Chapter Thirty-Seven
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AMAROS IGNORED CAMRIEL’S belligerent silence.
The knights worked together to repair the hole in the roof.
Several batteries were charging, thanks to the generators and power cords they’d appropriated.
The noise of the generators was almost shocking after the tranquility they’d already grown used to.
“Just say it,” Amaros whispered when they’d finished securing wooden sheets to the roof.
“Say what, boss?” Camriel asked. “That I’m right and you should tell Zoe and Grace about the choice Fate gave us?”
Amaros scowled at the scolding tone. “Like I said, this isn’t about me and my decision. I have to think of my unit as a whole.”
Camriel rolled his eyes at the knight’s stubbornness. “I know you were created to be our commander, but forget about us for once!” He spoke earnestly, but quietly. “What do you want, Amaros?”
It wasn’t easy to meet the warrior’s blue eyes and hide his true emotions. “I want the same things you do,” he finally admitted.
Camriel threw his hands up in victory, brandishing the screwdriver he clutched in one fist. “At last, the man sees reason!” he crowed, still keeping his voice down. “You need to take Zoe somewhere and speak to her in private. Tell her everything and see what she has to say.”
“What if she doesn’t want to be bonded to me?” Amaros asked with unaccustomed nerves fluttering in his gut.
“Convince her,” his second advised. “But do it soon, before she gets a vision and realizes how long you’ve been keeping this information from her.”
“What about Grace?” Amaros asked. “Should I break the news to them both at the same time?”
“I’ll tell the kid,” Camriel offered. “I know she’s aware you and Zoe are attracted to each other. She and I don’t have a bond, but there are eighteen more knights in our unit.”
“And eighteen more cambions, apparently,” Amaros said. “Fate outdid herself with her meddling this time.”
“She’s had billions of years of practice,” Camriel said. He hadn’t met his match yet, but Amaros knew his second was already anticipating her arrival.
“I’ll talk to Zoe soon,” Amaros vowed. The butterflies in his gut fluttered even harder as he tried to plan the conversation in his head. They had a lot to do and everyone was busy. It wasn’t the right time to take the female aside to discuss the topic that would change their futures forever.
Finished with fixing the roof, the warriors focused on building shelter for their stores of fuel.
“We can use all this wood to build a shed and go back to the resort to steal doors and windows,” Amaros said.
“We’ll be expert carpenters in no time,” Camriel boasted. “I read through one of the books Zoe got from the bookstore last night,” he added.
“Did you get any sleep?” Amaros asked, hauling wood out of the back of his truck. Camriel had piled the wood from his truck off to one side.
“I got a few hours,” the big warrior said. “It’s hard to sleep on those tiny cots,” he added. He’d tied two of them together, but his legs had hung over the ends.
“You can take the lead on this project,” Amaros decided.
Camriel grinned, pleased by his leader’s trust. “We don’t have a concrete slab for a base,” he said as he examined the open area in front of the building. “We can build a portable shed that we can move later,” he added.
They carried sheets of wood and lumber over to a flat area off to one side. It wouldn’t be in the way of their trucks as they came and went. It was also far enough away from their home that it wouldn’t be a safety hazard if the gas caught on fire.
It took longer than Camriel had expected to build the floor, four walls and a flat roof. While it was too short for them to stand upright in, it was at least large enough to contain their stores of gasoline.
“We need to put a door on this,” Amaros said. They’d left an opening, but were missing a few crucial items.
“Hinges and a doorhandle would help,” Camriel said dourly. Neither of them had thought to grab any when they’d been in the hardware store in town.
“The resort has plenty of both,” Amaros reminded him. “We can scavenge what we need from there and avoid returning to the town this time.”
“The fewer people who see us coming and going the safer our base will be,” his second agreed. “We should be stealthier whenever we visit the town.”
“I wish there was another route down from the mountain,” Amaros said. “The only other road will add several hours to our journey to and from New York.”
“We won’t have to drive there and back once more of our team arrives,” Camriel said. “Soon, we’ll have enough power to be at full strength again.”
“I hope Zoe has more visions of my team turning up,” Amaros said. “We might have to go in search of them if she doesn’t get more tips soon.”
“This isn’t like any of the other wars we’ve fought,” Camriel mused. “What if they all straggle in one by one?”
“Then we’ll continue to be weaker than usual,” Amaros said, unhappy about that prospect. “If it was just us, I’d find a base closer to the city. With two cambions to keep safe, I’d rather travel the long distance than for any of our enemies to find them.”
Camriel snarled quietly at that thought. “We can’t let any of the cambions be claimed by their sires,” he said, glad the generators muffled his vehemence. “They’ll become as evil and twisted as the cambions we’ve fought in the past.”
Amaros nodded. “Their numbers are limited this time, thanks to Fate stepping in. We won’t have to track down hundreds of younglings and slaughter them.”
“We’ve rarely had to fight full grown cambions in the past,” Camriel mused. “Our wars haven’t lasted long enough for them to mature.”
“They’re all mature this time,” Amaros said. “Zoe and Grace turned out to be sane. Let’s hope the others will be as reasonable as they are.”
Their conversation petered out when the females emerged from the main building.
“Nice shed,” Grace said, complimenting their work. “It’s the perfect height for me,” she added, stepping inside to take a look.
“That’s because you’re a munchkin,” Zoe teased her. “Do you want help transferring the gas inside it?” she offered.
“Sure,” Camriel replied, grasping hold of her offer. The more time she spent in Amaros’ company the better.
“We set up all four beds,” Zoe informed them as they began carrying containers of fuel into the shed.
“You won’t have to scrunch yourselves up on the cots anymore,” Grace said mischievously.
“I just hope my bed will be long enough for me,” Camriel said with a grimace.
“We can use our sleeping bags for now, but we should grab linens, towels, washcloths and anything else we can find from the resort,” Zoe said.
“We’ll go tomorrow,” Amaros said, peering at the sky. “I don’t want to risk being caught outside when the storm arrives.”
“You don’t want your precious tank to be damaged,” Grace teased him.
Amaros didn’t deny it. “Speaking of which, we need to learn how to make a concrete slab and build a garage for our vehicles,” he said.
“That’s going to be a big job,” Camriel figured. “It would help if more of our crew turns up soon.”
They all turned to look at Zoe, waiting to see if it would trigger a vision.
“I’ve got nothing,” she said apologetically, then turned to retrieve another container of gas.
Camriel and Grace both smirked when Amaros’ eyes followed the cambion’s every move.