over-conscious of herself, and watched me.
She was a long drink of water, strong-shouldered and nicely tapered, and when she stopped worrying about other people noticing her, she had a regal sort of grace that matched her face. She was young, yeah, but in no way shape or form a child.
Fortunately, I was older and had learned how to put a lockdown on my libido before she was even born. No matter her age, she was damaged; the usual flirt-work pattern I had with Bonnie was not the way to go here.
“Car’s reserved. There’s a toiletries kit in the bathroom, under the sink. Grab it and let’s go.” I opened the box in my hand, and took out the extra case of bullets. I hadn’t needed to shoot at anything other than a target in years, but I never assumed that was going to be the situation going forward.
oOo
“She’s doing what?” Wren Valere put down the set of locks she had been playing with, and looked incredulously at her partner. “She was supposed to tell him what she Saw, and then come home, not run off playing Private Eye.”
Sergei didn’t disagree with her, but Hendrickson had been telling him what was going down, not asking permission. “Danny said that she was helping him track down the missing teens, something about her vision maintaining a thread?”
“Huh.” Wren considered that. “A variant on a signature, maybe?” She wasn’t all that interested in the hows of current, just so long as she could make it work. “Okay, I can see that, and why he’d take full advantage. No dummy, our Danny. But–” She bit down on what she was going to say. “No, I’m overreacting. Danny’s a perfectly responsible adult, most of the time, and he won’t let her get into trouble. And it’s good that she get a first-hand look at the fatae community, right?”
“Right.”
Sergei didn’t quite trust her calm. His partner, normally unflappable, had been decidedly flapped ever since she accepted the mentorship of a half-grown, totally untrained Talent, and this should have sent her into a small panic, not calmed her down.
“And he’ll be able to take care of her. Unless they run into another Talent. If they do, she’s helpless. She barely knows how to maintain her own core, she’s barely at first-level cantrips, and if she gets hit with another vision? She’s a sitting target when that happens.”
Wren Valere took a shallow breath, and leaned back against the sofa, staring out at the brilliant view out her apartment windows. Sergei waited.
“I’m doing that thing where you roll your eyes and tell me every mentor in the entire history of mentoring has had the exact same doubts and panics.”
“You are.”
“And Ellen’s smart, and reasonably savvy, and oh by the way not an idiot teenager amuck with hormones and the need to show off.”
“Exactly.”
“And the best way for her to stop being afraid of her visions is to see, first-hand, that they can be used in a proactive way, too. That she’s not helpless, she’s actually incredibly powerful.”
She knew that already: Ellen had been part of the circle that caught a serial killer team. Admittedly, Bonnie and the other PUPs had been in control but it was Ellen’s storm-seer sense that had allowed them to harness the storm.
“And if she really needs help, she will ping for it.” Wren frowned. “She will, won’t she? She won’t go all stubborn and independent and decide she can handle it herself?”
“What, you mean like you would?” Sergei’s lips twitched as she glared at him. “No, I don’t think so. Even if she hadn’t seen how well Bonnie and her crew work together, Danny won’t let her.”
But inwardly, shoved far below even the levels his partner could read, Sergei wasn’t so sure. Ellen had something she needed to prove, even if she wasn’t vocalizing that need yet. And, he knew all too well, a Talent with something to prove…sometimes took stupid risks.
5
Once Ellen had identified our probable destination, I’d
She was a long drink of water, strong-shouldered and nicely tapered, and when she stopped worrying about other people noticing her, she had a regal sort of grace that matched her face. She was young, yeah, but in no way shape or form a child.
Fortunately, I was older and had learned how to put a lockdown on my libido before she was even born. No matter her age, she was damaged; the usual flirt-work pattern I had with Bonnie was not the way to go here.
“Car’s reserved. There’s a toiletries kit in the bathroom, under the sink. Grab it and let’s go.” I opened the box in my hand, and took out the extra case of bullets. I hadn’t needed to shoot at anything other than a target in years, but I never assumed that was going to be the situation going forward.
oOo
“She’s doing what?” Wren Valere put down the set of locks she had been playing with, and looked incredulously at her partner. “She was supposed to tell him what she Saw, and then come home, not run off playing Private Eye.”
Sergei didn’t disagree with her, but Hendrickson had been telling him what was going down, not asking permission. “Danny said that she was helping him track down the missing teens, something about her vision maintaining a thread?”
“Huh.” Wren considered that. “A variant on a signature, maybe?” She wasn’t all that interested in the hows of current, just so long as she could make it work. “Okay, I can see that, and why he’d take full advantage. No dummy, our Danny. But–” She bit down on what she was going to say. “No, I’m overreacting. Danny’s a perfectly responsible adult, most of the time, and he won’t let her get into trouble. And it’s good that she get a first-hand look at the fatae community, right?”
“Right.”
Sergei didn’t quite trust her calm. His partner, normally unflappable, had been decidedly flapped ever since she accepted the mentorship of a half-grown, totally untrained Talent, and this should have sent her into a small panic, not calmed her down.
“And he’ll be able to take care of her. Unless they run into another Talent. If they do, she’s helpless. She barely knows how to maintain her own core, she’s barely at first-level cantrips, and if she gets hit with another vision? She’s a sitting target when that happens.”
Wren Valere took a shallow breath, and leaned back against the sofa, staring out at the brilliant view out her apartment windows. Sergei waited.
“I’m doing that thing where you roll your eyes and tell me every mentor in the entire history of mentoring has had the exact same doubts and panics.”
“You are.”
“And Ellen’s smart, and reasonably savvy, and oh by the way not an idiot teenager amuck with hormones and the need to show off.”
“Exactly.”
“And the best way for her to stop being afraid of her visions is to see, first-hand, that they can be used in a proactive way, too. That she’s not helpless, she’s actually incredibly powerful.”
She knew that already: Ellen had been part of the circle that caught a serial killer team. Admittedly, Bonnie and the other PUPs had been in control but it was Ellen’s storm-seer sense that had allowed them to harness the storm.
“And if she really needs help, she will ping for it.” Wren frowned. “She will, won’t she? She won’t go all stubborn and independent and decide she can handle it herself?”
“What, you mean like you would?” Sergei’s lips twitched as she glared at him. “No, I don’t think so. Even if she hadn’t seen how well Bonnie and her crew work together, Danny won’t let her.”
But inwardly, shoved far below even the levels his partner could read, Sergei wasn’t so sure. Ellen had something she needed to prove, even if she wasn’t vocalizing that need yet. And, he knew all too well, a Talent with something to prove…sometimes took stupid risks.
5
Once Ellen had identified our probable destination, I’d
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