Blood in the Fire

Chapter Four The Family Business

Elizabeth

My mind tried to connect with Anton as I headed out to the backyard. Wet, damp air greeted me at the porch door: the remnants from last night's storm. Mosquitos and small bugs hovered around in the still atmosphere.

After a few more attempts, I concluded that my boyfriend was out of telepathic range without a power boost. Short-range telepathy required virtually no magic.

 Voices coming from the kitchen let me know that Mark and Luke were discussing something inside. The humidity out here was unpleasant, but I suspected the kitchen would even less agreeable. Instead, I surveyed the overgrown grass in our backyard. After last night, it was probably my responsibility to do the trimming. By tomorrow, I'd be deemed fit enough to start on my new allotment of chores. Choosing between a new mission and yard work, I decided it was worth another shot.

To my surprise, my boyfriend answered this time. He sounded groggy.

Sorry for waking you, I apologized. You didn't get much sleep last night, did you?

Nah, what's up? Anton replied. He tried to sound casual, but we'd both been struggling to get a good night's rest since our last assignment. It ended with me finding out that we were going to lose the war against wizards. It wouldn't happen soon, or even in the next hundred years, but eventually, the good guys lost.

Anton was the only person I had shared this information with. The shock in his eyes when I'd told him had made me sick to my stomach. But we were both clinging to one small shred of hope. Our future comrades could still win the war if I could figure out a way to break the rules of time-travel. All I had to do to change the course of events was get a message to my friend in the future. Unfortunately, breaking this particular time-law seemed impossible.

My mind was tired of spinning around in endless circles, trying to solve a puzzle that, perhaps, had no solution. I could feel through our telepathic link just how drained my boyfriend was too. He was fighting sleep, despite the hour. We both needed a distraction.

Luke asked me this morning to give up my powers, I said.

A moment of shocked silence met my announcement. What did you tell him? Anton asked at last. I recounted to Anton the details of my conversation with Luke this morning. We agreed that he would grab lunch with my cousin, Tamer, and the two of them would get back to me with a trainee mission: something simple and safe. The last thing I heard through the mental link with Anton before we cut communication was the sound of his sister banging on his door and yelling at him to wake up and fix her blow dryer again.

I smirked at his misfortune, then decided to sit on the back steps for a while, in case my own family troubles waited for me inside. What would it be like having my brothers on a mission with me? I wondered. I pictured that first moment when Mark and Luke would realize they'd been teleported into space. Mark would utterly fail to contain his excitement. He would probably stand there for a moment, looking out the window, and then he'd leap into the air, hit the wall and yell, "I'm in space, baby!" Everyone at the station or on the ship would be staring at him and he wouldn't give a damn. Hell, he might even hug one of the spectators.

What about Luke? Luke was often too adult to get excited about much, but when he did, it was something special. There was a certain boyish sparkle he'd get in his eyes. It reminded me of Dad. Luke would probably stare out the window in sheer awe until Mark snapped him out of it. Then he would shake his head and laugh at his little brother. Sighing, he'd look at me, beaming, and he'd say, "I can't believe I'm in space. I can't believe you brought us here." Seeing him that way would mean the world to me.

I was enjoying my daydreams. Thinking about bringing them into space was helping me quiet the anxious feeling at the pit of my stomach. How would Luke react to the mission itself? I could probably take him on something as simple and mundane as dragon hunting, and he'd still find a way to convince himself it was too dangerous for me.

"Hey, so is it all set?" Mark asked, walking out and joining me on our back steps.

"Yeah, we'll meet after lunch tomorrow," I replied. I purposefully left out the where.

"You know why I suggested today, right?" Mark asked. I nodded but continued to stare off into the distance. Mark picked up a twig by his shoe and started peeling back the outer layers of bark. He never could just sit and not be doing something. "Are you sure you're up for a mission right away? I mean, you did just break out of a hospital yesterday...."

"I'm fine, Mark," I interrupted. I leaned over and rested my head on his shoulder. "I'll find us something real simple. Tell you the truth, I'm kinda looking forward to it or, at least, part of it."

"Yeah, me too," Mark said, grinning.

We sat there silently for a minute or two. Then I asked, "did you know that in our society, Mom was a medical specialist?" Mark shook his head so I continued. "Mostly, she served out in the field as a medic, but her expertise was neurology. Not just humans either. She worked on over a dozen different alien species."

Mark pulled away and turned to look at me. I guess he wanted to see my expression to make sure I wasn't pulling his leg. I just smiled back.

"I guess it's not too much of a jump from cats and dogs to aliens," Mark said with an awed expression on his face. I guess I'd never told him what Mom really did. She was a veterinary nurse back on Earth.

I laughed and dropped my head back onto his shoulder. "She was always complaining about her job on this planet," I told Mark. "It drove her nuts every time she had to help put down an animal that she could cure magically. Of course, doing so would have broken our rules."

"What about Dad?"

 "He was a physics specialist like me. His expertise included electromagnetic and temporal phenomenon." There was another moment's worth of silence. At this point, there was practically nothing left of the stick Mark had been picking away at. He dusted the remaining pieces of wood off his hands and reached in his pocket for his pack of cigarettes.

"You know what I think you would have been if you had powers?" I asked. Mark was busy lighting up so I didn't wait for him to respond. "I bet you would have been a diplomat or a mediator."

Mark laughed so hard, my head fell right off his shoulder and I had to catch myself. "I can see it now, me walking up to a 300-year-old alien in my torn jeans and dirty tee. 'Hey, welcome to our galaxy, buddy. Want a smoke?'" Mark offered his cancer stick to the imaginary alien in our yard, and I cracked a grin. His first reaction to aliens would be to invite them out for a beer and a cigarette.

"Yeah, Mark, you'd be perfect for the job," I said.

Mark chuckled and shook his head as he contemplated the idea for a moment. Then, he laughed again at some private thought and moved to inhale another drag. "It's gonna be a good couple of days," he said. I leaned back against the doorpost and watched the smoke rise.

"Yeah," I replied quietly. "I hope so." The sky was turning gray again.