Chapter Twenty-Eight
After the meeting with the Elders, where no one could explain the time discrepancies, they eventually chalked it up to the strange chaos surrounding everything lately, Roz portaled them all to Stephen’s Deli for a bite to eat.
As she watched her friends talking and joking amongst themselves, she sat back and enjoyed the laughter.
She had a feeling it wouldn’t be long, and these carefree moments may be few and far between.
She watched Killian and Bréagha as they bickered like always, and grinned.
Yes, those two were the perfect Guardian/Sentinel pair.
She might not have put them together, but they did make more sense than anyone else.
Liam was too gentle while Cathal was too much of a joker and would feed into Bréagha’s crazy.
Aiden was too much like Bréagha and far too indulgent with her.
Killian didn’t take anything Bréagha gave without pushing back and challenging her.
She did the same for him but in a way that gentled him. Yes, the Garden chose well.
They all looked up when the door of the deli opened, yelling out a greeting when it was Jaxx and his team.
Bracken and Mason pushed another table up to the one everyone else was sitting at.
Roz could’ve helped, but she learned a while ago there were some things that she needed to let the men do, it made them feel manly or something.
Bréagha caught her eye and waved her wand, pulling out Bracken and Travis’s chairs as they started to sit.
She covered her mouth and tried to hide her giggle with a cough but failed, both Sentinels yelped as they fell to the ground.
“Damn it, Bréagha, that’s not fair! Someone, take that damn wand away from her,” grumbled Bracken as he rubbed his ass before taking a firm grip on his chair and sitting down, glaring down the table at the giggling Guardian.
“No touchie my Soul-Bonded!” chirped Sperwa from her place enjoying a bowl of assorted fruit Stephen had taken to keeping in stock just for her. She eyed the Sentinel with a side-eyed glare which made Bréagha and Roz laugh even harder.
Jaxx shook his head and hit Bracken on the back of the head. “No touchie Sperwa’s soul-bonded! Ask Aiden what happens when you do.”
“You get flamed is what happens. I swear half of my eyebrows have been singed, and I used to have another inch of hair on this side!” Aiden explained, pointing to the right side of his hair which did seem to be a bit shorter than the other side.
“Well, did you find the flower?” Jaxx asked once him and his team had placed their order with Stephen. “You were gone a very long time.”
“Don’t get us started on that,” groaned Liam. Cathal gave the other team a brief overview of what went down, with a few interruptions from Bréagha or Killian when it came to their “trial”. The other team looked stunned once the story was finished.
“Did you make any progress with the sacred grove thing?” asked Killian, grinning at the look on his brother’s face.
“Huh? Um, no. Kat and Isadora have been helping us go through books. There are several places in the Garden that are considered sacred areas: the Spirit Grove, the Soul Keepers hall, the Heart of the Garden where the Lunara trees grow, but we all agreed it had to be a hidden place. Right?”
Killian chuckled and ran his hands through his hair and across his face which had a few days of stubble. He shrugged.
“I have no clue at this point. Logically? Yes. But nothing about this has really been all that logical, right?” he asked.
“Maybe we should visit a few of them, see what may feel right?” suggested Roz, and Bréagha nodded.
“That’s probably what we’ll need to do. I’m sure the other realms may be a bit more hidden, but the Garden is small and there isn’t much that hasn’t been seen at least once.
Even the “hidden” space for the seeds had been seen by Kat.
I doubt there’s another place like that in this realm,” mused Bréagha.
“That’s true. But wouldn’t there be some sign that the area is waiting for something? Some indication that it’s super magical?” asked Bracken as he swiped a pickle off Mason’s plate and got another head smack. He just grinned and popped the pickle in his mouth.
“Maybe when Bréagha and Killian walk in this time something will happen?” spoke up Aiden from his side of the table.
Roz nodded, he had taken it in stride that he wasn’t Bréagha’s Sentinel and seemed a little relieved?
Like he was glad she wasn’t just his to protect anymore, he had back up.
Just then Bracken and Cathal started wrestling and Bréagha jumped on top of the two of them and it became a bucking bronco rodeo in the middle of Stephen’s Deli.
Killian walked over and put Bréagha in air jail as they all waved to Stephen and his staff before heading out in the setting sun.
“Are you going to behave?” asked Killian as he held the squirming and protesting Bréagha. Roz grinned. Yeah, Aiden was relieved he didn’t have to try and control that wild card all by himself.
“Let’s all head to our beds and start off early tomorrow.
Roz can portal us to the different areas, it’ll be a lot easier.
I’ll get the map from Kat,” Jaxx said, trying to keep a straight face as he watched his brother struggling with the pissed off Guardian and her familiar who for once was allowing the manhandling.
Sperwa actually flew to Aiden’s shoulder and sat preening her feathers as Killian fought with Bréagha.
Hopefully the shadows wouldn’t choose tonight to attack the gates again and they could all get some good rest before they set off on the next part of their quest. Jaxx could feel the growing darkness but chose to be optimistic in the face of it.
“Sounds like a plan.” Roz created her portal to Bréagha’s cottage like always, allowing the Sentinels to walk to their townhomes behind.
Killian placed Bréagha on her porch and bopped her nose as she fumed.
Sperwa flew up to her room and through the window she always kept open, completely ignoring both her soul-bonded and her tantrum.
Roz grinned and waved goodnight to the Sentinels as they took their leave.
She wrapped her arm around her friend and led her into the cottage.
“You want a cup of tea before bed or to watch some Dr. Who?” Bréagha had gotten her hooked during one of their many marathon nights. She was eager to watch more of the 9th doctor. He was adorable.
“Sure. Let’s watch an episode or two,” sighed Bréagha allowing Rozengwyn to distract her from the infuriating Sentinel. “Also, let’s come up with a way to pay that royal ass back.”
Roz grinned. That’s the Bréagha she knew and adored. The friends giggled long into the night, both falling asleep to the sound of the Tardis spinning through time.