Chapter Forty
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“ARKAS!” AMAROS SAID in relief, moving to the knight’s side. He was sitting on the floor and his cambion was on her knees, hugging him tightly. “Are you alright, brother?” the commander asked.
“I’m fine, thanks to the blonde cambion,” Arkas said, nodding at the beautiful female as Kochab took her in his arms.
“I helped, too,” Tori said with a pout.
Jac rushed into the mudroom and lifted her off her feet. “My mate saved the day again,” he said proudly.
Oaklie heard them all, but her focus was on Arkas. “You died,” she said, still crying in anguish. “I lost you.”
“Only for a minute,” Arkas said, tucking her head beneath his chin. He knew Amaros wanted to talk to him, but he needed some time to recover.
Amaros nodded at the others to leave, then he hunkered beside the newbies. “I’m glad you’re still alive and that your cambion is unharmed,” he said gravely.
“What the hell is going on, boss?” Arkas asked. “Kochab can teleport already?”
“It’s a long story,” Amaros said with a smile. “I need to scan your female to make sure she’s safe.”
Oaklie finally released her knight and looked at his leader. “What do you mean by that?” she asked, bristling that he was implying there was something wrong with her.
“Amaros can sense whether people have spent their lives doing good or bad things,” Arkas said. “There’s no need to worry, Oaklie.”
Amaros put his hand on her shoulder and his power flowed into her. His smile was slightly wider this time. “Welcome to our family, Oaklie.”
“Thanks,” she said, feeling like she was in an extremely strange dream. “Can you stand up?” she asked Arkas.
He nodded and climbed to his feet as if he hadn’t just died briefly. “We’re a mess,” he said ruefully, eyeing their bloodstained clothes.
“We have spare clothing if you need it,” Amaros said. “Grace will show you where the bathroom is.”
“Who’s Grace?” Oaklie asked.
“That would be me,” a tiny blonde teenager with fading pink, green and blue hair said as she entered the mudroom. She was wearing a bulky sweater, cutoff jeans for shorts and thick black tights. She also had frog slippers on her feet. “Come with me, Oak and Ark,” she commanded.
“Good one!” another female said from somewhere deeper in the stone house. “They’re the cutest couple nicknames yet!”
“Who’s that?” Oaklie asked, even more bewildered now.
“That’s Vic. She’s an ex-pro-wrestler and our trainer,” Grace said as the newbies followed her from the room. “Zoe’s our matriarch and oracle. She had a vision one of you was about to get shot. It’s lucky she sent Tor with Qi to save Ark’s life.”
Arkas looked back to see Amaros step through a doorway where other knights and cambions were gathered.
The young female led them down the long hallway, then turned left.
They reached another huge room that held three showers with curtains and black walls for privacy. There were also three toilet stalls.
“You have running water here?” Oaklie asked in wonder.
“Not yet, but we’re working on it,” Grace said. “We’ve heated up water in the two showers on the left. It should last long enough to wash off all the blood.” With that cheeky comment, she left the room and slid a makeshift wooden panel into place.
Arkas exchanged another look with his cambion. “I’ll take the middle shower,” he said.
“Okay,” she agreed. Towels and toiletries were sitting on small stools next to the two stalls on the left.
They grabbed the soap, shampoo and other items and stepped into the showers.
Oaklie quickly stripped off and tossed her bloody clothes onto the floor.
She quickly washed herself, then washed her long hair.
The container she stood in caught the water.
She had no idea what they were going to do with it.
Arkas watched the water turn pink as he washed all the blood off his torso. He touched his unblemished chest in wonder, amazed that the blonde cambion and her friend had brought him back from the dead.
“Damn it,” Oaklie muttered from the stall next to his as her water ran out. “We didn’t bring spare clothes in here with us.” They’d left their bags in the mudroom.
“I’ve got your gear here,” Grace said from the other side of the door. “I’ll bring them inside if you stay in the shower for a minute.”
“Okay, thanks,” Oaklie said. This all felt surreal by now. The cambions and knights were supernatural beings like her, but they were all nice and surprisingly normal.
Grace carried their backpacks and duffle bags into the bathroom, then let herself out again. She waited for the knight and cambion to get dressed. “Don’t worry about the water,” she said to them when Ark slid the door open. “One of the guys will take care of it.”
“How old are you?” Oak asked, mentally groaning at her new nickname. She supposed it could have been worse.
“I’m eighteen,” the kid said quickly before the female could tell her she looked fifteen. “What’s your special talent, Oak?” she asked, gesturing for them to follow her to the great room.
Hair still dripping wet, Oaklie was trying to dry it with the damp towel. Arkas had grabbed all of their bags and was striding along beside her. “I can manipulate wood,” she said.
“Awesome,” Vic said as the trio entered the great room. “I can’t wait for a demonstration,” she added eagerly.
“We already saw a bit of what she can do,” Tor said ruefully. “She almost tore Qi and me apart with some tree roots.”
Oaklie felt her face turn red. “I thought you were going to desecrate Arkas’ corpse,” she said defensively.
A pretty cambion with long dark brown hair rose from the plush dark blue couch she was sitting on. “I’m Zoe Zayden,” she said in greeting, holding out her hand.
“Oaklie Woods,” Oak said. Grace snickered and the wood manipulator rolled her eyes at her.
“I’ve heard all of the jokes, shorty,” she said, then stiffened as she shook Zoe’s hand.
She felt the female rummaging around in her head, rifling through her memories.
Not even her shield was strong enough to keep her out.
Arkas sensed Oaklie’s alarm and dropped their bags. He didn’t call on his weapon, since Amaros and his brothers didn’t seem to be concerned. Camriel, Jacquin, Kochab, Semiaza and Tolas were all present.
“Zo has scanned all of us,” Grace said like having their privacy invaded was no big deal. “She needs to make sure we’re not hiding any deep dark secrets.”
Oaklie’s stomach dropped at that comment. Zoe released her hand and gave her a sympathetic look rather than condemning her actions. “You’ve only used your power against others to protect yourself and Arkas,” she said. “No one here is going to judge you for that.”
Relieved that she’d been accepted, Oak sat down on a vacant couch.
Flames danced in the huge fireplace in the center of the room.
Fairy lights were strung up on the walls, giving the room a cozy feel.
A gigantic TV clung to the wall to the left.
She could even see bookcases lining the back wall.
“I guess Fate’s plan to get us here worked even with Anarchy’s interference,” she said, raking her fingers through her hair to get the tangles out.
“Arkas?” Amaros asked for clarification as his knight sat next to the cambion.
“Oak?” Ark prompted, knowing nothing about this.
His cambion sighed at the nickname he’d already adopted. She could tell it was going to stick. “We almost got shot by two human snipers in one day,” she said. “I figured Anarchy must be behind it, since Fate worked so hard to steer us here.”
“Anarchy knows where our base is?” Jacquin asked in alarm.
“It’s against the rules for him to direct the soldiers here, or for Fate to direct us to their base,” Amaros reminded him. “It isn’t against the rules for them both to use humans as their pawns.”
“Can you fill us in now?” Arkas asked, sweeping his hand at the collection of cambions. “Why does it look like almost all of you have formed couples?”
“I’m always the odd one out,” Grace said in mock sadness that hid her real pain.
“Your time will come, kiddo,” Wynter said sympathetically.
“Let’s do the introductions first,” Zo decided, then did the honors.
“Amaros has a story for you, but I don’t think you’ll be too surprised when you hear it,” she predicted with a knowing look when she was done.
The knight and cambion were already close.
It was obvious they would choose to bond with each other once they heard the full truth.