Whiskey Storm Read online

  “But they don’t even want to know.”

  “It’s easier to fear that way. But the reporters have learned a lot and you’ve seen the news. You’ve read it. People are taking notice.”

  “And others are twisting it. They make fun of us. If one more asks which House I’m in, I’m going to call a horde of zombies. Either that or calls me a Fillory reject. It sucks.”

  Leah wasn’t wrong. There were several news channels who were taking every little thing—like Paige breastfeeding in a restaurant to keep Rai from exploding—and making it horrible.

  It didn’t take Paige and Leah long to get the twins ready. Naomi had decided to take Ginny and Todd out of school for the day. That way they wouldn’t have to fight bigger crowds.

  Paige was all for it. She didn’t want to have to wrangle in her kids and fight crowds and watch for those who were too scared to react well. That would be too much, especially since she didn’t have full access to her magick.

  Paige had noticed that even though the demon gate was unraveling, she wasn’t being drawn to any demons, nor they to her. So, at least there was that.

  And, a small voice said in the back of her mind, the demons might actually be able to help against the humans.

  She couldn’t allow any situation to descend to that level.

  She didn’t agree to how long they would stay in Washington DC. That collar needed to come off, and soon, but she’d stay as long as she could manage. In that time though, she would build relations for as long as she could.

  Naomi showed up right on time. Ginny and Todd burst through the door with wild excitement. They clambered around Leah and babbled about some of the things they were going to see that day. Todd assured Leah that he had planned the day so that they only saw the interesting stuff and that they wouldn’t waste their time on everything else.

  Apparently, statues were boring because the Lincoln Memorial was nowhere on Todd’s list.

  Naomi gave Paige an apologetic smile. “I feel as though we’re kind of taking over.”

  Paige chuckled but shook her head.. “I feel the same way every time the Whiskey tribe goes anywhere. Imagine this at the store, but there are more kids and more adults.”

  She bent to retrieve Ember.

  Ginny rushed in and batted her hands away. “I have Ember today.” She lifted Ember a set him on her hip. She was a very solemn girl and seemed to take responsibility well.

  Paige chuckled. “Okay. Let me know if you need anything.”

  Ginny smiled and turned away, bouncing Ember on her hip.

  Todd gathered Rai, all the while talking nonstop to Leah.

  Naomi piled diapers on the counter while Paige found wipes and blankets for the diaper bag. “It was a contest to babysit. Rock scissors paper. I still don’t know who won.”

  “Well, at least your kids are at the age where babies are a novelty. I’m pretty sure the Whiskey kids are totally over babies by this point.”

  “How many do you have?” Naomi opened the door to their apartment and waited for everyone to file out.

  Paige stepped through the door, their security detail ready for them. “I have four. Leslie has three and Nick and his Mark—” Because she still thought of Leah’s father as her Mark, “— have one. But we usually have a lot of kids over at our place. We have the obstacle course and all the kids love it.”

  One of the security personnel placed his hand to his ear and muttered something as he led the way down the hall.

  “It must feel like a zoo sometimes.”

  “Sometimes?” Paige didn’t want to admit the fact that having the security detail actually made her feel a little safer, even though she knew they might turn on her rather than save her. “Try most of the time.”

  They made it to the SUVs on the curb and got in with very little fanfare. It wasn’t until they got to the Smithsonian Museum that they were assaulted by the media, many of whom Paige knew by name now.

  Naomi put her hand on the door handle and paused. She turned to Paige. “Be careful what you say to the media. The President is aware of what you’re doing and she’s concerned.”

  “Oh yes, the plight of the tyrant.” She grabbed her door handle and stepped out. She wasn’t going to be silenced in a nation that prized the freedom of speech and held it prisoner in the same breath.

  The kids did a really great job of handling Rai and Ember. Paige now realized that the best way to travel with children, especially the tiny kind, was to have a small army of older children. The Mormons seriously had this fact understood.

  A couple reporters tried to get through the security people in place. Naomi sure had planned this out, bringing in additional security guards. “Guys,” Paige told the reporters, “from a distance today. Okay?”

  They weren’t too happy about that, but they didn’t leave either..

  There were strollers for the twins waiting for them at the museum door. And, apparently, their tickets had already been taken care of. She felt a little bit like a celebrity.

  The museum was also oddly quiet. “Did you clear the place?”

  “No.” Naomi grimaced. “But we are keeping the number of people allowed in today to a minimum. For your safety. And for the safety of your kids.”

  No. That didn’t work for her. “I’m not impacting people. If they want to be at the museum, they aren’t banished just because the ‘monsters’ are here.”

  Naomi didn’t move to change the situation.

  Paige loved museums. Denver had the best one she had ever seen Before today. The Museum of Nature and Science.

  But this museum? This one knocked the one in Denver out of the ballpark.

  Paige could easily have spent the entire day there. But she didn’t want to be a bother. She could see the people being cordoned off. The security personnel were doing a very good job of making sure that very few civilians were anywhere near Paige and her family.

  This wasn’t going to work. This could be used to tear down the bridges she’d worked so hard to build.

  Paige slipped away from Naomi and went to the nearest door. She pushed past the upset security officer to greeted the first person she came into contact with. There were several plastered at the doorway, trying to get a glimpse of them on their phone.

  Paige just had to hope that whoever she offered the olive branch to wasn’t going to be one of the fear-filled enemies.

  The man she chose seemed nice. He was tall, black, and had a great smile. He also had his young daughter with him, and they seemed to be bonding rather well.

  Paige felt a kinship to him through the connection he had with his daughter. She made eye contact with him, and smiled, her heart racing. There were so many ways this could go badly. “Would you like to join us? It’s kind of lonely going through the museum by ourselves, and the more the merrier. The kids would love to share this experience with others.”

  “Ma’am,” the security officer behind her said. “I can’t allow that.”

  “Yes, you can.” Paige turned and smiled harshly at him. “Last I checked, this wasn’t a prison state, my children and I weren’t prisoners. Besides and I can’t smite him because you’ve got a collar on me that protects him. So, what kind of harm can he really get into because you are not protecting me.”

  The security officer was unruffled and unmoved.

  The man she had extended the invitation to just smiled and held his daughter a little closer. “We really can wait. We don’t want to cause any trouble.”

  “I do. Bbecause I feel as though this is one of those situations where something needs to be done.” She could understand if he didn’t want to be the one to cause the ripples. So, she turned to the woman next to him. She was white, shorter, and heavyset. She had a look about her as though she was looking for some way to stand out from the rest. She had obviously fake lashes and her face was painted beautifully. She was gorgeous. “How about you? You like to be a rebel with me?”

 
; The woman beamed a beautiful smile and raised both of her shoulders in a nonverbal squee of excitement. “I would love to.”

  Paige nodded once. She would take what she could get. “Anyone else who wants to join us certainly can. We’re not contagious. We can’t hurt you. And the worst thing that could happen is that one of the babies will bite you.” She paused for dramatic effect. “But they don’t have any teeth. So, I doubt it’ll hurt.”

  The black man chuckled.

  His daughter looked at him with a plea. “Come on Daddy, I want to go in.” She bounced on her little legs.

  Paige turned to the security guard and gave him a tight look. “How about we let a few people in? They paid good money for their tickets.” And then Paige just went back into the exhibit room.

  The first woman she had talked to went to Leah and started chatting her up. Paige was going to keep an eagle eye on her. It wasn’t that she thought the woman was going to do anything crazy. But… Leah was her daughter. She’d invested a lot of resources into that girl, like patience. A lot of patience.

  The young father came and stood beside her, as his daughter went to talk to Todd and Ginny, exclaiming over the twins. “I’m sorry.”

  Paige waved them off. “Don’t be. It’s difficult for everyone.” She took in a deep breath and looked up at him. The man was very tall. “I just want to show people that we’re not something to be scared of. We’re the same people we were before.”

  “Is it true that your kind live among us?”

  That sounded like a line from the X-Files. Paige tipped her head to the side and nodded. “Yeah. And look at how many of you are still alive and kicking and have no idea we’re even here.”

  He smiled, but his brow furrowed as he shook his head and offered his hand. “Jerry. That’s my daughter, Gretchen.”

  Paige smiled at them both and shook both their hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  He opened his mouth to say something but then something drew his attention away.

  Paige turned her attention to where his eyes fell and her mouth nearly fell open.

  Rai was buzzing with electricity. She was pulling on her shift her abilities and her collar was zapping her.

  That collar was hurting her kid.

  But then Paige realized that the situation could get even worse. Because she had just invited several people into the exhibit hall with them.

  If Rai didn’t stop, some of that electricity could spill out onto the people nearest her.

  It wasn’t just about her daughter. It was about all of their kids.

  12

  Naomi turned to Paige in alarm. “What we do?”

  “Get that collar off my baby.” That seemed pretty common sense to Paige. She rushed over to the Rai’s stroller trying to figure out what to do.

  “But that collar is the only thing protecting us.”

  How could she still think that? “That collar is hurting my baby.”

  But then, it hit Paige. It really wasn’t hurting Rai. Rai was a Thunderbird. She was lightning.

  “Huh.” Paige took a step back and just watched.

  Naomi looked up at her in concern. “Do something to stop her.”

  Several people pulled out their cell phones.

  Great. Just what she needed. Paige just gave her a hard glare. “First of all, she’s a baby. Try making one stop crying when they’re fussy. Second of all, any ability I would have had to control her is gone.” She tapped her own collar. She still had the alpha push to send commands and she did still have her witchy powers, but she didn’t want to show that hand just yet.

  Naomi gave her a completely flummoxed look, taking note of the cell phones as people videoed.

  Paige reached out with her alpha will to see if Rai was in trouble, but the only thing she got was that Rai was frustrated and was going to find a way to shift one way or another.

  That could be explosive. How would people see that? That babies were now a danger? Crap. Paige took Gretchen’s shoulder and tugged her backward.

  The girl looked up at Paige, her dark eyes wide.

  “It’s going to be okay.” Rai was just a baby. “I think.”

  Jerry came to rescue his daughter from Paige. “Are we in danger?”

  Gretchen refused to leave. “Is your baby going to be okay?”

  Leave it a kid to realize the most important question. “I think so? I hope so.” She should probably sound more confident.

  Gretchen turned her attention back to Rai.

  So did everyone else. People were now jockeying for a better view for their video and several of them were commentating.

  What the hell had their lives become?

  She had to take control of this. Paige turned toward the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she called out, getting everyone’s attention. “My daughter, Rai, has bonded with the Thunderbird spirit. Her spirit animal controls lightning. What you’re seeing is my daughter being very frustrated with the fact that she’s been a human for nearly a week.”

  The gathered people divided their attention between her and Rai.

  “Imagine being a person just brought into this world days ago—because it really has been just days ago—and being unable to walk in human form. These two have been able to shift since almost the day they were born, and in practically any other shape. They are very mobile. But as humans, little Rai has to rely on others to get her where she wants to go.”

  That elicited a few oohs and aws.

  “What’s it like having animals as children?” one man shouted.

  “You could ask any pet owner that same question.” Because she felt the edge of the dagger that question was meant as, and she wasn’t going to take the bait. “As a parent, I can tell you I much prefer it when they do their business outside versus in the diaper.”

  “Outside—what?” Jerry stared at her, his expression slack. He closed his mouth and glanced at the top of Gretchen’s head. “They’re how old?”

  “Just over a week.” Paige felt like a tour guide in a zoo. Not what she wanted. “Rai likes flying. So, if she manages to break out of the collar—”

  A few startled screeches filled the air. But phones never wavered. The video was probably already viral.

  Paige raised a hand to silence them. “Remember she’s just a baby. She’s a little over a week old. And the worst thing she does, really, is poop on the lamp shade and eat your favorite shoes.”

  A couple of people chuckled almost unwillingly.

  Naomi was stuck in horrified silence.

  Todd danced with excitement as he watched, his hands fisted up, a wild grin on his face. He kept glancing at Leah and back at Rai.

  Leah stood there, her lips sucked in, her brow furrowed. She blinked her gaze to her mom, gave a judgy look to the crowd, and then went back to watching Rai.

  Ginny kept reaching out Rai to hold her or comfort her or… Paige didn’t know what, and then she’d take a half step back when the snap of electricity got a bit too much for her.

  To her credit, though, she was gaining ground.

  With one final burst and a loud pop of electricity, the collar fell, and Rai got up, shifting into an owl in front of everyone.

  Some people gasped.

  A few clapped.

  One whooped loudly.

  The pretty woman with the amazing yet fake eyelashes—Paige needed to seriously invest in some of those because they really were amazing—shrieked.

  Ginny leapt arms forward, shielding Rai from everyone, including her mother.

  Rai wasn’t about that. She took to the air, made a circle and then perched beside her brother.

  “One of the things that has plagued us,” Paige said, trying to keep her voice normal, “is that Rai seems to have developed the ability to shift into birds with full flight feathers. When we discovered we were having shifter babies, I had hoped their shift would be delayed or they’d shift into baby birds. At least they�
��d be easier to control until I taught them rules and, you know, and stuff. How to be people. That kind of thing.”

  Jerry snorted. “I hadn’t even thought of that.”

  “Poop. On the lampshade. I’m seriously not even kidding. It’s a thing and it’s gross and she’s not big enough to clean that up for herself yet.”

  Lightning shot from her beak and hit Ember’s collar squarely.

  Paige raised her hands to stop Rai, but it was too late.

  It fell and then Ember was up and crawling out of his stroller as a monkey until his feet found the floor and then he shifted into an elephant. Thank the goddess his elephant was a baby.

  Paige released a tired sigh. This could really turn against them. “Because they’re half witch and half shifter, they can choose any shape they want.” How much information was too much? Well, she wanted to inform the public, so… “While Rai likes to fly, Ember enjoys walking on four feet. And lately, that’s been as an elephant. Though, they haven’t been able to shift for a few days, so you guys are probably in for a treat. They’ll probably cycle through several animals in a few minutes.”

  “Like,” one woman asked, her voice breathy, “is this normal?”

  Nope. “Yup.”

  Rai chose that moment to find the floor and shift into a tiger cub.

  Paige narrowed her eyes at her daughter and asked her to choose creatures that weren’t so terrifying.

  Rai looked up at her and then shifted into a kitten. Just a regular kitten.

  The people clapped and exclaimed.

  Gretchen looked up at Paige. “Are they dangerous?”

  Paige wasn’t going to say they weren’t. “They’re about as dangerous as any babies. If they choose to become a bear, just remember they can have teeth.”

  The mood of the crowd around them was starting to shift, to relax, which was good. “How about we make this a game? Let’s take bets on what they’re going to shift into next.”

  That seemed to loosen people up considerably. A few shouted of what they’d like to see.