Dog Days of Summer (Damned of the 2/19th Book Four) - Finished

Matron's Wisdom

Highway 12 W Rural

Lewis County, Washington, United States of America

8 Aug 1986

1355

"Turn left here." Matron Aine told me. I was tempted to ignore her command and keep going along straight, but she was playing some sort of game and I wanted to get as much information on it as possible.

"Well, that went to total shit." I lied, looking in the rearview mirror at Matron Aine. She was wearing a gingham dress, and I knew from experience with her daughter that she wore nothing underneath it. Her red hair was intertwined and held in a braid by a bright blue ribbon, her emerald eyes glowed with excitement, and her too long tongue licked her ruby red lips as I made the turn. She had tiny sharp teeth, like she had never lost her baby teeth, sharp cheekbones, and a pointed chin that completed her heart shaped face. She looked like a young woman, in her early 20's at the most, but I knew that she was almost seventy.

All the Aines were like that. Apparently ageless, identical looking, with identical preferences. Back during the Roman Empire's invasion of Pax Britannica and Germania the original Aine had bred into the McDaurn and McCullen's blood lines, and in each generation one was born. Aines lived in a different world than everyone else, one of the magic, or portent, and the supernatural. While it was easy to discount their words, seeing an Aine crawling across a ceiling, upside down, would make a believer out of anyone.

"Boys should not make plans outside of combat and war." The blonde said. I had to restrain an urge to punch her in the side of her head.

"Please be silent, Briana." Matron Aine told the younger woman. "You had a plan, Anthony?"

"Yeah, and it all went to shit between you grabbing me at the airport and what went down in front of the Matrons." I lied again. I glanced at the rearview mirror and saw that Matron Aine was smiling with amusement. Aine's made it a point of pride that they could tell when a boy was lying to them, but Aine back in 2/19th seemed to have problems with it, and from the looks of it, my newfound ability to lie wasn't registering with Aine's mother.

"It served my purposes, and my daughter asked me to watch over you to ensure her newly claimed boy was safe." Matron Aine smiled. "You realize that if you bond with her, I can move control over you  to the McCullen Matrons, no longer will you have to dwell under the shadow of that pack of widows and plotters." She smiled widely. "Unlike the McDaurns, the McCullen Matrons still revere a family Patron."

"I'll pass." I said.

"Turn right." Matron Aine said, cutting off the rest of what I was going to say. I did as she  told me, noticing we were heading toward Tenino, a small town that only had a few of either families living in it. Relatives, sure, but not full blown family under the Council's control.

"You shouldn't have come alone, Aodan." The blonde girl said, looking at me. I could see that she was one of Matron Aine's daughters, but lacked the crimson hair and the petite body, instead she was blonde and slightly chubby in that sweet way that gave her filled out curves and a full bosom.

"That's not my name." I snarled at her, jamming on the brakes so the car slid to a stop on the highway.

"He has a new name, Briana, one earned in fire, steel, and blood." Matron Aine said softly. "I do not know it, but I quiver in desire to hear it from his own lips."

"There's a McCullen family farm about a mile from here." I told Briana. I leaned across her and pushed open her door. "Get out."

Briana looked back at Matron Aine, so I put my hand on her shoulder and shoved her hard. She wasn't buckled in and fell out onto the shoulder. I glanced to make sure her legs or an arm wasn't under the car and hit the gas. The acceleration slammed the door as we swung away from her and I pulled a quick three point turnaround. She had just gotten to her feet when I passed her, and she was yelling something and waving.