"Only if there's no other way and only if I'm there. Just so you know I can no' stand the idea."
Baka didn't feel any better about using Elora for an experiment than Ram did. They sat in an empty classroom a few doors down and argued, hashing out the logistics.
Which one?
How could they be sure it would just be one?
What if the other four got excited about the prospect of real blood?
Was she strong enough to protect herself from five of them?
The whole thing seemed crazy risky.
"I need a break." Elora left them arguing and stepped out into the hallway. She took out her intelliphone and called Litha's number.
Soon after starting the story, Litha said, "Just a minute. I'm with Storm. I'm putting you on speaker."
When Elora summarized what had happened and what they were thinking, Storm simply said, "No."
"Yeah. It's not like I haven't heard that one before. I'm just trying to make sure we haven't overlooked some other option. I thought Litha might have an alternative. Or maybe Deliverance?"
There was silence for a few seconds before Litha said, "Stay right where you are and don't do anything. Let me see if I can reach him. Maybe he knows something. I don't know."
Elora started to pace the hallway. She had a ten step path. Ten steps up. Ten steps back. After going back and forth a few times, she turned to start the other direction and nearly jumped out of her skin. Storm, Litha, and Deliverance stood in front of her. For once they didn't find startling somebody funny.
"Elora, my dad is going to take them to his place and keep them there until they sober up. At that point we can explain the situation to them and get their cooperation in finding a solution."
Elora nodded at Deliverance. "Thank you."
He stepped toward her, picked up a lock of red, pink, and blonde hair, looked into her eyes, and said, "You'll owe me."
Storm slapped the demon's hand away from his teammate. "Touch her again and there'll be trouble."
Deliverance smiled at his son-in-law, then vanished. When Elora reentered the classroom, she had Storm and Litha with her.
Storm looked around the room.
Baka raised his chin and smiled, genuinely glad to see him. "Sir Storm."
"Problem solved. You should have called me in the first place."
Ram's brows drew together. "Problem solved?"
He looked to Elora for clarification, but Storm continued. "The demon took them home to his place to sober them up. When they come around, he'll talk to them about how we should handle the sustenance issue then bring them back. I hope he teaches them some Anglish while he's at it."
Ram was looking at Storm like he might leap at him with a big wet kiss.
That night Ram and Elora were crossing the hub on their way to dinner, pushing Helm in a stroller when they passed Stalkson carrying a small bag on his way to the elevator.
Elora stopped. "Going home?"
"Yes. Thank you for the tour." He sneaked an amused glance at Helm.
"Why don't you come to dinner with us?"
"I don't know if there's time."
"Let's find out." Elora called Farnsworth.