Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) - By Paula Flumerfelt Page 0,38

you, kid?.”

Grinning, Mathieu put his hands on his hips with a shrug. “Yep. Listen, I appreciate your time, but I need to get going. Have a few more errands to run before Avian summons me home.” He put a friendly hand on the man’s shoulder. “I’ll try to bring Avian by again real soon. And…Tesla wanted me to tell you that he’s doing well.”

“That’s very kind.” Grandpa nodded Mathieu out with a genuine smile, calling after him, “Have fun at the party.”

Leaving the store, Mathieu drove back to the palace, thinking over what he had learned. The bit about the book explained quite a bit about why he found it so useless at present, but what he found more interesting had been his interaction with the Korinthian weapons. It made sense that others couldn’t interact with them, considering that the weapons were imbued with the planet’s energy. Among the things he’d recently learned, he’d been taught to sense others around him that held a ‘genetic mutation’. Narrie had been the first he’d managed to sense. Her and the power she possessed, which Avian called ‘waterdancing’.

It was strange to feel people like him so close. And from what Avian had said, it seemed as though he’d be coming into contact with more like himself tonight, if the rumor that most Korinthians were mutated was true.

Pulling in and parking the carriage, he hopped out and went into the main building. Tesla was waiting just inside the door for him, sitting on a table so he wouldn’t be missed, tail flicking with irritation. Did you give him my message? The Shadowrider prompted almost immediately.

“Good to see you, too. Take me to where I can get my hair cut; then I’ll tell you if I told him.”

A small growl rose from Tesla’s feline throat, but he leapt from his perch to the man’s open arms. Darkness pooled around them, pulling him into the depths of a realm that only

Shadowriders could navigate. Soon they re-emerged just before a door to the castle’s barber.

Mathieu took a moment to steady himself; it felt like his insides were still settling into place. Supposedly, and he knew this from Nikola, if he spent more time in the space in-between, he could learn to navigate without them. He would also, apparently, feel less nauseated when he came out. It wasn’t a theory he wanted to test, however. Finally having collected himself, Mathieu peeked into the barber’s shop and was pleased to find it empty. “Hello?”

Did you tell him or not? Tesla interrupted in his head.

“Jeez, yes. I told him.” Mathieu said with a roll of his eyes, stepping fully into the room. “Hello?” He called again.

The barber came out of a back room, wiping his hands on his pant legs. “Who’s this? Oh, Avian’s body guard. Tell who what?”

The white-haired man shrugged one shoulder. “Nothin’. I was just kind of talking to myself.” He chuckled and sat in a chair. Telling people he could talk to a cat thing was not something he was very fond of, so he played it off. “I know that this is last moment, but could you just trim the dead ends off of my hair? I’m sorry for the trouble…”

The barber smiled. “Not a problem.” He guided Mathieu to the chair and started to brush out the mass of wavy curls. The barber sprayed down the white hair until it hung limply and began to clip the ends.

So what else did you learn? Tesla questioned, curling up in his lap. Despite how much they may pretend to hate each other, they still belong to one enough like spatting siblings.

Mathieu let his eyes slide closed as his hair was worked on. They would be there for a while. I learned about that book and saw some weapons from Korinth. They were interesting.

Sounds so. Are you ready for tonight? The Shadowrider nibbled along his finger.

A silent chuckled filled the space between them. Oh yes, I learned a waltz overnight in a dream.

Well, Nikola is good at a waltz, but you’ll need to take me so I can force you to keep your manners about you.

Avian said that you could go, no need to convince me further. Mathieu scratched behind the feline’s ears. Just relax, won’t you?

A soft purr filled Mathieu’s mind. I’m stressed because you aren’t. Cockiness is unbecoming. Tesla arched into the stroking fingers and made a ’murr’ out loud. They sat there quietly for a long time, the only sound being the soft hiss