Read Online The Future Falls by Tanya Huff - Free Book Online

didn’t know if the aunties had a list for him. He hadn’t asked and no one had offered to tell him. And there was always the species problem. Would the result be a baby or an egg?
    Charlie stayed out of ritual, too, joining him as a fourth circle of protection around the rest of the family. Maybe if Charlie took part . . .
    Pulled from his thoughts by the sudden roar of a jet, Jack realized he’d drifted into the approach path of the Calgary airport. Dropping a wing, he slipped sideways, careful to cause as little turbulence as possible. Even at only half his full size, an impact would destroy the plane.
    The thought of imminent destruction reminded him of flying in the same sky as his uncles, and feeling slightly nostalgic about the adrenaline rush—less so about the blood loss—he circled back around toward the city.
    As he passed over Nose Hill Park, a stag broke from cover and raced across the open ground on the top of the hill. Jack always had kind of a mixed reaction when he saw David running on hooves. He’d eaten a lot of deer since he’d come to this world.
    Throwing a glamour on as he circled lower, he changed just before his feet touched the ground to drop the final few centimeters in skin. Normally, he’d create clothing out of whatever he could find around him, but as David wouldn’t dress within the boundary of the park, he didn’t bother. Neither of them would feel the cold.
    David circled him half a dozen times before finally rearing up on two feet and becoming Human—or Human appearing, at least. The Gales didn’t talk much about what they actually were, but taking his mother into account, it was clear Jack’s father had needed more than mere sorcery to survive his conception.
    â€œJack.”
    â€œDavid.” Unlike the girls, all so similar in appearance to someone who’d grown up with the brilliant variations of the Dragon Lords that half the time he still needed scent to tell them apart, Gale boys had a broader choice of coloring. David was tall and muscular with dark hair and dark eyes—rim-to-rim dark when he forgot to change all the way, the physical manifestation of the power he channeled. The aunties and Charlie did it too sometimes, reminding Jack, somewhat uncomfortably, of his Uncle Adam. On the dragon side.
    â€œProblem?”
    The anchor to the land, David was the conduit for this branch of the family’s power. As far as Jack could tell, he had a pretty raw deal. Allie couldn’t leave the city until she crossed to first circle, but David would never be able to spend much time away from the park. Plus, he had to deal with the aunties during ritual. “No, I just . . . I mean I saw you and . . .” He dragged a hand through his hair, pushing it back off his face. “Charlie’s back.”
    â€œI know.”
    Of course he did.
    Jack sighed and dug his toes into frozen bits of grass as the breeze blew the smoke away. “She’s home because of Allie.”
    â€œYes. You want her to come home because of you.”
    â€œWell, yeah, but . . .” When he glanced over, David wasn’t smiling. “What?”
    â€œOn this land, Jack, I can touch your heart. I know you don’t understand, but we have the seven-year splits for a reason—seven years older or seven years younger, no one chooses outside those parameters. Gale girls get more powerful as they age, and we’re all attracted to power. That’s a potential for abuse the family’s chosen to guard against. We haven’t always been so civilized.”
    â€œThis from a man with antlers,” Jack muttered rolling his eyes. He hadn’t known he was a Gale until he was fourteen, so he got a lot of lectures on family dynamics his cousins had practically been born knowing.
    David spread his hands, the calluses and dirt making them darker than his forearms. “This from a man with a