Page 2 of Awakening Storm

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The pup tramped ina happy circle. Even with the slap of the surf against the hull, Aidan’s superior hearing distinguished the clacking sound of the dog’s nails over the fiberglass deck. Pup snapped his head around and peered at Aidan with trusting chocolate eyes. After three failed attempts to jump onto Aidan’s lap, the animal finally pawed his way up and was resting on his thighs. He hung his gigantic front feet over Aidan’s arm as it draped over the steering wheel, guiding the sailboat’s passage back to his home on the remote island of Tsuriairando.

“I can’t keep calling you ‘Pup.’” Aidan stared across the thrashing waves, thinking. “Takeshi. You will be Takeshi.Warrior.” He let the name roll over his tongue, pleased with the symbolism. It reminded him of the early days in Scotland, when he and his brothers protected the moors from invaders, a time long before they had become Divine Tree Guardians.

Aidan could use a warrior at his side to help fight the current rise of evil that preceded the Age of Atonement. His brothers had revealed as much during their Guardian Congress last month. All eleven of them had agreed to the monthly meetings following Ian’s recent encounter with a reaper in France. The increased communications would help them stay ahead of their enemies. Hopefully.

Aidan stroked Takeshi’s brindled, salt-dampened fur, allowing his gaze to sweep the ocean as far as the eye could see. His island, the place where his Divine Tree resided, was about six hundred miles east of Yamada, a fishing town in Japan, and he was its only inhabitant. He had to sail a full twenty-six hours to reach his island home from his modest mainland home where hisdelegato, or assistant, Naoki resided. It was a trip Aidan only made about three times a year. Naoki generally kept him supplied with everything he could want or need. But Aidan had wanted to pick up the Akita pup himself. Naoki had found him as a possible replacement for the dog Aidan had lost in months before. And as always, hisdelegatohad chosen well.

Aidan stroked Takeshi again. He had lost many animal friends over his centuries as Guardian, but he still remembered and treasured every one.

The pup barked at the flap and crack of the sails. A series of storms had been predicted, and it was already clear that a gray and windy day loomed before them. The waves peaked higher the farther he navigated into the Pacific. Takeshi licked Aidan’s face and then wagged his tail with pent-up energy.

“When we get home, I’ll introduce you to the tiger and eagle. Then we can run the entire island,” Aidan told him.

Takeshi barked again, making Aidan laugh. “There aresomeperks to being a shape-shifter, you will see.”

* * *

It was Wednesday morning, one of the three days a week that Rhianna Mori visited her grandfather at the nursing home. She usually joined him in his exercise routine and breakfast, but unlike him, she was not an early riser. He was worth it, of course, but it took effort to get her butt out of bed most days. And today was one of those days.

“Traffic?” he asked as she came through the door ten minutes late.

She smiled, knowing full well that he knew there wasn’t much traffic in Auburn, Washington. “Sorry, Grandfather.”

Shiro Mori stood near a large window, going through some Tai Chi moves.

She shed her jacket quickly and assumed her usual position alongside him.

Grandfather didn’t miss a beat in his twenty-four form routine. His movements flowed from one move to the next without belying his ninety-six years. Rhia picked up where he was on form eight. She’d done this for so many years it was automatic.

They didn’t speak again until the session was complete. Then he eased into his usual chair at the dinette table as she heated his traditional breakfast of Japanese tea, miso soup, and white rice in the microwave. “How are you today, Grandfather?”

“An old man.”

She laughed. “Not so old.”

He turned his face away and gazed out the window.

“What do you see?” she asked.

Still he stared off. “My journey.”

She frowned and slid his food onto the table. “Here, this will give you strength.”

He looked at her, and his gaze bore into her as if seeing deep inside her. “My time is growing near.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. A man of my age can tell.” He lifted the tea to his lips, sipped, and then set the cup back on the table. “I only wish I knew what happened to my father. Then I could leave this world in peace.”

She nibbled the corner of her lip. He’d said as much many times. The one thing he wanted before he passed was to find out what had happened to his father, her great-grandfather. As far as they knew, he’d just disappeared one day.

She wanted to know, too, and she had been working on it. She had been doing a lot of research, and there was a chance—an extremely slim chance—that she could get an all-expenses-paid trip to Japan where she could really learn more, maybe even find some evidence where her great-grandfather had been buried. She wanted so much to give her grandfather some closure before he died.

Of course, she’d have to go on a reality show to make it happen—as a Pilates instructor, she didn’t exactly make big bucks—and her application was already in. Now all she had to do was wait and hope. While it’s true she’d inherited a nice nest egg when her parents died in a plane crash years ago, that money was earmarked for her grandfather’s care, and they were running out of it besides. Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered the horror of that day. The devastation she had felt was never far from her mind. But she was thankful at least for the money that allowed her to give her grandfather the best care.

She placed her hand over his. If by some miracle shewasselected to go on this journey, she needed to prepare her grandfather for her absence. They both knew his days were numbered, but she prayed he could hold on.