Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) - By Paula Flumerfelt Page 0,130

back towards them. Occasionally, Zanika would slam into her sister when she was distracted. Both would be sore later.

~*~

Mathieu chuckled as he watched Jo and Solomon having a heated debate over an illegal chest move. He sat on the counter in the kitchen of the headquarters, a beer in his hand. On his left and right were Erik and Lione respectively, sitting on stools, and Darcia leaning with his hip against the counter on the other side of Erik.

Jo hadn’t managed to touch Lione, while both Zanika and Zerieve had nearly dropped from exhaustion when Mathieu had called it quits. Everyone was in the adjoined living room and kitchen, talking with those around them in a companionable way. The room was serving its function, being large enough to hold everyone at once.

Erik’s face was set in a frown as he watched the duo causing a commotion. “They should quiet down.”

“Jo is just having some fun. He knows he’s wrong,” said Lione, who then took a long sip of his beer. “Solomon knows it, too.”

Mathieu smiled softly, “Solomon is good with Jo. Better than the rest of us, I think.”

“And you handle Solomon better than the rest of us. And not just in the bedroom, from what I understand.”

Darcia laughed and Erik’s frown deepened. “We all have someone we can handle. So, Lione, let me pose this question to you: why were you poking around here when Kiev found you?” The older raven said, looking at Lione.

Lione looked at the floor for a moment, thinking about how to respond. “I was looking for my father.”

Mathieu’s jaw tightened as his teeth clenched. He realized now why Lione had seemed so familiar when he had seen him the first time in the holding room. Their nose and jaw were nearly identical, as well as the deep look they had in their eyes. “Your father was Nathan.” Mathieu said, remembering the whispered way that Nathan had asked him if he was Lione in the end.

“…Yeah. My Ma said that she didn’t know where he was living, but that he was with the resistance, so I should try the headquarters. I knocked, but no one answered, so I thought that maybe people were busy and I came inside. Kiev found me looking through some papers for some reference of my father. I’m not very talkative when I’m…taken by surprise.” Lione rubbed at the label of his bottle. “I haven’t seen him at all, though, so maybe my Ma was wrong….”

The three others sat there silently before Erik fielded the statement. “She wasn’t incorrect. Unfortunately, you’re a bit late. We buried him just over a month ago.”

“You’re…kidding…” Lione said slowly. It seemed that the liquor was helping to loosen the young man’s tongue.

“No.” Erik said, shaking his head.

Mathieu reached out and grabbed his shoulder comfortingly, “Your father was a good man. I was honored to know him.”

Lione looked away, “This is unbelievable. I came to find him to tell him that his wife was dying, and I find out he’s dead.”

Solomon’s head snapped up at Lione’s statement. Mathieu wasn’t sure how the blond had managed, but he knew Solomon had heard.

“Nathan’s wife?” Mathieu said, asking the question that was clearly on everyone’s mind.

“Yeah,” Lione nodded, “just after I was born, Elise tracked down Nathan and told him that he has something important to do. He left me and my Ma to help out them people, so I never knew him. But she got sick a few months back, and I thought he deserved to know. Now she’s alone…”

Tesla, I need you for a moment. “If it’s alright, I’d like to provide some help…” Mathieu said, looking at Lione.

“What do you mean?”

Mathieu picked up Tesla as the Shadowrider ran into the room and skidded across the counter. “I want to have Tesla take one of my healers to your mother and see if he can help her. It isn’t much but…I think it’s what Nathan would have done.”

“I’d…I’d really appreciate that. She can do stuff, too. Like we can.” Lione said. “My Ma is in our house. It’s along the border of the Outer Zone, at the southernmost point.”

“Alright. I’ll be right back.” He got down from the counter and carried Tesla to where Elric was sitting beside Kiev, both listening to Mina humming softly. “Hey, can I interrupt for a minute?” Mina gave him a small smile and quieted down. “Thanks, Mina. It’ll only take a moment. Elric, I need a favor, if you can spare