Tag Archives: Kals

Simple Choices: Part 8

Making a mental note to ask Amy if we could do something about him teleporting into HQ whenever he wanted, I stood up. I wasn’t the only one. Jaclyn, Haley, and Izzy had beaten me to it. Izzy was already in the air, hovering above her seat.

Tiger hadn’t done much when Adam first appeared in HQ, but this time, he’d made it to his feet and was already walking around the table.

He wasn’t growling, but watched as Adam walked toward the group, sometimes glancing over at Jaclyn as if wondering what she wanted him to do. Continue reading Simple Choices: Part 8

Simple Choices: Part 6

The discussion went on after that, but no one said anything new. In the end, we took a vote with almost everyone voting yes to working with him.

Cassie spoke for everyone, though, when she said, “Alright, it looks like we’ll be working with him, but we don’t have to trust him. He’s got to pass Daniel’s and Kals’ testing. Plus, if Amy scans him with magic and finds something unexpected, we still ditch him.” Continue reading Simple Choices: Part 6

Friends & Family: Part 10

I was about to point him out to Haley, but I didn’t need to. She and Travis had already noticed and had looked away from the screen to look at each other.

Haley’s fists clenched and I didn’t doubt that she was restraining herself from changing form, “We should go. Mom’s at home—“

Travis shook his head, “I’ll go. You’re running things here.”

Raising an eyebrow, Haley said, “No. I don’t run—“

“I’ll go,” Daniel said. “You’ve got a better chance if I do.”

“I’m coming too,” Cassie said, hand on her bluish-green gun. “Those guys go down hard.” Continue reading Friends & Family: Part 10

Friends & Family: Part 9

I didn’t like that the Cabal soldier who came to help him wasn’t with him, but I didn’t say that over the comm.

Over the comm, I said, “If there’s no one else around, you might as well. That said, The Nine have had teleporters in their bases before, so that might change.”

Jaclyn groaned, “That’s right. And even if they don’t have one here, Cabal soldiers can jump half a mile or more. Blue, keep on your guard.”

I felt as if I could hear Izzy’s frown as she replied, “I couldn’t stop listening to everything around me even if I wanted to.”

“Going in,” Jaclyn said. Continue reading Friends & Family: Part 9

Friends & Family: Part 5

Kals glanced in the direction of Katuk. She’d arrived just after Tiger, and said, “I’d like to help.”

Haley looked at her, “Are you sure? You were training Julie.”

Katuk spoke before Kals could reply, his voice level, “I was instructed to warn you if you do something that put you at serious risk. I want to help Nick as well, but going with them would put you at serious and unpredictable risk. In addition, you know that you’ll have to leave shortly. You’ll need to be healthy to help with the invasion and you’ll assist Nick more if Julie is capable.” Continue reading Friends & Family: Part 5

Friends & Family: Part 4

Soon after that, we all went back to base. After asking Daniel, I stripped out of the full Rocket suit and showered. Haley had assured me that it was a necessity. I put on a real pair of jeans and a t-shirt because she’d also assured me that my nanotech-produced clothing also needed washing.

Daniel had assured me that the chance of anything happening in the next hour or two was extremely unlikely. Continue reading Friends & Family: Part 4

Friends & Family: Part 1

I found myself remembering back to when we’d faced Ray and the Cabal and Ray’s method of terrorizing his targets—killing their families first, getting closer and closer, and then killing the target. From the way Haley’s face tightened, I guessed that she was remembering the same. Back then, we’d been able to rely on the FBI to guard our families. Knowing that the Nine likely had an ear there, we’d have to do it ourselves.

I said, “Can you move more bots out? We need to cast a wider surveillance net around our families, but I think we might want to do the same around close friends.” Continue reading Friends & Family: Part 1

Fonts of Magic: Part 1

Amy’s mouth twisted as she eyed the glowing object. Part of me worried that she wasn’t in costume, but given that the message had found her, it was too late to worry about revealing her identity. The North American Wizard Council had probably known from the moment she appeared on our world.

In an accent that wasn’t quite Irish, Scottish, or English, but some alternate universe’s near relative, she said, “I’m Princess Amelia of the House of Sacrifice, current Bloodmaiden. You have my attention. What is your request?” Continue reading Fonts of Magic: Part 1

Distractions: Part 11

Haley’s lip curled, “Then I think you need to get out of here and let us discuss it. You know that we’re not the whole League. Some of us who aren’t here are going to need a minute to talk about this.”

“Some of us who are here will too,” Cassie’s hand brushed her gun.

Adam glanced down at it, his face hidden in the shadows, but his mouth seemed to tighten, jerking into a smile, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

The shadows that made up his body swirled into themselves and disappeared. Continue reading Distractions: Part 11