Chapter Forty-Five
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“WE SHOULD TEST THE walky-talkies,” Amaros said. He was still carrying the bag with two of the devices inside.
“We forgot to bring sheets, blankets and towels back from the resort,” Zoe reminded him.
“Zoe and I will drive to the resort,” Amaros decided. “Let’s pick a channel before we leave.”
Grace and Zoe began hauling containers out of the huge blue truck that rivalled Amaros’ tank in size. The guys fiddled with their radios. The women returned just in time to hear a familiar voice speaking.
“Mark my words, people,” the crazy guy ranted. “Evil will appear after comets descend from the sky. They’ll come in blazing red light, which will herald our doom.”
“He’s like an insane preacher,” Grace muttered, then shivered.
“You arrived on our world just how the prophet described, except your comet glowed with gold light,” Zoe told Amaros.
“It’s how we always descend from the Void,” he said. “If we were human, we’d die on impact. It can take a few minutes for us to recover.”
“It’s not so bad when we land in water,” Camriel said smugly. “I only got knocked out for a few seconds this time.”
Amaros gave him a sour look, then switched to a different channel. “We’ll use this frequency,” he said.
Camriel changed the frequency on his walky-talky, then grabbed a container from his truck. “We’ll take care of the supplies if you two want to head back to the resort,” he offered.
Nodding, Amaros escorted his new mate to his truck. They drove the short distance to the resort and climbed out. “Here we go,” he said and switched on the radio. “This is Amaros. Do you copy, Camriel?” His second had put batteries in them both.
“Cam here,” the knight replied with an audible grin. “These things actually work!”
“We’ll have to test their full range, but not today,” Amaros said. “I want all of the supplies and our vehicles to be under cover before the storms arrive.”
“Grace and I will get everything squared away here, boss,” Camriel said.
“We’ll be back as soon as we’ve found what we need here,” Amaros told him.
“See you soon,” Camriel replied, which ended their conversation.
“You’re supposed to say things like ‘over’ and ‘ten-four’,” Zoe teased her warrior.
Amaros gave her an amused smile. “We’ll work out our own lingo,” he said.
They reentered the building, this time in search of linens.
Zoe marveled about how much things had changed since they’d been there earlier.
She’d been full of hurt and anger that the warrior had been hiding something important from her.
Now, he was her knight and she was his cambion. Nothing would part them ever again.
Amaros helped carry the sheets, blankets and pillows to his truck. They also grabbed bath towels, hand towels, wash-cloths and even bath-mats. “This should do us for now,” Zoe figured. They’d filled the entire back seat with linens.
“It’s a pity Camriel and Grace don’t have a bond,” Amaros mused as they returned to his truck. “I don’t want either of them to have to wait to experience what we have.”
“The bond can’t be forced,” Zoe figured. “Fate chose who would be most suitable for each other. We all have our perfect partner. We just have to be patient and wait for them to turn up.”
Amaros nodded, then grimaced. “I feel a strange pressure inside me,” he said, then put his hand low on his abdomen.
“I think you need to pee,” Zoe told him solemnly, then snickered at his scowl. “Welcome to humanity,” she added to his back when he strode over to the trees.
“This is so undignified,” he complained, stepping out of sight to take care of business.
“Wait until you need to void your bowels,” she said, trying and failing to hide her amusement.
Amaros groaned. “Camriel and I will need to figure out how to build an indoor bathroom before winter sets in,” he said, stepping back into sight.
“I don’t want to have to take a dump in the snow,” she agreed.
Still indignant that he’d become partially human, Amaros drove them back to their base.
Camriel and Grace had been busy while the others had been gone. They’d set up a infirmary where the waterfall had once been. Cam had covered the hole in the floor with wooden boards. They helped the newly bonded pair unpack all the gear they’d taken from the resort.
“I’ve been thinking,” Grace mused.
“About what?” Zoe asked as they lugged the linens inside. She’d put a tarp on the floor of a small room they would store some of their gear in.
“The knights are supposed to recruit the good cambions and kill the bad ones,” Grace reminded them. “There are only twenty of each, from what Zoe saw. If any of the cambions die, then some of the knights will miss out on having a partner.”
Amaros nodded in agreement before dumping his armful of linens on the pile they’d made. “I had the same thought,” he said. “We’ll have to find a way to save all of the cambions.”
“We just have to find them before their sires do, so they don’t get corrupted by our enemies,” Camriel said.
Zoe hoped her visions could help them with that, but the ominous feeling in her gut said otherwise.
She kept her reservations to herself as they chatted about the future they were headed towards.
The guys placed sheets of wood over the doorways of the bedrooms they’d all chosen.
It was a temporary fix, but at least they all had privacy now.
The sense of doom dogged Zoe even after they retired for the night. Amaros proved his magic had increased by placing an invisible ward around their room. “No one can hear us now,” he told her with a wolfish grin. “I’m going to make you scream, Zoe Zayden.”
“Bring it on, big man,” she challenged him, backing towards their neatly made bed.
Amaros tackled her and she screeched in delight. It was just as well he’d soundproofed their room, because he came good on his promise and made her scream with pleasure.
Zoe woke up just before midnight, feeling more unsettled than ever.
“What’s wrong?” Amaros murmured when she got out of bed.
“Something’s coming,” she said, going with her gut. She quickly got dressed, then left their room. Amaros pulled on some jeans and sneakers and was right behind her. She knocked on Grace’s makeshift door, but the kid was already awake.
“I’m up,” Grace said. She was fully dressed when she stepped into the hallway.
Camriel joined them, drawn by the palpable tension as they headed outside. All four of them turned towards where they knew New York was. It was far too distant to see it.
“Look!” Grace said in awe that was tinged with fear as she pointed upwards. “What’s that light in the sky?”
It wasn’t just one light, but dozens. “Meteors,” Zoe said bleakly, leaning against Amaros when he put his arm around her.
“The crazy prophet was right,” Camriel said. “The Soldiers of Chaos have arrived.”
“And our world is doomed if we don’t win the war that’s about to start,” Amaros said.
Grace turned to look at Zoe. She could see the blazing red tail of the comets reflected in her green eyes. “Are we going to win this war, Zoe?” she asked.
She looked so young and vulnerable, yet also wise and mature beyond her years.
“I don’t know,” Zoe said honestly, unwilling to lie to her friend.
“I haven’t had a vision of the final outcome.
I think we can be safe and happy here in our base if we can gather all the knights and cambions together.
” They needed to hear that something would go right for them to dispel their gloom.
We will,” Camriel vowed, staring at the approaching comets in hatred. “I’ll find my mate and keep her safe from the creature that spawned her.”
It was a chilling reminder that Zoe’s own father was among the beings who were falling from the sky. Amaros had saved her from the horrible fate of becoming a slave to her sire. She could only hope they would be able to rescue the rest of her kind in time.