Page 3 of Pierce

“Mary would know. Wouldn’t she?” Smoke asked. “Or she’d be able to find out.”

“How would she find out something about our clan?” Fence shook his head. “I don’t think so, man. She’s a human. She doesn’t know about our world.”

“No, but she has connections all over,” Smoke countered. “And she owes us one.”

“You’re not seriously thinking about calling in a favor from, what, forty years ago?” I asked with a laugh. “She probably doesn’t even remember.”

“She’s the one who swore she’d do anything she could to help us. We saved her life.”

Miles shrugged. “I guess it’s worth a shot, right? She has the resources. Might as well put them to use.”

“It can’t hurt,” Smoke added.

“Yeah. I guess not.” I watched as Smoke pulled up his Skype account. Mary was listed there as one of his contacts.

I didn’t know they kept in touch—then again, I had little time for that sort of thing. I liked being able to access my music, movies, TV, that sort of thing. But social media? Chatting? Even message boards made me roll my eyes and wonder why people couldn’t find better uses for their time.

I was in the minority among my family, however. We waited, looking up at the monitor on the wall.

When Mary answered the call, it shocked me to see how she had aged. I reminded myself that as a human, she would show the effects of the past forty years.

Living among those who shared my blood tended to lull me into forgetting the natural rules of the outside world.

“Well, well, well.” Her smile was the same, even if the rest of her was not. “To what do I owe this early wake-up call?”

Smoke cleared his throat, embarrassed, and I realized a second later that she was sitting with her back to a wooden headboard. “I’m sorry. We didn’t consider the time difference.”

I winced when I remembered she was somewhere in the Midwest, two hours behind us.

“It’s all right,” she chuckled. “No harm in an early morning. And for you to call me, all grouped together like this, it has to be something important. What can I do for you?”

Smoke glanced around at us, and we nodded in agreement. “There seems to be a problem which we all just picked up on today. Is there any way you can reach out to our kinfolk back in Scotland?”

“Scotland?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“We think there may be a problem there,” I explained, leaning in so she could see me.

“Pierce. It’s been a long time,” she murmured with a smile.

Yes, very long. And your hair has gone from golden blonde to almost entirely white. Time was cruel. It ravaged beauty. Even so, there was a grace and dignity about her which hadn’t existed in youth.

“What sort of problem?”

“We no longer hear the heartbeat of the rest of the clan,” I replied. “I know it sounds strange, but—”

She held up a hand to stop me. “I don’t attach much to the way things sound,” she grinned. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s to withhold judgment. So. This heartbeat. I assume it signifies the well-being of your kinsmen back in your father country?”

“Correct,” Smoke affirmed. “I have no idea how to reach them, or else we’d do it ourselves. There’s no telling if they’ve even adapted to modern life. They could still be living in the forest, for all we know. Using fires to cook with and warm themselves by.”

“I can see why you’re concerned,” she frowned. “I’ll do everything I can to get in touch with my contacts in Scotland. It shouldn’t be difficult to locate a clan of dragons. I should think they would stand out.”

“You might be surprised how well they hide themselves,” Miles warned her.

“We’ll take our chances.” She offered a smile of sympathy. “Try not to worry too much. I’ll get back to you as soon as I’ve heard anything.”

We ended the call then, to give her back the privacy we had thoughtlessly invaded.

I broke the uneasy silence which settled over the room.

“Well, time to brave Costco,” I announced, striding from the room.

There was nothing we could do until Mary got back to us, anyway. None of us were used to sitting back and waiting for somebody else to solve our problems, however, so I had the feeling it would be a long, tense wait.

For once, I was glad it was time to pick up supplies. It would give me something to do.

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