Lana paused, "Gerald…. Repeat that?"
"Lady Bianca is acting like Lady Barica and she's injecting people with someth…" They heard a thump, then the connection ended.
Lana and Kyle exchanged glances. She picked up Kent. Rosalie heard the urgency over the device and the reaction from Lana set her on edge immediately. Dobin realized he was no longer being followed. He had been walking next to Tanisha who also stopped and turned around.
"Get on Rosalie's back!" Lana said to Kyle. She climbed up behind him. Suddenly Dobin and Tanisha did the same just as the ring transported the family to Able Island.
"Where to from here?" Rosalie asked.
"Up those stairs," Lana answered out loud. They knew there was a chance of Barica coming back but they were not fully rested from the day they had. This was one of the worst times for this to happen.
Rosalie didn't question a thing. She ran straight up the stairs with four people and her nephew on her back. She was a little winded by the time they got up there, but she'd be over it quickly. She loved this evolved body.
Everyone climbed off her back and Kyle entered the house first. Tanisha went in last leaving Lana behind Kyle. The panteri walked at their sides. The ticking sound of their claws on hitting the floor sounded louder than their own pounding hearts in their ears.
Dobin was between the two ladies and suddenly felt like he was being protected by them instead of him protecting them.
"Did I hear correctly that she was injecting people?" Kyle asked.
Lana's jaw barely moved, "yep."
He nodded and opened the next door they came to. He thought he heard coughing. Inside, a man was sitting at a desk, coughing uncontrollably. His skin had tinges of the colors of a rainbow.
Kyle gritted his teeth, "Prismatic…Poison."
He heard the same words come from his wife.
Dobin and Tanisha looked at each other.
"Did we miss something?" Tanisha asked.
"It's something grandmother's company invented. There's no cure," he practically growled the last part.
"We need to find that bitch!" Lana spit the words out, venom dripping with every word.
They heard a door close somewhere in the distance. How far away was too difficult to ascertain in the hollow silence. Kyle growled softly.
He took out his book and took another ability. He closed the book. Suddenly he was holding an exact duplicate.
"Tanisha, take this. When we find her, we need to get that other book from her. It needs to be destroyed," Kyle said quietly.
"I think I can do that with this new power I accessed," Lana offered.
Kyle nodded with a wink.
There was a sudden maniacal laugh that echoed through the hall. Kyle thought for a moment and led the small group to an aviary that was in the middle of the manor.
Kyle didn't like going there. Neither did Blaine. Once a bird did its business on them and they refused to go in ever since. Barica loved it, however, because catching them was a form of training she took great pleasure in.
As they got near the door, Kyle quietly told them to enter in the same order they entered the house. For Lana and Dobin, he explained the entry had a door with a cage beyond it. This was to prevent birds from flying into the house.
"We enter through the door. Once everyone is in, the door is closed then we can open the door in the cage to enter the aviary proper. She will know we're coming. Be ready," Lana and Dobin nodded.
"Um, Lana? Are we allowed to eat the birds?" Rosalie asked.
Lana chuckled, "no. These are pets, friends."
They all followed Kyle's entry procedures. He kept his hands on the cage door waiting for that final click, telling him the door was closed behind him.
He threw the cage open and stepped out with a purpose. Lana was very close behind him. Dobin heard the story and he made sure to keep his sister within reach.
They heard her before they saw her.
"Blaine, my darling. I knew you'd come to me. You are such a good boy…" then she scoffed, "I see you brought your bodyguard with you. Don't think you can handle me on your own?"
She smiled her sultry smile, she was even dressed like Barica, showing off her curves. Nothing modest about her, unlike how Bianca would dress.
On her shoulder was a beautiful, tropical bird. There were grey and white feathers on the top of its head. Its chest had yellowish colors with the wings being a beautiful shade of green. The end of the wings were blue and the tail feathers were red.
Lana instantly fell in love. "Hello, what's your name?"
"Lahhhhna dear," Barica addressed her drawing out the first a in her name, "how did you evade my time stop ability before? Inquiring minds have GOT to know…."
Lana smirked, "how the hell should I know…. Maybe you're just that inept."
Barica's face turned red in fury, "how are you…"
Just then, Blaine reached over, pulled Lana in his arms and gave her the most intense, passionate kiss he'd given her all week.
Lana heard the air sizzling and stepped in front of Kyle, who was actually in charge. Barica just assumed it was Blaine.
She put up a shield of that blue energy and deflected the lighting back to Barica who screamed in pain.
Lana's eyes dazzled with sparkling green as she walked closer to Barica but circling around, "you dare attack my husband?"
It was her turn to act sultry. "Do you think it right to treat your family like property?"
While she kept Barica's attention, Tanisha fanned the other direction.
Lana smirked, "even your own father feared you rather than loved you. Why do you think they only had one child? Clearly, they knew they birthed a monster and didn't want another one…"
"You bitch!" she screamed, "My father loved me! ME!!!"
The bird on her shoulder took flight.
"Call me Jethro!" Lana heard. The others just heard a bird squawk with a rather high-pitched and annoying voice.
Lana noticed the sparks forming in Barica's hands and smiled.