SAM

  I walked into Nanna’s kitchen, and a fire alarm blared. The stove had three pots boiling over a black, tarry goo. When I turned on the kitchen tap, golden feathers flew out, pouring across the kitchen and drowning everything in ruby light. I woke up.

  Morning daylight streamed through the cottage windows, and Cora handed me her journal so I could read her newest dream. I gave her mine.

  My Nashville apartment was on fire, and the sirens were so loud I thought my ears would burst. I ran through the condo with my palms over my ears, trying to get to the door when the windows exploded. There was no glass. They were made of black liquid, and it covered everything.

  A single note, deep like an alphorn, rang out. Everything went quiet. I woke up.

  “Well, that’s a hell of a thing,” Cora said, climbing out of bed.

  “Are these nightmares, Cor?”

  “Time will tell,” she muttered back, heading for the shower. I jotted notes in my journal until the shower was free then got ready for the day.

  Time to head to Nanna’s for weekly breakfast.

  A quick walk the three blocks to Nanna and Rhoda’s townhouse had us crossing their threshold and inhaling my favorite scent: breakfast casserole!

  “Mimosas!” Rhoda called out, brandishing glasses. “We’re celebrating! I have full custody of Filly now!”

  “Wooo hooo!” I called doing a happy dance until Nanna motioned us to the table.

  “Come on, come on, girls. Don’t let breakfast get cold. I wanna see what you think of my Five Spheres adaptation,” my grandmother said, dishing up plates of something—ah, unexpected.

  It smelled familiar, but it looked. . . “Purple?” I asked her.

  She nodded, “It was that or red. The only local option similar to grits was colorful polenta, okay? None of the ingredients are imported. So please, take a bite, and react!”

  I obeyed, closing my eyes and savoring the flavors. “Hmm. Stronger pepper. Less sage, and the cheese is wonderfully creamy. Not as sharp as cheddar.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  I opened my eyes to find Nanna nodding. “The sausage is seasoned a bit different. It’s the Uno veg-mussel blend. I didn’t want to use imported beef or pork, but I think—“

  “I wouldn’t change a thing, Marjorie,” Cora cut in. “I love this exactly as is! The creamy texture is divine, and the peppery-ness is perfect.”

  Nanna beamed, and I hummed my agreement. All I had to do was dish up seconds to convince her it was a perfect rendition of my favorite meal.

  “While we’re celebrating, Sam, I got a good offer on the house. So if you’re positive about selling, I’m going to accept,” Nanna said, sipping her coffee.

  I nodded, “We’re not going back to Earth, for sure, so go ahead, Nanna. The timing is perfect, I think. What about you, Rhoda?”

  “My realtor wants to hold an open house since we’ve had viewings but no offers yet.”

  “Same,” Cora told them, and we continued swapping updates.

  Rhoda joined a foraging group and was revamping her skincare line into “Wild and Wonderful.” For fun, she and Filly joined a playgroup of families from his new preschool. He even had a friend with a bonded snowshoe hare, and Rhoda was thinking of going vegetarian now that she knew how many kids communicated with animals.

  When Filly wanted to go outside with his mirka Georgia, we cleaned up the dishes and took our mimosas on the back porch to enjoy the morning sun. That’s when Cora and I told Nanna and Rhoda all the news about Jax and Ree.

  Watching their faces widen and jaws drop with every revelation was tremendous fun. Well, until we got to the story about the Resistor, but Nanna surprised me by not tearing up.

  Instead, her weary face, lined from years of angst, was calm acceptance. As though this was information she’d suspected for nearly two decades and now could lay the burden down.

  “Wait a second,” Rhoda stopped us. “Jax and Ree already knew about the Known Cosmos Earth Press, right? I mean, of course they did, they’re Annika and Borden’s descendants. But it doesn’t sound like they’re all friends, does it? You’d think Rory’s offspring would wanna be close to Ronnie’s, right?”

  “The only thing I picked up,” I clarified, “was Jax winced when Cora brought up the Sanctuary, and sort of grumbled about Pitch.”

  “Winced?” Rhoda mused. “Hmm. Oh, hells bells! Ha ha! Jax is probably jealous that we got to go inside. I bet Pitch has never let them in!”

  “Wait, you don’t think the Sloan descendants are keyed to the building?” Cora wondered.

  Nanna shook her head, “I doubt it. Nayth was awfully adamant about forgetting he saw Borden’s Talents. And I bet Peydran took that to heart, only keying the building to his genetic code and Ren’s.”

  Rhoda laughed gleefully, “And now, it’s like a sibling rivalry. I mean, they aren’t blood relatives, but Pitch and Jax might as well be cousins. And somehow, that beautiful man we met on Shurwinn is playing a game. Just like his grandpa Slydar, toying with Jax and Ree! HC is gonna love this!”

  We all got a good laugh outta that, then Nanna said, “Speaking of HC and Paddy, you’re all lined up for the Joon family potluck this weekend, right?”

  Cora and I nodded, “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  “I’ve gotta figure out how to convince Pitch to either show me visions like he did with Sam or give me his book so I can run it through a translator,” Cora told Nanna. “So I’m definitely not missing that shindig.”

  “I’m with you there,” Rhoda told her. “We can tag team him or something.”

  I laughed at them, “Guys, his telepathy is something else. I seriously doubt you can trick him, but remember the Shurwinn have a saying about asking questions.”

  Nanna grinned, “And how about an old lady just comes right out at dinner and asks for Book 7? Who can refuse me when I’ve patiently traveled all over the Cosmos to find out what the Joon family knows?”

  We all snickered and agreed.

  “Perfect plan, Marjorie, so the ball’s in your court!” Cora told her, and Nanna didn’t let us down.