Storm had honestly always been exceptionally fond of school. He had been in advanced classes for most of his life, allowing for him to move at a faster rate than most of his peers. He would technically be graduating university early back home, as would Leslie. They attended the same advanced classes for some categories but otherwise differed greatly since he was interested in computational machines as well as cooking. She leaned to communications and botany. Since PCMs of the future were at least a little different compared to the ones of that time, Storm had opted for the advanced culinary class since it lost popularity before the next Era and got dropped from the curriculum.
He grinned to himself as he watched his cookies slowly turning golden brown inside the oven. He had always thought his family's leaning to art must surely be manifesting in his cooking. He did deeply enjoy frosting and decorating cookies and cakes, to be sure. This particular class was actually all about the literally dozens of types of cookies in existence, so he felt well suited to the task. Whether or not he killed anyone with heavy spices or not remained to be seen.
He straightened and glanced around the busy room. He always felt isolated in the class for various reasons. Being an introvert meant a certain discomfort with crowds in general and small talk in particular; university students could be really good at the latter, unfortunately. Despite being relatively in the average for age in the class, he also felt just so much older than the others even if they happened to be closer in age to his friends.
It had only a little to do with be a Dual Cultivator, though that did not help either, he thought as he wiped down the counter he had been using. It mostly had to do with his Pattern Mastery skill. He knew things. Information was never more than a second away from his mind or fingertips. He could reason out any answer externally or internally. That sort of thing tended to age someone fast. Goddess only knew that Tasia often felt ancient.
He had begun to see another pattern around himself, in fact. One that had him a little unnerved and maybe a bit annoyed. It had completely slipped past his senses until his eldest sister had gently told him to look anew at why he was spending so much time in his class and striving to make the galaxy's best cookies. Talk about being hit with an eye opener.
He turned his head and sought out the form of one of the more distinct women in the room. She was not hard to find; she had a clump of other students clustered around her vying for her attention. No surprise. Not only was she an accomplished artist within her own right—a clay sculptor to be specific—she had also held some of the highest grades at university before graduating several years before. She had only come back to take this class and expand her repertoire of skills; at twenty-eight, she was on the higher age end in the room. She was also, very unfairly, gorgeous.
A taller than average five-nine height, a remarkably strong frame from also being a runner most of her life, a softly curved figure, and fair skin offset by auburn eyes and hair the most amazingly beautiful rust color Storm had ever seen. Not red, not orange, but a wonderful rust that clung to her neck and flopped into her eyes.
His friends had once discussed the feelings inherent to finding a soul mate under various circumstances, and how the heart, soul, and body alike would react in different ways depending on the individual. He had of course memorized them since being the next Ruler Cultivator of Gladiolus logically meant he would find his perfect Caretaker, marry, and they carry on the lineage. Logic had taken a hike out the window the moment he laid eyes on this rusty-haired woman. The force and fury of the desire she stirred in his body, and the desperate longing he felt in his heart to hold her close, were daunting. And slightly annoying. Explaining being a Dual Cultivator to a potential soul mate would be trouble enough without having to add in the whole time travel thing and the sacrificing of everything they knew. He really almost hoped she wasn't his soul mate and maybe he was just an aberration somehow. Witches could feel desire for non-soul mates, right? Well, yes, but generally the Cultivator side won out over the witch side in things like that. "Damn it," he muttered.
The ovens around the room dinged, and everyone began scrambling to get their cookies out. He pulled out his cookie tray and set it on the counter to cool a bit while he turned off the oven. That done, he transferred the cookies to the wax paper he had laying out. He became aware that a crowd gathered around him but he ignored them as he diligently applied a thin layer of powdered dusts that reacted to the heat and melted into frosting. It took a very steady hand, which he thankfully had. "There!" he said as he finished the last one. He laughed as everyone began applauding loudly. "Thank you, thank you!" He bowed with a flourish.
Everyone began the bagging process as the teacher called for the end of class, and he tied a little yellow ribbon around the top of his bag. He would foist them off on Emily. She had the biggest sweet tooth of his friends, and she had happily eaten her way through all of Storm's goofs in the class let alone the successes. He suspected she had a cast-iron stomach, so she really did make a great taste tester for him and Juliet alike.
Storm's period for the class happened to be the last one for the day, so students took turns cleaning up the space for the teacher. It was his turn that day, so he did not leave with the rest of the class. He instead set his backpack by the door and rolled up his sleeves. He could take as much time as he wanted, ensure everything was spic and span, and enjoy some damn quiet.
As he was passing by the open window with a damp rag, he glanced out and winced wryly as he saw the same cluster of students as before still hovering around the redhead. They kept trying to offer their cookies to her despite her obvious attempts to turn them down. The way she kept edging back implied she was on the verge of fleeing like an animal surrounded by hunters. If she did, they would never catch her. She held quite a speed record in several runner categories.
Storm pondered the scene as he continued cleaning. It seemed as if it had always been around, the idea that to give someone food you had made was to give them your love or affection. Gladiolians took it to an extreme, to be sure, with their need to constantly feed and nurture their loved ones, but even regular folks often felt compelled to offer food as a way of declaring emotion. If his memory served, in the Royal Era one had given a cake, cookies here in Rebirth, and in Resurrection it was loaves of bread. Honestly, now that he thought about it, he could not be sure if maybe that tradition had started with Gladiolus. He would have to ask Clara.
He reached the end of the chalkboard and tossed the washcloth over his shoulder. It landed in the sink with a plop, and someone began clapping. He whirled sharply and felt his pulse skip over itself. The unintentionally popular redhead stood in the doorway watching him. She set her bag down next to his and then tucked her hands into her pockets as she walked closer. "Nice shot," she offered.
"Thank you." He tried to cover his sudden nerves by beginning to gather up the bowls that had been used that day. "Nice job on escaping the mob. Did you have to trample anyone?" Realizing that might actually be too familiar, he winced. "Uhm, I mean . . ."
She just laughed at him as she walked further into the room. "Don't take it back! I like that you speak your mind. Makes you act and sound older than you are." She smiled. "You're very different from the others around here, I think." She moved around until she stood in front of him and forced him to meet her eyes. "Let's be officially introduced. I'm Kari. Kari Anohue." She offered a hand palm up. He placed his palm on hers, rather than the back of his hand, and she grinned. "Yeah, you're definitely different. I've never seen that sort of greeting before."
Oops. He winced. "Well, I'm ahead of my time maybe." He hastily retrieved his hand when it seemed like she wouldn't pull hers away and resumed taking the bowls down to the sink. "Did you need something, Kari?" That was right, wasn't it? He didn't need to use her last name because she had initially used just her first name in introducing herself. Right? Damn it, it was so hard to think straight when she was in the same room with him!
"Companionship that isn't sizing me up wondering if I'd date them," she responded instantly and dryly, and he almost bobbled the bowls as he put them in the sink. She smiled sheepishly. "Was that too blunt?"
"Nope, just amused." And also a little sheepish himself because he was very probably more attracted to her than anyone else alive. She was right, though, since he had no intention of sizing her up with the intention of dating her. He had to figure out other complications before he ever got that far. Deciding to see if treating her like a friend would make him less nervous, he threw a washcloth at her that she caught one-handed. "If you're going to hover, at least be useful as well."
"Of course."
She began wiping down the counters, and he relaxed. It felt like he was back on even ground once more. It did seem as if there was something here he should see, but the pattern remained murky for some strange reason. Pushing it out of his mind until he had more information, he gathered up cookie trays. One of them was still piping hot, and he dropped it with a yelp as a red welt appeared across his palm. "Ouch! Shit!"
"Are you okay?" Kari seemed to materialize at his side and she lifted his hand to study the red welt on his palm. If she noticed the way his pulse kicked against his wrist, she didn't say anything about it as she pulled him over to the sink and turned on the room temperature water. "Here, put your hand under this."
"Okay." He held his breath as he stared up her face. They stood hip to hip at the sink, and he could have easily laid his head on her shoulder thanks to being all but the same height, with him only a bit shorter. He could have also even easier just leaned in and kissed those ridiculously tempting lips. He held himself fiercely still and struggled to fight against the emotions she evoked. His situation was not at all aided by being close enough now to realize she had a Thunder Flower Element not unlike his, and that she clearly had some sort of magic—as a Caretaker always did. He also thought he might be finally understanding why Tasia and Rodi's relationship had been tumultuous. If Kari was indeed his soul mate, this was some scary stuff! "That was stupid of me, huh?"
"Well, just a little." She turned off the water and grabbed a paper towel to gently dry his hand for him. The mark was brightly red still, and he winced when she touched it lightly. She folded up a cold towel on the mark and then pulled a green bandana out of her pocket and deftly wrapped it around his hand with a jaunty bow on the back. "There. All better."
"Gee, Doc, no lollipop?" he asked dryly. She laughed, and as his heart fluttered, he thought it wiser to take a few healthy steps away. The room was clean once more, so he stacked the cooking books neatly and then went over to get his backpack. His cohort beat him there and snagged it from the floor, and his eyes narrowed. "Hand it over."
"Nope." She slung it over her shoulder with her own bag and grinned as he eyed her in a way that meant he was evaluating if he could take her down. He probably could; his slender frame in no way hid the strength she could see in his body overall. She knew he had been seen working out in the gym with a masters' level skill in some forms of hand or foot combat. She had been tempted to sneak in and watch but had not yet had the nerve.
She had noticed him one day while she had been borrowing the runners' track for some practice, and she had been utterly captivated by him. If he was not the most beautiful man on campus, then she sure could not tell the difference. Something about him just felt wonderfully different. His mannerisms, certainly, but also the ageless wisdom inside his haunting ash brown eyes. He had said he was ahead of his time. Honestly, she felt the same way most of the time. She had never really fit in either.
She wanted him more than she had ever wanted anything else. Physically, certainly, but it went so far deeply into her that she felt as if her very soul was starving for him. She just needed to care for him, to hold him, to shelter his heart and soul if something weighed him down. She had escaped unscathed by love or desire until meeting him, so it did feeling a little daunting over all. Was she in love now? She had not felt a fall, so she honestly did not know. She just knew that he needed her, and she needed him. "Can I ask a personal question?"
"If you give me my backpack," was the instant retort. "And I still reserve the right to not answer. That old chivalry thing of carrying the shorter person's bags went out of style about the same time your jacket did. You really need to invest in something that doesn't look like you've just stepped out of an archaic stage theatrical about singing birds."
She felt herself land with a painful thud and realized she had been falling all along. Mentally, she kissed her single life goodbye. How could she not love him? She hadn't stood a chance, and as she held out his backpack, she realized she did not want one. She opened her mouth and saw wariness in his brown eyes. Too much, too soon. She changed her mind and asked instead, "What are you going to do with those cookies?"
He blinked. "Pardon?" He looked to where he had left his bag of cookies and picked them up. He had forgotten entirely that they were there. "I figured on giving them to my roommates. They'll eat anything."
"Can I have them?" She gave him a cajoling smile as she let go of the backpack into his control. "You're a really good cook. Seems a waste to just give them to your roommates. How could they possibly appreciate the sensitivity and style that went into making them? The sweat from your brow and the . . ." She stopped and smiled when he began laughing. "You're really beautiful when you smile, Stormy."
Red climbed his neck. The compliment on top of using his nickname—which only those closest to him used—felt doubly intimate. What was she up to? "Uh, thanks. Sure, here you go." Because he wasn't certain how to handle things, he dropped the bag of cookies into her hand and flew out the door as fast as was humanly or Cultivator-ly possible.
Tasia acted as normal transport for the two students, so Leslie and Storm alike found themselves dropped off well before class the next day. Tasia had to get to the studio early since auditions would be held on the following Saturday for the musical, and she needed to finish one last song with Doug to complete the entire score.
Leslie wandered off in the direction of the library, and Storm wandered around to the back of the building where his class would be held. A bench under some trees allowed him to enjoy the perfect not-warm but not-cool air of Lux's temperate autumn. Leaves softly fell from the trees to form a beautiful carpet of reds and golds and browns. Some areas had more shadow than others thanks to the shorter days, but Storm loved shadows. He always had. He blamed it on his love for his eldest sister, really.
He leaned back on the bench and closed his eyes as he tilted his face to the sky. Leaves brushed his skin as they fell and the sensation made him briefly smile. He felt far from serene, though. It had been quiet since Rachel's evolution, and Storm knew for fact he would go next. He had no idea how, but he did know it would happen.
Putting it aside as much as he could, he forced himself to think of less stressful things. Less than a month loomed until the solstice and the winter festival holiday therein. He mentally ran down his list of people to buy gifts for, and he realized on a wince that he still had a few left. A smile curved his lips anew as he wondered what in the name of the gods he could possibly get for Chance. What did you get the guy who didn't want anything?
Tender fingers softly touched his cheek, and his eyes flew wide with surprise. Kari stood before him, looking down at him with an expression in her eyes that he did not recognize. "I was right," she said softly. "A smile really does make you more beautiful." Her fingers lingered as she moved to sit beside him. "I have another personal question."
"Go for it," he said. He savored the touch on his cheek despite knowing he should probably move her hand. She saw him as just a friend, and he did not want to scare her off. He could think later how to tell her everything.
"Do you think it's possible to meet someone and know for a fact that you're destined to be together?"
He suddenly smiled and stole her breath. "Of course I do. Destiny is an inexplicably integral part of my life, really. I've watched her meddle in the lives of nearly everyone I know. Sure, she can manipulate people," he added, thinking of Rodi and Tasia again, "but she can also be very sweet and mix together the perfect recipe to have the right people meet at the right time."
She smiled as well. "I like that. Comparing love to a recipe."
"It seemed oddly appropriate. See, for me," he moved out of the reach of her fingers before he did something stupid, "I always compare love to cooking. Probably because, for me, cooking is love. It's how I give love to everyone around me. So I want a love that's lighter than sweet and sweeter than light. I want it to last forever without going stale, and always taste new and wonderful every minute of each day—most especially when times are hard."
"So . . . how would one go about giving you such a love?"
He thought about it and then said seriously, "Cookies." He laughed when she lifted a brow. "Okay, that's specific, but really, I think if someone gave me something they had made from their heart, I would know how they felt. For this Era, cookies are the standard, so that's fine with me." He felt comfortable again and turned more toward her on the bench. "What are you doing here so early? Class isn't for another two hours. Did you have a practice run today?"
"Actually, I just had a feeling I should get here early. I guess I sensed you were here, and I like spending time with you." She stood and offered a hand to tug him up as well. Leaves had collected in his hair, and she lightly brushed at them. "One more personal question."
"Alright." He would have stepped back before he gave in to the urge to cuddle—because that felt pretty strong—but her other hand curled around his wrist to keep him closer. His eyes slowly widened as the little detail he had been missing suddenly clicked into place and he realized what she was doing, why she was doing it, and even when she had made the decision to do it at all.
"May I kiss you?" she asked softly. She began to smile as she saw the knowledge moving across his ancient eyes. "I think you know everything, don't you?"
"Most things," he corrected. "Not everything. That's my sister. And you actually managed to slip past my senses, possibly because I was so busy trying to ignore my own feelings for you. That's impressive, you know?" He found a genuine smile. "I would be quite happy for you to kiss me. Fair warning: I have not yet been fully impressed by the entire kissing process." The one or two suitors he had bothered to accept and subsequently let kiss him had barely hit the 'mild thrill' category. "Consider that a challenge if you like."
"I'm a competitive runner as well as an artist, Stormy." Her fingers caught him under the chin. "I really, really like challenges." She tugged him closer until their lips met at last, and his taste was sweeter than she had expected. She released his wrist only to wrap that arm around his waist and pull him closer. Their bodies fit perfectly together, so perfectly their shadows became one on the ground. His hands slid into her hair to hold her closer in turn, and the kiss slowly deepened more and more until their bodies began to tremble with mutual need.
She felt so perfect to him. So absolutely perfect to hold him. Her arm around him felt like a promise of safety and security when his duty weighed him down. The one made by Destiny to be his perfect match. His soul mate. Her other arm wrapped around him as well, and her fingers curled into his shirt to hold on. He had a suddenly powerful urge to get her sweater off to find the soft flesh beneath but resisted. This was supposed to get stronger as years passed? Daunting thought.
They slowly parted in a need for air, and he traced her swollen lips with trembling fingers. "Consider me impressed," he told her huskily. "And don't let go because I can't feel my legs. Are we standing?"
"Possibly not," she whispered back just as huskily. "I think I'm floating personally."
He flexed his foot just to be sure but they did still stand on solid ground. Thankfully. Honestly, he would not have been shocked if his Telekinesis might have activated and actually levitated them. They could discuss those details much later; no need to surprise her out of nowhere. "Mind if I kiss you this time?" he asked.
"Please do. I'm all about fairness."
His lips had only just touched hers when his PCA warbled with a familiar sound. "Damn it," he muttered. He released Kari and pulled out his phone to discover a texted messaged from Leslie. "My best friend suggested we have lunch before our classes."
"Well, to be fair, I do have a practice." Kari smiled. "You can kiss me later. Fair?"
He stole a quick kiss right there. "Fair."
They parted before anyone saw them together, but the fact that both looked mutually flushed and rumpled had brows lifting and whispers flying. They reached Leslie even before he did, and as he sat down at her table in the cafeteria, she said, "You just get out of your soul mate's bed or something? Because the way you look is skirting the edge of some laws, friend. If we need to plan another wedding, better say so now. You don't want to see my mother or aunt when they think someone is trying to be sneaky about that sort of thing."
"Oh, very funny." Storm felt no surprise she had guessed; he had a feeling their entire household knew. There was nothing sacred in their group, and the only one who kept secrets was Tasia. Then again, those were secrets of the universe, so no one else wanted them anyway. "I did not get out of Kari's bed, but I did get very thoroughly kissed." He huffed out a breath. "Wow. There are no words."
Leslie grinned. "Good for you!" She grew more serious as she covered his hand with her own. "On the other hand . . . her presence here makes things far trickier. Perhaps this is the actual heart of the Pivot. It always comes down to a Cultivator's choice, right? Sounds like you have a hell of a choice to be made here, to tell Kari what is going on or to let go and risk the future on your not producing a child. Cultivators can only reproduce with a soul mate, but witches are not so limited, so maybe you could have a child with someone other than a soul mate, but that is a risk I am not sure any of us would want to take."
He took a long breath. "There really isn't a choice, Les. Not for Gladiolus' future, and not for my own sake. I think the moment Kari and I met, I made the choice inside without realizing. She managed to sneak past my Pattern Mastery. That's damn impressive."
"Well, to be fair, the only person who can surprise Tasia is Rodi. I think that's the balance, you know?" Leslie propped her chin on her hand. "You two can't be surprised by anyone, so the perfect soul mate is someone who knows your mind and soul so well that they can surprise you. You two would be bored without that. So I say you bring Kari home to meet us, and ask her about her family. She's your soul mate, the one chosen to be the mate of a Dual Cultivator. Destiny will have planned for your happiness, Stormy."
Her words danced in his mind as he later baked sugar-based cookies in class. She was right, but that didn't do anything to take away his nerves. No one had warned him that a strong vulnerability came with finding the one person you wanted to spend forever with. It didn't seem very fair. He stifled a sigh as he straightened up from looking in the oven, and he saw Kari watching him from across the room. She slowly smiled at him, and he found himself smiling back. How did she make his world feel so much better just by being in it? It might be the one puzzle he never understood, and he was just fine with that.
The ovens rang as a whole, and he turned his focus to his cookies. He removed them from their pan and critically studied them for proper browning and texture. He sacrificed one to test the flavor and nodded firmly. He had been skeptical of switching sugar types for the cookie dough, but it made them not as sweet so he could have a sweeter frosting. He went with another melting type but one that would harden to an almost candy state. They had cooled entirely by the time the class ended, and he bagged them up with a cheerful rusty colored ribbon.
A kafuffle made him look up to discover that the other students had descended on Kari again. A hot wave of jealousy made him feel as green as his Ruler suit. Gladiolus' Cultivator outfits had more green than yellow despite being a yellow flower; he had always thought that fairly interesting. A couple other worlds did the same thing. Mostly just depended on the flower. He would leave the studying of such a thing to Rodi; his brother-in-law had a fascination for that subject.
He knelt down to stuff his book into his bag and then realized the room had gone utterly quiet. He turned his head, saw familiar running shoes, and hastily straightened. Kari's auburn eyes watched him with a now familiar heat. "Uhm."
She took his hand and placed her bag of cookies on his palm. She closed his fingers around it and asked very solemnly, "Will you let me court you, and accept my feelings for you?"
The entire room seemed to hold its breath. He smiled and pulled the bag close and offered his cookies with his other hand. "Only if you accept mine in return. Fair cookie trade?"
"Not with the way you bake." She ignored the rising buzz in the background. "I could eat yours for a meal. Speaking of, want one?"
He grabbed up his backpack from the floor. "Tonight? Sure." He followed her to the doorway and then could not resist turning around. "Okay, everyone, she's mine now by her own choice. You lot need to find your own cute redhead, alright? And seriously, don't mob them at every pass! Sheesh."
Kari was outright laughing at him, but he just grinned as he followed her out of the room. Warmth spread through him as she took his free hand with her own. He already could not imagine a life without her, and he sort of wanted to see if it could be possible for her to move into the house with them. It was a big house. Sure, they would have to be polite to Emily who was his roommate, but he just really wanted to sleep snuggled in Kari's arms for now. The rest could be had later. Maybe Emily could bunk with someone else now and then. That would be fair, right?
He spotted Leslie waiting at the exit and waved. He dragged Kari along with him as he headed to his friend. "Les, I want you to meet Kari Anohue. Kari, this is Leslie Ann Toulume. She's one of my roommates as well as one of my best friends."
"Nice to meet you, Leslie Ann," Kari said. She offered a hand and was not surprised when Leslie did the same palm-to-palm greeting that Storm had used. She had heard that Storm's friends were as eccentric as he himself. Because there was something so innately royal about Leslie, though, she could not resist performing a more formal greeting by turning their hands over and curling Leslie's hand into a fist before bowing briefly. She grinned when both lifted brows at her. "What? I saw it in a film theatrical and it seemed to fit here."
"She never did that with me," Storm told Leslie. "Show-off."
She blew on her fingers and then rubbed them against her jacket. "Some have it, some don't." She smiled at Kari. "Call me Leslie. And trust me, everyone in our house is rather different from most everyone you'll meet around here." In a calm voice she added without pause, "If you break his heart, I'll break you. Are we clear?"
"Clear," she answered promptly.
Leslie walked off on her own to let them follow, and Storm muttered, "Just who is protecting who around here?" He saw Kari eye him oddly, and cleared his throat. "You mentioned a meal. How about tonight at my house? You could meet everyone. That is, if your family doesn't mind."
"In fact, I don't have any family." She wrapped an arm around his waist to keep him close. The fact that he returned the gesture made her smile. "My parents died shortly after I turned twenty-five. I've been alone since then. Grandparents live on Valerian Heights' landmass and never really visited or cared. I get a letter mailed from them every now and then, when they remember I exist. You know," she added softer, "until I met you, I never really did understand why I had been left so alone. But maybe that just allows me to better appreciate how . . . full you make my heart and soul feel."
"Kari," he said softly, "a couple things you need to know. One, I'm a witch."
"Hmm. I had been wondering about that. You didn't look to be always using your hands in class."
He side-eyed her. "Are you admitting that you stared at me a little bit?"
"I think it was more than a bit. What can I say? You make a wonderful distraction while waiting for things to bake." She kissed his cheek quickly. "I don't mind at all that you're a witch. I find them fascinating individuals, actually. And I will assume you did not put a spell on me, but if you did, I'm really okay with it. It's a nice one. Is everyone in your house the same?"
"Relatively speaking. My eldest sister is actually a sorceress, and her husband should probably be a wizard yet has not evolved. Everyone else, yeah, witches." He took a long breath. "There's actually something else even more important to discuss, but since we're almost to Tasia's EC, we can discuss it after dinner."
"Alright. Fair enough." Her arm tightened almost as if she sensed a threat. She didn't know what it was that made him apprehensive, but she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that having just found him, she would never let go of him. Something inside her knew that if she could not protect his heart, could not ensure his happiness, she would have no reason to exist.
* * * * *
Deep within his hidden base, Alloran use his crystal ball to hunt across the face of the country to find himself a Life Orb that might be completely pure. The only target he could locate was that of Kari Anohue, a professional track runner and respected clay sculptor who had plenty of medals to her name in both categories even at a younger age.
He would have considered her a perfect opportunity if the first image he saw of her had not shown her walking intimately with Storm Peacer, the Gladiolus Dual Cultivator. Alloran winced hard. The few times he had tried to target someone around them rather than at them directly, they had still ended up as the one hit, forcing their Seeds to evolve so they could be summoners and use stronger magikry.
What other choice did he have, though? He glanced to where his wife slept deeply and without stirring in her bed. She had not moved in years. If they wanted revenge, if he wanted to find a way to save her, then they needed Life Orbs. His master had promised to give them what they needed in exchange for such a thing, and Alloran would do anything for Arabella.
A pattern master would be next to impossible to deceive, but it might be possible Alloran could change the rules of engagement on him. He had tried it once before with Leslie, but they wouldn't be expecting it a second time. Perhaps he should just focus all of his effort on the Resurrection Cultivators entirely. If he started focusing on them, started finding ways to outwit them, then maybe he could still have a shot at winning.
* * * * *
Dinner proved a rousing success, and Storm felt ridiculously happy as he walked with Kari through the backyard. All of his friends and family had taken to her instantly, even Tasia who could be the most protective. Kari had been entirely unfazed by the presence of so much majik, even from a sorceress, and she had not batted a lash at the two dragons other than to ask them if she could cuddle them because she had always wanted to do that. Both had obliged happily; they liked cuddling cute humans, too.
Emily and Beth had split the dinner duty, and Kari had offered to help with the cleanup, something both Cultivators had cheerfully dumped into her lap. Storm had helped her, as had Haeth, and then they had all gone into the living room and listened to Theo and Ryan practice for the upcoming auditions. It had been a rare normal evening, and Storm knew these were memories he would always cherish in the far future.
Thinking of that made him grow very quiet suddenly. Kari sensed the shift in his mood and stopped walking. "Okay, Stormy," she said quietly. "I liked them, a lot. And I think it was mutual. So what is it you need to tell me?"
He turned to face her and laced their fingers together. "First, I want to go back a step to something more important I forgot to say. I'm in love with you." He found a smile as her fingers tightened as if refusing to let go again. "And I know you're in love with me, but I would like to hear it."
"I'm very in love with you," she admitted softly. "I started falling from the moment I saw you, and then your sassy nature just clinched the deal. Was I that obvious?"
"No, not really. In fact, you almost missed my detection, and one of my skills as a witch is Pattern Mastery, which is exactly what it sounds like but I can explain in more detail maybe when we're snuggled in a bed together."
"Oh how you tempt a woman." She let her forehead rest against his, and she was smiling. "What's the second thing? I can't imagine anything more important than the first. I think we can do anything together."
"More than you know," he murmured. He thought for a moment how to explain and then finally just released her hands so he could remove his Mask from his bracelet. He grew it to full size and then held it out on his palms.
She stared at the familiar green mask with its gold fan along the top and recognized it as the one worn by the Gladiolus Defenders who helped protect Blossom Field. Everyone had known the identities of the Elder generation of Defenders, but the younger and newer had not been uncovered. No one had asked out of respect for them. It had been noted, however, the unusualness of there being male Gladiolus, Aster, and Orchid Defenders since everyone knew Blossom had never had male Defenders in history. "You protect Leslie," she murmured, remembering. "And you are clearly trained in combat." She leaned a little closer and took a deep breath, and the scent of gladioluses teased her nose. She had noticed he smelled like flowers without ever making the connection. "You're a Defender Cultivator."
"A Dual Cultivator, actually," he admitted. "Which means I'm a prince. I'm the future Ruler of Gladiolus from the Resurrection Era some five thousand years from now. I came back to Rebirth with my team so we could clean up the loose ends of our first war. This war now is a continuation of what we dealt with, so it's our fault. Which, honestly, you would have known sooner if I had said something particularly salient: Juliet and Nathaniel Matica are my parents."
And Kari, being Lux born, knew full well that Juliet Matica was a Gladiolus Defender Cultivator herself. As she digested everything, she finally said, "That explains your love of cooking and baking, really."
He smiled. "You have no idea. You're taking this well."
"I've never been easy to shock, honestly. And it makes sense of so much. How much time do I have to put things in order? You know, to go with you when you leave?"
His heart ached and swelled with overwhelming emotion. "That easy?" he whispered.
She smiled. "I would have to be an idiot to turn down the gift of being a Caretaker to a Cultivator like you, Stormy. I never fit in here. I think . . . this might be destiny, too."
That acknowledgement was all it took to start forming some of the special connections between them as soul mates. Storm felt a sudden warning sensation of danger coming right for his Caretaker, and he shoved her with all of his strength out of the way. He dove the other way immediately after and rolled back up to his feet to see the aimed blast miss entirely. A second attack slammed into his back a second later, and he realized too late that Alloran had changed the pattern.
"Storm!" Kari shouted. She scrambled up to her feet and stared in horror as he slowly crumpled to the ground. His Life Orb revolved around in the air above him and glowed bright enough to light the area. Somehow she just knew it was a crucial part of his existence.
Two disgusting monsters she could not identify lumbered out of the darkness toward the Life Orb. Sheer instinct had her racing across the ground with all her speed, and she snatched the Life Orb from the air. Her breath hissed out on a string of curses as it burned her hands to the bone and sent electric jolts shooting through her nerves. She clung on despite the pain and knelt protectively beside Storm. "Back off!" she warned as the Gensomes closed in.
Feet pounded across the ground and then Kari found herself and Storm surrounded by the Masked and armored Resurrection Cultivators. Beth and Raine knelt next to Storm while the others began to fight the Gensomes. "How is he?" Beth asked.
"I don't know. Is there anything I can do?" Kari asked. She offered the Life Orb to Beth, and Raine cursed as she grabbed Kari's wrists. Kari looked down as well, saw the deep wounds that had been made from the Life Orb, and immediately looked up again. "It's fine."
"Don't lie to healers, trust me." Raine held Kari's hands between hers as she healed them, and met the other woman's eyes evenly. "When I saw you, I thought you might be the perfect Caretaker for my beloved brother. Now I know for sure that you are. Thank you, Kari."
Storm stirred and fought to get into a sitting position. The other three helped him and he took the Life Orb. He let it hover between his hands as he fought to make it return to him. It refused. He narrowed his eyes and fought to bring up the memory holding him back. He had not thought he had any holdups, but as the Orb reflected something back, grief came swelling anew.
He stood beside his birth mother's grave, at roughly four years old, and listened to Tosh talk in a low voice with a doctor who had been visiting as well. The doctor kept apologizing for not realizing how much stress carrying Storm had put on Tosh's deceased wife. She had barely survived a year past Storm's birth; he literally did not remember her in any fashion. "It was my fault," he whispered. "If I hadn't been born . . ."
"Shut up!" both of his sisters snapped at the same time. Raine continued, "Yes, we lost our mother, but we have you. She told me before she died that she did not regret having you, and that we could not regret it either! How can you possibly blame yourself for being born? If you'd never been born, I wouldn't have my little brother anymore!"
"If you'd never been born," Kari said softly, "we'd never have met. I know what it's like to think your parents would be better off without you. How many times have I told myself that if I hadn't insisted on take-out for dinner that night that my parents wouldn't have been run off the road and died? Thinking that way doesn't change anything! You're the one who knows almost everything, Stormy! You know better!"
He looked back into the memory. The guilt had always been at the back of his mind, but why had it never been conscious for so long? The answer came in a shape that was not wholly unexpected: Olivia. From the moment that Raine and Tasia had become friends, Olivia had easily and seamlessly stepped in to be a mother to Raine and Storm equally. It had been just the same as not quite a year later when Tasia's birth father had disappeared, and Tosh had seamlessly stepped into a father role for her. Their two families had all but become one.
Storm could actually remember the very moment where Olivia had stopped being 'Tasia's mom' and had instead just been 'Mom' to him. He had caught a miserable illness around age seven—another result of his frozen Seed at that time—and a frantic Tosh had been unable to get enough time off work to care for him. He had instead gotten to stay at the Martine house, and Olivia had babied him as if he was her son. He could still remember the way Tosh had smiled to see them snuggled in a rocking chair while Olivia softly sang lullabies.
He felt a smile of his own welling as a pattern connected that he had seen without really understanding. Of course. Things always happened for a reason. His birth mother had not regretted these events, and he would not regret them either. "Things were meant to be this way. I'll hold onto these memories!"
"Scoot!" Raine grabbed Kari and hastily dragged her back as Beth also cleared the area.
The Life Orb blazed white around Storm's grip and the majik circle cast around his feet as he slowly stood up. His Marks appeared from where they had been hiding and his Defender one began to glow hotly. It abruptly sprouted another blossom as the Orb dissolved back inside him where it belonged, and he telekinetically called his Mask to his hand from where it had fallen. He pulled it on to call his armor and then held up a hand where his wand of juniper and citrine appeared.
Seeing Kari staring, Beth bit back a giggle and then leaned over to whisper, "Trust me, you'll never get used to how it feels to have a soul mate. And you Caretakers seem to be more inclined to lose your breath than not."
"You can't blame us," she managed to say. "You lot are breathtaking."
Storm drew an invoking pentagram in the air with his wand. "Summoning!" He hurled the pentagram into the air and thick thunderstorm clouds began to gather across the sky with flickers of warning lightning. "Immortal Tempest!"
Lightning streaked to the ground with a loud crack and boom over and over again until everyone felt their hair crackle in the static. The bolts pulled together into the visage of a beast made of thunder, and it grabbed the clouds in the sky to drag them down like cloak. Storm smiled and snapped his fingers, and thunder roared as the tempest released electrical energy around it dangerously.
The two Gensomes had already been left alone in the middle of the tempest's path, and they moved as if to run. Emily hurled her harpoon with lethal force and pierced first one and then the other, pinning them together. The tempest leapt into the air and tucked into a ball that hit the ground and started rolling at the monsters. It struck the harpoon as if it were a lightning rod, and its Thunder magic tore through the Gensomes from the inside even as the ball consumed them on the outside. The tempest exploded outward with a rush of tingling static, and as the dust settled, only the harpoon remained hovering in midair. It landed on the ground with a clatter.
Emily went to retrieve it and then winced as she bounced it from hand to hand. "Oof. Tingly! Leslie, come ground this damn thing." The quick application of Nature majik did indeed take away the sting and she could safely send it away to holding. "Nice one, Stormy."
Storm pulled off his Mask and looked at Kari to find her hesitating as if not positive of her actions, and then she ran forward and threw her arms around his neck tightly. The feel of her arms was such utter safety that his hands fell to his sides. He turned his face against her neck for a moment and savored the sheer joy of having his Caretaker to hold him.
"Oh, damn, make me cry," Beth complained. She stomped toward the house. "Where's the tissue?"
"I'll help," Ryan sniffled as he followed her.
Kari and Storm eased apart and shared a grin. They had not meant to overwhelm the two empaths but it couldn't be helped. Kari almost instinctively placed her hand on Storm's Defender Mark, and a bright glow rippled around her hand. She hastily pulled her hand away and discovered a trace impression on her palm of a gladiolus flower. "What the?"
Only Tasia and Storm did not look surprised. "I'm afraid you got yourself branded," the younger pattern master said calmly. "When you took my Life Orb in your hands, you literally had a piece of me with you, and because you're my soul mate, you are connected deeply to me. So the Life Orb marked you in a literal sense as well. Also, I guess now is the time to tell you that it will probably effect the Thunder Flower Element you also possess as well as whatever magic you have as my Caretaker, which I was going to mention to you at a later date. So, basically, no matter where you go, you'll never escape me."
"Then I guess I'll just have to go with you wherever you go," she retorted without pause. She wrapped her other arm around him again and studied her palm musingly. Branded, huh? She could think of far worse destinies. She rather liked hers overall. Finding out she had magic would take a little getting used to, though. At least that might explain some oddities in her life.
"Alloran changed the pattern," Storm told the others on a sigh. "He went for me directly, and only let me think it was Kari he wanted. We need to be doubly on our guard now. He's after us directly now that he knows that we're in possession of pure Life Orbs."
Tasia smiled dangerously. "Let him bring it on. It's only going to make us stronger in the end."
©Stacy J. Garrett. Do not reprint or redistribute without permission.
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