Unborn by Amber Lynn Natusch Page A

Casey continued to smile, hovering defiantly for a moment before he too made his way over to the couches where Pierson sat, poring over a book of some sort. Oz was nowhere to be seen.
    Drew led the way over to them, indicating that I should sit down next to Pierson. As I did, Pierson did nothing to acknowledge me, his eyes never leaving the book in front of him. The writing was in a language unfamiliar to me, which was strange given that I had become versed in so many over the centuries.
    “Khara,” Drew called, breaking my focus on the foreign text. “Do you have a preference as to who you would like to accompany on tonight’s patrol?”
    I looked at the others as I assessed my options. Casey stared me down, looking every bit as hostile as I thought him to be. Pierson continued to ignore me. Kierson, however, looked at me with pleading eyes, begging for me to choose him. His enthusiasm was unwarranted and tiring, but I could not bring myself to choose anyone else when it was so plain that he actually wanted to be assigned the task of educating me on PC affairs.
    “Kierson appears to want the job,” I stated. “I shall go with him.”
    “Yes!” he shouted, jumping out of his seat. “Awesome. This is going to be a blast. You won’t be sorry.”
    “I think she already is,” a familiar voice purred from behind me.
    “On the contrary,” I rebutted, turning to see Oz approaching from the darkness behind me. “I am certain I will find Kierson’s teachings informative.”
    “Ah, yes. Nothing describes a night on the town with Kierson better than ‘informative,’” he mocked, coming around the couch to sit next to Casey.
    “This is not a social matter. It is one of business, something I assume you know little about.”
    “Is that so, new girl?” he questioned, leaning toward me.
    “Indeed.” I leaned forward to mimic his aggressive posture, staring him down as I did.
    “Why do I feel like I’m refereeing tonight?” Drew pondered aloud with a sigh. He stepped into my line of sight, breaking my eye contact with Oz. “I think you should head out. Remember, you are going out with Kierson so that he can both teach you and keep you safe. You are to do as he tells you. Any sign of trouble and I want you out of there, do you understand? You run until you get back here.” After he was certain I had absorbed the full weight of his instructions, he pulled out a shiny silver device from his pocket and thrust it into my hand. “This phone has all of our numbers programmed into it. If you need us, just hit this button and say the name of the person you want to talk to. It will do the rest.”
    I turned the cell phone over in my hand, analyzing it carefully. I had heard talk of these devices before from Father’s soldiers but had never seen or used one. My life had become a crash course in the unknown.
    “And where will you be?” I asked, wondering what would happen if I were to need to retreat to the club. If there was enough danger in Detroit to not allow us to speak freely in the club, then there was enough there for me to not be alone there either, per Drew’s own admission. He appeared far more concerned about my well-being than I was.
    “Out. But Pierson will remain, should you nee Shoud fad to return.”
    “And I will be here as well,” Oz added unhelpfully. “But I will likely be far too occupied to be of any assistance to you. Unless, of course, you felt like joining in . . .” His heavy gaze eventually drifted from me to the dance floor, a clear indication of why he would be too busy to help me, should I have found myself in need. He was proving to be a creature of habit. One that I did not enjoy.
    “Shall we?” Kierson prompted, extending a bent arm in my direction. I knew not what to do with it so I came up beside him, only to have him intertwine our arms before turning us toward the staircase that would take us down to the main area and the exit. I was growing more anxious to leave by the