Milagra was fast for a young girl, so Mike didn’t have to give too much ground, yet he enjoyed letting the young teen win. The exuberant cheers from her little sister, Antonia, made it well worth it, not to mention the proud set of Milagra’s shoulders. Al-Adil had done a fine job of raising these girls; Mike ran his fingers through his long, thick hair, You are more human than many humans, my Dilectu friend, he mused.
As they walked up to the gate, Mike looked at his friend and realized that he was very much the man he first saw, sitting under that orange tree in prayer with his prayer beads, the fact that he was a vampire made him capable of many more things, but it didn’t change the man at all. Mike envied Al-Adil and wondered if he, himself, might somehow become again the man that he once was…if he might perhaps be absolved of the wrong he had committed.
“MIKE VEGA ASKING FOR ENTRY!”, the big man called up to the sentries at the gate; two heads looked over from the tower and a moment later a door, set in the larger gates, opened to allow them entry. The sentry at the door was a boy of maybe no more than 18-19 years, lanky and tall with a shaggy head of red hair…he was dressed in black jeans, black boots and a black tee shirt and had a thick silver chain around his neck. “So, you finally got your wish, eh, Wolfsbane?”, Mike smiled and patted the boy’s shoulder, “How are you liking sentry duty?”. The boy nodded his head at Mike in respect and answered, “Very good, sir! You can trust me to keep those mangy killers out of here!”. Indicating Al-Adil and his girls, Mike introduced, “These are my guests, Al-Adil and his daughters, Milagra and Antonia”. Wolfsbane looked Al-Adil over for a moment and then he bowed low, “Fursa Sa'eeda. Ahlan wa-Sahlan.”. Mike’s jaw dropped open, “One day soon, young man, we are having a long talk”, he informed the boy, as he shook his head.
As they entered the Bed & Breakfast, Mike informed them that his daughter, Sofia, was out on patrol, but they would meet her later. “This is the kitchen, the dinning room, common room”, he led them upstairs, “You and the girls will have adjoining rooms, connected through a bathroom with working toilet, tub, sink and shower”, he smiled, proud of their little corner of this messed up world, “It’s not much, but it’s clean”. He walked over to the door, “…and you need not worry, the doors lock”, he turned the lock on the handle to demonstrate, “Now, who’s hungry?”.