A s Liam drove home; he knew he was going to
have to face his mother sooner or later. He
might as well get it over with now.
Dakota honked and waved as she drove past him
on the way to her house. Liam turned into his
driveway, parked and reluctantly got out of his car.
His mother opened the door before he had a chance to
touch the handle.
"Liam Taylor, you are in one heck of a lot of
trouble." She began.
"Hi mom, how was your day?" he said as he toed
off his shoes and hung up his school jacket. "Let me
get out of this uniform before you start on the lecture."
He ran up stairs ignoring his mother's entreaties,
shrugging out of his shirt as he ran.
Morgan Taylor followed her son. He was
somehow different. It wasn't something she could put
her finger on, but it was something. "Liam, you know
you can't stay out all night and not face some
Magical Moonlight
56
repercussions. You have no idea how hard it is to keep
this from your father."
"Mom I'm sorry. I told Meredeth I was going to
be out and I didn't know when I'd be back. You and
dad weren't home and it wasn't something I wanted to
write on the message board. Didn't Meredeth tell
you?"
"Yes she told me. But that isn't the point. You're
seventeen years old and you were out for the entire
night without letting me know where you were."
"I was safe. I have my cell phone. What was the
point of waking you up at midnight? This way you
and dad got a full nights sleep and I… well let's just
say I had a good night too."
"Liam you know the rules Wahjee have to live
by. I hope you haven't done anything to jeopardize
your position with the council."
"Mom the council's ideas are old fashioned. It's
not fair that kids are expected to follow rules made by
a bunch of people a thousand years ago. Times
change. People change." Liam was laying his
schoolwork out on his desk. "I have homework to do."
"Do you want something to eat, dinner isn't for
another couple of hours."
"No Dakota and I stopped for something after
school." He looked up at his mother and smiled. "Call
me when dinner is ready." He didn't dare risk using a
glimmer spell, but he did he best with old-fashioned
puppy dog eyes. It worked.
Morgan hesitated for a moment and then closed
his door. She wasn't going to get anything out of him.
ER Bryant
57
He'd always been a private boy. But she worried
about her son. He was in line for the high council
leadership and he didn't seem to fully appreciate the
honor or the status it would bring his family.
Liam watched his mother close his door. He
waited for her footsteps to fade before he sent an
electrical impulse toward the door, securing the lock
he'd installed. He pulled out his largest sketchbook.
He wanted to record his night. His fingers had itched
all day for a pencil, a piece of charcoal, chalk,
anything that would let him put Aiden's image down
on paper. But first he picked up the bright turquoise
and white cat that had been with him since birth. It
was heavier than it looked and he'd always used the
stuffed toy as a confident of sorts. He'd had teddy
bears and other stuffies, but his pretend Wah cat
Betty, had been his favorite. Liam tucked Betty
between his bed pillows before settling down to
sketch. He never noticed the twinkle in Betty's eyes.
But then he never did.
When Liam's mother called him for dinner, he
couldn't believe that two hours had passed. He'd lost
himself in the memories of the night before as he
recorded his time with Aiden. Page after page told the
story, not in order, but rather as the memory lived in
his mind or touched on his body. Liam sat back
pleased with what he'd done. A few of the sketches
would make great paintings. A few would find their
way with some slight alterations, into the next issue of
Fury.
Magical Moonlight
58 Dakota called him at seven. Liam was back in his
room supposedly doing homework, but actually
working on the next issue of his comic book. "Hey
Liam, are you going back there tonight?" she asked.
"No." he sighed and stretched. "I'm staying
home. Do you want to come over, I'm working on a
second issue of the book."
"Cool, I'll be right over." Dakota hung up. She'd
been worried that with Liam's change of status
virginity wise, that he might somehow be different
and forget her. They'd been friends so long she didn't
know what she'd do without him.
Morgan was pleased to see Dakota. Liam was
going to be okay if his friend was still part of his life.
"Come in Dakota, Liam is upstairs in his room."
"I know, we're going to work on a project for
school." Dakota said. She didn't feel she was lying.
The original comic was a school project. She held up a
bag. "I've got cookies."
Morgan laughed. "I'll bring up some cold milk
for the two of you."
"That's okay, I can take it up." Dakota offered.
She knew Liam wouldn't want his mother to see what
he was doing.
"Open the door Liam." She kicked it gently with
her foot. "My hands are full."
"Cool, you brought food." Liam opened the door,
looked out and then locked it behind Dakota. "I've
done some great sketches of Aiden. Want to see?"
"I thought we were working the second issue of
Fury."
ER Bryant
59
"We are, think of these as preliminary sketches."
He grinned at his friend. He sat on the floor, his back
against the footboard of his bed. Dakota took her place
beside him, folding sinuously while she held cookies
in one hand and a tray with two glasses of cold milk in
the other. "Smooth move." Liam had always admired
his best friend's grace and agility.
"A thousand years of dance practice will do that."
She snickered. "I see Betty likes Aiden too." The
stuffed cat was at the end of the bed leaning over.
"And you look so young." He nudged her with his
shoulder. A quick movement of one finger stopped the
milk from overflowing the glasses. "This is Aiden in
all his glory." He did glance at Betty, but never
thought about how she'd moved. It was something
that had always happened and Liam had never really
thought it unusual. There was more to Betty than just
pretty fur that demanded to be patted.
"Geeze Liam, I so did not need to see him like
that. I'm never going to be able to look him in the
eyes again."
Liam snickered. "I know the feeling and he has
such cool eyes, but damn he's got an even cooler
dick."
"Perve."
"Of course." Liam wiggled suggestively as he
thumbed through his sketchbook showing Dakota his
various impressions of Aiden.
