"Good morning, mi ángel, how are-"

"Mercedes," Syl cut him off, staring at the floor. Her hands wrung together. "Can I talk to you for a minute please?" She turned and left, wanting to get out of there, away from Miguel before she wrecked the first friendship she'd had in years. She heard Mercedes follow her, turned sharply toward her in the hall. Suddenly she started crying. Mercedes's eyes widened a little in alarm and she took Syl into her arms.

"What's wrong?" she soothed. "What's wrong, chica?"

"I have to go away," Syl said, pulling back and wiping at her eyes. "Just for a few days. A week at the most. I wanted to tell you so you wouldn't worry."

"Where are you going?"

"Not too far," she answered, fidgeting. The door to Mercedes's apartment opened and Miguel came out, looking concerned. Syl stared at him, the muscles rippling under his skin. Why did it have to be so hot out? Why couldn't he put a shirt on, or a parka? Yes, a parka would do nicely to hide that beautiful, healthy, manly body that she'd like to-

"Okay, I have to go," Syl cut her thoughts off hurriedly, turning away from them, struggling with her key in its lock.

"What's wrong with you, are you on drugs?" Mercedes asked, opening the door for her. Syl laughed a little, walked inside.

"I wish," she threw over her shoulder, closing the door behind her and gathering together some stuff. She picked up her phone, steadied her breathing, tried to stop fidgeting. She dialled Zack's number, not the contact number that would give her a machine but his emergency line. He answered before the first ring finished.

"It's Syl," she said.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately.

"Nothing, I'm fine." When she said that, she heard annoyance enter his voice.

"This is an emergency line, Syl," he said. "It's for emergencies."

"Oh," she feigned stupidity. "Really? I'll have to remember that."

"You should-" Zack's voice suddenly cut off.

"Hey there!" Perky, why did she always have to be so perky? Syl was not in the mood for cheeriness.

"Hi, Jondy," she said, rubbing her fingers against her temples.

"What's up, what's new, how goes it?"

"What?" Syl was having trouble concentrating. "Oh, I was actually wanting to talk to Zack." There was a pause.

"Oh," Jondy said finally, her voice flat. "Fine."

"What's up, Syl?" Zack's voice came back.

"Tell Jondy I'm sorry. Listen Zack, I'm in heat again." She flushed slightly; even the sound of his voice was making her want to jump through the line and- "Anyway," she hurried on when the silence on the other end of the line grew uncomfortable. "I wanted to know if Krit's still in Colorado."

"You're going there?" Zack sounded surprised.

"If I can make it."

"Do you need me to drive-" he began automatically, then stopped. Syl smiled in spite of how tense she was feeling.

"That would be a laugh. Is he where I left him?"

"Yeah." Zack rattled off an address in Grand Junction where she'd had her last run-in with Krit.

"Thanks," she said. "I'll talk to you later. Really, tell Jondy I'm sorry."

"I will. Take care of yourself."

"You too." She hung up, flexed her shaking fingers, then grabbed some stuff together and left her apartment. Across the street some young men were working on a construction site, but they stopped to whistle at her. She smiled at them, took an automatic step in that direction, glad for the chain-link fence separating them. Then she shook her head, forced herself to her truck, climbed in. She locked the doors- as if that would stop her- and stuck the key in the ignition. It was a sixteen-hour drive to Grand Junction, but she figured she could make it in ten; she just hoped she got there, and that Krit would be home when she arrived.


On some level, Syl knew it was crazy to be going to see Krit for something like this. Sure, the last time she'd mumbled something about how being with him was the best cycle she'd ever had, and that she'd 'like to do it again sometime.' But did that give her the right to just show up at his apartment and- Hey, screw his rights. Screw him. Syl laughed a little at her own pun, her hands tapping away. Her mind wouldn't stop whirring, though. The problem was really, she supposed, that Krit was her brother.

"My brother," she said aloud as she entered Nevada, testing the words on her tongue. Oddly she didn't feel as ashamed or frightened by them as she'd thought. "Probably the pheromones messing with my system. So he's my brother. So what? I can't control myself and as soon as I get into Colorado he won't be able to either. When we wake up we can go back to the way things were before." She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, played with the radio dial. "Hey, it'll be fine," she said, then stopped for a moment. "Hey, I should stop talking to myself."

Syl dug around in her purse, found her cellular phone, dialled Jondy's number. No answer. Probably better that way, too. If Zack even knew she had Jondy's number he'd be very annoyed, maybe even move her, and Syl didn't want that. Amongst the eleven of them, most of them knew where at least one or two of the others were, and so you could pretty much track down anyone you wanted if you had to. Ben and Max were the only ones completely cut off, and Syl suspected she was the only one Zack had told that Max was even out. She'd heard Jondy lament about losing Maxie under the ice that night, and Syl had wanted to say something, but everything she and Zack told each other was understood to be in confidence. She knew Zack kept both Max and Ben from them, Ben for obvious reasons, but Syl didn't know why he hid Max. He hadn't even made contact with her himself, kept saying he would if he needed to. It baffled Syl, but she didn't ask questions about something that was obviously confusing to even Zack himself.


Syl hit a bit of an impasse in Utah, her main problem being that she now had about an eighth of her mind on the road and the rest on... other things. And she knew she needed at least a quarter of her mind on the road if she wanted to live through a trip. That car accident with Zane hadn't been fun and she wasn't looking for a repeat.

Oh, she groaned suddenly. Zane. I should have called and told him I was leaving. She reached for her cell phone again, dialled his number.

"Hello?" a woman's voice answered. Syl smiled.

"This wouldn't happen to be Lydia?" she asked. If her head was clear she wouldn't have been that stupid.

"No. Who's Lydia? Who is this?" The girl's voice cut off and Zane came on the line.

"Hello?" Oh, his voice was so sexy. She forced that thought away. She was already targeting one brother, she didn't need to-

"It's Syl," she said quickly. "I'm just calling you to let you know I'll be out of town for about a week, in case you call."

"Slow down, Syl, you're speaking like you've had about sixty-five cups of coffee."

"Stop talking," she growled without meaning to. Zane paused.

"What?"

"Sorry," she said through gritted teeth, trying to get a mental picture of a naked Zane out of her mind. "You just sound so good."

"Syl," he said. "Are you in heat or just crazy?"

"The latter," she mumbled, the paused. "No, wait, the first one." Zane laughed.

"I'd better let you go, then."

"What happened to Lydia?" she asked, trying to get her mind off his looks.

"It's a long story that I doubt you can concentrate on right now."

"Thanks, Zane," she said seriously, glad he hadn't tried to tell her anyway.

"No problem." There was a smile in his voice. "Call me back in a few days when you're you again."

"Okay. Later."

"Mmm-hmm, bye Syl." The phone clicked and she glanced up, swerved the truck as it nearly went off the road. All she could think of was men and sex and more men and more sex and she wasn't driving straight but she didn't care and how the hell far away was she from Grand Junction, anyway? The truck nearly went off the road again, but Syl caught out of the corner of her eye a 'Welcome to Salt Lake City' sign just before it whipped by.

"Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City," she mumbled, her mind like soup. "Who lives..." She grabbed her cell phone, dialled.

"Hello?" a man's voice answered. Syl forced the purr out of her voice.

"Is Penny there?" she asked.

"One second please," he said, put his hand over the receiver. He yelled, "Penny!" Syl sighed a little; the guy could yell. That meant big lungs, which meant big chest, which meant broad shoulders, which meant long legs, which meant big feet, which meant a big-

"Hello?"

"Tinga, thank God you're home!"

"Syl?"

"Yeah."

"What's wrong?"

"Will you meet me somewhere?"

"There's a park about a block from my house." Tinga knew to ask questions later. She rattled off an address and Syl had to actually write it down to remember it. Tinga's voice was laced with worry.

"Charlie's just heading to work," she said. "So he'll drop me off."

"Whatever," Syl said, then, "Sorry." She felt a little bad, thinking that probably her sister was worried about someone being hurt or captured or whatever. But no, it was just Syl, in heat and climbing the walls. "I'll see you there," she said, and hung up.


"You smell funny," Tinga's son Case said in his toddler's voice, making Syl laugh despite her agitation. Obviously the boy could smell her pheromones though he had no idea what they were. She'd never seen him before, wished they could have met under better circumstances.

"Go play on the monkey bars, okay, baby? I'll come get you in a minute," Tinga said, smiling at her son. He nodded, ran off. Tinga kept an eye on him as she turned back to her sister.

"I see what the problem is," she said, her dark eyes sympathetic. "Look at you, you're a mess." She touched Syl's hair soothingly and Syl fell into her arms, happy and relieved to see her and nearly crying with the frustration of not being able to do anything about her heat.

"Oh, God," she groaned. "I didn't make it, it came too fast. Too strong. And then I remembered you were here in Salt Lake and-"

"Shshsh," Tinga soothed, rubbing her back. "Make it where?"

"To Colorado," she forced out, pulling back from her sister and pacing. "To Krit." Tinga's eyes widened a little; her gentle hand fell against Syl's arm, stopping her for a moment.

"Krit?"

"Yeah. He's..." Syl stopped, bit her lip. "He's my..." What? Heat-cycle-guy? Sex toy? What? She stood there not saying anything, but Tinga caught on anway.

"I see," she said. There wasn't any disapproval in her voice, Syl was glad to note. She really couldn't have handled that right now.

"I didn't know who else to go to," Syl continued, pacing again. "I don't want to sleep with a stranger, Tinga, I don't. I haven't done that since two cycles ago, almost a year ago. Last time me and Krit-" She stopped again, flushed slightly. Her sister nodded immediately.

"You can stay with me."

"No, I'd be too afraid. With your husband- I wouldn't want to accidentally..."

"Right," Tinga said slowly. "Of course." She brightened a little, her dark eyes as cheerful as Syl remembered them. "I'll take you."

"To Colorado? But you've got your son to take care of."

"One of my neighbours can take him for a few hours." Tinga smiled. "I've wanted to get out of the house for a while now. You can tell me all about what you've been doing."

"I don't think I'll be very good company," Syl said, smiling at Tinga and laying her head on her shoulder. "But thank you."

"We should leave now," Tinga said, turned toward the monkey bars. "You've gotten worse since we've been standing here. Case!"

"He's beautiful," Syl said as she raised her head again, gazed at the child heading toward them.

"Thank you." Tinga looked so happy as Case rejoined them. "Why didn't you come before?" Syl shrugged, uncomfortable for more reasons than just her heat now.

"No time," she lied. Tinga accepted this though she looked a little hurt, led Syl back to where she'd parked. She drove Syl to her apartment and stepped out of her truck, Case in her arms.

"Don't go anywhere," she said through the open window, smiling a little. Syl nodded and gripped the seats, staring down into her lap in case any men passed by and tempted her. Tinga emerged again after what seemed like an eternity, this time without Case, and slid into the seat beside her.

"I called Charlie, told him it was an emergency," she said, then glanced sideways at Syl. "Where to?"

"Grand Junction, it's just over the border, about a five hour drive from here." Syl handed her a paper with Krit's address, glanced tensely at her, fidgeting. "Three if you step on it." Tinga smiled and nodded, gunning the engine.

"I'm on it."

* * *

"Thank you, thank you thank you," Syl said as she jumped out of the truck even before Tinga could bring it to a complete stop, running around to the driver's side, extremely agitated. She hugged her sister through the open window. "I owe you so much, Tinga, I'm so sorry I wasn't better company."

"Don't worry about it," she laughed, her dark eyes dancing in the starlight. "Just get in there and wake Krit up like I'm sure he wants to be woken up." Syl could barely stop herself from rubbing her hands together in anticipation as she grinned huge. Then with another hug for Tinga she turned and ran toward Krit's apartment block, shaking with pent-up tension as she climbed up to his second-storey bedroom window and let herself in. She saw him asleep in the bed, the moonlight over his face, more gorgeous than she'd remembered, and prowled toward him, bouncing onto the bed and straddling his hips, already kissing him hotly. His eyes snapped open and she felt him tense for a moment before realizing who it was and smiling against her lips. He inhaled her scent and his breathing became slightly shallow.

"I've been expecting you for almost a week," he said, surprising her. He grabbed her shoulders and rolled them over. "You did say we were going to do this again and I knew you were due." Krit grinned down at her and she reached for his chin, bringing him down for another kiss as her other hand pulled hastily at her clothes.

"You're certainly in a hurry tonight," he said, his eyes already darkening and his movements becoming quick and determined as the scent of her washed over him.

"Krit," she managed, pressing a hand over his mouth as he opened it to say something more. He smiled against her fingers, nipped one.

"What?" he asked, causing her to smile a little herself in spite of all the agitation she was feeling.

"Shut the hell up." He grinned at her and helped her with his shirt.


It was a heavy cycle this time, five days long, and for only the second time in her life, both with him, Syl didn't feel ashamed about what she was doing. They barely left the bed, and Krit ended up losing his job for not showing up or calling in. He swore to her that it was worth all of it, though.