"Me, too," Toff admitted. "I always wanted what the others around me had. Even the halves had a lot of power, but I didn't have anything."
"It's hard, growing up in that environment," Trik nodded. "They all flaunt what they have and there you sit, thinking you'll never have anything."
"Dude, you'll have it now," Ry grinned at Trik. "I think Dad might show you a trick or two, after you go through the rite."
"You think so?" Trik offered Ry a hopeful glance.
"Yeah," Ry replied with a shrug. "Dad knows all kinds of stuff."
"Grandfather was always jealous of the Karathian Warlocks. Said they hid their talents and wouldn't let anybody know how they did anything," Trik said.
"Dad's not like that. He showed Sissy how to cast illusions," Ry grinned at his sister.
"I can cast really good illusions after Uncle Erland showed me how. Daddy said I couldn't do it anymore inside Grey House, though," Nissa grumped.
"After you made the kitchen staff think they were getting attacked by a dragon," Tory snickered. "Because they were cooking liver for dinner."
"I was grounded for three weeks," Nissa mumbled, her face turning pink. "Uncle Erland taught me how to add sound to the illusion, and dinner sort of got ruined that night."
"How old were you?" Toff put an arm around Nissa.
"Eight," she said, leaning into his embrace.
Trik chuckled at Nissa's admission. "Some of Belancour's best wizards couldn't do that," he proclaimed.
* * *
Gren backed up against sharp, uncomfortable rock as he stared at the ocean far below. Tandias stood on a narrow ledge nearby, waiting for Gren to tap the core. Gren's feet barely had enough room; he'd felt ill when Tandias first placed him on the small shelf of rock. Any wrong movement might send him plunging into the waters below. Waves crashed and boomed into the dark base of The Tooth.
"Get on with it, whelp," Tandias growled. He didn't like the location any better than Gren. Gren breathed a shaky sigh and reached out with his power.
* * *
Lissa's Journal
"Here." Gavin handed a glass of pineapple juice to me. I'd chosen to sit on the western balcony of my beach house so I could easily keep an eye on the kids. Gavin settled on the wide chaise beside me after I accepted the drink he'd asked the kitchen staff to prepare.
"Thanks," I sipped the juice before leaning my head against his shoulder.
"They're still sitting in a circle on the sand," Gavin observed, lifting an eyebrow as he watched the young ones below us.
"They're talking, and I think they did that to give Trik a rest. He can walk, now, but that doesn't mean he's up to a marathon." I leaned back and wrinkled my nose at Gavin.
"Cara mia, if we weren't babysitting," he growled, leaning in to rub my nose with his.
"We are babysitting," I reminded him. "There's always later," I added, wrinkling my nose again. "Besides, it's almost lunchtime. Did you ask Web to have towels ready? They'll be tracking in sand, too."
"Web informed me that all has been made ready," Gavin's mouth tugged upward at the corner. That always makes me want to melt in a puddle. I think he's figured that out, too.
"If I weren't pregnant, there would be some time bending right now," I whispered before leaning in to kiss Gavin. Just as his lips closed over mine, the beach house shook. And then continued shaking.
* * *
"What the hell?" Drake gripped the doorframe tightly with strong fingers—he and Drew had just finished blade practice with some of their elite troops and intended to shower inside the barracks before joining Lissa and the others at the beach house for lunch. Another earthquake had taken them by surprise, and this one looked to be stronger than the last.
"Where?" Drew shouted over the noise of falling bricks and toppling furniture.
"To the west," Tony folded in, almost falling as his feet settled onto an unsteady floor. The tiles were threatening to buckle beneath them.
"But there's nothing but water to the west," Drake's voice wobbled as he replied.
"Fuck!" Drew shouted. "Sound the alarm. This will cause a tsunami, and those people in Sun City will be swept away!"
"Lissa's at the beach house," Drake turned frightened eyes to his brother.
"Let's go, there's no time to waste," Tony said. All three disappeared just as the ground seemed to be settling down.
* * *
Roff had taken to the sky as soon as he'd gathered Trik, Nissa and Toff in his arms. Tory had grabbed Ry's arm and skipped his brother to the beach house already. Flapping determinedly toward the second-floor balcony, Roff watched in horror as the ground beneath shook harder and trees toppled.
"The floors are cracking," Lissa pointed out as Roff landed on the balcony. Tory and Ry were already there and Gavin was prepared to fold everyone away. Lissa was correct—the marble beneath their feet was splitting and roof tiles were breaking and falling to the ground.
"I'll take Roff and the kids, Gavin, bring Lissa and the comesuli," Drew appeared on the balcony beside Roff. "Drake and Tony are sounding the alarm in Sun City, but Drake's sending mindspeech, saying the tourists and gamblers are just standing on the beach, staring at the receding water."
* * *
Lissa's Journal
I'd never seen Drew looked so frightened, and I'd watched him stare down a fifty-foot Ra'Ak before. I'd never felt so helpless, either. Karzac warned me—scared me, even—about using any power during pregnancy. The rush of power through the body could easily kill an unborn child. If I weren't pregnant, I could gather the entire population of Sun City inside my mist and haul them to higher ground. I'd already Looked—a huge wave was coming and it would drown everything in its path.
"Lissa, do not even contemplate this," Karzac appeared beside me, his green-gold eyes quite stern as he gazed at me. "I will carry you to safety, and Drew and Gavin will bring the others. If those fools in Sun City choose to ignore the sirens instead of running for their lives," he didn't finish his statement, he merely lifted me in his arms and we disappeared.
* * *
"Run for your lives," Tony place compulsion on a knot of tourists walking toward the beach instead of away from it. They turned immediately and ran.
Here it comes, Drake's mindspeech rang clearly in Tony's mind. The epicenter was only a few miles out, and the crowd here is beginning to see the wave. Now they're running, Drake added. Get away or you'll be run down.