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Chapter -29- Business Trip

May 14, 1893 San Francisco, California ...

Reno sat up on a bed mattress and stretched. He could hear voices downstairs. One of the voices belonged to Eli Thomas Parker, the man he met yesterday.

Parker's voice was somewhat muted, but Reno could hear him enough to understand what the man said.

"I told you this would happen, Niall. Do you remember? It was just days before Cleveland was inaugurated, when the Philadelphia and the Reading Railroad went bankrupt. Cleveland thought repealing the Silver Purchase Act would fix this mess, and I told you it was far from over."

Another man, whose voice Reno recognized belonging to Lance Patterson, also known as Methos, said, "We have friends in the Esoteric Council who were attacked because of this, Eli."

"What? Why?"

A pause, then Niall said, "Because they're Jewish. Some idiot radicals claim the Jews are the essence of urban corruption. They're telling people that the Jewish people somehow own the banks and promoted the gold standard to bring down America, starting by the running of small family farms."

"I will never understand how the Populists can be tolerated by farmers." Eli cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should save this discussion for later. It's time you met him."

"Why haven't you told me anything about him yet?"

"You're absolutely right. Forgive me, I wanted him to be a surprise."

"So what is he like, Eli?"

"Niall, he knows things he shouldn't. I believe this man needs our help, and I am willing to finance him on a trip to Spain. However, I believe you are the only one who has the resources to find the man for whom Mr. Carrington searches. And, as we discussed earlier, I believe he will be of value to us in return."

"What are your thoughts, Kerii?" asked Niall.

"You're asking me?"

"Ms. Clark, you've followed everything in this conversation, because you are intelligent. You have given Mr. Carrington a roof and shelter. Have you fed off of him yet?"

Kerii scoffed.

"I did not mean to insult you..."

"He has declined."

"Is he in love? Could he be queer?" asked Niall.

"Queer? No. He is a hot-blooded man with eyes for the body of a woman." Kerii trailed off. A moment later, she added, "Love? That is more difficult to attest. I'm not sure he even knows it about himself. Is he capable of love? Most certainly, yes. He mentioned wishing to return to a woman."

"Nichole," said Eli. "Yes, he mentioned her. He seemed smitten to me."

Kerii said, "Mr. Carrington has been through a great deal of heartbreak, I fear. I do not think he is currently_experiencing what one might call 'true love.' Does he love this girl? Yes. Is he motivated by the _wings of True Love's calling? No."

"I disagree," said Eli. "But our opinions over such a subject are not necessarily important to..."

"We will need a way to keep him motivated and focused," Niall said. "Have you shared a bed with him, Kerii?"

There was another awkward silence, followed by Kerii speaking in an annoyed voice. "No. As I've already said, I have not fed from him."

Niall continued. "And what are your thoughts regarding whether or not he could be of assistance to us?"

"I like him," said Eli. "Kerii?"

"I have not formed an opinion on any matter of usefulness. I like him. He's a strange man, but he is a _genuine_and compassionate man."

Niall said, "Kerii, I value your input. That is why you are acknowledge by the council as a voice..."

Kerii scoffed loud enough that Reno heard her from the upstairs guest room. "No one knows I have a seat at the council," she said in a tone of disgust. "Not even council members, beyond a few of us, know that I speak, or that I think. The disrespect shown towards my womanhood is insulting. I do not judge your family because they drink blood, Niall. I do not judge you_because you _pretend to be a vampire to save face."

"Kerii..."

"No, it is childish to treat me the way some of the members do, simply because of my predilection towards sexual proclivities. It's even worse that they further insult my mind because I lack a penis."

"The Esoteric Council is comprised of old, traditional men with large egos. They are threatened by an intelligent woman."

She scoffed again. "I am often asked to retrieve information for them and I do it; our own council is none-the-wiser to the fact I speak on urgent matters. I am smarter than I am credited, and that is insulting. Why do you ... why do either of you seek my opinions on matters, Niall?"

"Now you've upset her," Eli said.

"Ms. Clark, please." Niall paused, and then he said, "Would you be willing to accompany Nathan Carrington to Spain? You speak Spanish, and you can keep him focused."

"You do realize my age, don't you?" She huffed with indignation. "I was born in 1758! I am ten years older than the average death age for a succubus. I could pass before nightfall! Why not send someone who will..."

"Kerii, you're being irrational!" Niall said in a firm voice.

Come to think of it, Reno couldn't recall hearing the man, as Lance, Methos, Peter, or as Niall, raise his voice in such a way. At least not off the top of his head.

The downstairs fell to silence. After a moment, Niall said, "You are a brilliant mind, Kerii Mae. However, you allow yourself to become susceptible to emotional outbursts. We have discussed this - it is something in your blood, produced by your body. It is a chemical reaction, nothing more. Take a deep breath."

Reno recalled Karla tell him that she had unusually high testosterone for a woman, allowing her to have the sex drive necessary to feed often. He also remembered Karla telling him that it had a side-effect of making her aggressive at times.

Kerii made her way to the stairs, causing her voice to sound closer to Reno's guestroom. "This is why the men on the council discourage having a woman sit amongst their ranks. We embrace our emotions. Some men see it as weakness. I see it as a strength. Women care. We give a damn. Meanwhile, men want to conquer and spread their seed - how they consider themselves more intelligent, on average, I'll never understand."

"Will you take him to Spain?"

"Niall, I will take Mr. Carrington to Spain to find my sister's maternal uncle. But I am not doing it for you, or for the council. I am not doing it so that Mr. Carrington will owe you a favor."

"Then what is your motivation?" asked Niall. "Do you fancy him?"

"No. For such a brilliant man, you are very narrow-minded, Niall Kincade." She took a deep breath and sighed, moving further up the staircase.

"Then why?"

She stopped on the stairs and called back down to Niall. "Because Mr. Carrington deserves our help. He is a pleasant man, and he is a lost soul. I am hoping that by helping him find what he's looking for in life ... I'll rest easier when my time comes to die. That's it, Niall. There is no ulterior motive. I simply want to do something good for someone before I die from old age."

Eli, trying to dispel the tension, said, "In India, they believe in something called karma..."

"With all due respect, I know what karma is, Eli." Kerii's tone calmed. "I also know, you're trying to change the subject because you are a natural diplomat. I appreciate it."

Eli sounded closer, possibly at the bottom of the steps by now. Reno tilted his head to listen as Eli said, "Niall, if Mr. Carrington declined to feed Kerii, she will not survive the trip across America, let alone across the Atlantic Ocean."

Niall said, "Eli, she can find trysts from which to feed across the continental United States of..."

Kerii turned around, just outside of Reno's door and called to Eli and Niall, down the stairs. "Do not speak of me in the third person in my own home. Speak to me directly. Look into my eyes and engage me as a person. Vampires are no closer to being normal human beings than a succubus, yet people afford the Kincade family all the respect in the world at times. Vampires and succubae are demons cut from the same cloth, Niall. But I am still a person. I still have a heart, a mind, and a soul. Do not treat me like I am an object at your disposal."

Niall sighed. "Kerii, wait."

"What?" Her voice was just outside of the guest bedroom door.

"There's something I wish to admit to you."

"Say it to my face."

Reno heard footsteps on the stairs. Niall approached Kerii just outside of the guest bedroom door. Niall spoke in a gentle tone, so that Eli, downstairs, would not hear.

"Kerii, did you know that my wife was once courted by your father?"

"What?"

"Before we married, Natalia met your father through a business transaction that Azazel had with Natalia's father. Azazel was asked to protect Natalia's young brother, a baby boy named Donovan. Azazel courted Natalia for four years until I saw her for her mind. She was afraid that, like some members of the Loupe family, she would not become immortal. The other option was to wait and find out if immortality would be hers, but at the cost of waiting until she was nearly forty. She felt that society did not treat a middle-aged childless woman the same as a twenty-year-old childless woman. Natalia asked me to embrace her because, at the time, I had told people I was a vampire."

Kerii sighed. "Go on. What happened?"

Niall leaned against Reno's bedroom door and said, "At the time, I had been transformed into a vampire. My body saw it as a virus of sorts, and slowly fought it. With the help of Clarence, I fought off the infection. However, Natalia is a motivated woman. She wished for me to change her before I lost my blood."

"Then how did you change Kalen?"

Niall sighed, shifting his weight. It caused Reno's door to creak softly. "Natalia was beside herself with emotion, which is extremely rare for her. She wished Kalen for herself. I hunted down the vampire who attacked me several years prior. Clarence and I drained him to his death. His blood revived Kalen."

"You drained that vampire because he attacked you and tried to change you. It was a revenge killing dressed up to look like a mission of mercy for your wife and for Kalen...? Why embrace him?"

"Natalia has her reasons." Niall sighed again. "You are one of the only people who know I am not a vampire, Kerii. You are a wealth of information. Instead of silencing you, I seek your council. I believe you will live a bit longer. I am offering you the opportunity to see the world one last time before you fall victim to age. If my tone came off as disrespectful to you, I deeply apologize. Please, all of us need you. Mr. Carrington needs you."

"You are a silver-tongued devil, Niall."

"Not silver-tongued enough. I tried to off you immortality as a vampire, and you did not accept it."

Kerii scoffed. "Life as a vampire? Knowing I would never again experience a warm embrace or the taste of a man's lips on my tongue. I would rather die a woman than live as a corpse."

"You are so unlike Natalia..."

"You always try to remind me. Do you love your wife, Niall? You share lovers - I know that much about you."

"We share everything."

"So you love her? Or are you in love with the companionship of her mind? You'll never know Natalia's warm embrace, Niall. She is a corpse. You're right - I am nothing like Natalia. Thank God Almighty for that."

"Now you're just being hateful."

"Perhaps. Or maybe I am disappointed in the fact you seek the comforts of succubae instead of making love to your own wife."

"I am sorry. I know I offended you, recently, and I will treat you with the respect you deserve going forward."

Kerii cleared her throat expectantly. "Move. I am going to wake Mr. Carrington and take him to Spain, to see my sister's uncle. Oh, and one more thing."

"Yes?" The door creaked again as Niall pushed off of it and walked back towards the steps.

Kerii's voice took on a tone of sarcasm. "I am so very appreciative of your generosity. I am so delighted you are giving me the gift of seeing the world one last time before my body gives out. Thank you, old and wise Niall Kincade. Or should I call you Niall Kinkead? Or perhaps I should call you by your German name? Yes, I know that you emigrated from Germany. I know your last living mortal family member is a man named Hans Richter. I know you manipulated the council, and that Hans is telepathic. If anyone ever found out, he would be lobotomized or put to death. But you know why I let it slide and kept your secret?"

"Because we are occasional lovers?"

Silence.

After a few seconds, Reno heard the slap of a palm against what was most assuredly Niall's face.

"You claim you trust me because I know how to keep my mouth shut in front of others," she said in a soft tone. "But that has nothing to do with sex. It never has. I kept your lurid little secret because it was the most human thing you've ever done. You have never spoken to Hans. For the longest time, you refused to acknowledge that you had one human family member left."

"I am a mathematician. But the variables of the human heart are ... always changing."

"I pity you." She shook her head. "I kept your secret because you went out of your way to make everyone believe Hans was normal. Even your closest friend, Clarence, was tricked into believing that Hans is normal. Aside from slow aging, Hans is overlooked and ignored. That was the act of a compassionate man."

Reno pulled the blanket up over his shoulders and closed his eyes.

Through the door he heard Niall say, "How did you learn of the Richter line, Kerii?"

"You and your judgmental panel of heartless men call upon me to learn information about anyone and everyone. You use my body to learn who is staging a war or a coup d'état. If you think I am incapable of learning about a single remaining family member from one of the top ten oldest people in the world ... well, then you underestimated me."

"I appreciate your value. I am sorry if you ever felt as though I've used you outside the realm of our ... professional courtesy to protect the Esoteric Community. More importantly, I am deeply sorry if you felt awkward or disrespected when we acted as lovers, Kerii."

"I don't care that you have a succubus fetish," she snapped. "I'm flattered. You just don't understand women, do you? Maybe the next succubus should be shared with your wife. I won't be around much longer, after all. Oh, and mark my words, Niall, when I die ... you won't have anyone to help fix things."

"How do you mean?"

She scoffed. "It's only a matter of time before someone tries to start a war between the Esoteric People. Will it be the mythological against the supernatural? Will it be political factions? Who knows - I'll have died from age, and you'll wish I was around to bring you information, so that you can keep the peace."

"Why are we fighting?"

"Because you have no real_respect for me. You see me as a tool, and you want to put as much leverage on my usefulness as you can ... up until the moment my body gives out. That is what man has done to tools for thousands and thousands of years. I am not your tool. I am a _person."

Niall went back down the stairs, but his descent was slow and lifeless. "I hope to see you soon, Kerii. Oh, and one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Natalia knows about us. I would never keep such a thing from my wife. She knows everything. She even knows about Hans. I will see myself to the door, Kerii. I am sorry to have offended you."

"Niall, wait..." Eli followed Niall Kincade out of Kerii's front door. The door thumped shut behind him.

Kerii sighed and slid down the wall adjacent to the guest room doorframe.

Reno eased out of bed and approached the door. He opened it and knelt besides her. "Hey."

"Good morning, Nathan."

He reached forwards and pulled her into a gentle hug. "I know he could have used a bit more tact in asking you to go with me - that was assumptive and rude of him. But I'm grateful for having a traveling companion. I appreciate making a new friend, Kerii."

"You were searching for my half-sister because you wanted her help to find Raul Poliandro. Now you're settling for me because you overheard that I know that man."

"Kerii, I don't care who helps me find Raul. It could be your sister; it could be you. It could be Eli, or Niall. I really don't care who helps me - I appreciate whoever is willing to invest their time in traveling at my side. I understand you don't have much longer to live. I overheard everything. I just want to tell you ... thank you."

She smiled somewhat and leaned into his half-kneeling hug. She wasn't used to such an affectionate man. "You're welcome."

"Look, I can't go into every detail of my life. It's complicated. But you were right - I was in love, and she died. I mourned and after years of grieving, I found out she was alive. You know what a coma is, right? She was basically in a coma of sorts. I had a thing with a girl who separated with her husband. But she and her husband worked things out. I found my fiancée, and she woke up from her coma - it was just like a fairy tale."

She reached her hands up and cupped Reno's jawline. Kerii ran her thumbs over his cheeks, beneath his eyes. "I can see it on your face - it was like a fairy tale. She woke up and rushed into your arms. But life isn't always like a fairy tale, and you didn't know how to feel anymore."

Reno nodded. "Yeah. Real life is more complicated. It doesn't always make sense or have a happy ending. I want to get back to her because she's in danger. Both girls are. Everyone I know is in trouble. It has nothing to do with how 'in love' I think I am. I'm motivated to save lives. That's what I do - it's who I am."

Kerii traced her thumb over his lips. "And you need a man rumored to stop time to accomplish your goals." She touched her fingertip against his nose. "He's said to be insane, you know."

"I ... I've met him. He's not crazy."

"He disappeared once. My half-sister's aunt searched for her brother and could not find him anywhere. He returned six days later, with two months' worth of facial hair, claiming he had found Tartessos."

Reno nodded in silence.

"The next morning, I heard he appeared to his sister, clean-shaven and calm, saying he was preparing to find it again. He leaves. That afternoon, she comes across his path and he's fully bearded again. He's still raving about Tartessos. The Spanish government arrested him and placed him into an asylum."

"Jesus."

"Next time anyone sees him, he's cultured, matured, well dressed, cleaned up, and he no longer has an addiction to opium. But it was only ten days. He speaks to his sister, telling her about the biblical city of Tarshish. He said it was in Spain, even though the bible clearly states it was an island. He says a flood destroyed the land where each of those cities once stood. He claimed the flood waters drained and became a marshland. He claimed the ruins of both cities lay beneath the sediment."

"Jesus. He's been through a lot, huh?"

She shrugged. "He was admitted to the asylum again. He disappeared, same as before. A month later, my sister crossed his path. She said he was ... different. He no longer spoke of what he'd seen. Raul claimed he was cured in the Asylum. He said it was the opium still in his body, but he beat his addiction. Keturah was extremely appalled when he hit on her because they are family. She hasn't spoken to her uncle since that day."

"You know a lot of what's going on."

She smiled. "I am an expert on information. I have been accused of gossip but even the Esoteric Council cannot deny my ability to obtain accurate information. And despite what Niall suggested - I do not need my body to garnish such information. I only require my eyes and ears."

Reno rose to one knee. He offered his hand to her. "I'd be honored to have your eyes and ears, but I would appreciate having your company on the long trip."

"I now know you are from the future. I learned from Trajen, and confirmed it with Eli, when I told him I already knew."

"Trajen told you?"

"I am his source of west coast information. He owed me something in return. I assure he will tell no one else. So ... A black president one day, hmm?"

"Heh, yeah." Reno stood up and stretched. He kept his hand extended to her.

Kerii, took Reno's hand a d stood up with him. She smiled. "Raul has always been a curiosity. I look forward to meeting a man rumored to move through time."

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's get some supplies and get going."

She smiled and shook her head. "Perhaps I should do the majority of speaking, my dear."

"What? What's wrong with what I said?"

"Your choice of lexis, syntax, and un-descriptive verb usage is ... mm, let's just say it would offend my father, who is a hobbyist linguistics expert. Azazel has lived since the ancient times."

"What, you mean like ... since Christ, or older?"

Kerii smiled and shook her head. "He is the oldest incubus known to exist. He lived during the time of The Collapse, after the First Age of humanity sank into the sea. The sinking of a small continent caused such a great flood that it drown half the world. It inspired the Flood of Noah, and the Gilgamesh Epic."

Reno sighed. "Yeah, I know about the First Age people."

"You do?"

"Yeah. It's real. The city is real."

"It hardly matters. It's said there are one and one-half billion people in the world. If such a flood occurred today, it would be catastrophic."

Reno walked into the guest bedroom and gathered his new suitcase and his new clothes, courtesy of the Parker family's generosity. "In my time, there is ten billion people left after_the coast of America and the coast of Europe and Africa were destroyed. That epic you were talking about? Yeah, it's about to happen. I need to get back to my time and try to help my friends and brother. The loss of life ... you can't even imagine. Some smaller countries have outlawed burials because it's interfering with real estate space. Iraq and Turkey are at war over _water. Turkey is using the river for irrigation and there's not enough left in Iraq or something."

"You really think you can stop it? You think one man can saving ten billion people?"

"I have to try." Reno latched the suitcase. "I throw lightning bolts. No one else seems to have that one. Not sure why, but whatever."

"Using abilities to such violent ends and calling yourself a hero - it seems so ... childishly traditional and sexist. It's the opposite of liberal and progressive. Cowboys fighting for street justice in the name of a pretty damsel; it's disgusting."

"It's human nature," said Reno. "You give someone the ability to create electricity in the palm of their hand, they're going to use it one of two ways - they attack good people and use it to become powerful, or they attack bad people and use it to restore balance. With powerful ability comes powerful responsibility."

"Mm, a spin on the words of Voltaire. I like the way you say it better - it rhymes."

Reno grinned. He picked up his suitcase by the handle. "God, this thing needs wheels on it."

"A suitcase with wheels..." she smiled somewhat. "Clever idea. Perhaps you should invent the idea."

"I remember reading a trivia page once; it claimed humanity was smart enough to set foot on the moon before we were smart enough to put wheels on a suitcase. Do you pack light?"

Kerii smirked. "Of course I pack light."

"Thank God."

"The first rule of going on holiday with unlimited funding - purchase clothes at the expense of your financier. Are you ready?"

Reno grinned at her. She had some similarities to Karla. In a lot of ways, she reminded him of his long-time blond friend. "Do you like Sherlock Holmes?"

"I'm afraid I haven't read any of Doyle's work. Are you ready?"

Reno nodded and carried his suitcase out of the room, down the stairs and to the door. "Now what? Are we walking to the train station?"

Kerii smirked. "Heavens no. I am a lady. Walking is for fun, not for a chore. There is a carriage out front, with two gorgeous seventeen-hand Percherons."

"Girls and horses."

"Mm. I'm not sure what you mean by that, my dear. But a lady has to know what kind of horse will pull her carriage. Also, a lady will want to know the breed of horse upon which her knight in shining armor is seated."

Reno shook his head. "In my time, women love horses. You don't see them very often. I noticed they're everywhere, here. The smell is ... well, it is what it is. It won't last for long."

"I see. Go on, I'll be out momentarily."

Reno nodded, opened the front door and carried his suitcase out to the carriage and a driver. The man looked bored, having been waiting for the better part of an hour.

A few moments later, Kerii closed the front door, locked it, and approached Reno. "Thank you, Nathan. You're a patient man."

The driver took Kerii's hand and helped her up the steps into the carriage.

Reno sighed through his nose. He glanced towards the twin Percheron horses. He wanted to appreciate their strength and their beauty but ... one of them was ...pooping.

Nevada grimaced and made his way up into the carriage. "Trust me, in a few years, we're all going to be driving these things ourselves, without horses. It's going to be great. Very freeing."

The driver arched his brows. "For you, perhaps. But I'll be out'a job."

Reno shook his head. "Not everyone will be able to afford a horseless carriage, man. You'll still have a job, taxiing people around, and it will be a lot easier, because engines are never spooked."

"A'right, if you say so, then." The man's dialect was a mishmash of various accents from back east. He closed the door, secured the latch and climbed up into the driver's seat.

Kerii grinned at Reno. "I have a feeling this will be fun."

"God, I hope so. But I don't have the best of luck in that." He folded his hands.

Everything came rushing back, all at one time. The walls of the Atlantic towering over the left and right side of his father's Chevy Chevelle, the creature with the tentacles, the soldiers in the fancy armored suits, the fancy fluted pillars in the lower city, beneath the Atlantic seabed ... and it was too much at one time.

A tear ran down his cheek. It was an emotion he didn't understand. He wasn't afraid, or sad, or alone, or lost... wait, maybe that was it. Reno wiped his face with his forearm. He was lost. He felt lost.

"Nathan?"

"I'm just ... must be a pollen allergy or something."

She gave him a knowing smile. "I completely understand." She folded her hands and sat in a lady-like posture.

They headed for the train station. Reno fidgeted. "How long will it take to get to the east coast?"

"Mm, we have three thousand miles to travel. Today is Sunday. We should be there by Thursday or Friday, latest." Kerii peered out the window and smiled at a passing carriage. "Ah, the American Shire horse. Look at him, he's beautiful. Look at his gorgeous feathers."

"You ride?"

"Yes, and I love it. I ride at the Parker family stables a few times a month." Kerii reached for Reno's hand and ran her thumb over his knuckles. "I want you to entertain the possibility that we may not find Raul. If he's in another time, or or if he is avoiding Spain in this present, or if the crazy wide-eyed version of him with the beard is in town ... anything is possible, Nathan."

He gave her hand a return squeeze. "Gotta try, right?"

"Yes, my dear, you most certainly have to try. I respect you for such."

"Thanks, Kerii."

"There's just one small detail I have yet to inform you..."

It was easy to draw conclusions. He made a guess. "You're posing as my wife."

She froze. Kerii stared at him for a moment and licked her lips. "Will it be a problem?"

"Nah. It attracts less attention. How do we pull it off?"

"We have your hand measured in town before departing on the train. It was my idea; Eli seemed partial to telling people we are related. I told Eli that people would be less likely to try and come between us if we're traveling as spouses. I hope you're not upset."

"Nah, it's fine. I don't know what ring size I wear. I thought that kind of stuff has to be made and sized? How would we have someone make something with such short notice?"

"There is a man named Thom Goldsmith. He took his surname from his ability and started his life over, moving out west. Eli loves him."

"Yeah, lots of people moved west to start over. It's what California was all about," Reno said.

"I assume, since you're a friend of Trajen, that you're okay with the fact he is black."

"Well, yeah of course. What can he do, exactly?"

"He changes metal - it's like alchemy. Eli takes him to the family vault to melt down all the gold the family finds, so they can consolidate their supply."

"You know about the vault?"

"As do you. I thought I was the only one, besides Thom, to know about it. Of course, Thom has seen it, and I haven't. But ... let's just say I have dirt on everyone, my dear."

"How did you know that _I_knew about it?"

"Because I overheard Eli tell Niall, 'This man, Nathan, even knew about the vault.' I listen. It's kept me alive, Nathan." Kerii gave his hand a squeeze again. "Have you ever been married before?"

"No."

"I assumed not, but I thought it would be best to ask. You don't even know your own ring size, after all. I've never been married or engaged, and it's always been a sort of ... fantasy to know what it's like. Are you sure you're accepting of this arrangement?"

Reno chuckled and shook his head. "God this is all so much to take in at once. I'm thrown back in time. I meet Trajen when he's younger. I meet Nikola Tesla for God's sake ... and now I'm pretending to be married so I can get home."

"Nathan, I didn't mean to offend..."

Reno gave her hand a squeeze. "You're not. Everything is happening so quickly. Two years ago, I wouldn't have believed any of this was real. But then ya sort of wake up and see your first hover-car. It's a horseless carriage that floats. I'm just ... and now this."

"You're a sweet man, Nathan. Are you still in love with this girl, Nichole?"

"I mean ... I think so. I thought she was dead for two years. I was just moving on with another girl, and then that fell apart, because she got back together with Eric. They had history - it's hard to compete with history."

"Ah. Women build emotional ties. It's the foundation of any relationship - you fall in love with how a man makes you feel, and then it doesn't matter if he gains weight, or if his hair turns grey. He's still the same man that makes you feel the way you want to feel. You fall in love with that feeling, and then you fall in love with him. Women are a complicated gender, aren't we?"

"It's okay. It was just so confusing to see Nicky again. I was starting to have feelings for Karla, and then that's over."

Kerii remembered him referring to her sister as 'Karla' the day she met him. Kerii nodded and lowered her eyes. She paused, and then gazed back up at him. "Speaking as a succubus, how was the sex?" Another pause, then, "With your rejuvenated fiancée, I mean?"

Reno shrugged. "It was different when I saw Nicky again. Just ... different. I don't know how to describe it."

Kerii nodded. "Because your emotions were different. I am sure, in time, you could have rekindled your initial feelings for her."

"Maybe. The problem is, she had this sort of ... twin sister," he said, regarding the clone of Nichole Parker. "She ... and I did not get along. She eventually started a relationship with my brother's wife, and my brother. It was so weird that that's what I thought of every time I saw her face."

Kerii shifted over to the other bench, sitting beside Reno. She hugged him gently. "You have been through quite an ordeal."

He appreciated the hug. "Yeah, I know, right? I try not to think about all the crap I've seen. I just think about what's next and push forward."

"What is the scariest thing you've ever faced, Nathan?"

"I was with this young guy, Evan ... we were in Florida and these people attacked a school of children. We used our abilities to try and stop the attackers, but a device was used to stop me from using my powers. So we did it the old fashion way. I was scared because I didn't want any children dying on my watch."

Kerii rested her head on his shoulder. "It's going to be a long ride to New York. I ... must confess, I like hearing you speak. Feel free to tell me of your adventures."

"Some of it's a little complicated."

"I like complicated."

"Fair enough." He relaxed back against the cushioned seat. "It's probably best to start when I met Trajen in 2022. Things were about to get weird after that, but I was still too naïve to know it, just yet..."

Kerii listened intently.