Chapter Forty-Five
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READING UNTIL JUST before midnight as usual, Grace put her book down, then headed to the front entrance. She stepped outside and scanned the skies, searching for a blazing gold comet. Ten minutes passed and she didn’t see any meteors. While she was disappointed, she wasn’t surprised.
“Cat’s great-granny is right,” the teen murmured as she returned to her bedroom. “Her destiny did lie in the stars and all of us cambions share the same fate.”
The newest couple had spent three hours in their bedroom before they’d emerged. They didn’t care that they’d missed their own bonding day party. Ram had become thirsty after devouring all of the chocolates. Cat made him some coffee and the females had gathered in the kitchen to hear her story.
Zoe had been eager to hear more about the ancient oracle. She had a feeling they would all get to meet Granny Blaze one day. Grace was already looking forward to it, although it would probably be a long way off yet.
Grace crossed to her window to stare outside.
Her view was partially blocked by trees, but she could see part of the sky.
She gazed at the stars, trying to picture her knight and failing.
He was still trapped in the Void, unaware that his entire life would change when he suddenly found himself back on Earth again.
She couldn’t wait to meet him, but all of the signs indicated she would still have a long wait ahead of her.
Yawning, the youngest cambion changed into her sleepwear, then went to bed.
It seemed far too big with only her in it.
A scratching noise came at her door a couple of minutes later.
She got up to let Angel in, glad the feline had chosen her for company this time.
It was weird, but the kitten always seemed to know when someone was feeling down.
“Maybe Fate gave Angel the ability to cheer us up,” she joked, snuggling against the loudly purring feline.
The next morning, Ramiel was scowling when he joined his brothers in the large training room.
“What’s wrong, Ram?” Kochab asked with a small grin. “You’re looking a bit sour, brother.”
“I had to take my first shiz halfway through the night,” Ramiel said, which made the males howl with laughter.
Amaros managed to mute the room moments before they could wake everyone up.
They removed their muting spells when they woke up, so they could hear it if anything went wrong in the bedrooms.
“Welcome to the new era of being a happily mated Knight of Order,” Semiaza said, grinning widely.
“It’s worth suffering our daily humiliating bodily functions if it means we can remain here with our beautiful mates,” Jac said. The others all nodded in agreement, then split into pairs to begin combat training.
Amaros went to check on his son, since they had eleven warriors now and their numbers were uneven.
Arak woke up as soon as he entered the nursery.
Scooping the baby into his arms, the commander wrinkled his nose.
“Thank Fate we have Sinai,” he murmured, then removed his son’s clothing and got rid of his nappy.
Like all of the used temporary items Sin created, it would vanish from the trashcan outside near the back door soon.
Zoe liked to dress their infant in blue, so he bathed Arakiel and chose an appropriate outfit.
Arak studied his father in silence, patiently waiting for the milk to become warm enough to drink when they reached the kitchen.
His inner rage was always contained as long as one of his parents was near.
He cried hard enough to shake the walls whenever he woke up to find himself alone.
Tolas entered the kitchen, holding his tiny daughter. “Don’t tell Wynter this, but I’m terrified Nova will accidentally freeze her bathwater and damage herself one day,” he whispered.
Amaros felt for his brother. Their children were the first pair of an entirely new breed.
Arak and Nova could already use magic and their skills could be deadly.
“Wyn is attuned to Nova, just as Zoe is attuned to Arak,” Amaros reminded him.
“They both know when our babies are about to use their powers. Wynter will be able to control the water and prevent it from freezing around your daughter.”
Relieved that his fears had been put to rest, Tol gave his boss a grateful smile. They chatted while they fed their children and waited for their mates to wake up.
Queegly turned up shortly after the knights and cambions had shared breakfast together. “Have I missed the show?” he asked when he ambled into the kitchen.
“What show?” Zoe asked in confusion.
“Cat’s going to show off her talents, isn’t she?” the Texan asked. He poured himself a mug of coffee and added cream and sugar. Sin kept his fridge and freezer fully stocked as well as their own kitchen.
“This is going to be awesome,” Xan predicted. She was jealous that she didn’t have a flashy talent, but her intelligence was just as big a skill as her gift with electronics.
“My mate has incredible acrobatic skills as well as being pyrokinetic,” Ramiel said proudly.
“Do you have any throwing knives?” Cat asked. Long used to putting on a show, she wanted this one to be memorable.
“I’ll get you everything you need!” Grace volunteered, shooting up from her chair. The pair hurried from the room, heading to the armory.
“I guess training will be put on hold this morning,” Vic said with an eyeroll.
“What a shame,” Bri said, then sensed her trainer’s amusement. The emotion manipulator was enjoying learning how to fight more effectively. Xanthia was the only female who lacked an aptitude for combat.
“Is that it?” Grace asked half an hour later. They’d set up an area in front of the base for their newest sister to put on her performance.
“I think so,” Caterina said, turning in a slow circle to take it all in. “You can call the others to come and watch now.”
Grace squealed in glee, then raced over to open the door. “Get out here!” she shouted. “The show is about to start!”
Everyone stampeded to the front entrance and she darted to the side so she didn’t get trampled in the rush.
Zoe and Wynter brought up the rear, carrying their children. Queegly was last and shut the door behind him. He’d retrieved his cowboy hat and pulled it down low to shield his eyes from the hot sun.
“This would be better if it was dark, but I’ll do my best to entertain you,” Cat said, then she began her routine.
Grace turned on a radio she’d brought outside. She’d put a disc in it and the music had them tapping their feet or dancing in place.
Cat had changed into form fitting clothes and had a belt wrapped around her slender waist. Throwing knives in sheaths encircled her.
In tandem with the music, she tossed knives with deadly accuracy at the targets they’d set up while doing backflips, cartwheels and other acrobatic stunts. Everyone watched in rapt wonder.
When her knives ran out, she began tossing small fireballs at the targets. One missed and hit a tree just behind the target. Wynter sent a small jet of water towards the blaze to put it out. “I did that on purpose,” Cat lied, then snickered as she continued to flip through the air.
“That was amazing, Cat,” Zoe said when the music ended and everyone applauded.
Out of breath, Caterina bowed to the small crowd. “I had an idea while I was performing that routine,” she said, then crossed to the garage. Grace had shown her and her mate their names that they’d written on the concrete.
Crowding around behind her, everyone watched as she harnessed her power again. This time, she didn’t conjure up a fireball. Instead, she knelt down and placed her palm next to the last name that had been added. To their amazement, the concrete became so hot that it turned soft.
Camriel rushed to the shed and returned with a plank of wood. “Quick, everyone who hasn’t engraved your names yet, do it now!” he urged them while keeping the slab’s shape intact with the plank.
Everyone who’d missed out waited for their turn to write their names with a stick. Cat moved to the right, heating the concrete slowly. It hardened again as soon as she withdrew her magic from it when they were done.
“What about you, Queeg?” Grace asked. “Aren’t you going to write your name down?”
“I was thinking I could write mine near yours, kiddo,” the Texan said.
She grinned and motioned for Caterina to follow her. “I was the first one to engrave my name,” she said and pointed at it.
Zoe and Amaros had left a space next to Grace’s name, knowing her knight would turn up one day. Queegly wasn’t about to use the blank spot, instead, he pointed to the left of Grace’s name. “I’ll take that spot right there,” he decided.
“It’s not on the same side as ours,” the kid said. Their names were all on the right side of the garage. His would be on the front side.
“I’m just a human rather than a knight,” the oracle said. “Angel and I will be happy to have our names on this corner.”
Cat used her magic to soften the concrete, then Queegly engraved his name in it. Sin wrote her kitten’s name down as well, then pressed one of her paws next to it.
“What about little Arak and Nova?” Qi asked. “Where will their names go?”
“Let’s wait until all of the knights and cambions have arrived before we decide where to write their names,” Zoe decided.
She glanced at the Mad Prophet to see he was watching Arakiel with a brooding expression.
It was partly pitying and partly sorrowful, as if he could see something in her son’s future that she couldn’t.
He avoided her gaze as they all headed back inside.
Her hunch that something bad was coming had just become far worse.