Verena's Whistle: Varangian Descendants Book I by K. Panikian (essential reading txt) 📗

one,” Owen said. “The entrance is narrow, so directing the fire straight into it should block anything from escaping.

“After seeing and fighting two of these creatures now, I vote for anything that thins their ranks a few at a time, instead of a fixed battle,” he added.

That got a head nod from everyone.

Chapter 16

In the morning, I woke up to a muffled boom. I jumped out of bed and ran down the hall. In the kitchen I saw Owen standing by the mudroom door, looking into the backyard.

“It’s just Theo and Julian,” he said, turning to me. “Looks like they decided to get an early start this morning.”

“Do they still have all their body parts?” I asked, smoothing my hands through my tangled hair, trying to turn it into less of a cloud around my head.

“I don’t see any blood, so probably,” was Owen’s answer.

I went back down the hall to brush my hair and teeth and then in the kitchen again, asked Owen if he’d had breakfast yet. He offered to help and we whipped up some scrambled eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes before calling the two men in from outside to eat.

They came in talking a mile a minute, cheeks pink with cold. They both paused simultaneously to inhale the bacon smell before sitting at the counter. Then their argument continued. Julian wanted to be more scientific about the ingredients, changing the proportion on a sliding scale. Theo wanted to toss stuff into the pot according to his intuition.

“Which method resulted in the explosion earlier?” I asked.

“Julian’s!” was Theo’s triumphant answer. “By the way,” he added, “Zasha’s going to stop by around lunch time with some copper jars from her lab. I told her I couldn’t find any at the store and she said they had extra around. Wikipedia says the Byzantines stored their Greek fire in copper containers.”

“Does she know what you’re doing?” I asked, concerned.

“No, I just told her I was trying to make this special kind of fertilizer to give to the homeowner here, as sort of a thank you gift.”

“Hmm,” was my dubious answer.

“We’ve gotten good at making stuff that explodes. The trick is to make something that doesn’t explode until you light it,” Julian mused. “I wonder…” he stood and walked to the sink to rinse his plate and then grabbed Theo again. “I want you to do what you just did on the last one, but wait to add the quicklime. Let’s leave the rest boiling in the pot for a minute and then add it.” They headed back out the door. I heard Theo retort with “Byzantine scholars say…” before the door shut on their voices.

I shrugged at Owen, “Guess we’re in charge of the dishes too.” I moved to the sink and started rinsing. Owen came to stand beside me and we loaded the dishwasher in tandem, hands brushing occasionally.

My pulse sped up and I laughed at myself. My lust for this man was out of control. I stopped laughing though when Owen reached across and shut off the tap, then used the same arm to turn me to face him.

We stared at each other. He reached up slowly and cupped my face. I stepped forward.

“I’ve been wanting to do this since the hot tub,” he said and he kissed me. He stopped. “Since I first saw you,” he corrected and then kissed me again. His lips were soft and his breath tasted like orange juice. I melted into the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck. I pressed closer and felt the heat of his body scorch mine. I moaned. He groaned back and fisted his hand in the back of my hair, cradling me closer, and backing me up to the sink. He deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue into my mouth and I curled mine around it.

“Me too,” I said breathlessly. My head swam. His nose brushed my cheek and he moved his kisses toward my neck with gentle, sucking movements. He bent to hoist me onto the counter when the doorbell rang. We stopped and he rested his forehead against mine. We breathed the same air for a few beats and then he stepped back.

I smiled at him ruefully and then went to the front door. When I opened it, Zasha was standing there with a pastry bag in each hand.

“Ah, I know, I am early!” she exclaimed. “But I have blinis from town and more tea cakes from my mama.”

I smiled at her and waved her in. She was a bubbly, effervescent sprite and every time I saw her, I liked her more.

I introduced her to Owen and was just offering her some tea when another “Boom!” echoed through the house.

We ran to the back door and into the back yard. Theo stood a few feet back from the fire pit, his safety goggles askew, gesticulating wildly at Julian with a long, metal stick. “I said one more minute!” he was shouting.

The bags and plastic containers of ingredients spilled all around them in the snow – white crystals; cubes of gray, crumbling rocks; and some vaguely block-like mounds of yellowish-green.

I checked hands for fingers and blood and then Zasha gasped beside me.

“You’re making a bomb!” she exclaimed.

“What?” Theo asked. He waved the black smoke in the air away from his face and put the metal rod behind his back. “Of course not. It’s fertilizer.”

“I am a scientist, yes? I study chemistry, yes? I know a bomb when I see a bomb,” Zasha gestured to the materials in the snow. “Are you terrorists?” She took a step backwards. “Are you CIA?” she whispered.

I held my hands up to her and said soothingly, “Of course not. I’ll tell you. Please relax. No one here will hurt you.” Theo stripped off his gloves and put his hands in the air too, looking at her appealingly. She turned away from him and said to me, “You tell me.”

I told her everything. The magic, the besy, the portals,