Luiza had taken too long making her decision and the choice was taken out of her hands as a voice that she recognized called out from the thick rainforest that bordered the road between her and the property where her target waited. Or rather, where she had waited until Luiza had stayed frozen in fear by the roadside. She had been so preoccupied with the conflict within her mind that she had failed to sense one of the massive magical presences separate itself from the others and approach her through the trees.

The voice of the magenta-haired woman sounded very unhappy, or at the very least annoyed, as she called out, “Corporal Luiza Morales, what an unexpected surprise. What are you doing skulking outside of our home? Answer quickly, and if I think that you’re lying, don’t like your answer, or if it otherwise pisses me off, I will kill you where you stand.”

Luiza started in surprise. She hadn’t even heard the other woman approach and she had addressed her by her name and rank. Just what manner of Fae creature was she dealing with here? She couldn’t be human, not with the amount of power at her fingertips, and certainly not with so many others, just as powerful as she was, in the property beyond. The magic felt like it was connected to nature somehow too, something that she hadn’t realized when they first met in Havana.

She barely caught the motion in the darkness as the woman stepped out from the cover of the trees and her suspicions seemed to be confirmed as she was bathed in moonlight. She looked different than she had in the city, her features and skin tone made her look Asian, possibly Chinese, and she was completely naked. The long magenta hair remained though, and it was hard to tell, but she thought that her eyes were the same color. The feature that seemed to dominate Luiza’s attention most though was those long, pointed ears, sweeping backward along the side of her head and poking out from her hair. Had she been using some sort of glamour while in the city?

Her abuela had told her stories of the Fae and how capricious they could be if angered or offended, but they had just been stories and Abuela had believed the Fae as lost to the world as magic now seemed to be. Luiza needed to be very careful here. It was a moment before the sudden fear that gripped her throat and had her heart beating a mile a minute loosened its hold on her enough for her to nervously reply. “I… I followed your magic here. I… umm… apologize if my presence offends, I was just looking for answers.”

The strange magenta-haired woman snorted indignantly “Yeah, well, now I’m looking for answers, and yours better be damn good.”

Earlier that day…

During the afternoon and a good portion of the evening, we worked Maddie and Nat as hard as we dared. We didn’t know how much longer we would be safe in our current position, and we would need the two of them to be able to keep up with the rest of us Naethari in the water, or at least be able to swim somewhat decently, as soon as possible. We might need to be ready to escape at a moment’s notice if our enemies found us.

Even when Maddie and Nat were resting, we couldn’t afford to give them a real break. Whenever Kieshala wasn’t watching them swim and issuing corrections and instructions like a drill sergeant, she was at least having them work on their tail and fin exercises to become accustomed to their new bodies. The only true physical rest that we could afford to give the pair was when we had them meditating and trying to find and connect to the weave of magic inside themselves. Learning to use their aetral would be just as important as learning to swim properly.

Much to my surprise, Maddie was much better at that whole meditation and introspection thing than I was. Maybe it was because she had always been comfortable in her own skin and didn’t have the same issues with her sense of self that I had always had growing up, but she managed to find the weave of her magic just before dinner. Then again, it could just be that she was stoked about learning to use her awesome shapeshifting powers. Natalie hadn’t found hers by the time my sister did, but she felt like she was on the cusp of a breakthrough.

Because of our somewhat late start that morning while waiting for Nat and Maddie to wake up, lunch and dinner were both late as well. Lunch wasn’t until late afternoon and that was when Uncle Jack brought out his laptop and shared some new intel that he had managed to acquire. He hadn’t been able to get much more useful information on Carmichael, but he was able to find out what hotel he and his people were staying at. He was also able to create sizable dossiers on many of the people working for him while he was in Cuba, including the two that I had met outside the Supermercado Palco; Corporal Luiza Morales and Private Jeremy Adams.

Dinner (and Maddie’s meditative magical breakthrough) didn’t happen until almost ten o’clock pm. I figured that I would start teaching her to shapeshift the next morning since we probably wouldn’t make much progress at it tonight. She and Nat were also exhausted from their very busy day, and by that point, I was very distracted by the amazing scents that had been coming from the kitchen all day long.

Mom and Aunt Carmen had been cooking up a storm all day long using some of the supplies that I had brought in the day before, and they were being very secretive about it. They wouldn’t let any of us Naethari into the kitchen to see what they were up to in there either. Lunch had been brought to us by the poolside since Maddie and Nat still were having trouble getting around easily in water and on land.

It was five minutes to ten when Mom and Carmen came to the pool, accompanied by Dad, and announced, “Dinner is ready.”

Dad scooped up Maddie in his arms while Aunt Carmen picked up Natalie, and the rest of us followed them out and then through the kitchen to the back door and the beach beyond it. “We thought that it would be nice to eat outside on the beach tonight,” Mom announced as she held the door open for everyone to pass through.

Storm lanterns had been set up on tables and rocks to provide light, not that we needed much since the sky was clear and the moon was nearly full. The beach furniture was all placed near the water’s edge and an outcropping of rock that would probably be more comfortable for Naethari tails than trying to have all of us sit at the tables. Those tables were laid out with a veritable feast.

Aunt Carmen had prepared a mountain of fixings for fish tacos. There was also potato salad, fresh fruit that I had gotten at the Agro Mercado, a large roast chicken and veggies, freshly baked dinner rolls, and buckets of ice that were keeping the frozen shrimp and oysters that I had gotten thawed but chilled for us Naethari. It was the very large layer cake with white, magenta, and aquamarine colored frosting that started to make me suspicious though.

“Oh wow, are we having a party to celebrate Maddie and Natalie waking up?” Jenny asked as she stared at the spread.

“In part, yes,” Kieshala answered. “I asked if now that they were awake, we could properly celebrate Naiya and Kara’s joining as well. We have not had time to do so yet, and it should be celebrated.”

After that, dinner had a celebratory atmosphere, but then we had a lot to celebrate. None of us was dead or captured, Maddie and Natalie were awake and in good condition, I had my wonderful mate, and it looked like we might both be expecting a baby next year. We all ate our fill and talked about everything and anything. It was well past midnight, and the moon was high in the sky above us when Kieshala ushered us all into the water.

This served two purposes. The first was that we Naethari all needed to stay hydrated, or we would risk becoming dehydrated and start drying out. The other reason was that Kieshala seemed to want to make the joining between Kara and me official in as close to the traditional Naethari way as she could manage while we were surrounded by friends and family.

She had me and Kara lay close together in the shallow water, with everyone else forming a circle around us, and then she began to speak formally in Naethari mind-speak, which Natalie then repeated in English for the sake of those of us who were still Human. ~ We are gathered here today, in the embrace of Mother Ocean to celebrate the joining of two members of our clan. Naiya and Kara, you are both much like siblings to me and I have watched you both grow into your new selves and embrace being Naethari. ~

~ Until I met the two of you, I had never seen two people, other than my parents, who were so obviously infatuated with one another, even if you both were not sure if you should show it at first, ~~ she continued with a smile. ~ It brought my heart great joy when I discovered that you first mated and your bond of love and trust in one another proved true, and I wish that I could find someone to share such a bond with as well. You now bear one another’s scales, and your mating bond is strong. I do not know what influence the Natrir might have on this distant world, but I feel that they are watching over us now and celebrating your union as well. Naiya Soulsinger and Kara Empath, Moonreef Clan now acknowledges your bond, may it continue to shine through the dangers ahead, to Totha, and forevermore. ~

It was as Natalie finished translating that Maddie playfully called out, “And now you may both kiss the bride!”

I was worried for a moment that Kieshala might take offense, but instead, she merely nodded, and her smile grew brighter. Maybe Natalie or Maddie had told her about the human wedding custom via mind speech. I wasn’t about to argue, and neither was Kara as she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a kiss that would have made my toes curl if I currently had any. I eagerly reciprocated until Mom called out, “Okay, that’s enough you two! Let’s cut that cake and finish this party in style!”

Kara and I were bright red from the catcalls by that point, so we both slither-crawled to the table where the cake was set up. We sat up on our coiled tails, had the knife in our clasped hands, and were about to make the cut when both of our eyes darted toward the highway beyond the villa and the small strip of rainforest that hid it from the road. That magical presence that I had felt the day before was approaching, and then it suddenly stopped, right where I imagined the access road for our villa to be.

Kara, Jenny, and Kieshala all sensed it too; I could tell by how tense they all suddenly looked. Is that another Naethari?” Jenny asked, uncertain about what she was sensing. “It doesn’t feel near as strong as what I sense from all of you.”

Mom, Dad, Uncle Jack, and Aunt Carmen looked at Jenny in confusion before Kieshala clarified, “No, Jenny. That is a Human with a spark of magic, and they must be strong and actively using magic for us to sense them from here.”

“It feels like the woman that I encountered in Havana yesterday,” I said with a frown. A woman that we now knew for sure reported directly to Carmichael. “She’s just sitting there at the end of the access road for now.”

“Everyone, get armed and prepared to defend yourselves. One of us will go check it out in case there’s a strike team out there,” Dad ordered as he quickly took charge.

“I’ll go, Dad,” I offered. “I’m mobile and I have the best vision and other senses of those of us who could get there quickly. If there is a strike team out there, I’ll be able to send a warning through the other Naethari without using comms and maybe catch them by surprise too.”

Dad looked torn on the subject, but he seemed to realize that I was right and nodded. “Be careful, love,” Uncle Jack warned, looking just as conflicted as Dad.

“I will,” I assured them both. Then I gave Kara a quick kiss, shifted my tail into legs, and ran through the house toward the front door, grabbing an H&K 9mm USP and slapping a loaded clip inside on my way through. Fortunately, my eyes were well adapted to darkness and my sense of smell allowed me to avoid any of the areas where my Dad and Aunt Carmen had set up surprises for any unwanted guests. I quickly made my way through the trees, still not wearing a stitch in my rush to cut off any attack on the villa.

I observed her for a moment. She was alone, sitting atop a Vespa, and currently looking in the direction of the villa with a mix of confusion and fear etched into her face. I couldn’t see, smell, or sense anyone else with any of my senses. Was she scouting us out before the strike team could arrive? If she was, I would have to find out what information she had, and if she wasn’t, then I needed to find out what had brought her here, and how she had found us in the first place.

Whatever had brought her here, she had just interrupted what was essentially my wedding, so I was not a happy camper. “Corporal Luiza Morales, what an unexpected surprise,” I called out from where I hid in the shadows of a large tree, letting every bit of my annoyance make its way into my voice. “What are you doing skulking outside of our home? Answer quickly, and if I think that you’re lying, don’t like your answer, or if it otherwise pisses me off, I will kill you where you stand.”

The Corporal practically jumped out of her sneakers in surprise. My approach had been silent enough to do even Maddie proud and her eyes widened when I called her by her name and rank. Her head had snapped around toward the sound of my voice and I could see her attempting to still her trembling hands as I voiced my threat.

I slipped out of the shadows, unbothered by my nakedness, I was used to people seeing me this way by now, or topless at the very least. She didn’t seem to have a weapon on her and if she really was a threat I could either shoot her or close the distance and kill her before she even realized what I was doing. I leaned slightly against the tree to conceal the gun in my right hand as for what seemed a long awkward eternity she stared at my naked form. Oddly though, her attention seemed most drawn to my hair, and my ears.

She saw me as a possible threat; I could see the fear and uncertainty in her eyes. Her pulse was elevated, and she was trembling as she finally stammered, “I… I followed your magic here. I… umm… apologize if my presence offends, I was just looking for answers.”

I tried not to show my surprise as I let slip a vexed snort. We just got caught with our pants down because I didn’t account for her having magical abilities of her own. I kept my senses trained on her, watching her eye movement, listening to the beat of her heart, and breathing in her scent. I wasn’t quite a lie detector, Kara’s empathy made her far better at that sort of thing when combined with her other senses, but I thought that I could probably read her pretty well like this.

I was careful not to let any emotion into my voice as I countered, “Yeah, well, now I’m looking for answers, and yours better be damn good.” If I even suspected that this woman was a danger to the people I love, then I would carry out my threat and kill her where she stood.