When one goes to war, it is necessary to make plans. Then plan for the contingencies. Then make more plans just in case. And finally be ready to improvise or run like hell, for even the best laid plans will shatter after first contact.

Uriel King to his overeager son

A few hours later, Montpellier France

When I awoke in the morning, I had a suspicion that I had dream-walked again during the night, even if I couldn’t remember it.

It might have had to do with the crystalline vines creeping around the windowsill, or the sweet flowery fragrance remaining in the air…but the true culprit was currently smugly standing on the tip of my nose, tap-tapping with its front legs in search of who-knows-what, the twin silver mice at the foot of my bed looking at it curiously with a tilted head.

It was a rather beautiful creature, with the body of a butterfly, albeit in brilliant orange, and twin lobed wings of red and yellow the size of a palm. What truly separated it from common creatures, though, were the brilliant red gemlike eyes. I wondered what scientist would make of this if they saw it?

Since the pixies didn’t deem it dangerous, I shooed it out the window. If it ate nectar like butterflies, it would find ample food in the garden.

As for the vines, I let them stay where they were. They didn’t impede the window from opening or closing, and added a nice counterpoint to the dark wood of the frame.

My stomach reminding me of its existence, I decided to move my lazy butt downstairs for some well-deserved breakfast.

I was the last one joining the table this morning, even the imp had gotten up earlier than me, though it was a weekend. We would definitely need to buy a bigger table if we continued to collect additions to our family, while the table had been more than big enough when it was only the three of us, now that we had also Uriel and Storm, plus a smattering of pixies now and then, it really became a bit cramped.

I waved a hello before sitting in the empty seat between Kate and Storm, mom putting a pair of her killer croissants in front of me with a peck on my cheek.

My father smirked at me.

“Tch, what a wasted opportunity. And here I wanted to try waking up someone with a bucket of water for once.”

“Careful what you sow. I have a garden hose and I know how to use it.”

“You’re a thousand years too early to sneak on me with a hose.”

We kept breakfast conversation light-hearted, enjoying the peace of the morning. Only after the last crumb had disappeared and the last dish and been washed and stored did the mood turn more solemn.

Mom sighed.

“So, what are we going to do with the situation?”

“Wouldn’t the first thing to do be to improve our immediate security?”

The imp jumped up and down on her chair. The night had clearly revitalized her, children resilience is really something amazing.

“I know, I know, we could all get a GPS tracker, like spies! And a Taser or something, and…”

Mom put her foot down:

“You are not getting a Taser young lady, although the GPS might not be a bad idea if we find some small ones we can easily hide.”

Uriel had been scribbling something on a paper for a bit now. He put it in the middle of the table, explaining it to us:

“The first thing is to always know where everyone is. We’ll make a timetable like that, and everyone will input their moves in it. If you are late, or have a change of plans, call the house.

Second point, from now on, either Storm or me need to accompany Kate whenever she goes out of the house. Same goes for you until you get more proficient at fighting Abby. Inside the house should be safe with the wards the pixies have made last night, at least for now.”

“Are you sure you want to trust me with the girls’ security?”

Storm’s voice had been a half growled, half surprised rumble.

“I know your kind Thunderbeast, and I know your bloodline bred true. Proud, stubborn to the point of stupidity, and utterly loyal once your oath is given. Yes, I trust you with my girls’ security. Don’t let me down.”

How nice of him to not add a “or I will end you” …

At this point a pure white mouse wearing a bone cap made of a bat skull proudly walked on the table, stopping in the middle. It patiently waited for us to stop talking, then spoke a few sentences in the pixie chattering language.

“This is Rae’jiel, current leader of our pixie tribe.” Uriel translated “he ordered some of his warriors to accompany us. They will act as a security system, coming back to the house to give the alarm if something happens.

Also, more pixies volunteered to help find the culprits of the attacks, since they consider us part of their tribe.”

“We can’t endanger them. They’re too small and fragile for this.”

“Don’t underestimate them daughter dear. They’re the best at information collecting, and a swarm of pixies is nothing to laugh at in a fight.”

“Then tell him we are very grateful for his help.”

The pixie chattering coming out of my father’s mouth really was a sight to behold. The mouse leader solemnly nodded before motioning to his followers who climbed various shoulders, disappearing into hair, pockets or bags.

“Now that this is decided, the third point of order should be to get papers for Storm, in case we need to move in a hurry. I’ll take care of this on my end, dealing with shady characters shouldn’t have changed all that much since my time. Money grubbing shady guys are the same everywhere.

Next, we need to identify our opponents without a doubt. It could be the grandparents, like this Richard Martin said, or it could be someone else trying to cover his tracks by throwing the blame on someone else.”

“I can’t put my finger on it, but I feel there was something weird with the two other guys.”

Storm opened his mouth, hesitated, then finally stated:

“The one I saw never showed any emotion, nor spoke.”

“Hmmm…the one I burned was the same, he just attacked me when he saw I wasn’t backing down.”

“Maybe they came from a sect or something? Some gurus kind of brainwash their followers.”

“That could be a viable hypothesis if they think Kate is a dormant phoenix, or if they want to blackmail you with her.”

We all thought for a bit, before mom intervened again.

“We could call the policeman who took Abby’s deposition, either ask for an investigation, or maybe for the names of good private investigators?”

“I’m not sure we want to risk the police coming in our home or getting mixed in the weird stuff.”

Uriel let out a pensive hum.

“A private investigator might be a good idea. They shouldn’t have troubles checking on Mr. Martin’s employers and movements, and locating the grandparents if they are the culprits. We could also have them bring a few of the more color-subdued pixies in a trick box near them to keep an eye on things. Communication might be tricky though.”

“What will we do once we know for sure who it is? Do we give them to the police?”

Storm uttered a low growl:

“We eradicate them. Scum attacking children do not deserve to live.”

“I might agree on that one with him. Besides if they know our secrets they are too dangerous to let go.”

Mom flicked both their foreheads in a well-practiced motion, her face angry.

“In case you forgot, there’s a kid here, so no talks of killing. Also, we are not barbarians to go burn-fight-kill each time we have a grievance. It’s too early to talk about this when we are not even sure who our opponents are, or their motives.”

The men looked at each other, sighing, but not daring raise an objection. At least not as long as mom was doing the cooking. I wouldn’t bet against a regrettable accident happening to our adversaries once we caught them though.

Mom quickly organized us:

“Kate, you’re the most tech-savvy of the house, so you’re in charge of ordering the GPS, and only the GPS, under Abby’s supervision. Uriel, you go take care of Storm papers. Don’t pick a stupid name for him please.

Storm will take care of making an easily usable board for our timetable. If you have any problem, ask Abby.

I will tackle the private investigator issue. I still have inspector Leroy calling card in one of my drawers. I’m sure he can recommend someone trustworthy.

Oh, and while you’re out contacting whomever you need Uriel, can you also make a side trip? We need a bed for Storm, he’s too big for the sofa, it can’t be comfortable. Look for either a convertible couch, or one of those sofas with a bed rolling out from underneath.”

My father looked ready to explode at this point, and I’d rather like to avoid any accident to the house.

“I can take care of that this afternoon mom. Storm needs clothing anyway, so I can accompany him shopping, and take care of the bed at the same time. How about I buy him gear he could use to help in the pub? It would allow him to socialize in a controlled environment since you’d be there, and you need to hire someone anyway.”

“That…actually might be a good idea. It would also give him references in case he decides to go his own way.”

Storm cleared his throat.

“I also would have a request. If possible, I would like to learn the sign language you all use. It would make things much easier for everyone if you don’t need to translate. Besides, it might be important for Abigail and me to communicate directly if we’re attacked again.”

“We’ll take turns teaching you then. How fast you learn will depend on your motivation and memory though.”

“I learn fast usually.”

Mom clapped her hands.

“So now everyone has their task. Let’s move it people, the faster we get to it, the quicker we’ll catch our attackers.”

I watched in amusement as the imp bounded up the stairs, almost bouncing in her excitement at the idea of getting her little hands on spy-ish, tech-y stuff. She really was a gadget addict.

I made sure to bring a couple of croissants to the lilac tree before doing anything else. The pixies were already incredibly helpful, and I had an inkling they would become indispensable before this matter could be put to rest.

Looking at my dispirited father, I wondered if maybe we should take a break tomorrow. It would be a Sunday, so there wasn’t much we could do anyway, and we were all tired or overly tense.

We could make a quick trip to the sea, as it was only a few minutes away. Since the weather should be good maybe we could end it by a barbecue at the barn? The papers were not all processed yet but the soon to be ex-owner didn’t care if we used it beforehand.

Sooo, one of the tasks of this afternoon, get Storm some swimming trunks. Now that’s a job I’m not exchanging with anyone!

After all, a girl has to enjoy her eye candy when it drops into her lap like that, or it would truly be a waste.

Lost in my thoughts, I gently poked the crystal vine creeping inside the room until it retracted to the main body, as the twin winged red butterfly hovered above the lilac tree.