gives us more time to prepare.” Gabe seemed lost in his own thoughts as he stared out the door. “But what if they come here? What do we do about Grams?”
We all fell silent. The idea of Grams being harmed was unfathomable.
“She’s never left alone.” I declared.
Kendall and Gabe nodded in agreement. If the Dark Army wanted to come for us, let them come. But hands off the Grams.
CHAPTER 18
“No way. Unh-uh. I’m not doing that.”
“What do you mean ‘no way’?”
“I mean I’m not doing it and you’re not big enough to make me.” Gabe folded his arms and scowled like an overgrown three year old.
Under her breath Alaina muttered, “I have powers, boy. I could make you dance like a puppet if I wanted to.”
She must’ve forgotten his cat-like hearing. “Bring it on cause’ I’m not doing it any other way. I started gaining all this muscle mass while I was training with the team. Being active. Not sitting on my butt, chanting.”
Alaina closed her eyes, and sighed. Her wings sagged from her frustration. “You could have made that point first. What exactly did you have in mind?”
“Uh…I don’t know.” By the way he stammered he obviously hadn’t thought that far ahead. “I could go for a run or something.”
Alaina’s auburn waves bounced as she shook her head. “That will not work. We have to awaken the lion. That is why I suggested the meditation; you could find the emotional connection to it. Running will not have the same impact.”
“Well I’m not doing it.” Gabe huffed.
“I have an idea.” I squeezed the bridge of my nose, having passed the point of annoyance at their bickering about twenty minutes ago. “Why don’t we smack him on the nose with a rolled up newspaper? See how his inner cat feels about that.”
“Let’s call that Plan B.” He glared, and then nodded in the direction of Kendall. “Hey, I could spar with Tweety.”
Keni was completely unaware of our conversation. Alaina had her practicing take offs and landings. Judging by the way she spun three times in a pike position, and landed gracefully on her tip toes I’d say she was getting the hang of it. With a satisfied grin she spun toward us, noticed we were all staring at her, and froze.
“What?”
“It could actually work.” Alaina rubbed her chin with the tip of her finger as she mulled it over. “It is the nature of the beast to stalk and attack.”
“Whoa!” I positioned myself between Gabe and Kendall. If he had to go through me to get to her, so be it. “Think about this, Gabe. If your plan works our little sister is going to be up against a lion. Are you okay with that? Cause I’m not!”
Gabe grabbed me by my upper-arms, lifted me off my feet, and set me down out of his way. “She can FLY, Cee! I’d have to catch her first.”
“You must also remember that her wings are impenetrable. She would be in no real danger.” Alaina tried to reassure me. It didn’t work.
“Hello? Over here! You guys are obviously talking about me. Wanna clue me in?” Kendall marched over with her hands on her hips and her enormous wings arced up behind her.
Gabe’s eyes flashed. “You get to help me activate my powers.”
“How?” She asked her unease evident.
“Gabe wants you to spar with him to help bring the lion out.”
She cocked her head and gazed at me with narrowed eyes. “You realize I don’t actually have the brain of a bird, right?”
“Come on, Keni!” Gabe groaned and threw his hands up. “I’m not going to hurt you. Even if I do turn, it’s still me. Right?” He addressed that last part to Alaina.
“For the most part, yes.” Her tight lipped smile made me wonder if she was being entirely truthful. “There are animal instincts you will have to learn to control, but it should not be a problem.”
“Plus you have the ‘force field’ feathers, remember?” Gabe prodded.
Kendall’s shoulders and wings slumped. “Fine. But if you bite me, and I have to get stitches, you’re explaining it to Grams.”
“Agreed.” Gabe said with a wide grin.
As they walked to the center of the clearing, I was once again assigned the role of lookout. Bitterness oozed off of me, as I plopped down on what was fast becoming “my rock.” Gabe and Kendall each assumed their fight positions; he struck a standard wrestling stance, while she stood ramrod straight with her wings curled in protectively around her.
“Ready to