Cyprus
What the heck am I doing?
I sat with my shoulders tense, hands clenched firmly in my lap. I kept scanning my surroundings, each time hoping to feel a little more comfortable. A little less alienated. But, it was having the exact opposite effect. With every moment, with every detail that I absorbed, I only felt more and more out of place. Like a bird underwater. Like a fish in the desert. Like... like a wolf trapped in the back of a fancy, decked out limousine.
I ran my fingers tentatively across the black leather seat. Over to the armrest and a bewildering amount of buttons and knobs. I couldn't guess what half of them did.
The floor was dotted with tiny white lights. Miniature chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The entire limo was the length of five normal cars and as tall as a double-decker bus.
A selection of snacks and drinks sat in front of me. Sparkling water. An assortment of pops. A bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice. A big platter of crackers and at least ten different kinds of cheese. And, taking up more room than anything else, a plate of humongous homemade cookies.
Dominic lounged casually at the opposite end of the limo, right leg propped up on his seat, left stretched out on the floor. He had a cookie in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other.
"Not too shabby, hey sis?"
I wished he would stop calling me that. Being all casual and familiar with me when we barely knew each other.
"It's free, you know. You can take whatever you want."
"Maybe later." I was feeling way too queasy to eat.
"Why so tense? Shouldn't you be excited?"
Excited? More like nervous as hell. Seriously, Why was I doing this? Had I gone crazy? Running off with these people I barely knew, based on the promises of someone I didn't even like. I was so stupid! I was out of my freaking mind!
But, I didn't think there was any going back this point. Now that he had me, I seriously doubted Mr. Connelly would just let me walk away with a friendly smile and a wave.
"Come on, Cyprus. Don't you get it? You're the rarest shifter in the world. You hit the jackpot! You can have anything you want! Fame, money, a private island in the Bahamas. Just snap your fingers and it's yours. It's not a bad way to live, trust me. Here, watch this."
Dominic tossed his half-eaten cookie on the floor and pressed one of the buttons on his armrest. "Hey, I'm getting hungry. Stop at the next fast food place and order three-dozen burgers. No pickles, extra cheese. I want half of them with ketchup and half of them with mustard and I want all of them cut into quarters."
A male voice answered from the speaker above his head. "Of course, Mr. Sanjo."
"And some fries and coke to go with them."
"Not a problem, sir."
"See?" Dominic grinned at me and grabbed a fresh cookie.
I raised my eyebrows at him. "Are you really going to eat three dozen burgers?"
"Of course not. Half are for you. Unless you want something else. I can add it to the order."
"No thanks."
"What? Not into fast food? What do you like? Mexican? Chinese? Thai? All you have to do is ask."
"I'm not very hungry."
"All right, suit yourself."
We sat in silence for a moment. Dominic's behavior sort of rubbed me the wrong way, but I wasn't about to say anything. I didn't want to start our relationship off on the wrong foot.
I realized I was bouncing my leg restlessly up and down. Breathing heavily and clenching and unclenching my fists. I was feeling a little claustrophobic. My inner wolf didn't think much of the limo. The windows were heavily tinted, so much that I could hardly even see the sun. As fancy and spacious as the place was, the animal inside of me saw it as more of a brightly lit tomb.
"Cyprus, I'm getting second-hand anxiety over here," Dominic said. "Relax, would you? Have a drink or something." He waved his champagne glass at me.
Was he serious? Mixing alcohol with the ability to cause earthquakes? "I... umm... I don't drink."
"Really? That's weird. Well, I'm all out of ideas, then. Dad said I was supposed to be hospitable, but you're making that kind of hard."
My back stiffened. He was starting annoy me a little. Not to mention the thought of my so-called father gave me a sick, twisting feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Look, eating take-out and drinking champagne aren't exactly at the top of my priority list right now."
"All right. What is at the top of your priority list, then?"
"Some answers might be nice."
"Answers. All right, sure. Why didn't you just say that?"
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I wasn't usually this irritable. Was it just nerves making me this way? Or did my inner-wolf have something to do with it?
The limo slowed and made a sharp turn. Dominic pressed the button on his armrest again.
"Hey, make sure they don't screw up my order."
"Of course, sir," the voice said.
"And count everything before you leave. Make sure it's all there."
"Anything you like, sir."
Dominic finished his champagne and tossed the glass aside. It landed on the floor, next to his half-eaten cookie. He then immediately picked up a new glass and filled it to the brim. "You know, if you want information, you should ask me something."
I looked across the limo at him. His swirling silver and grey eyes were focused intently on mine.
I thought about all the questions inside my head. I couldn't figure out where to start. Should I ask about the family first? Why he and Dad had never contacted me? Not even the occasional phone called or birthday card? Or should I ask about his powers, and presumably my powers as well? That seemed like a much more pressing issue at the moment.
The limo pulled to a stop. I heard the driver talking into the speaker. Dominic was still staring at me.
I opened my mouth, still not one-hundred percent sure what I was going to say. I meant to ask about my powers. But instead, something completely different came out of my mouth.
"Why wouldn't he talk to me?"
"What?"
"Dad... or Mr. Sanjo," I didn't even know what I was supposed to call the guy. "He barely even looked at me."
"Is that what's bothering you?" Dominic laughed. "Look, don't take it personally. Dad's not the touchy-feely type. But, he makes up for in other ways."
"Like what?"
"Are you kidding me?" Dominic gestured to the lavishly decorated limo. "look around you! And this is just the start! For my birthday last year he bought me a sweet ass Lamborghini. Custom rims, custom paint job, five hundred and fifty horsepower. I'll show it to you when we get to Mexico. The year before that he bought me a fleet of jet-skis. Me and a bunch of my friends had an awesome time with that! Oh, and last Christmas I got a skiing trip in Switzerland! Best trip ever! Do you like skiing?"
"Not really." I had never been skiing, actually, but he didn't need to know that.
Was all this supposed to be making me feel better? Because it wasn't. While my brother had been driving around in sports cars and taking skiing holidays, I had been working thirty hours a week on top of school just so my mom and I could keep the house. If my dad was so filthy rich, couldn't he have helped us out a little more? Did he even care about us at all?
It sure didn't seem that way.
I realized my hands were clenched firmly in my lap and forced them to relax. I needed to calm down. I couldn't get mad at Dominic for all this. Yeah, he was clearly spoiled rotten, but that didn't make it his fault.
The limo's side door suddenly popped open. A man in a tuxedo stood on the other side, holding a big tray full of paper bags and drinks. My sensitive nose picked up the smell of meet, ketchup and salt, but even more powerful to me was the whiff of fresh outside air. My inner wolf lifted its head, ears pricked forward.
"Here you are, sir," the man handed the loaded tray over to Dominic.
"Did you count them?"
"I most certainly did, sir."
"Good." Dominic shoved his platter of cookies aside—they tumbled in a heap on the seat next to him—and placed his tray in the empty space. "Now hurry up and get us to the airport. Our flight is leaving soon."
"Right away, sir."
The door slammed shut. My inner wolf's demeanor changed in a flash. Its head dropped. A low, irritated growl rumbled in its throat. It really hated being locked up like this. What was I going to do when we got to the airport? If I couldn't handle a short car ride, how would I manage a five-hour flight?
"So, what other questions do you have for me?" Dominic asked, unwrapping one of his burgers. "I gotta be honest, I'm a little disappointed so far. I mean, you just found out you're an entirely new species of shape shifter and all you want to know is why Dad didn't talk to you?"
I pressed my lips together, barely listening. The walls of the limo seemed to be closing in around me. "Can we open a window or something?"
"What? Oh yeah, sure."
Dominic hit a button and the window next me slid down about halfway. I breathed a sigh of relief. My inner wolf immediately relaxed.
"Are you claustrophobic or something?"
"Not usually." I lifted my head towards the open window, breathing in the comparatively fresh air.
"Oh yeah, I heard some shifters don't like enclosed spaces. I've never had that problem."
"Why not?"
"Beats me." He grabbed a piece of his burger—cut into quarters, just like he had requested—and took a bite. "I'm not complaining, though."
Feeling significantly calmer, I turned away from the window and studied my brother. Against the black interior of the limo his entire body seemed to glow faintly, pulsing with a strange, indefinable energy.
Did I look the same? Did I glow like that? Was my power so glaringly obvious?
"Hey... umm... can I ask you something, Dominic?"
"Sure, sis."
"Can you... can you do the same things I can? I mean... with earthquake and everything...?"
Dominic grinned. "Well now, that's more like it. All the family drama stuff was boring the hell out of me. No, I've never caused an earthquake. But, I've got some pretty cool tricks of my own. You wanna see?"
"Err...." Was is safe to show off his abilities in the back of a limo? Was he planning on shifting forms?
"Here, watch," he tossed his burger on the floor, where is joined his empty champagne glass and half-eaten cookie. He grabbed the golden sphere sitting in his lap. He stretched his arm out, his palm facing upwards, the sphere resting in the center of his hand. "All right, be quiet for a sec to I can concentrate, okay?"
I nodded, watching him closely, my stomach lodged somewhere near the back of my throat. I had no idea what to expect.
For while, nothing happened. Dominic just stared at the sphere in his hand, his face etched in concentration. Then, I felt the energy shift oddly around him. Sort of like a change in atmospheric pressure. I heard a faint crackling, like the ominous snapping sound of an electric fence.
Then, tiny sparks began to jump from my brother's fingertips, miniature bolts of lightning flashing in and out of existence.
As I watched, the sparks grew in size and number. Dominic slowly curled his fingers inward until the flashes of light were clashing and colliding mid-air. I sensed a faint breeze whirling around him. My nose picked up a sharp, ozone-like smell that reminded me of an approaching thunderstorm.
The tiny sparks of lightning had now grown into long, shimmering threads. They branched out from his fingertips and connected together several inches above the golden sphere, creating a perfect dome around it. They moved and wavered, constantly twisting and bending and changing shape.
The wind picked up. Wisps of hair gently tickled my face. The brilliant threads of electricity began twirling counter-clockwise around the golden sphere. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, until they had almost become a solid blur. The hair on my arms stood at attention, responding to all the static electricity surging around me.
I felt my eyes go wide as the golden sphere began to rise up into the air, one tiny increment at a time. The miniature threads of lightning broke contact with Dominic's fingers. They branched out and connected with each other instead. They formed a flashing flickering ball of pure energy, hovering several inches above his outstretched hand, with the golden sphere whirling at its center.
Dominic looked at me. His silver and grey eyes seemed, somehow, even more intense... the colours brighter... merging and twisting around each other with mesmerizing speed.
"Pretty cool, huh? I can do a lot more than this, obviously. But, you know, Dad might be upset if I trashed the limo."
I didn't know what to say. I was amazed, but at the same time I was completely baffled. The more I saw of these strange abilities, the less sense it all seemed to make.
"You look confused," Dominic said.
"That's... umm... that's an understatement."
He snorted out a laugh. The pulsing ball of electricity suddenly vanished. The golden sphere dropped back into his hand. The slight breeze, the smell of ozone and the static electricity in the air all disappeared without a trace.
"The Japanese legends say that Kitsune have elemental powers."
"Elemental powers? You mean like.... earth, air, fire and water?"
"Sort of, but it's a little more complicated than that."
"In what way?"
I noticed that the limo was slowing down again, but only in the distant, off-handed way I would have noticed a fly buzzing around the room.
"Well, for starters, there are actually thirteen different elements a Kitsune can be associated with," Dominic explained. "And some of them overlap. Also, the oldest and most powerful Kitsune can apparently control all the elements to some degree. Or, that's what the legends say. I don't know if it's true or not."
The limo pulled to a stop. I heard the driver-side door open and shut. I heard the sound of airplanes taking off and landing and the babble of human voices.
A few minutes ago, I would have leapt at the opportunity to be out of this limo. But, now, I just stared at my brother, struggling to absorb this new information.
The side door swung open again. The limo driver stuck his head in, a bland, professional smile on his face. "We're here, Mr. Sanjo. Miss. Griffin. Hurry up, you have a flight to catch."