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  Amber glanced consideringly at Skye, then shared a look with Gabriel. He smiled at her once she had communicated whatever telepathic thought she was sending him. Clearing a spot beside his plate, Gabriel held out his hand and sent out a thought. There was a flash of lavender light. Olivia leaned forward and recognized what he had requested of the Lekwuesti.

  “So cool,” she breathed.

  “What do you say, gals?” he asked with his charming grin, looking around the table and holding up the deck of cards. “Care to show these Estilorians how to spend a rainy day?”

  Chapter Seven

  They played for hours. To get everyone comfortable with the concept of playing card games, they started with games that many human children played: Go Fish, Crazy Eights and Old Maid. Then they switched to games like Rummy 500, Ninety-Eight and Chase the Ace. It seemed the more strategy and thought that was required, the more involved the Estilorians became. Even the reserved Ini-herit showed a decided interest. Although he knew about cards from his time on the human plane, he had never actually learned any of the games.

  “I can’t believe none of you have ever played cards before,” Skye said shortly after they got underway.

  Jabari smiled at her. “Well, these cards were not around when we created the Estilorian plane. Back a couple of millennia ago, most humans spent their time simply warring and surviving, and the only games involved physical contests. We found ourselves doing what we could to try and prevent the warring, so our time was not really spent in any leisure, either. We trained and educated our young and worked to establish a political system for ourselves as well as the humans.”

  “Well, what do you all do in your free time now?” Skye wondered, evidently not having considered any of that before. Seeing as her time had been pretty well occupied since entering this plane, Olivia wasn’t very surprised at that.

  “We read, write, create artwork and music,” Jabari explained. “We build homes such as this one and work to improve the lives of our fellow Estilorians. And we still train and educate our young and deal with political issues, all of which is more involved than one might think.”

  “And we dance,” Caleb added when he saw Skye’s uncertain expression. Her answering smile was like a beam of sunlight.

  They fell into a comfortable rhythm of card playing. At one point, though, Gabriel slapped his cards down on the table and turned to glare at Amber. “Seriously?” he said, obviously thoroughly exasperated.

  “I’m sorry,” she responded with a laugh in her voice. “I can’t block my thoughts from you as well as you can from me yet.”

  They all looked curiously at Gabriel. He waved a hand in irritation and said, “She keeps repeating songs over and over in her head to keep from thinking too much about the cards in her hand.”

  Skye gasped and clucked her tongue at Amber before turning and exchanging a glance with Olivia. Olivia raised her eyebrows and asked, “Which song?”

  Glowering, Gabriel said, “Right now it’s Nickelback…‘This Afternoon.’”

  Olivia and Skye looked at each other before glancing at Amber and exchanging mischievous smiles. Then Olivia started singing the song while Skye moved in time with the music in her chair. Amber quickly joined Olivia in singing as Gabriel looked from one sister to another and brought a hand to his forehead.

  “I’ve created a monster,” he said forlornly.

  Amber started laughing, unable to control herself. She leaned over and kissed him right on the lips. “I’m sorry, hon. If it would help, I could mask my cards with other thoughts instead.”

  His eyes narrowed at the obvious innuendo, making her laugh even harder.

  Later in the day, when Amber and Gabriel introduced them all to Cheat—called by a less polite name by most Americans—the Estilorians could simply not grasp the concept.

  “So, we are supposed to lie to try and win?” Ini-herit asked, his brow furrowed.

  “Yep. And try and figure out who else is lying,” Amber added.

  “Cheating is unfair and dishonorable,” Caleb argued.

  Beside him, Skye rolled her eyes and smacked him on the upper arm with the back of her hand. “Relax. It’s just a game. Don’t get your undershorts in a twist.”

  Olivia had unfortunately been taking a sip of water during the byplay. When she saw Caleb’s completely perplexed expression at Skye’s suggestion, she couldn’t prevent a laugh. Then she promptly choked. James reached over to pat her abruptly on the back as she laughed and gasped for breath.

  “Are you all right?” he asked when she calmed herself. He left his hand between her shoulder blades, moving in a gentle circle as he awaited her response.

  “Yes, thanks,” she said, her smile wide. Then she turned back to Caleb. “I’m actually quite terrible at this game because I agree with you,” she admitted. She was highly conscious of James’ warm hand on her back, but deliberately pretended to ignore it so he wouldn’t pull away. “Consider it a kind of personal challenge, though. See who you can outsmart.”

  A gleam entered his eyes. He lifted his chin and stared down pointedly at Skye. “I see.”

  It was a very spirited game. There was a great deal of laughter and a few shows of temper, not all from the half-humans. Amber couldn’t help provoking Caleb once she realized he was opposed to the concept of the game. And it was while they were arguing over a hand and Olivia noted the underlying humor in Amber’s gaze that she had an amazing revelation.

  In the past two months, she had truly joined with a new family. They all surrounded her now. She had her sisters, of course, but now she also had brothers and father-figures and even someone who was shaping up to be the equivalent of a potential boyfriend, too. Even as the thought occurred to her, James elbowed her in the arm and jerked a chin toward Caleb, who had just realized Amber was teasing him and sat back with a small smile on his face. The burly Gloresti uncrossed his arms from his chest, leaned forward and held his right fist toward Amber, who reached out and tapped her fist to his. Skye had obviously taught Caleb the gesture, and she giggled uncontrollably at the sight. Gabriel had his arm around the back of Amber’s chair and was shaking his head at them with a grin. Jabari and Ini-herit were looking at each other’s cards and talking strategy, apparently unconcerned with the antics of their charges.

  She realized with tremendous awe and a wave of unbelievable happiness that they had somehow, despite all their many differences, managed to become a unit.

  Love flooded her. Love for each person sitting around the scarred wooden table, most of them wearing the same clothing they had slept in, some of them in greater disrepair than others but none of them caring. They teased and they joked, some of them never having done it before. And they encouraged each other, none of them competitive enough to begrudge the winner. They interacted with each other as though they had been together for years rather than just months.

  And she knew with absolute certainty after leaving behind the only mother she had ever known to come to this plane of existence that she would never, ever take any of the people around her for granted.

  In fact, she would give her life for any of them.

  The stormy weather continued into the next day. After a much better night’s sleep, Olivia sat attentively on the sofa in the living room between her sisters as the irate weather blustered outside. Jabari was on the love seat across from them. Gabriel, Ini-herit, Caleb and James were all in the kitchen playing Euchre. The sound of Gabriel’s voice as he explained the game floated into the room.

  “I thought, since we spent most of yesterday learning a bit about human culture, that I would spend some of today teaching you more about Estilorians,” Jabari said in his calm and melodious voice. His smile was brilliantly white against his dark skin. Today he wore a colorful robe over a bright orange undershirt. Olivia always found his outfits unique and of intense visual interest.

  After they nodded, he began. “We are not certain when our kind began to exhibit signs that we were other than human, so
it is, unfortunately, impossible to describe our origins. You have already learned what challenges our differences caused on the human plane once humans began to compare themselves to us.” Again, they all nodded, so he continued, “What we do know is that over time, we have evolved into nine separate classes of Estilorians. As the eldest of the Elphresti, I am taking it upon myself to educate you about each of these classes. Some of this you undoubtedly already know, but it does bear repeating.

  “We Elphresti pride ourselves on approaching life with wisdom. We see every experience as a lesson, and apply what we have learned toward each new experience we encounter. It is imperative and ingrained that we always maintain open minds and refrain from making assumptions. This makes us natural governors of all the classes. You might think of us as judges or other ruling officials who make significant decisions on the human plane, to try and put this into perspective.”

  Again, all of the girls nodded.

  “There are relatively few Elphresti in comparison with the other classes,” he continued. “As the human plane has grown more diverse and insular over the centuries, we have found that genuine tolerance among humans has, ironically, diminished. When a human soul transitions to this plane, it assumes an Estilorian form that best suits it at its most elemental level. Thus, the less humans who exhibit Elphresti traits on the human plane, the less there will be on this plane.

  “Where the Elphresti rely on wisdom and prior experience to make decisions, the Wymzesti are gifted with intuition and foresight. Knorbis, the eldest Wymzesti, is the one who foresaw your births and the impact you would have on us. Because his Great Foretelling occurred many centuries ago, most of us dismissed it as false. Obviously, we were wrong to doubt him.” He smiled again. “The Wymzesti are invaluable counselors and excellent listeners. They are quite adept at interpreting the most subtle nuances in body language and inferences in an Estilorian’s speech. Because they are so skilled at intercepting and interpreting the thoughts of others, they are going to be very helpful at teaching you to defend against such intrusions. Similarly to the Elphresti, the numbers of the Wymzesti are far less than other classes. Wymzesti require an openness and receptiveness of the mind and spirit that most beings cannot manage.

  “Ini-herit is, as you know, the eldest Corgloresti. The Corgloresti class is the only one that can transition to the human plane at will. Additionally, even before the creation of this plane, the Corgloresti have been responsible for harvesting expiring human souls that are receptive to The Embrace. This is the only means we have ever had to reproduce, since our females do not have the same reproductive organs as human females and Estilorian DNA is incompatible with human DNA, meaning an Estilorian male could never impregnate a human female. At least, such was the case before your father used the scroll that allowed him to impregnate your mother.” He gave them a gentle smile before he continued, “Ini-herit may have explained that our numbers are dwindling. This is largely because the number of receptive human souls has dwindled.”

  Olivia wondered, “What does that mean? How does The Embrace work, exactly?”

  “It is actually a quite complicated display of power,” he admitted. “We compare it to the circumstances that must be in place for humans to conceive. Unless very specific circumstances are met, The Embrace will not be successful. First, there must be a Corgloresti in a human form near the dying human who has enough knowledge of the human’s soul to warrant it pure enough to make the transition. This requires that the Corgloresti reside on the human plane for months at a time, researching candidates and getting to know them on every level. This places a significant drain on the Corgloresti’s energy, so the longer they are on the human plane, the less likely it is The Embrace will work. Additionally, the Corgloresti must be powerful enough to harvest the soul. This requires rigorous training and focus and centuries of being. Most importantly, the human must have a significant amount of faith in things beyond the known. It can be a religious or spiritual faith of just about any kind, but it must be true and unwavering. Otherwise, The Embrace will fail.”

  Olivia could definitely see how the circumstances for success would be highly challenging to achieve. Success would be a kind of miracle, in fact.

  “Once a human soul does transition, it retains no knowledge of its human existence. We educate new Estilorians about the different planes in a general way, of course, believing that each of us should understand our origins and history. However, most Estilorians know very little about human culture and the many changes that have occurred on the human plane over the centuries. The Corgloresti are forbidden to discuss their knowledge with anyone besides other Corgloresti and the elders of each class. We are also going to ask that the three of you refrain from discussing most of the details of your human lives with the Estilorians you will meet.”

  Olivia immediately thought of the many long and detailed conversations she had engaged in with James about life on the human plane. She realized that he had deliberately not stopped her from informing him about everything she knew. Due to her own love of learning, she knew she would have done exactly the same thing. She hid an understanding smile.

  “Why shouldn’t we talk about the human plane?” Skye asked Jabari with a confused expression.

  “As you know, we usually cannot bring anything over here from the human plane. Therefore, there are many things now existing on the human plane which we either cannot or, we have decided, should not reproduce on this plane. We do not want to foster discontent or unhappiness by introducing concepts that cannot be implemented here because they are unsafe for our kind, or simply impossible because the means to reproduce them do not exist here. Estilorians, however, are resourceful and creative in our own rights. I am certain you have discovered that although things are quite different here, you are not truly lacking anything you need.”

  They couldn’t argue that.

  He continued, “We do not have telephones, computers or the internet, for example, but we can largely communicate across the entire plane using mental connections. What one of us lacks in knowledge, another is willing to teach. We do not have electricity, but we can command power that provides the light we need. Our bodies are less susceptible to temperature changes than humans, and because there are so many less of us than humans, we can all make our homes in the most temperate environments, making conveniences such as air-conditioning unnecessary. And, of course, we can fly.”

  “So who needs planes, trains or automobiles, right?” Amber said.

  Jabari smiled. “Precisely. So, to return to my main point, the Corgloresti maintain a great deal of knowledge about modern human life. They are generally exceptional judges of character, needing to form such judgments very quickly due to the nature of their roles. Unfortunately, this class more than any other suffers from significant emotional detachment. As I know Ini-herit explained, it is very difficult for Corgloresti to form attachments to humans who then transition to this plane without any memory of their human lives. In essence, the Corgloresti spend a lifetime with one dying human after another. Their emotional detachment develops quickly and naturally, as a sort of defense mechanism. Your father was a rare exception to this trait, one we did not recognize until after he had fallen in love with your mother.

  “In fact,” he continued, his voice soft and deep, “it was not until Saraqael’s death that we realized how pervasive the emotional distancing had become. It was Gabriel who demanded that we call our attention to it. And when we listened to his plea and explored this further, we came to understand that only our youngest Estilorians interacted with anything resembling human emotion, and those emotions were generally expressions of impatience, frustration and competitiveness. Yes, there was still some humor and compassion, particularly among the more sensitive classes and the females. But we found these emotions so rare that it shocked us all. The centuries of removal from humanity had affected us far more than we had realized.

  “Since meeting the three of you and spending these past weeks i
nteracting with you, I have come to reason that the phasing out of emotion has been compounded by the fact that we do not have the same types of relationships between each other that humans do. We do not have mothers and fathers or other family members to whom we are meant to attach when we enter this plane, nor do we have romantic attachments with each other. So we essentially have no one to nurture feelings and emotions that I now believe are vital to a content existence. If Gabriel had not sacrificed himself, allowing his many centuries of Estilorian existence to be suppressed and his powers revoked, and had he not been successful in relearning human emotion while on the human plane and then bringing that knowledge back to this plane, I do not believe I would have understood this even now.

  “Gabriel has allowed me and the other elders to indirectly experience his emotions since his return. The depth of them has proven invigorating and enlightening. It has been like awakening from centuries of hibernation. We understand now that it was only because we lived among humans that we ever experienced these emotions in the first place. By separating ourselves from humanity, we doomed ourselves to an emotionless existence. It is a thought that appalls me now that I understand what that means.

  “And so, as an aside, I speak on behalf of all of the elders and the classes we govern that the three of you bring us hope. And we will be forever grateful for that.”

  Chapter Eight

  Olivia was an avid student. Thus, Jabari’s teachings about the different Estilorian classes were utterly fascinating to her. She could have sat on the couch listening to him the entire day without a word of complaint. But she had to admit that learning that the entire Estilorian community was relying on her and her sisters to reestablish emotion within all of them was a lot to shoulder.

  Before she could consider that too closely, Jabari continued with his lesson. “When traveling to the human plane, Corgloresti transition from their Estilorian forms into human forms created by the Scultresti class. The Scultresti elder, whom you met at the Becoming ceremony, is Zayna. Because she is by far the most powerful of her class, she created your human forms as well as Gabriel’s before you were sent to the human plane.