Fort Morgan by Claudia Hall Christian

said.
    “ How can I help?” Blane
asked.
    “ Do you know of any
acupuncture sites that would make us less vulnerable to serpents?”
Heather asked.
    “ Actually . . .” Blane nodded.
    “ Really?” Heather
asked.
    Blane nodded.
    “ Can you show me?” Heather
asked.
    “ Of course,” Blane
said.
    ~~~~~~~~
     
    “ Once upon a time, there
were serpents and dragons,” Delphie said. “And they ruled the
earth.”
    She was sitting with her head on Sam’s
shoulder. They had spent the last few hours talking, drinking wine,
and eating cheese and cookies.
    “ Like dinosaurs?” Sam
asked.
    “ No,” Delphie said.
“Dragons and serpents were some of the first flying creatures to
evolve from Titaalik, you know, the creature that went from water
to land?”
    Sam nodded.
    “ They aren’t counted
because no one has found their bones,” Delphie said.
    “ Why is that?” Sam
asked.
    “ It’s traditional for the
serpents and dragons to burn their dead,” Delphie said. “Nothing to
find after that.”
    “ They both fly?” Sam
asked.
    Delphie nodded.
    “ Why don’t they still rule
the earth?” Sam asked.
    “ Other creatures evolved,”
Delphie said. “Dragons preferred to interact with humans as if they
were one of them while serpents preferred to engage the world
through violence and trickery.”
    “ You think they want their
rule back?” Sam asked.
    “ From what I saw, the
serpents are being crowded out of their last habitat,” Delphie
said.
    “ Going extinct,” Sam
said.
    “ Not if they can do
anything about it,” Delphie said.
    “ So where is Keenan?” Sam
asked.
    “ He went to warn his
mother,” Delphie said. “The serpents intend to take over the fairy
world and then conquer humans.”
    “ To rule the earth again,”
Sam said with a nod.
    Delphie fell silent.
    “ And the girls?” Sam
asked. “They just seem like young women.”
    “ They are young and
strong,” Delphie said.
    “ But why them?”
    “ They are half-breeds —
Titan, Olympian, and fairy,” Delphie said. “All of them, except for
Sandy.”
    “ But Sandy’s
symphony . . .”
    “ The music is a love story
from a mother to her child,” Delphie said.
    “ Sandy,” Sam
said.
    “ That’s why she’s there,”
Delphie said. “And the fact that Heather loves her and all of her
friends.”
    Sam nodded. They leaned against each other
in silence for a while.
    “ Do they stand a chance?”
Sam asked.
    “ If they don’t, none of us
do,” Delphie said.
    “ You’ve decided to go,”
Sam said.
    There was a tap at Delphie’s apartment
door.
    “ Delphie?” Jill’s soft
voice came from the other side.
    “ How can I not go?”
Delphie asked.
    “ You can’t,” Sam
said.
    Delphie got up to answer the door.
    “ You can’t,” Sam repeated.
“Will you come home?”
    “ Goddess, I hope so,”
Delphie said, and opened the door.

Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-seven
    Chamomile Tea
    Wednesday night — 11:24 p.m.
     
    When Delphie came into the main Castle
living room carrying a ceramic pot filled with chamomile tea, Jacob
hopped up from the arm of the couch to retrieve the matching cups.
He held them up to Delphie, and she nodded to the women in the
room. He gave a cup to Jill, one to Sandy, and another to Tanesha.
He held up the last cup. Tanesha took it from him for Heather.
    Jacob returned to the arm of the couch next
to where Jill was sitting. Katy and Paddie lay on either side of
Jill with their heads in her lap. Delphie poured tea for Jill,
Sandy, and Tanesha before pouring a cup for herself. Aden and Sam
came in from the kitchen carrying mugs of tea. Aden gave Jacob the
glass of water he’d requested.
    No one spoke. Their eyes and minds seemed to
be on their tea. After a few minutes, Jeraine came in with a baby
monitor. Tanesha looked up.
    “ He’s asleep in the
nursery,” Jeraine said. He gave the monitor to Tanesha. “Heather
was just getting there when I came down here.”
    Sandy and Jill looked up at