May 2, 2004
Coralis sat in the backseat of a taxi, leaving the airport. She was on her way to a hotel in downtown London. She had a game in France the day before and Frank was in London to cover a music event. Before heading to Portugal for the next day's game, she agreed to meet him there and spend the night with him.
There were still too many eyes on her, so she didn't want to take him to her flat, and he booked a hotel room. She met with Maribel in front of the hotel before going in. Frank was already at the event site.
"Hey stranger, long time no see!" said Maribel.
"I saw you last month," said Coralis as she opened the hotel door.
"Let me rephrase. Long time I haven't seen you in town. Last time you came to London… well, you know it doesn't count and I didn't see you then."
They went to the reception desk and Coralis gave the booking details to the clerk behind the counter.
"True, the last few months were hectic, to say the least."
"That's an understatement," said Maribel.
"Mrs. McNally?" said the clerk.
Coralis turned around, looking for Frank's sister. She didn't know she'd be coming. The clerk repeated the name and she realized that he was talking to her. Maribel laughed.
"Newlywed?" said a woman standing next to her.
"Yeah, they didn't even get to go on their honeymoon yet," said Maribel.
"Uh, right."
Coralis signed the document and took the key card. As soon as they got in the room, Maribel activated a mute-ball and Coralis saw a note Frank left for her on a desk: 'Luv, there are some beers in the mini-fridge and a bottle of whiskey in one of the bedside table drawers if you and your friend want a drink before heading to the venue.'
"I must admit that your new name gives you a great cover, especially in this country where too many people know your name. Some fellow students from school might remember your civil name, at least those from our class."
"Yeah, but I need to get used to it. I genuinely thought for a minute that his sister was in town. Drink?" said Coralis, searching for the bottle of whiskey Frank mentioned.
"Sure! I still can't believe that you're the first one of us to take a mate. You even got a thoughtful one at that. Will you guys be going on what humans call a honeymoon?"
"I still don't understand that one. I shouldn't have been the first, but the dude has been persistent, so, well, it happened. I'm curious about that tradition, to be honest, and I do need to blend in. The idea of escaping somewhere alone with him, away from everything, is very appealing, so yeah, it'll happen. We're looking into the last week of July for that. Flyball season will be over and he'll have some vacation time."
Coralis couldn't find glasses for it, so she poured the liquor into coffee mugs.
"Victoria told me he even opted for the elemental bind, but knowing you, you probably didn't complete it. If that was the case, you'd know about your bloodline now and I dare hope you'd have told me if you found out."
"I haven't completed it yet. I will, eventually. I know he wants it, but I'm not ready to transfer him my nightmares and I still need to find out what in gods world is so wrong with my bloodline that my grandfather refused to acknowledge it."
"No regrets?" said Maribel, grabbing one of the mugs.
"No. We've been together for about 4 years. He knows what I am and why people want me dead, and he didn't run away. His family is accepting me knowing what I am capable of, so really, I don't think there's better out there for me. I don't care that he's human. He's not an asshole."
Coralis and Mirabel chugged their drinks and refilled their mugs.
"To think you ended up family with Sebastian Larameer," said Mirabel, bringing her mug to her lips to take a sip, "because you both took mates in the same human family."
"Well, it happened. Holy gods from above, we even have the same surname now, when we're among humans. Yeah, who would have believed that."
"One thing I believe is that flyball games won't be the same without you and the 3 musketeers playing. Next flyball season will be dull."
They refilled their mug one more time before heading to the music event.
"I think I need to come to this kind of event more often. It's great to feel like a normal person. Besides you and Frank, no one knows me here. It reminds me of when I started dating Frank."
"I remember now why you started seeing Frank. He's a good man for you, clearly, so I'm glad you kept things going with him, but I remember you saying how you could escape your world with him because he didn't know about us. Things have changed… I like to think for the better, at least with him, but yeah… now it must feel like you can't escape anywhere."
"As far as Frank is concerned, things have evolved for the better. Sure, I can't escape in the same way I used to, but now that I don't know who to trust anymore, it feels good to know that he doesn't have ulterior motives toward me. He still is my safe space, and I need that."
"Do you even remember what you said at the altar?" said Maribel as they stood in line to get food.
"No, I don't. That day still feels like a blur to me. Everyone keeps reminding me bits and pieces of what I said that day, but my mind was so numb, I could barely remember my name."
Maribel laughed.
"In all fairness, I can't even remember how many bottles of… Elem liquors we drank before entering the club, and we kept refilling your glass from a bottomless flask we had with us. We wanted to be sure you'd be too hammered to think of running. For a minute, we thought it backfired with how you started your speech."
A few hours later, Frank met them at the venue exit. Maribel took a taxi to go home, but Frank and Coralis decided to walk to their hotel instead of calling for a taxi.
"Thank you for leaving some alcohol for us at the hotel, Maribel was impressed, I must say."
"Figured you'd want that, before entering a pool of people like me."
"I was chatting with Maribel when the clerk tried to get my attention to give me the key card. I'll admit, for a minute I was searching for your sister. Name change is a great idea, but I need to get used to it."
Frank laughed and passed his arm around her shoulders to hold her tight against him.
"I'm sure it did. Sebastian told me the same thing when he checked in at our hotel last month, he thought I was checking in at the same time as them."
"HE DID? He didn't tell me about it."
Coralis activated a mute-ball once they made it to their hotel room, while Frank opened them a beer. Her hologram went off as soon as she grabbed the bottle from his hand.
"Sonylla was correct. The tip received by General Tobly about the cursed weapons in Calgary was false," said Emery, whose holographic image hovered above her hologram.
"Did you find out who sent it and who came after her? I heard that Clara's body was never found."
"Yes and no. The tip came from an employee working the reception desk. We know that some of the people Sonylla fought and killed were in training for us, so she fought traitors. However, we don't know for whom they were working for. Sonylla's fireballs did a lot of damage and sparked some flames, but it's not what set the building on fire."
"Does it explain why sometimes people call the CMMA for help, but can't get an answer?"
"Partially."
"Damn! You guys have been infiltrated!" said Frank.
"It seems so. There was nothing left of the building. There was a lot of Clara's energy signature lingering in the air, but nothing that led to remains. Even if she had been turned to ashes… we'd have found hair, along with her ashes. Clara wasn't on any lists, and at this point, we have reasons to believe that she let Sonylla think she'd been killed and was also a traitor."