CHAPTER ONE

"I hate to say this, but I kind of miss Gus," smirked Angel. "He was a solid, good man, and it broke my heart that he couldn't remember everything while he was here."

"He remembers now," grinned Gaspar. "He remembers everything now, and he knows the deaths of those people weren't his fault. Pops said he was happy when he left him."

"Left him where?" frowned Nine.

Gaspar shrugged laughing and shaking his head at the entire conversation. They were just getting used to the idea that their father was an angel and their mother was God knows what.

"I think we need to go out and check on the island animals," said Bull.

"Island animals? Is that what we're calling them now?" laughed Antoine.

"Well, your brother refuses to call it a zoo. I think animal sanctuary is a good one, but then again, we don't ever release the animals, so maybe it's an animal park."

"Could we not talk about animals," frowned Gaspar, rubbing his stomach. "Every time someone mentions an animal, another appears. It's my worst nightmare."

They were seated in the grove on Belle ?le, enjoying a break in the oppressive summer weather. After storms blew in the night before, the air was comfortable. Not cool. Not humid. Not scorching. Just a calm, comfortable summer morning.

Each man had his coffee, and there were plates of breakfast sandwiches, pastries, yogurt, and granola on the tables.

"Who the fuck ordered the granola?" frowned Miller.

"Me," said Baptiste. "I need to watch my cholesterol intake and be more aware of my diet."

"Are you sick?" asked Luc.

"No, I'm not sick. My last bloodwork showed it was slightly elevated, that's all. Riley gave me a lecture and told me to watch what I eat. The pond can only do so much. It's not a big deal. I've been eating a lot of fatty, fried shit lately. I'm good."

His brothers stared at him, his twin Rafe frowning in his direction. Baptiste laughed.

"I promise, y'all. I'm good. It's probably a good lesson for us all to watch what we eat. We're not invincible."

"Alright," nodded Miller, "I'll hold off on the jokes about the granola and yogurt."

They heard the sounds of grass rustling and a loud hiss and turned. Gaspar jumped, gripping his chest as Alvin stopped a few feet away. Trak knelt beside him, stroking his leathery head.

"He wants us to follow him," he said.

"Follow him? Follow him where?" moaned Gaspar. "Are we to take a dip in the swamp?"

"Don't be rude," frowned Trak. "He says that there is an animal in trouble."

Alvin took off and Trak followed, the others close behind. Gaspar just shook his head, not believing where they were in their lives. Following alligators.

"No worries, brother," said Ghost. "Just another normal day at Belle Fleur."

"Shit, he's fast," said Rafe, jogging after Trak and the gator.

"They can move very fast," said Dex. "It's why people are afraid of them. They look slow, but they're not."

When they reached the eastern side of the island, Alvin stopped, waiting for the humans to catch up. Trak stared at the water but didn't see what he was seeing. Then they all spotted it. A dorsal fin appeared in the waters.

"That's a fucking shark!" yelled Ian.

"Yes, but these aren't salt waters. He must have gotten lost in the Gulf during the storm. He's trapped in a fishing net," said Trak. He looked down at his alligator friend. "Alvin, tell him not to fear me. I'm going to cut him loose."

Gaspar looked around at the others, all staring at the shark in the water.

"Is no one fucking bothered by the fact that Trak is speaking to an alligator that is communicating with a shark! Do you understand the absurdity of this situation?" Baptiste smiled at his big brother, shaking his head.

"Careful, Gaspar. You may have to start eating yogurt and granola to bring down your blood pressure," he grinned. Gaspar whipped around at his brother.

"I will beat the shit out of you if you say that out loud again."

"Hold this," said Trak, handing his service weapon to Gaspar. "And this." He handed a small knife to Baptiste. Kicking off his shoes, he kneeled close to Alvin, touching his head. He nodded and then slid into the water.

At first, the shark flailed around, then the unthinkable happened. Trak touched his head and the shark calmed, rising to the surface to allow him to cut the net. Slowly, he took his knife, careful not to cut the shark, and released him.

When it was done, the shark seemed to just float at the top of the water. Alvin slid in behind Trak, and the others watched, concerned that their friend was going to become breakfast for the predators. Swimming to the edge, Nine helped him out of the water.

"Don't worry. Alvin is telling him the way to the Gulf. He's happy to go home now."

Trak just walked away, headed toward his home for dry clothing. While the others watched Alvin and the shark swimming in a circle together, Gaspar stared at his brothers, wondering if they'd all gone mad.

"So help me God, if that alligator is telling the shark that he can stay, we're eating shark steaks tonight." Gaspar stormed off, the others just laughing at him as the shark swam in the direction of the Gulf and salt water.

By the time they'd returned to the grove, Trak had changed and was eating breakfast as if nothing had happened.

"I appreciate the love of animals," smirked Bull, "but that was a shark, brother. A hammerhead. He was looking at you like you were dinner."

"He was looking at me for help. He wanted nothing to do with my flesh. He was frightened, lost, and dying with the lack of salt water. Alvin assured me I was safe."

"I need therapy," said Gaspar, shaking his head. Nine laughed, slapping his back.

"If you do, we all do. It's a strange world we live in, and the place we live is even stranger. It can't be helped, brother. We're going to see and hear things that others do not. I think it's kind of exciting. Something new every damn day. Keeps us all on our toes."

"Did Alvin give you any other secrets?" Gaspar asked Trak.

His dark eyes looked up, staring at his friend, wondering if he was being serious or sarcastic. Turned out he was being a bit of both.

"The lion's claws are coming in. He's very happy about that. He feels like his old self now but promises not to use them on anyone here."

"Great. That's great. Our elderly, toothless lion now has talons."

"Claws. They're called claws," said Trak with a serious face.

"What the fuck did I do in a previous life to deserve this?" His brothers all laughed, shaking their heads.

"Previous life? Brother, you did shit in this life that deserved this," laughed Miller. "We all have. Mama is about as strange as they come, but she loves more, harder, deeper than anyone I've ever met in my life. She's forgiven us for all the stupid shit we did as kids. Gabe digging up her irises, Alec eating the pies for the fair competition, Jean for submitting their tax returns he'd modified."

"The originals were wrong!" he exclaimed. "Geez, I was only nine. I thought I was helping."

"My point is we all did shit that deserves Mama and Pops' wrath. Just being in the Rangers and gone so long probably had them frazzled. I think we can put up with a few animals and strange happenings."

"A few animals? Pierre, we have an old toothless lion, a baby elephant, two tiger cubs, an alligator, a giraffe, several strange birds that I do not like, and at last count, more than a dozen dogs that are not going anywhere! We don't have a ‘few' animals. We have a fucking zoo!"

"You forgot the horses and llamas," said Alec, smiling at his oldest brother.

"Llamas?"

"Oh, shit," he muttered to Tailor.

"I got you, man. Hide behind me," he said to his oversized friend.

"Why do I get so frustrated by this? Why do a few animals make me so crazy?" he exclaimed, thrusting his hand through his hair.

"Because you care," smirked Ghost. "You care about all of us, Gaspar. Maybe we don't tell you often enough how appreciative we are that you do care. The animals are insignificant, brother. They add character to a place that feeds off of character. As long as we don't have to worry about bad guys, then I'm cool with a few animals."

"I agree with Ghost," said Ian. "The other day, after all that rain, the frogs were out in full force. It was like a fucking frog invasion. I thought I was drunk for a minute, but sure enough, Alvin started walking around, and before I knew it, there were dozens of frogs on his back. I don't know where he took them, but they were gone, and my beautiful wife wasn't afraid to leave the house."

"Don't you think it's strange that your wife was afraid of frogs and not alligators?" grimaced Gaspar. Ian shrugged, laughing at his friend.

"As long as she's not afraid of me, I'm good with it."

Gaspar just shook his head, everyone laughing at his plight. One day, he would understand that he had zero control over anything that happened.

"Alright, let's get to business."