us. It fell silent. I knew a good
portion of the students had children of their own who they missed dearly. All
eyes were on Scott and the only sound was that of a few dozen motherly
instincts being activated.

“Maybe we should have kept him a secret,” I
whispered.

“Who’s this little angel?” Becky asked, being the
first one to get up from her seat. She knelt in front of Scott and held out her
hand. He shook it and tried to be discreet about sniffing her.

“I’m Scott, and I’m a jaguar shifter,” he said
proudly, copying his father’s accent. Hearts melted all over the dining room.

We made it to the buffet, got our food, and sat down
without too much trouble. After a few minutes, Amelia sat down next to Darwin
and they held hands. Scott and Amelia studied each other before Scott lost
interest and continued eating. That worried me; Scott gave his best smile to
everyone.

“You must be Scott,” she said. “Darwin was telling me
a lot about you this morning.”

He focused on his food and shrugged. “What’s wrong,
buddy?” Darwin asked. Scott just shrugged again.

“He’s not getting an emotional reaction out of me,”
Amy explained.

“Right, because you’re an empathy fae,” Darwin said,
nodding.

“Huh?” I asked. Henry looked just as confused.

“Scott is communicating with everyone around him on a
subconscious level,” Amelia said. “He is sending out ‘love me’ signals and
everyone who has any fondness for kids is susceptible. He’s not doing it
intentionally and he probably doesn’t even understand it, but he can feel who
likes him and who doesn’t. It’s a perfectly natural ability that has probably
helped him survive up until now.”

“That explains some things,” I said.

Henry growled. “You don’t like my son?” he asked her.

Darwin put his arm around her. “Of course she does!
She just isn’t influenced by his aura. Because of that, he can’t understand her
feelings. Think of it as they have the same power, only hers comes from her fae
powers and his is from his shifter genes.”

“You do like me then?” Scott asked hesitantly. Amelia
nodded.

“Is that a normal shifter ability?” I asked.

“Nope,” Darwin answered. “It’s just a talent he has.”

“Actually, I don’t think it has anything to do with
his shifter genetics,” Henry said. “Zoe was always very perceptive of my
emotions.” He grinned fondly as he remembered his wife. “If she was ever ashamed
of something she did, she would act extra sweet and every heart in the entire
city would melt.” He put his hand on Scott’s head. “I have some drawings and
paintings of your mother I want to show you. Two days after you were born, it
was raining and I thought it would never end, but then your mother smiled at
you and the rain just went away.”

Scott smiled brightly.

“Wow. He looks just like you,” Addison said,
approaching our table.

Scott studied her as she set her tray down beside
him. He didn’t make any attempt to hide the fact that he was sniffing her. Then
he stood up to face her. “You smell like my daddy.” She was at a loss for
words, but Scott surprised all of us by wrapping his arms around her waist and
hugging her.

Addie smiled and hugged him back. “Such a
sweetheart!” Scott let her go and sat back down. Addison sat next to him so
that he was between her and Henry. “Does Hunt know about this?”

“We haven’t seen him in a few days,” I said. “I
pretty much expect him to be busy dealing with the remains of the council and
the rest of the paranormal community after the tornado.”

“Actually, your attempts to keep the tornado quiet
might have saved the school,” she said. “I’m not really in with the teachers
because I don’t have students, but they are talking about it. Most paranormals
outside the schools didn’t know about the tornado until after it came down, so
they just assume it was no big deal. Of those who did know, most of them found
out from the council, who apparently believe that Hunt put it up to protect the
schools.”

“Really?” Darwin asked. “You mean something actually
went right for once?”

“We’re more than a month into the school semester and
nobody died,” I pointed out.

Henry, Addie, Amy, and Darwin all considered it with
something like shock on their faces. “You’re right,” Addie finally said. “Wow.”

*          *          *

The rest of the day was fairly calm. Scott enjoyed
the loving attention from everyone and Henry never looked so happy. After
breakfast, Henry, Scott, and Addison went to take a walk in the forest. Darwin,
likewise, wanted alone time with Amelia, so they went to our room. I was never
uncomfortable with being alone, but this time, I couldn’t stop thinking about
Astrid.

I wandered the halls of the castle, not looking for
anyone or anything in particular, and found myself outside of the headmaster’s
office multiple times. The fourth time, I knocked on the door.

“Come on in, Devon,” Hunt said.

I opened the door. Vincent and Hunt were in the seats
by the fireplace and Flagstone stood to the left of the headmaster. I entered
and shut the door behind me. “How do you always know it’s me?” I asked,
expecting some long explanation involving his mighty wizard powers.

“You are the only one who knocks,” he answered.

“You’re the headmaster.” I thought it was only right
to show some respect.

He sighed. “I feel more like a governess sometimes.
How is Henry’s son doing?”

“He’ll be okay. I think he has a lot of adjusting to
do and I expect there’s going to be a problem trying to send him to school in
August, but he’ll make it.”

“Good. There is a problem with the shadow pass. We
have been having increasing problems entering and getting out of it.”

“Logan sent me talk to Maseré and I ended up in
Beijing,” Flagstone said.

“Are you sure that wasn’t retaliation for Remington’s
display in your class?” I asked. Hunt scowled and I realized I probably
shouldn’t have brought that up. “I take it this means Krechea is doing
something.”

“Perhaps, or perhaps not,” Hunt said, helpful as
always. “We already discovered that the unclaimed key weakens the boundaries
between the worlds. This may be the result. We tried to ask Keigan if he was
having the same problem, but we could not find him.”

“We think he might have gone after the key himself,”
Vincent said.

“Would it be so wrong if he got it? He’s willing to
destroy the tower once Heather is back here.”

“Do you really believe that? Keigan was the ruler of
a powerful organization. Do you really believe he wants to stay here as a
teacher?”

“Yes. I think he knows Heather belongs here and that
he’s going to stay here with her.”

“Well, you have a lot more faith in him than I do,”
Vincent said. Hunt didn’t look so sure, though. I wondered if maybe Hunt
trusted Langril more than he let on. I had no doubt he wanted to kill Langril,
but that didn’t mean he didn’t trust the demon.

“We would never force you to get the key, but we must
do something now,” Hunt said. “If you are going to get it, you need to do so
before Krechea or Keigan does.”

I nodded. “I’ll do what I have to. How do I get the
key?”

Hunt and Vincent glanced at each other. “You’d have
to get to the tower, and since the shadow pass isn’t working…” Vincent said,
trailing off.

“Can you help me get to the tower?”

“I have been trying to reach the tower since I bought
this place,” Hunt said. “We have never gotten further than the fourth level
down. As far as we know, Keigan is the only one who can do it.”

“Is it just the traps that keep you from getting
further?”

“There are too many secret rooms and hidden passages.
It was designed to hide the tower.”

I nodded. “Henry can navigate the traps and my
instincts can detect the secret passages and triggers. I just don’t know if
he’s going to be willing to do it.”

*          *          *

“Of course I’m going to help you!” Henry said loudly,
startling both Darwin and Scott. It was three hours after my conversation with
the headmaster and Vincent. Darwin, Henry, and I were sitting in our chairs in
our room while Scott played on the floor with a toy that another student had
given him.

I was a bit shocked myself; this was very different
from the Henry I met when I first started at Quintessence. There were bound to
be problems, but I knew it was better for him to have emotions again. “I
thought you wouldn’t want to leave Scott.”

“It’s not the same thing. Addison can watch him for
an hour while I help you. I wouldn’t even have him back if it weren’t for you.”
He grabbed Scott and pulled him into his lap as if worried that the kid would
suddenly vanish. Scott took the opportunity to grab his teddy bear from Henry’s
desk.

“Okay. We’ll go first thing in the morning.”

“Why not now?” Darwin asked.

“I want to have another lesson with Langril and I
want to ask him for some information on the test.” I went to talk to him, but I
didn’t really expect him to be in his room. He wasn’t. Although it was
Saturday, I also checked his office and classroom.

I knew part of me was just waiting for an excuse not
to go after the key. Some part of me knew I would lose Astrid forever if I did,
and I wanted to put it off for as long as I could. Unfortunately, I knew
better; there were too many villains in the world who were ready to risk
everything to win.

Langril was never going to win.

Krechea would if I didn’t stop him.

*          *          *

I felt her hot, smooth body flex against me and
anticipated the warmth of her kiss. Twice, I felt her lips, but the first time,
it was an undine disguised as her and the second time, she was under John’s
control. This time, Remington was herself and very passionate. She was as warm
as I had expected, and kissing her was a battle for dominance.

She tasted like cherries and mint.

I started to roll her over when she pulled away. Her
body was still pressed against me; it was only her lips I couldn’t reach. “Is
this everything you dreamed of?” she whispered slyly before writhing ever so
slowly against me.

Too lightly, too slowly.

“My dreams are rarely this pleasant.” I brushed a
lock of her hair behind her left ear. Considering Remington would never let me
touch her in real life because she was faithful to Flagstone, I had no idea why
my subconscious was entertaining the fantasy.

Then she wiggled against me and I reached out
instinctively to steady her.