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She sucked in a quick breath, and suddenly her lips were on his. She kissed him feverishly, but he picked up a difference this time. She was crying!
“What- Tish! Wait! What happened?” he finally managed as he gently pulled her back to see her face. Tears were running down her cheeks, but her eyes were shining with joy, and she was smiling at his look of confusion and concern.
“Baba Yaga told me I was pregnant. It’s ours.”
“Oh! OH! Oh, Tish!” Henry’s face showed his shock.
“Are- are you happy?” she asked, suddenly nervous.
Henry pulled her to him and held her close. He was going to be a daddy! Again! “I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am!”
She clung to him, and they both shed tears. But that was ok. They were tears of happiness. Henry did feel a pang of sorrow at the thought that their child may never meet their half-sister.
He pushed that aside and just enjoyed the pure happiness of the moment. With how his life went, he had to savor these small intervals as they arrived.
Meixiu sat by herself in the dark gazebo behind the mansion and waited. The others were inside, shedding tears of loss but she knew in her heart that Henry, and Tish, were alive. Sigrid has asked her how she knew, if she was in contact with him somehow, but she just shook her head. Meixiu couldn’t explain how she knew. She saw the pity in Sigrid’s eyes but knew the woman was hurting, so she took no offense.
After the castle vanished, they’d done a frantic but futile search for their friends amongst the antennae and machinery. Then the Minister of Security arrived to tell them they had to leave as the Human authorities would be coming shortly to discover the Celebrities in their drugged state. The clean-up crew had managed to move them all to an empty floor in the office building and made preparations. Escorted from the roof, Roy had to restrain Camila while Sigrid carried Marisa. They’d driven from the building moments before the police arrived.
The drive back to the mansion was quiet, the only sound being soft crying. Meixiu let everyone back into the home then made her way back here as Henry seemed to like it.
She’d been out here for almost 24 hours. She’d nodded off a few times only to jolt awake at bird calls, wind noises, or when Sigrid came out to check on her. But she hadn’t lost hope.
The back door opened again, and Meixiu knew it was Sigrid once more checking on her. She smiled faintly at how much Sigrid cared for her. She truly was a beautiful soul.
“Meixiu? You should come inside and have something to eat.”
“Not hungry.” She’d said the same earlier in the day. It was true as well. She felt… nothing.
A pain suddenly began to grow in her chest, and she frowned. What was the source of this hurt?
She felt nothing.
Because he was gone.
She found herself on her feet, running down the steps and into Sigrid’s open arms. The pain exploded, and tears flowed as sobs wracked her slim body. Sigrid held her close. Protecting her in her arms. Sharing tears with her. Sharing the loss.
They remained that way until the pathway suddenly lit up with a warm orange light. Sigrid sucked in a sharp breath.
Meixiu released her grip on Sigrid and spun in place and look back to the gazebo. She frantically wiped the tears from her eyes as the rip widened and orange sunlight spilled through, bathing them both in its glow. Tish hopped through and moved aside as Henry quickly followed her through the opening. Both were in their Human glamors.
Meixiu moved faster than she ever had and was pressing her body against Henry’s chest, clinging to him as her tears started again. Henry’s strong arms wrapped around her and held her close.
“I’m so sorry Meixiu. We couldn’t get back until now. Our friends needed to recharge before they could open the way. They saved us too,” he said gently.
She rubbed her face against his chest then looked back through the opening at the Glass Man gazing back at her. She gaped in surprise. Still clinging to Henry, she began speaking very rapidly in Chinese to the being on the other side of the tear in space.
Henry grinned in surprise. When she finished, she looked up at him in puzzlement as the Glass Man hadn’t responded.
“Xiong is very pleased to meet you as well. He says he was from the same province as you and understood you very well. He also said you’re welcome. He’d like to talk longer, but he must release the opening.” Henry bowed to him and expressed his gratitude to them all once more in his mind. He felt their joy then the gate snapped closed. The area fell into shadows once more.
Screams of surprise and excitement immediately began at the back door of the mansion as his friends inside realized who was standing in the gazebo. Henry and Tish moved down the steps to meet the onrushing group. Meixiu clung to Henry’s arm, almost afraid to let go as if he’d suddenly disappear if she did. Unsettled by her earlier breakdown, she watched Henry anxiously. She finally had to let go when the others reached out to hug him, but she stayed close.
Sigrid pulled Henry into a fierce hug, and he kissed her. A big tremble of relief shook her body, and he kissed the tears on her cheeks making her hiccup and giggle.
The moment he released her Camila was in his arms, and she was kissing him and crying, talking a mile a minute. Henry held her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly until she calmed.
Marisa was next, and he held her in his arms as she trembled. He noticed the sadness in her eyes when she pulled back. He was immediately concerned.
“What happened?” he asked.
Marisa’s bottom lip trembled as she gave him the news. “It’s Nate. I think Mab took him. I think it was her but younger. We can’t find him.”
He froze as an intense rage swept through him. The Queen’s name pushed him beyond his ability to think coherently. If she’d been within his reach, he would have gladly murdered her with his bare hands. No one could have stopped him.
“Henry? Henry!”
Roy’s voice cut through the red haze clouding his sight, and he came back to himself. “Oh, Roy!”
The big man abruptly pulled him into a tight hug then immediately held him out at arm’s length to look him over as if looking for injuries. “Aye lad. It’s good to have you back in one piece. We thought we’d lost you. What happened?”
Before he could answer, Sandy and Dayshia pulled Tish over to him, and they gave him a group hug. While he couldn’t see her, he felt Kesini’s warm hug as well.
Suddenly, it was all too much. Henry looked to the joyful and relieved faces around him. His friends- no, his family. The love they showed him him was more profound than he ever expected to have in his life. Then he thought of the new life inside Tish, and he wobbled a little on his feet.
“Henry! Are you ok?” Sigrid gasped.
He felt Kesini bracing him, so he just smiled at Sigrid then turned that smile on the others. “So much better than ok!” He looked to Tish, and they shared a special smile. Then his stomach grumbled. “We haven’t eaten or had anything to drink since before we left. We weren’t sure what was safe to consume there.”
“OH! I will make you and Tish dinner!” Meixiu squeaked and rushed away, finally comfortable he was here to stay.
“There? Where did you go?” Mary asked as she stood slightly behind Roy, curiosity burning in her eyes. Henry reached out and hugged her too then stepped back to look at the others.
“We’ll tell you all about it, but maybe we could sit down first? They had no chairs on the other side!” Henry said, and chuckles erupted around him.
“Where are Mahati and Michelle?” he asked as they walked back into the home.
“I’ve got to call them to give them the good news!” Camila gasped and rushed ahead to get to her cell phone.
Sigrid guided them to the dining room, and everyone took chairs around the big table, Henry and Tish sitting next to each other with their backs to the wall facing everyone else.
Once they were settled and listening, Henry began by explaining the Glass People. Then he told them how they’d been saved and taken to the alternate world which was the source of their magic. Tish added in how they’d done a little exploring while their hosts absorbed enough energy to open the rift for them. They’d even been able to go for a run, as long as they kept their eyes open for the flying black ribbons. Nasty beasts!
“What happened here? I didn’t get a good look at who was at the party. Anyone we know?” Henry asked.
Camila answered. “We don’t know what she intended, but she brought Human celebrities and public figures to the castle.”
Henry gawked at her. “Mab said with her new power, the Fae would rise again to rule the world and put the Humans in their place. She was going to use her guests as heralds for her return. Did she expose the Hidden Races?”
Camila shook her head. “Minister Hoek’s team was as efficient as it was quick. They couldn’t cover all the anomalous activities and facts, but they spun up a story that the public can accept. The story is that a new, technologically savvy cult lured them to the building with promises, injected them with a potent hallucinogen, and strapped them into virtual reality simulation in an attempt to brainwash them into joining. To corroborate this, each wore a VR headset, and they had injection marks on their arms, covered with a bandage. They were injected with a harmless substance that mimics LSD and mescaline. The blood tests will be inconclusive, but there’s enough to cast a shadow of doubt and reduce the credibility of the alternative; that their virtual dream experiences were real. Not a perfect cover but it provides a mundane and believable answer. The Feds are never going to close this case.”
She shook her head. “There is still the issue of how these celebrities were snatched from their homes all over the world only to show up in a building in New York instantaneously. Mab’s magic door is causing the Hidden Races Council a tremendous amount of grief but a few hints have been dropped here and there on the web about new technologies that someone is perfecting. Not a perfect cover story but it does point away from magic.”