Page 18 of Butterfly Effects

“I don’t understand why we act like they’re not the same species just because of where they come from.”

“Because in many ways, they aren’t,” he said. “The cuckoos are the exiles of Johrlar, the ones who’ve been expelled from their society and set to wander the universe forever. Instars are triggered by the appropriate level and degree of psychic exposure. A Johrlac who never goes beyond the second instar will not be the same creature as one who’s gone all the way to the ending. They’re related, but they’re not the same.”

“And these people snatched Sarah?”

“It certainly sounds like it. The few Johrlac I’ve met have been very focused on keeping their exiles from reaching full maturity—the forbidden instar, as you say. They don’t want them to have access to the sort of power that comes with full maturation.”

That didn’t sound good. “Mark said the Johrlac said they were going to hold Sarah responsible for her crimes. Do you think they know about what happened when we went to giant spider world?”

“If they didn’t know before they took her, they almost certainly know now,” said Alice.

My phone rang.

I pulled it out of my back pocket, glaring at it. I was still dealing with the aftermath of my last unexpected phone call. I certainly wasn’t ready for another one.

At least this time it was coming from a familiar number. I swiped my thumb up the screen, tapping the speaker icon.

“Elsie, hi,” I said. “I’m here with Grandma and Grandpa. I’ve got you on speaker. What’s up?”

“What’s up is some asshole cuckoos dressed like they escaped from a production of Starlight Express just came in here and snatched Arthur!” she wailed. “We were in the living room, and then they were just there. They grabbed him, said something about gathering evidence, and disappeared. What the hell is going on?”

“Why do you think I would know what’s going on?” I asked. “I don’t know. But—”

“How many of them were there, Elsinore?” asked Grandpa, coming close enough to be heard without shouting.

“Er, three. Sir.” Elsie still wasn’t entirely comfortable with our grandfather being back from the dimension where he’d been lost for so long. It made sense. To her, he was a stranger who’d come swooping in and suddenly expected a familial relationship. He was technically the same thing to me, but I had the dual advantages of James’s relationship with Sally and my own blazing need to learn sorcery from someone who actually understood the way it worked. It made accepting him easier.

“And what did they look like?”

“Like cuckoos! They all look alike!”

“If we were talking about members of literally any other species, I would feel the need to remind you that a refusal to see distinctions between individuals is a form of prejudice,” said Grandpa. “As it stands, given that they’re insects with very little morphological variance, I’ll allow it. They were all cuckoos?”

“Yeah. Pale, black hair, blue eyes.”

“And their, er, Star Trek Express outfits?”

Elsie snorted. “Starlight Express. It’s a musical. About trains. Lots of glitter and spandex. They were wearing these weird bodysuits that were cut to look sort of like they were segmented. Like insect exoskeletons, only flexible.”

“Yes, that was what I thought you were saying. What colors were the bodysuits? It’s very important that you remember.”

“Um. The one who seemed to be in charge was wearing red, black, and yellow.”

“In that order?”

“Yes. Her chest was red, and her abdomen and hips were black, and then her legs were yellow.”

“All right. The other two?”

“One was in all black with red stripes along his back. They wrapped around like they were supposed to look like wings. And the other one was a really deep blue on top, and this sort of two-tone orange and magenta on the bottom, that changed when she moved. It was all iridescent and very cool-looking, except for the part where they were in the process of abducting my brother.”

“Thank you, Elsinore. You’ve been extremely helpful.” He turned back to me, mouthing “Hang up,” and making an exaggerated gesture with one hand, like he was hanging up an old-fashioned landline.

I blinked, then turned my attention back to the phone. “Thank you for letting us know, Elsie,” I said. “I think Grandpa has some idea of how we’re supposed to deal with it, so I’m going to go work on that with him now, okay?”

“I’m just getting used to this version of my brother,” she wailed. “Bring him back.”

“I’ll do my best. Call again if you need anything.” I hung up before she could say anything else. I felt a little bad about it, all things considered, but I didn’t really see what else I could do.