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“Maybe later,” Anna said taking a seat on the bed.
“I’m still in shock,” Lisa said as she bypassed the suitcases and sat down beside Anna. “For a moment, when I saw you get out of the vehicle, I thought it was Donja.”
Anna looked puzzled.
“She’s not total goth anymore,” Lisa said, “she got over that and transformed into what she and Makayla call gothiglam. You’ll be as shocked by her as I am by you.”
“What brought that on?”
“Makayla. They rubbed off on each other and though Donja uses more goth in her makeup than Makayla, they dress pretty much the same.”
“Does she still wear black?”
“Oh yeah, it’s still her color of choice.
“Well,” she said, while wringing her hands, “regardless of her looks, I’m very concerned for her safety.” She met Lisa’s eyes as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “That’s why I didn’t want Donja to come here and I know at the time that you thought I was interfering with your kids, but I feared this might happen.”
“Why did all this happen?” Lisa asked, “that part got by me.”
Anna’s lips tightened, something akin to guilt leaching from her eyes. “It all started over a thousand years ago. The elders said that seven spirits appeared as a vison. Long Knife, the Midewiwin who first saw them in his sweat lodge, told the people that there was nothing to fear. It was a blessed time for the tribes. The spirits were great teachers. Then one, referred to as the seventh, changed.”
“How?”
“He found a way to leave his spirit form and he took on the body of a young warrior who was near death after a bear mauling. No one was safe, women were killed, sucked dry of blood, and then he began to bite warriors, changing them to Iridescents.
“That’s horrible.”
“It was, Anna said, “but it got worse.”
“Worse?”
“One of the warriors he had changed to an Iridescent took a bride and a child was born. According to elder tale, the blood of the child was mixed with the father’s and it changed him into a powerful being called a Sirun.”
“I haven’t heard that.”
“They are the most powerful, less so than the seventh, but also capable of great feats, strong and agile with the ability to assume a spirit body.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Turn invisible.”
“So, there are different types of Iridescents?”
“Yes. Participants are weak and kept only for feeding and sexual pleasure. Lesser Iridescents are strong but they aren’t capable of producing children, so they were no threat to the Durent females. The real danger was Affiliates. They are warriors, strong and adept at battle. They can produce a child, drink of its blood and become a Sirun.
“Torin’s an Affiliate, Lisa said, “and we have others here, watching over us. We’ve been attacked twice now and I’m telling you, if it weren’t for them, we’d be dead.”
“Oh my,” Anna sighed. “Tell me, with Frankie’s transformation, how is he handling all this?”
“Surprisingly well, but it’s all we can do to keep him from joining the battle. He’s been begging for a sword.”
“Why, what brought that on?”
“The Affiliates use swords to decapitate their enemy, seems it’s the only way to kill Iridescents. Now that Frankie’s one of them, he wants to fight at their side.”
“I don’t like that.”
Lisa combed her hair with her fingers. “I don’t either, but I’ve lost him, Anna. He talks to the Affiliates and some to Carson, but he no longer participates with our family, not meals and he hasn’t slept a night in his room since the change. Gage and Torin said it’s a phase and that as he adapts to his new life, he will eventually come back and be a part of us. I just keep praying.”
