O’Malley shrugged his shoulders, and Roger smiled thinly. “Barbeque. Zombie flambe’.”

“Ewww.” Marian looked around. “Anyone hurt?”

“No” answered O’Malley. “Roger fried them before anything got out of hand.”

Marian nodded then glanced back a Wally, who was leaning against the car. “I had to pick up Wally today. Cops said he’d fallen down, and when I got there, he said he’d had a pain in his chest. Like some weird burning sensation.”

Roger raised hies eyebrows, then peered at Wally Allen. “He doesn’t look hurt. Kids like him have all sorts of things pushing them one way or another.”

O’Malley, walked off the porch and over to Wally. “What’s this about chest pains?” he said quietly.

Wally reddened, then shrugged awkwardly, which made O’Malley frown and step closer to Wally. “Don’t think about toughing it out, Allen. Chest pain’s are a big deal. You don’t hide this, not from us. Now what happened.”

Wally gave the stocky sergeant a sour look but began talking. He explained about the attack that morning doing laundry, then the second one while he was running. As O’Malley listened, his face became more concerned. “Wally, I think we really need to find someone who can look you over right. I’ll get Doc Zylgy to give you a checkup, as much as he can. There’s just no telling at this point what’s going on, and you need to talk to us when this crap happens. Got me?”

Wally blew out a breath, then looked at the sergeant. “I hear you. If anything happens you’ll know.”

As Wally pushed away from the car, he watched O’Malley slow down to a bare crawl, then seemingly stop. A leaf hung in the breeze, suspended in mid-air. Wally looked at the leaf for a moment, then grabbed at his wrist. Is it happening again?! To his relief, and puzzlement, his heart pumped strongly, with no sense of a burning in his chest. As he looked back at the leaf, and then at Marian, caught mid-step, a feminine giggle sounded behind him. The surprise had him spinning in place even as he recognized the voice.

Summer was here. She stood about three steps away as he completed turning around. A half head shorter than he, her skin was tanned like she’d been lounging at a beach for weeks. Her sleeveless shirt clung to her, it’s golden color highlighting her skin. Her long hair hung over one shoulder, trailing to her waist in a riotous shade of blonde and gold. The blue jean shorts barely were long enough to cover her hips. As he stared at her, Winter stepped from behind summer, to stand next to her.

Winter’s pale skin was contrasted by the deep blue sleeveless tee shirt. She had piercings of silver rings in her lip, right ear, and left eyebrow. The White blue jeans and bare feet finished her razor-edged look. Winter and Summer had started out as identical twins, changelings. When they’d chosen, both had chose life with the fae, though each had chosen different sides. They were often used as recruiters or part-time emissaries for the courts, as despite the hostility the Winter and Summer courts had for each other, the twins sibling connection was stronger than the enmity.

“Wally, we’ve come to ask something important of you.” They spoke in unison, voices blending together in a natural harmony. Icy soprano and heated contralto. They’d been more or less his constant companions and major irritants for the last two years.

“Ask me what?”