Chapter Thirty-Nine
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GRACE COULD SENSE THE tension more acutely than the others.
She knew how upset her best friend was. The silence was thick enough to chew on and no one knew what to say.
The teen poked Angel in the side, waking the kitten from her nap.
Opening her mouth, Angel yowled loudly. “Aww, someone’s hungry again,” Grace said.
“I’d better feed her,” Sinai said, standing up almost too quickly in her eagerness to flee from the great room. She scooped her pet up on the way out.
Grace got up and stretched, then casually sauntered out of the room.
Once she was out of sight, she hurried to the south wing.
Arakiel had slept through the noise they’d made even though he had supernatural hearing.
His tiny forehead was wrinkled. She knew he was sensing his mom’s emotions while he slept.
Picking the baby up, Grace carried him to the great room. A gentle nudge woke the little tyke up. He began to cry just before she reached her destination. “Someone needs a nappy change,” the kid sang, handing the infant to his mom.
Zoe instantly melted when she took her son in her arms. “Did you make a big stinky, little man?” she cooed. Arak stopped crying and his dark eyes stared at her in fascination.
Amaros gave the littlest cambion a grateful nod for breaking the tension. “Let’s get our son cleaned up, love,” he said, rising and helping his mate to her feet.
Conversations started up and the knights and cambions split up to choose their entertainment for the night. Grace ambled to the kitchen, glad the gloom had lifted from their base.
Queegly followed her a minute later. “All of the cambions have impressive talents, but yours has to be the most unique,” the Mad Prophet said.
He leaned against the stunning countertop Zoe had appropriated from the nearby resort.
Mostly white and gray, it was threaded with black streaks that were speckled with gold flecks.
“I guess it is kind of weird that I can steal things that are precious to people and run fast in short spurts,” Grace agreed.
“It’s not those talents I’m talking about, kiddo,” he said, keeping his voice down so the others couldn’t hear him. “It’s your other skill that’s so special.”
“I don’t have any other skills,” she said with a frown as she went about making drinks for everyone.
“Yeah, you do,” the Texan said. “You share a similar talent to Zoe and me.”
“I can’t see the future or the past,” the kid scoffed.
“You can see the present, which is pretty damn rare,” Queegly said.
Grace gave him a strange look as she began boiling water to make tea and coffee. “Everyone who has eyes can see what’s happening in the present, Queeg.”
He chuckled at her skeptical tone. “How do you think you always know what to do to defuse tension, stop fights from happening and generally keep everyone happy?”
She shrugged, then turned to lean against the counter as well. “I don’t know,” she confessed. “I just always seem to know what needs to be done to keep the peace.”
“How long have you known what to do and what to say to keep people happy, Grace?” the seer asked shrewdly.
Grace thought back to the past she wished she could forget. “Right back to when I was just a little kid,” she realized. “I always figured it was just a survival tactic.”
“It was,” Queegly said in sympathy. “But it’s evolved into so much more now. Zoe is the matriarch of your family, but you’re the heart that keeps this place beating, Gracelyn Doblin.”
A lump formed in Grace’s throat. She’d never felt like she played an important role in their base before. Maybe she wasn’t such a pathetic loser after all if the Mad Prophet himself saw so much in her. “You really think so?” she asked, hoping he wasn’t just trying to make her feel better.
“I know so,” he said firmly. “Your talent lies in knowing how to keep the harmony, but it could also work the opposite way.”
Grace frowned at that thought. “I’d never deliberately make trouble for my family,” she protested. The thought of causing a rift was abhorrent to her.
“I don’t doubt that for a second, little sister,” he agreed. “I know you’re a good kid.” He held his arms out and she stepped into his hug, wondering why he’d brought that last part up. With a wink, he released her, then sauntered back to the great room.
Raised voices caught her attention and she rolled her eyes when she realized what the topic was.
“I’m just saying it would be nice if GG and Dalt could come here to visit us occasionally, Victoria!” Wynter said in exasperation. “I’m not saying they should move into our base!”
“And I’m saying over my dead body!” Vic retorted hotly. “It’s bad enough I can only visit the skating rink once a month. Now you want Cam and me to leave our own home for a few hours once a week so your blonde bimbo of a bestie can visit you here!”
“I don’t want you two to leave,” Wyn snapped. “I want you to get over your childish feud with GG!”
“Oh, boy,” Grace muttered, practically sensing Vic’s fury rising.
“I don’t have to listen to this,” their trainer said and stomped out of the room.
“Hey, Vic, can you give me a hand for a second?” Grace called out before the tall, muscular female could go for one of her long runs.
Veering into the kitchen, Vic put her hands on her hips and glared at her. “What do you need a hand with?” she demanded.
“I’m too short to reach the popcorn on the top shelf of the pantry,” Grace said innocently. “You have arms like an orangutan, so you’ll be able to reach them for me.”
Vic’s lips twitched in reluctant amusement at the insult, then she gave a mock growl. “You little brat!” she shouted, then Grace took off running with a squeal that was part glee and part terror.
Using her speed that no one else could match, Grace managed to evade Vic for a couple of minutes.
The other females were laughing in delight at the crazy chase.
The knights did their best not to get in their way.
Cam was grateful to his favorite sister for distracting his enraged mate.
He trotted after them when Vic finally grabbed the teen and raced towards the lake.
Shrieking at the top of her lungs, Grace was spun around wildly over her trainer’s head before being tossed into the water.
“That never gets old!” she exclaimed when she came up for air.
Treading water, she saw Cam coming with a towel.
“Holy shiz!” the teen said. “I’ve just had the most awesome idea! ”
Vic was grinning and her bad mood was just a memory now. “What crazy scheme have you come up with this time, shorty?” she asked.
Camriel waited for Grace to swim to shore before handing her the towel. “Thanks, big brother,” she said, giving him a quick hug. “Take Vic inside and keep her occupied for an hour,” she ordered. “Send Wyn and Sin to the lake. Get them to bring the coffee I was making with them, too.”
“You speak and I obey,” Cam joked. He picked his mate up and tossed her over his shoulder before she could protest, then he teleported Vic back inside.
“This is going to be so amazing,” Grace said, drying her soaked hair with the towel.
The duplicator and water manipulator arrived a few minutes later, carrying three mugs. They’d opted to walk rather than getting their knights to teleport them. “What’s this all about?” Wynter asked. Nova was asleep in her nursery and she knew Tolas would check up on their daughter frequently.
“I’ve just come up with a great idea,” Grace said and launched into her plan.
“I love it!” Sinai declared, instantly onboard with the idea.
“Me, too,” Wynter agreed with a grin. “Let’s get to work, girls.” It was dark now, so Sin conjured up some lights to mark the perimeter of their worksite.
An hour later, Cam and Vic returned to the lake and they weren’t alone. Everyone had come to see the scheme Grace had cooked up.
“It’s just a wall of ice,” Jac said in disappointment when he saw the opaque barrier that stretched from left to right.
“Show them, Wyn,” Grace said, beaming with proud joy.
Wynter melted the thin wall of ice and waved her hand at the new entertainment area the trio had created. “Ta da!” she said with a grin.
Vic’s face lit up when she saw a section of the lake had become frozen.
“We can ice skate now!” she said, then whooped with joy.
Sin had created a bunch of picnic tables over to the left.
Fairy lights were strung up on tall poles to mark the edges of the ice, making it even more magical.
Sin had created enough ice skates for them all and had conjured up racks to put them in.
“We’ll have to take the skates inside when we’re done,” Sinai said. “They’re the same sizes as our roller skates, so they should fit us.”
“We can leave them in the mud room near the back door,” Zoe decided.
“This is awesome, girls,” Vic said, moved almost to tears by the effort they’d put in.
Wynter accepted her apologetic hug, forgiving her trainer’s surliness.
She could easily melt and refreeze part of the lake whenever they wanted her to.
They just needed to take the fairy lights down and put them back up again each time.
Grace was already pulling her skates on.
She was the first to test the ice. Once again, she quickly picked up how to ice skate and zoomed around the freezing surface.
“We should have worn winter clothes,” she said ruefully.
Her t-shirt and cut off jean shorts were damp from her swim and she was shivering.
“Get over here, short stuff,” Sin said with an eye roll. She used her skill to duplicate the clothes the kid was wearing, putting them on her beneath her current outfit.
“That was awesome,” Grace said in amazement, then hurriedly removed the damp t-shirt. “Can you tear my shorts off, Eze?” she asked Sin’s mate.
“If any other female had asked my mate that question, I’d rip her arms off,” Sinai said wryly.
Ezequiel grinned as he waited for the teen to unzip the top pair of shorts. He ripped them apart with a quick yank while his female held Grace steady on her skates.
“Thanks, guys!” the teen said.
“Hang on,” Sin said in a chiding tone, then held out her hand. A snow-white mink coat appeared a moment later. “Don’t worry, it’s fake fur,” she said before Grace could become upset that any innocent animals had died to create the original coat.
Pulling the coat on, Grace instantly felt warmer. “I’m keeping this,” she said in admiration, stroking the soft fur. “Come on, slowpoke!” she called out to Vic. “What’s taking you so long, Grandma?”
Vic finished pulling her skates on and began gliding around on the ice.
“This is even better than roller skating,” she said in a gloating tone.
Now she could have fun without feeling like a monster.
GG and Dalt were teleported to a nearby warehouse for a date night or to visit Pastor Hogan for a few hours once a month so she could skate.
They visited him weekly anyway, so it was a bonus for them.
Wynter always gave Vic sour glances when her bestie was kicked out of her own home, though.
Zooming over to Grace, she picked the teen up again and spun her around over her head.
“Wee!” the kid shouted in glee. Her arms and legs were spread out like a starfish with the fake mink coat flaring out around her.
Losing her balance, Vic accidentally let go of Grace. Arkas lurched into motion and raced across the slippery ice. He caught the littlest cambion just before she could sail past the fairy lights and plunge into the dark water.
“Good catch, Ark!” Oak called out, proud of her mate’s quick thinking.
Queegly caught Grace’s eye when she was placed back on her feet. They shared a conspiratorial grin. They were the only two beings who were aware of the true nature of the teen’s special talent.