Page 41 of Rifted Hearts
The twins stopped their posturing and turned toward him, the mention of money getting their undivided attention. Remi crawled to his feet, posed in front of Snow, and made a dramatic flourish in the bird’s direction.
“This is a rare mix of a sulphur-crested cockatoo from Mossy Nipple Bend in Australia and a copper-banded Riftworld phoenix.” Remi followed that spiel with a telepathic outreach to Snow. He rarely tried using his psychic abilities on animals, but it had worked with Amanita, so he sent images of vintage music videos to the bird. “Snow here can shatter security glass with one squawk and send fireballs to take out security guards. Everyone is going to want this bird, trust me.”
Snow puffed his chest at the compliments and began sashaying along the windowsill to the beat of one of the videos, adding the lyrics with a squawk. “Money, money, money.”
“It sings too.” Fable regarded Snow with new appreciation. “Good job, Remi. Now climb up there and bring it to us.”
“And make it snappy.” Mabel pointed to the cages strewnover the floor. “Put that parrot in one of these, and let’s get going. I’m talking to the Don before I agree to another secret plan.”
Remi had no desire to deal with his father right now. The type of bullshit he was spouting at the twins wouldn’t fool Arimanius for a second, and he needed to figure out what Lyall had done with Kat.
“Let me find the most secure enclosure for him.” Remi bent over the cage crammed with alarmed phoenixes, using his body to block the twins from seeing what he was doing. “Snow’s trickier than he looks.”
Snow, who always wanted to be the life of the party, launched into another rendition, this time an old hip-hop classic. That gave Remi a few precious seconds to set things up. He stumbled over things, acting as awkward as he could, then pushed a collection of empty boxes and cages against the wall and climbed up toward Snow.
The bird kept singing, a manic gleam in his black eyes. Overstimulation. Remi recognized all the signs of an impending cockatoo meltdown.
“Please.” Remi held out his arm toward the bird. “I need your help right now.”
Snow raised a claw in invitation then backed away as Remi got closer. He moved his head in a rhythmic motion as if encouraging Remi to join him.
Not encouraging.
Demanding.
The makeshift ladder underneath Remi wobbled dangerously. It was hardly the best platform to show off his dance moves.
“What’s taking so long?” Mabel wasn’t known for her patience. “Get the damn bird down here or I’ll throw something and knock it out.”
Remi imitated the bird’s horizontal head bob, swaying from side to side. He snapped his fingers and added a few moves with his hips. Fable, who had more patience than his sister, at least when humiliation was involved, burst into laughter. Remi ignored him, focusing on the parrot. Snow danced closer, trying to imitate Remi’s movements. The animal lifted one claw again, this time preparing to hop onto Remi’s arm.
The junk underneath Remi’s feet shifted again. Then the entire pile gave way, and he crashed to the floor.
Several things happened at once. Snow squawked in alarm and sprang into the air. The noise sent the phoenixes into a frenzy, and they scrambled out of the cage door Remi had unlocked, shrieks and sparks flying everywhere.
Remi ended up sprawled out on the floor, landing on his head, which hurt like hell.
Fable shouted and scrambled to chase the firebirds. His foot caught on the banana peel, and in a perfect and unintentional act of physical comedy, he went crashing into a collection of storage containers.
Remi scrambled to his feet, but Mabel still had her big knife and was pointing it at him.
“You did that on purpose.” Her finger tightened on the hilt, her eyes narrowed and furious. She was going to kill him over this, and his father probably wouldn’t do anything more than dock her pay for a few weeks.
Snow landed on Mabel’s left arm and cooed. She lifted her arm, and the bird took the opportunity to scramble to her shoulder. Had the Pouch Twin not been threatening him with a deadly weapon, Remi would have warned her to keep the cockatoo away from her head and neck.
Since she did, though, Remi shut his mouth andwatched as Snow darted out with his beak and took off part of a hairy earlobe.
Mabel screamed and dropped the knife. The firebirds didn’t take that well at all. Balls of flame roared over the room, all at about chest level. Remi curled into a fetal position on the floor as Mabel and Fable swore and yelped then raced out of the room.
Remi didn’t uncover his eyes until the back door to the medical building slammed shut. Blood covered his palm. His blood. He must have hit his head harder than he thought. Then he coughed because the phoenixes had set fire to the room. Of course they had. That was how his luck had been lately. His vision swam, and he struggled to remain conscious. He was going to die of smoke inhalation if he stayed here.
Snow landed on his chest and, after a moment’s consideration, gave him a hard bite on the shoulder. Remi groaned and lifted his head. The room began to fade to black, and he rested it back down again.
“You should leave.” Remi gestured to the smoke now billowing around them. “No one’s coming back to save me.”
Snow cocked his head and said one word. “Kaveh.”
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