Never Underestimate Destiny

Part 19

Lonnie and Rath sat at the table over several cartons of Chinese take – out. Rath stuffed a large shrimp into his mouth and then pointed at Lonnie with his chopsticks.

"So you think Nicholas was telling the truth?"

She nodded. "What he did tell me, yeah. But I think he's still holding back. They want that Granolith back now for a reason."

Rath grabbed a large amount of noodles and leaned back, dropping them into him mouth, and then talked around the food as he chewed. "Nicholas told you it's because the war's going bad," he said. "Isn't that enough reason?"

Lonnie shrugged. "I think the war's going a lot worse than Nicholas let on. Maybe Kivar needs that Granolith to keep his position."

Rath looked up. "So if we had it, we'd have a huge bargaining chip."

"Exactly," Lonnie said. "And Zan must know where it is, because no one else does."

"I can't believe he didn't tell us," Rath sneered. "Was he hoping to make a deal of his own?"

"Or maybe use it to kick Kivar's ass," Lonnie speculated. "But whatever he was planning, we need to talk to him. With that Granolith we can negotiate an end to this war and a return trip home."

"Kivar ain't gonna let Zan come back," Rath scoffed, "no matter what kind of deal we make."

Lonnie smiled. "I don't think that's going to be a problem."

Rath nodded.

"We need Zan to give us the Granolith, and he has to be at the summit, but after that," she trailed off significantly.

Putting down his chopsticks, Rath picked up her phone, holding it out to her. "You should call him now, and see what he says."

Lonnie took the phone, but sat, thoughtful. "We'll have to be careful. We don't want my dear brother to get suspicious that we've been meeting with Nicholas."

She pressed the speed – dial for Zan's number. "I'll just ask him how the vacation is going."

The phone didn't even ring, but went straight to a message. "The user you are trying to reach is out of the coverage area. You can leave a message on voicemail."

Lonnie felt a rush of anger, but composed herself to speak normally when the beep sounded. "Zan," she purred, "just wanted to see if you and Ava are having a good time, and what you're doing. Call me back."

Snapping the phone shut, she looked at Rath. "He'd better call soon," she snarled.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Max stopped the Jeep in the alley around the side of the Crashdown. He looked around briefly to make sure they were alone, and then he and Liz moved into each others' arms at the same time. Their lips crashed together and they kissed passionately.

After long moments Max pulled back, sighing contentedly as he stroked Liz's hair. "Today was incredible."

Liz smiled. "Yeah," she whispered. "It was perfect."

"Do you feel okay?" Max asked concerned. "You're not in pain or anything."

Liz's smile widened. Zan had asked her the same thing when they were getting dressed, and she gave Max the same answer. "No, I feel wonderful."

She was a little sore in some of her muscles, but it was nothing she wanted Max to take away. She wanted to feel it.

Leaning against him, she put her head on his shoulder. "I wish I didn't have to leave you."