Chapter Twenty-Four
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GRACE WAS STILL GIGGLING when Zoe returned a few minutes later. “Here,” Zoe said belligerently and tossed a box of tissues onto her lap.
“Thanks,” the kid choked out, then mopped up her face. Hiccupping as she tried to catch her breath, her hands were trembling from her laughing fit. “Sorry,” she said eventually and even managed to sound contrite.
Zoe’s arms were crossed and she was staring at the blank TV screen.
“It’s not my fault I don’t know much about the birds and the bees,” she said in an affronted tone.
“It took guts for me to sneak out and have sex with that guy two years ago. I only dared to leave our hotel room for an hour. Mom would have killed me if she’d found out about what I’d done. ”
Grace let out a heavy sigh and her shoulders slumped. “I shouldn’t have laughed at you,” she said. “I’ve never met anyone so innocent before. It’s kind of cute, really.”
“I don’t feel cute,” Zoe retorted. “I feel stupid.” Grace flushed in fresh shame, which made Zoe feel bad.
“It’s not your fault, Grace,” she said before the kid could apologize again.
She made sure her tone was gentler this time.
“I never had the chance to make my own decisions about anything, thanks to my religious upbringing,” she explained.
“I don’t even know the basics about how to deal with men. ”
“I’ll teach you,” Grace offered. “I know all about what turns them on and how to keep them happy, at least in the bedroom.” From her tone and expression, happy was the last thing she felt about this topic.
“Aren’t we a pair?” Zoe said sorrowfully. “I have too little knowledge about guys for someone my age and you have too much.”
“We balance out,” Grace mused thoughtfully. “Amaros said he has to find the other cambions, right?”
“Yeah,” Zoe confirmed. “We need to locate them before their fathers do.”
“That means they’ll all be living with us at our base,” she pointed out.
Zoe hadn’t thought it through and realized she was right. “We don’t have enough cots for them,” she said. Not to mention clothes, food and other provisions.
“That’s what you’re focusing on?” Grace asked. “Aren’t you worried one of them might latch onto Amaros and steal him away from you?”
“Over my dead body,” Zoe said in a near snarl, fists clenching in impending rage at the notion.
“Whoa, down, girl,” the teen said in mock fright, holding her hands up placatingly. “I was just kidding.”
Zoe’s heart had kicked into high gear and she knew her face was flushed. Groaning, she sank her face into her hands. “I don’t know what just came over me,” she said in shame.
“Maybe it’s the magic spell you mentioned,” Grace said slyly. “What if the Knights of Order have special mojo that makes them irresistible?”
“Are you attracted to Amaros?” Zoe asked, fists trying to clench again.
“Nah,” she said dismissively. “He’s hot, but he’s too strict for me. I like guys who have a sense of humor.”
Zoe relaxed in quiet relief that the teen wasn’t her competition, then mentally kicked herself. “You’re right, though,” she said. “We’ll need to find provisions for all the other cambions we round up.”
“It would help if we knew how many there are and where to look for them,” Grace complained.
“I have a feeling they’re either already in this area, or they’re being drawn here,” Zoe said. “Fate and Anarchy have been manipulating their pawns forever from the sounds of it. They’ll be experts at maneuvering us where they want us to be.”
“You could be right,” Grace said in a pondering tone. “I thought I was wandering aimlessly when I stumbled across you in the motel. Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure I was subconsciously guided there.”
“I love being right,” Zoe said solemnly, then they snickered. “Now that the first of Amaros’ knights has turned up, maybe I’ll start getting visions of the other cambions.”
“I hope we get to them before their pops do,” Grace said, all traces of amusement vanishing. “Mom only spent one night with my dad, but she said he was really bad news.”
“What else did she say about him?” Zoe asked. This information could prove to be vital in their coming war.
“That he was good in bed, but cruel at the same time,” Grace said. “He liked to hurt her, then make her feel good.”
“Did she tell you anything else about him?” Zoe asked, hoping to get off the topic of her dad’s sex life.
“He told her his entire plan for world domination,” Grace said, fishing another cookie out of the container.
“She was high, but managed to remember some of it. Apparently, he and his buddies will create an army just like Amaros said. They’ll take over the government and spread their minions to other countries.
He didn’t give her the specifics of how he’s going to pull this off, of course. ”
“The timing couldn’t be better for them,” Zoe noted. “It’ll be a lot easier to infiltrate the government and take control with everything in such a mess.”
“Why are they going to gather in New York if that’s their plan?” Grace asked. “Shouldn’t they be in Washington, DC?”
“I saw a news report that the Capitol Building was destroyed by a militant group,” Zoe told her.
“They blamed the government for so many people disappearing. Almost all of congress was in DC to vote on something the afternoon before the Rapture. They gathered for an emergency meeting the next day and were completely wiped out.”
“Should I be sad about that?” the teen asked unsurely.
“I never paid much attention to politics,” Zoe said with a shrug. “The fact that they’d been left behind like us says a lot, though.”
“So, you think New York will become the new center of US politics?” she asked.
“That’s what my intuition is telling me,” Zoe confirmed.
Grace ate another cookie before she spoke again. “Our base is pretty far from the city. The knights will have to do a lot of traveling backwards and forwards to fight their enemies.”
“Maybe they’ll find somewhere closer and use it as a second base,” Zoe figured, uneasy at the thought of them being so far away. “Amaros hasn’t told us much about his plans,” she added.
“What will you do if your pops turns up?” Grace asked.
Zoe patted the pistol she’d placed on the seat next to her. “I’ll send him back to the Void where he belongs,” she vowed. She hadn’t even met the creature and knew nothing about him, except that he was evil. That was reason enough to blow his brains out.
“What if you miss and he kidnaps you?” Grace went on, young brow furrowed in concern.
Zoe realized the teen was actually worried about what would happen to her if her own father found her. “Amaros will find us if our dads take us,” she said confidently. “He won’t let his enemies use us against them.”
Grace nodded, but her fear didn’t go away. She’d grown up hearing stories about her evil sire. The poor kid had suffered through a horrible childhood. Her adulthood wouldn’t be much better, unless the warriors and other cambions kept her safe.
“The knights will teach us how to fight so we can defend ourselves,” Zoe said. “We’ve got enough weapons and ammo to withstand a siege.”
That perked Grace up. “I can’t wait to learn how to shoot this thing,” she said, gesturing at her gun. “I just hope I don’t blow my own foot off.”
“Or mine,” Zoe said with a grin. “So, what do you like to read?” she asked, getting back to the question she’d been asked a while ago.
“Everything,” the teen said with enthusiasm. “We should start a library at our base. There’s bound to be others who like to read, too.”
“Why don’t we load the bookcase and books into the truck while we’re waiting for Amaros to return?” Zoe suggested.
“Yes!” Grace crowed in agreement and leaped to her feet again.
Zoe was glad to see she was in a better mood now.
She would have a quiet word with Amaros if he argued with them about taking the books.
He and his men might not be here for the long haul, but the cambions would need something to keep them entertained once they were all gone.
That gloomy thought dogged Zoe as she helped her young friend carry the bookcase and several hundred books to the garage.