Betrayal: Book 3 of the Guardians Saga

Ch. 2.2 Oh No!

A/N: Please listen to the YouTube video of "Oh No" to understand what Cale and Rile are talking about

*****

Rile and Alex walked in the New Orleans night, listening to the crickets and katydids humming their songs. The katydids' song would swell, peak, and then fall to a momentary silence before restarting.

A soft breeze kept the mosquitoes away and cooled the humid night. Night jasmine scent played peek-a-bo with their noses, coming and going before it grew too strong.

Once out of the French Quarter, the giant live oak branches arched over the broken sidewalks.

"You ready to fly or you need to keep walking those martinis off?" Rile asked after half an hour.

Alex shrugged.

"Can you speed-burst all the way to the carriage house?"

She shook her head. "Too far."

"How far can you speed-burst?"

"A block or two, at most."

"So we need to walk that close to the carriage house. Cale may be the best tracker on Olam, but I can evade my brothers when I want. So they patrol two blocks north of Dr. Dewey's house to two blocks south of Tulane. Stay close to me and follow my lead."

They strolled a while longer, until Rile grabbed Alex's hand, pulled her down a driveway, and pressed them against a house.

In her slightly inebriated state, Alex giggled. Rile clapped his hand over her mouth.

"What is wrong with you?" he hissed and she giggled again. "You choose now to act silly?"

She nodded and sputtered a laugh through his hand. He rolled his eyes and she mumbled something.

"What?" he hissed, removing his hand, "Whisper."

"It's hide and seek," she whisper-giggled. "We're naughty kids and daddy Gabe will be so maaaaddd if he catches us."

Rile put his hand back over her mouth. He lifted his muzzle and sniffed the breeze. "No scent of them. We're upwind. Only one more block to go before we're in speed burst distance. Follow me." He strode down the driveway to the sidewalk.

The breeze shifted, Rile sniffed, and froze. "They're close." He pulled Alex down another driveway and dragged her into a crouch behind a gardenia bush.

The scent of the flowers was strong but not cloying. They heard footsteps and Rile covered Alex's mouth as a precaution.

They could see Gabe stride into view. He stopped, sniffing, and turned in a circle. Rile and Alex both froze.

Then Cale trotted up, spoke to Gabe in a low voice, and they walked off together. Rile and Alex exhaled.

They watched until they were out of view. Rile motioned Alex to be quiet and they snuck out of the bush.

They walked a block north, then two west. Once they were one block from the carriage house, Alex speed-burst them to the second story landing. She unlocked the door and opened it, but before Rile could enter, turned quickly and placed a hand on his chest.

"If I'm silly drunk, you need to go home. Good luck with Gabe." She smiled sweetly before she shut the door in his face.

***

The next day in the brothers' apartment, Cale watched his younger brother fiddling with his smart phone. At long last, he asked, "What are you doing?"

"I asked Alex to turn on home sharing so that I could listen to her music. You can learn a lot about a female by her music." Rile scrolled down the screen. "'Disturbia' by Rihanna, that's no surprise. 'Untouched' by the Veronicas might be interesting. Hmm, "Promises," "Pound the Alarm," "Reboot the Mission", "E.T." What's this "Oh no"?"