Page 5 of New Nebraska Home

“That would be appreciated,” Cal answered at the same time I said, “It’s fine.”

“If it’s okay with you,” Cal rolled his eyes at me and turned back to Liz, “we’ll take it. How soon can we move in?”

“Why don’t we look at the lease together?” Her voice jumped a little like she was trying to control her excitement. I was too.

“You have an office?” I asked.

“I have a kitchen table. That works just fine,” she said, leading us back upstairs. I really should have paid more attention to the tour.

It took about fifteen minutes to go through the details, and when Callum paid her the first, last and deposit up front, Liz looked like she was going to cry.

She handed over the keys, including one to our own private entrance around back, then she smiled widely, hesitated for a moment, and leaned in to give Callum a hug.

He stiffened under her touch, but she was so excited I didn’t think she noticed. It wasn’t her fault he didn’t like to be touched by people he didn’t know very well.

When she leaned in to hug me, I wrapped my arms around her, showing Callum how it was done. She settled perfectly into my arms, her much smaller frame softening against me like a cozy cashmere sweater. Then the strangest thing happened. A shot of power surged through my body, making my spine stiffen and my knees weak.

I almost reached out for the kitchen table to steady myself.

She didn’t seem to notice as she pulled back with that same wide smile then reached over for the pen I still had clasped in my hand.

I braced myself, eager to feel the sensation again. But the delicious energy that had flooded my body had disappeared as quick as it came.

What the Hell was that.

And could I make it happen again?

Liz

IT’S SO LOVELY WHEN THE KARENS ARE LABELED…

“So how much money do blood servers make at the feeding dens?” I asked, sitting at the kitchen table staring at the classified ads, looking for something to bring in money. Internet was of course established in the area, but with the service providers all changing to paranormal-owned companies, some things went back to ‘old-fashioned’ ways.

Callum, or Cal, as he asked me to call him, nearly spat out the coffee he’d just made with a little o-neg. He coughed over the sink, trying to catch his breath.

I couldn’t tell if I’d just caught him off-guard or he had some moral objection to drinking direct from humans. I’d only seen him use the supplies he kept in the fridge. I didn’t find the idea of serving blood or offering up myself as a blood-source appealing, but it was a job and I supposed it wouldn’t be too different from being any other waitress. As long as I didn’t think about what I was serving too hard.

To give him a few moments to compose himself, I looked out the large glass sliding door to the pool.

Brock and Leif had been in the pool all morning playing. It was so fun to see Brock’s deeply tanned skin popping up out of the clear water, grabbing Leif and tossing him in the air, then diving back under before Leif could come after him. It was just as cute when Brock made rain fall over Leif’s head with his water powers, and Leif screamed and giggled. Then Brock’s magic would turn on him and squirt him in the face. I was pretty sure he was doing it on purpose, and it warmed my heart.

Leif hadn’t had many people in his life he got along with. He was usually shy and reserved, untrusting. Something I think Gen had engrained into him with her hatred. And of course, the suspicious looks people gave him when we all found out that humans weren’t the only people occupying our planet.

There was more than once I’d heard someone whisper something like ‘His ears. That kid must be one of them,’ or ‘I knew there was something not right with that thing.’

Thankfully, those types of people were the first ones to cash in the checks the government gave them as they moved to ‘greener pastures.’

Good riddance to bad people.

Watching the way Leif played with Brock, so openly giggling and laughing and so comfortable, so soon, gave me hope maybe things would be different for him now.

Though I had to admit it wasn’t just Leif who had taken to Brock and Cal so quickly. They hadn’t even been here a week, but I felt as if they’d been here for months. The way we settled into a comfortable routine right away, I felt like I’d known them for years. But there was still so much about them I had to learn.

The biggest question that had been bothering me was: what were they?

Not what species they were. I knew Cal was a vampire, and a pretty powerful one at that, though I had no idea what that meant. I also knew Brock was a water elemental, but a special kind known as a siren. He told me that meant he had a deeper connection with water and could do things other water elementals couldn’t, like pull humidity from the air—maybe that would save me money in air conditioning costs! He could also make it rain, which was simply incredible. He already had my garden looking three times better.

That wasn’t what I didn’t understand, or at least understand as much as I could. What I wanted to know was what were they to each other? Were they a couple? Before most of my old neighbors left and the borders closed, they would have gotten some looks around here, and from some, more hate than a Yankees fan. Not that I had any problem with it if they were a couple. Honestly, that mental image would probably fuel more Kindle-inspired fantasies than was healthy for me.

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