Page 12 of Shiny Things

Ravens tend to live in family groups called Flocks. Several Flocks coming together make up a Congress. We also call our governing body the Congress. In the past, each Congress sort of kept to themselves and monitored themselves. We’d even lost track of just how many of us were out there still.

With the help of Westin Force, we’d been able to confirm and reach out to five other Congresses around the world. Our closest was the Southern Flock out of Mississippi. We had no idea there was another Congress so close to us. It often made me wonder if that was where David came from, but we really didn’t have much information about him aside from some strange memories Gia had from the brief time she knew him before the accident that gave him amnesia. And honestly, most of the stories she shared sounded psychedelic, like she’d been high as a kite during that period of her life. It was odd because my sister didn’t do drugs as far as I knew, but her story was simply insane and unbelievable. If it hadn’t been for her obvious mating mark, followed by his sudden appearance, I would have thought she’d made David up.

At this point, I didn’t see how any of it mattered. They were happily mated and in love. Also, they were thriving together working The Diner.

All I’d ever really wanted was to see my siblings happy, but especially my baby sister. She deserved it.

I hadn’t bothered trying to convince the Congress that we should be concerned about possible Collector activities. Instead, as I was leaving, I picked up my phone and called Patrick O’Connell. He was the head of Westin Force and my biggest ally.

“Elias? What’s up?” he asked when he answered his phone.

“Nothing much. Just wanted to drop another name your way to be on the lookout. It’s probably nothing, but you never know these days.”

“What happened?”

“A man in the Southern Flock, his name’s Isaac Coleman, went missing two days ago. That’s about all I know.”

“Everyone got their feathers in a bunch over this?”

“Not at all. He tends to be a bit of a loner, and the assumption is that he just wandered off and forgot to tell anyone.”

“But you’re not buying it.”

“After three others between the European Flock and the Canadian Flock in the last two weeks, I’m just not sure. Better to put the word out just in case you guys cross paths with him than to just ignore it and pretend like nothing’s happening. Four missing ravens in three weeks now. It just doesn’t sit well with me.”

“I’ll have Archie add him to the list. If we stumble upon him, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Thanks, Patrick. I really do appreciate it. I know others in my Congress aren’t so open to help from you. They can be stubborn and slow to change, but it really means a lot to me and my family that you’re willing to work with us.”

“Anytime. Look, I’ve got to run. I’m meeting with a travel planner for a surprise vacation for Elise next year. She’s always wanted to go to Paris, and we’ve never really taken a trip like that before.”

“Good luck man. Sounds great. She’s a lucky woman.”

“She fecking knows it too,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Bye.”

With that sorted I could relax a bit. It wasn’t much, but at least I felt like it was something. Most around here seemed to believe I didn’t really care about much aside from myself. It was true I preferred to keep to myself, but that didn’t mean I didn’t care. Though I certainly cared about some more than others.

My mind drifted back to Kim, and I grinned to myself as I jumped on my motorcycle and drove over to The Diner.

I expected to see her when I walked in, but she was nowhere in sight.

I walked right back into the kitchen but still didn’t see her.

“Gia, where’s Kim?”

She groaned. “We’re not even going to pretend that’s not why you’re here now?”

“Why bother? Where is she?”

“She worked the morning shift. I’m not making her work dinner too. She’s probably at home. I don’t know. But I do know that she’s really frustrated with you right now, so maybe give her a break. Okay?”

David walked over and wrapped his arms around her, pulling my sister back against his chest and kissing her neck.

“They do say distance makes the heart grow fonder, right?”

“How the hell would you know? You don’t even remember being apart from Gia.”

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