Page 46 of Resurrection
Kaine climbed down out of Seiran’s arms, dropping to the ground and stripping like he was in a hurry. Though technically, Kaine didn’t have to. He wasn’t bound by those rules. It was just a habit he’d picked up from his family. Seiran calmly folded the discarded things, then began to remove and fold his, setting them on the bench.
Before he could get his shoes off, Kaine was changed. Not a fox or lynx, but a cat with a dusky tan color, white through the face and paws, and some dark bits on the back. This form was tiny, maybe eight pounds, and what Seiran now knew to be called a sand cat. It also seemed to be the form Kaine defaulted to most often when not influenced by his siblings. A choice? Or simply the easiest one for him? Seiran didn’t demand answers. Kaine might not even know himself. Maybe in a few years Seiran would try to pry.
The door to the house opened and Jamie appeared, not actually entering the atrium, but setting an old-fashioned alarm clock on the steps beside the door. Then he left as silently as he came, closing the door behind him, and leaving them to their comfort.
Seiran finished stripping and let the change roll through him. It was easier near the new moon, the gravitational pull less on the earth, but he could do it whenever. Most witches couldn’t change at all, and the few who did, it was only around the new moon. He remembered his first few times changing outside of the new moon, how much he’d struggled, and it had been slow and painful. Now it wasn’t any different than all the rest.
The first few seconds were always a bit disorienting. The earth became loud, almost a siren call, irresistible. It was a lot like a screamingcome to me, childsong that repeated over and over in his head. If the door outside hadn’t been locked and warded, he wouldn’t have stayed. But even as a lynx, he knew the wards were there. Strong, and they would sting if he got too close to the barriers.
He hopped over a slew of decorative rocks to find the loose area of soil that was always left open, and often refilled with fresh topsoil. He flopped over and rolled around; the dirt cool and welcoming on his fur.
A tiny missile pelted him in the stomach, little claws and sharp teeth nipping. Seiran reacted by tackling, rolling and then cleaning. Dirty baby. Kaine struggled to get away, indignant because he wanted to be dirty. He skittered away, jumping sideways, a ball of floof with a tail puffed up. He was tiny compared to Seiran’s lynx, which was more of a Canadian type of lynx, mostly gray with giant paws, though not much more than twenty-five pounds. Kaine was tiny, his head smaller than Seiran’s paw. Which meant Seiran was always careful and aware of his baby.
They chased around for a while, Kaine landing on Seiran’s back a few times. Seiran picking him up by the scruff a time or two, to carry him out of a particularly high tree. It was a constant battle of play, bath, play, snuggle, and play.
Kaine woke the bees. He danced around in the flutter of wings like he was king of something. The bees seeming a bit disoriented, but deciding to go to work anyway, and finding nearby buds to feed. Seiran sent out a bit of magic, the tingle spreading from his paws into the earth, waking worms and roots, springing more flowers to bloom.
Kaine leapt at him, trying to grab him by the throat like he was fierce and deadly, but Seiran let him hold on. The baby teeth unable to do much more than cling to fur. He began to groom Kaine’s fluffy tail. He didn’t have one of his own, his was more of a stub, and was somewhat grateful because they always got covered in dirt.
Kaine wriggled against him until he could curl up against Seiran, until their hearts beat together. Seiran wrapped himself around his cub, cleaning, keeping him warm. And wondering where that sudden annoying beeping sound was coming from.
He tried to ignore it. His baby was sleepy. They could both use a nap. But it didn’t stop. Seiran snarled in the direction of the noise. Near the door. Not to the outside, but the mortal dwelling. Not willing to leave his baby unprotected, he picked Kaine up by the scruff and headed to investigate. He needed to at least stop the noise.
Near the step leading up to the house a little metal thing danced and beeped, buzzing and shaking, with painful noise. Seiran set Kaine down and batted at the box. It flopped over, but continued to writhe and scream. He started grumbling at it while Kaine curled around him half dozing.
The door opened and a human man stood there. He didn’t move for a moment after the door was closed, not even after Seiran smacked the noisy thing a couple more times, unable to shut it up. He finally looked up at the man with hope that human hands could turn it off.
Oh, right… he could be human. He’d forgotten for a bit there. The change rolled over him, and he barely noticed Jamie walk past him, retrieve their clothes from the bench, and set them down beside him. Only then did Jamie turn off the damn alarm clock.
Seiran’s skin and nerves were still raw. Kaine remained a cat, nestled in Seiran’s arms, barely rousing even when Seiran dressed.
“Bunnies?” Seiran asked, his voice still a veritable growl from the change.
“Were already mostly gone,” Jamie said. “Told them to leave the babies, and called it in this morning. The rescue center is backlogged, and said maybe tomorrow? The kids,” Jamie shrugged. “The internet makes everyone feel like superheroes sometimes. But they were already mostly gone. Kaine released them. Thought that if they weren’t tied to their weak, mortal forms, they could thrive and dance like he does. Life is sometimes cruel.”
“Ki and Kura?” Seiran asked. He understood the release of souls from a living form well enough. Had done it innumerable times for those who’d been sentenced to capital punishment by the Dominion. They refused to change their rules, so he’d shown up to as many as he could to ease the passing of each witch. It was a simple severing of the metaphysical cord that bound mortal flesh to the essence of a person. He tried to explain to all of his kids how it worked, so when he couldn’t shield them from life’s horrors down the road, they would understand the experience.
“Cried a little, but okay. They get it. I’d have buried the bunnies if I could have gotten the kids inside. Tried to explain to Kaine, but he insisted he could save them. But plants and bunnies aren’t the same thing. Bunnies might not have big souls like people, but they still have something that needed to be bound to their mortal form. Maybe it’s different across the veil?”
It was. But Seiran only nodded. The fae world wasn’t built on the same rules as the mortal one. And trying to define all the nuances was best left for philosophers.
“The twins are sleeping. I checked on them again when I heard the alarm.” He picked up the clock and they both entered the kitchen. The clock went back in its place on a shelf beside the door. It was a way to bring him back, one of the few that worked every time. A set allotment of time he could play, but beyond that, it was hard to return. Even if he wanted to be with his kids.
Seiran had to fight through the fog of the lynx resettling inside his head and wondered if that was how Gabe felt. It was almost midnight. He sighed. Who needed sleep?
His baby obviously. Seiran didn’t try to move Kaine from the crook of his arm, curled up like the cutest little baby kitten anyone had ever seen. On the counter was a normal spread of bowls and ingredients. An array of options to help Seiran soothe his mind and reorient himself in his human side.
“I’m off tomorrow,” Jamie said as he headed to the counter. “Link will be back from California midday.”
“What is your kid’s favorite?” Seiran asked, seeming to have lost that memory. Though he could sort of recall Lincoln’s face. It had been Solstice when he’d seen Jamie and Kelly’s little boy, as he was off in witch training camp. Link’s powers of water and earth had started very early. A rare mix of the two that had everyone worried. Everyone except Seiran, Kelly, and Jamie. Link was a good kid. Smart and sweet, and only a year younger than Kaine.
“He loves brownies,” Jamie said.
“Blondies,” Kelly corrected appearing from the stairway leading upward. “The cookie ones with the peanut butter chips in them.”
“You should be sleeping,” Jamie grumbled at him.
“Not if we’re baking for my kid. He loves that triple fudge cake you do too.” Kelly said and smiled as he peered down at Kaine. “What a sweet baby.”