Balt
Though I was reluctant to, I broke away from Piper and stared at her. She was flushed, her eyes still red and puffy, but she smiled at me all the same.
She was here. I was still here.
“How–?” I started to ask. “I was...” Gone. Or almost.
"Do that again and a homicidal hybrid scientist doctor crazy woman won't have to kill you," Piper said, placing a hand on my heart and her shaking fingers betraying her. "I will."
“How did you do that?” I breathed. “I thought–”
“I know,” Piper murmured. “And I don’t know. I haven’t been able to, since, well, you know.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, suddenly worried. “Should we have someone look at you?”
“I’m fine, Balty. You’re okay. That’s all that matters,” Piper said, pressing a hand over mine.
My heart was still pounding after everything that had happened. “But it’s been twenty years. Or maybe more?” I swallowed. “Piper, you healed me.”
Her expression was as incredulous as mine.
Then, from above us, Kai said, “Oh, that’s what happened.”
The woman who’d slowed the poison, Kesari, had stood up and moved away at some point, moved in next to Kai and asked, “Care to explain?”
“Oh, yeah,” Kai said in a slow, reluctant tone and I met his eyes. He looked as dazed as we did. “Piper… um…”
“After my mother died, I lost the ability,” Piper said in a quiet voice.
Isla drew in a breath, sitting down next to us. Her face was streaked with tears and she gave me a tremulous smile as she squeezed my shoulder. “Oh. Well, maybe Balt’s right then, Piper.”
“No,” Piper said and I gave her a look. “I mean, sure, I’ll see Dr. Hakedo or something, but I feel fine. More than fine.”
Kai was squatting next to her and he ruffled his sister’s hair. “Maybe Dad was right. Maybe you were just suppressing it.”
“No, Kai,” Piper said. “It was gone. Or it broke, I don’t know. The moment we lost mom, I couldn’t do it anymore. Then – I couldn’t even think about it or speak of it.”
Kai and I exchanged glances. How well we knew that. I remembered how Piper had tried for years to recover it. How she blamed herself for Palila’s death. And for losing her gift.
It had morphed into a darker trait as time went on. Piper started to use her other supernatural abilities less and less – only for practicality’s sake. But now…
“Maybe we’ll never know,” I said gently. “But right now, I want you to get looked at.”
Piper sat back, eyes flashing. “I want you to get looked at, too.”
Nostrils flaring, Piper and I glared at each other when a delicate clearing of throat interrupted us. We looked up to see Kesari adjusting her glasses and smiling.
“I’m a doctor,” she said. “And a decent healer. I can check you both.”
First, Kesari checked me because Piper looked ready to kill at any suggestion otherwise. Her long fingers took my pulse and then she laid a hand on my forehead, as well as my heart. It was an old-school healer technique and I watched as her eyes closed.
“You’re healthy as can be, Baltsaros,” Kesari said. “I mean, it might not be a bad idea to take blood samples from you both, but I sense nothing like what I did before. You’re healed. Curse gone.”
“See?” I said to Piper, as my heart sang. The curse was gone…
She made a face and then calmly submitted to Kesari repeating the same steps on her. At one point, Kesari made a face and a small sound of surprise.
“What? What’s wrong?” I demanded.
“N-nothing,” Kesari said with a strange smile on her face. "Piper's fine. Completely healthy."
A sigh of relief escaped me and I laid back on the floor. “Oh good. Can we eat? I’m starving.”
I heard feet coming across the floor towards us and I tipped back my head to see Enele upside-down and shaking his head as he, Dez and several others came forward. “They got away.”
Piper let out a frustrated noise. “Of course.”
At that moment, there was an angry shout and I slowly sat up as Hank Herrod stalked forward, his usual neatly-combed gray hair in disarray and a bruise blossoming on his jaw. Suddenly, I scrambled to my feet as I glanced around and realized who the agents were in the room.
This was a Black Ops team of Shifters of Anubis. The best of the best. What the…
“You’re under arrest, Piper Weslark,” Herrod snarled, pointing a finger at her. “Cuff her!”
Instantly Kai, Isla, Dez, Enele and even Kesari stepped in front of her, while I stalked forward and glared at Herrod. “You’re not taking Piper anywhere, Hank,” I said in a dangerous voice. “Not unless you want to get into it with me.”
He did a double-take as he looked at me. “Kazan? I thought you were…” Glancing around, he seemed at a loss for words as his team didn’t move. “Are you all deaf?”
“Weslark’s mission took priority, sir,” Faye Knight said, stepping forward. Her blond hair was a mess, but her light blue eyes were dancing. “I can give you a debrief now.”
“Knight, I’ll have you doing latrine work in the jungle for ignoring orders!” Herrod barked.
“We saved the lives of sixteen children, as well as elderly women and took several members of the TLO prisoner,” Knight replied. “In fact, this lot almost had the top tier on the ropes.”
Herrod went red, then white. Before he could say another word, another voice interrupted.
“Hank Herrod, if you attempt to arrest Piper Weslark on my property, I’d have you think again.” My grandmother’s voice was crisp as she interrupted. “Try and actually use those brains of yours. Not only are she and my grandson top-ranking Shifters of Anubis members, but you are also surrounded by several not-so-happy Kazan lionesses who just witnessed their children being held hostage.” I looked around to see several of my female relatives had entered the room and had shifted. “So, if you’re thinking of punishing the people who rescued my family, think again.” Her eyes were hard and flinty. “I don’t give a damn what the Herrod’s think of the Kazan name.”
His mustache deflated and he mumbled something that sounded like an apology. Then he barked out, "Knight, Burns, and Zima, get your asses over here. I want a debrief now."
“I hate to interrupt,” came another voice. A bored voice with a trace of Nordic and cool amusement to it. “But I also need a debrief for HQ.” Everyone jumped and turned to see a tall, rakish-haired blond man with a faint scowl on his face had appeared out of thin air. “And since you were unconscious, Herrod, I’ll get the report from my cousin.” His eyes landed on Piper and he made a face. “Are you crying? Honestly.”
The surprise and causticness of his tone set my jaw on edge. I saw Kai open his mouth at the same time mine did, but another, sweeter and completely outraged voice beat us to it.
“You jackass!” Kesari exploded, glaring at the man with fire in her eyes and she stepped forward. I almost laughed when he drew back, staring at her in surprise. “Don’t you dare speak like that to Piper – you have no right to – you have no idea what happened here tonight.”
“Yeah, Roy,” Kai said in a snide tone. “The last thing anyone needs is your input.”
Roy Zima-Weslark, Piper and Kai’s cousin on their father’s side, looked taken aback. “Kai, what are you doing here? I thought you had a cat farm in the tropics or something.”
Kesari was still bristling at him and Roy gave her a perplexed look, but Enele laid a comforting hand on her shoulder and stepped forward. “Roy, Director Herrod – I understand why you’re chomping at the bit for information, but this has been a trying experience for everyone. Why don’t you get the details from me, along with Knight and leave the rest for tomorrow?”
I was impressed with the smooth and polite handling of matters. But then, Enele was half Weslark, half Lafi. He knew how to handle people.
Except maybe Herrod.
“We don’t coddle Shifters of Anubis agents, young man,” Herrod barked.
“Nor do we put them through unnecessary trauma,” Enele answered coolly and Herrod made a face. “I was here. I can tell you everything. Leave Piper and the rest alone. Let them eat, recover.”
“Enele, are you even supposed to be in Greece?” Roy asked with mild curiosity. “Are any of you?” He glanced at the Director. “And did you get mauled by a bear, sir?”
Herrod went red and Kyría cleared her throat. “Alright, you can have this room. Everyone else, especially all of you–” She gestured at everyone clumped around Piper. “Come with me.”
As we left the ballroom, Enele and Knight trading off what had happened, I saw Roy nodding and Herrod growing redder.
Piper slipped up next to me and wrapped an arm around my waist, her head on my shoulder. The adrenaline of the night was leaving me with a deep exhaustion in its place, but at Piper’s touch, my entire body seemed to glow.
“So how much trouble do you think we’re in?” I whispered to Piper.
She gave me a tired smile, her eyes still sparkling with tears. “I don’t care. You’re here.”
I smiled back and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’m here.”
“I told you I would break that stupid curse,” Piper whispered and I stopped.
Everyone else trailed ahead as I looked down at her, my heart singing and my future unfettered. Glancing down at my arm, I let out a shaky breath. She was right.
“I know. You’re right. You’re always right.” I paused. “I don’t think I ever doubted you. Even in those darkest moments, I still held on. Or you held onto me.” I paused. “How can I ever repay you? Damn, Piper, you… I mean, have I even said thank you?”
“You don’t need to, but no,” Piper said, with a touch of her usual sass.
Bending down, I kissed her and she clung to me, laughing and crying again. “Thank you,” I murmured over and over again. “I love you.”
“I love you, Balt,” Piper said. “And I plan on telling you every day for the rest of our lives.”