Chapter Forty-Four
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“I CAN’T BELIEVE WE have a real home after all of these eons,” Arkas marveled, gazing around the great room. Their base was still a work in progress, but he knew it would be amazing by the time they were done.
“Fate is sacrificing some of her own power so we can become Earth’s permanent guardians,” Amaros said. “Anarchy promised the same thing to the soldiers, but it’s a lie.”
“What a shocker,” Jac joked. “When has Anarchy ever come good on any of his promises?”
“Why does Rahab keep falling for his lies?” Cam asked.
“What choice does he have?” Zoe pointed out. “Anarchy is just as powerful as Fate. He just doesn’t care if his minions live or die.”
“I’m so glad Fate severed the paternal bond our pops had with us,” Grace said with a shiver. “Imagine being forced to obey their orders for the rest of our lives?”
The cambions shared the same dread at that prospect. Tori and Wynter were the only ones who were safe from facing that horrible destiny.
Oaklie knew a way she could lighten the suddenly morose mood. “I have something else to show you,” she said. “I worked out how to incorporate my magic into my art projects,” she said and stood up.
Crossing to the back of the great room, Oak poured her magic into the bookcases. Far stronger now that her mind was linked to Ark’s, it was easy for her to manipulate the frames of the bookcases. Curious, everyone left their seats to watch what she was doing.
Grace gasped in wonder when animals, birds, insects and plants formed. “It looks like they’re alive!” she exclaimed.
Ark had seen his female perform this trick before. He was still blown away by her talent. “My mate is amazing,” he said proudly.
The animals frolicked together as trees, shrubs and vines sprouted flowers. Birds seemed to fly from one bookcase to the other, chasing insects and each other. It was a magical scene equal to the ice sculpture at the front of their base.
“Can you leave the library like that?” Grace asked.
“Sure,” Oaklie said with a shrug. “It doesn’t take much power to keep it going.”
“Just like my fairy lights,” Xanthia mused. “I gave them orders to switch on and off whenever someone is in here and they obey me.”
Oak concentrated, then grinned when she felt her magic responding in the same manner. “Now the bookcases will come to life whenever someone is in here, too,” she said.
“We’re living in a magical stone castle,” Qiana said in amazement.
She’d always been practical and unfanciful.
It was an adjustment to be living with people who could perform supernatural feats on a daily basis.
She’d hidden her power deep inside herself and was still astounded that she could use magic sometimes.
“Do you really think you’ll be able to install windows and doors here if we steal them from the resort?” Cam asked Oaklie. A budding carpenter, he was eager to assist her if she needed some help.
“I just watched Oak turn a sheet of plywood into a real door,” Grace told him. “She somehow fused it to the stone without using screws.”
“It’s just temporary and it isn’t meant to last forever,” Oaklie said. “It’s hard to fix wood to other surfaces permanently. We’ll need nails, screws or glue to make them hold forever.”
“We’ve got plenty of tools, nails, screws, bolts and other gear we stole from a hardware store,” Jac said.
“It’s only nine o’clock,” Oak said, checking her watch. “I could do a test run on adding a door now if someone wants to teleport me to the resort.”
“I’ll do it!” Cam volunteered, surging to his feet.
“Cam likes to build stuff,” Vic said. “He’ll mope around like a big blond idiot if you don’t let him help you.”
“I’ll go with you,” Arkas said, eager to see the resort he’d heard so much about by now.
Oaklie and her new mate took Camriel’s hands when he held them out. He whisked them a few miles to the north into the foyer of the resort. “Sheesh,” Oak said as she looked around the sparse dark reception area and nearby lounging space. “You’ve cleared it out pretty well.”
“We need a lot of chairs and couches for our great room,” Cam said. “We actually already have some doors from here,” he divulged. “But I was hoping we could steal the entrance door. It would look awesome at our base.”
“It’s too big to fit into our entrance,” Ark said as they turned to look at the dark, wide door.
“I can adjust the size,” Oaklie said as she sauntered over to it. She put her hand on it to delve into the wood. “It’s nice and solid,” she said in approval. Her magic infused the door and the frame, then the frame came loose. Arkas and Cam leaped forward to steady it before it could fall.
“How did you do that?” Camriel asked.
“I just made the holes around the screws bigger and thinned the frame so it’s no longer connected to the building,” the artist said.
“Isn’t she amazing?” Arkas said in a loving tone. His expression changed and he suddenly hunched over. “Something weird is going on again,” he complained.
“I know that look,” his brother said wisely. “You need to pizz.”
Oaklie snickered, then yelped in surprise when her mate teleported them, the door and the frame back to their base. Ark took off to the bathroom with Camriel’s chuckles ringing in his ears.
The other knights converged at the entrance, carrying a couple of toolboxes. “Tell us what to do,” Amaros requested as he handed one of the toolboxes to his second in command.
Oaklie directed them to hold the frame against the entryway after shifting the sheet of plywood aside. Cold air blasted into the hallway, but was blocked when Cam and Semi moved the door into place.
“It’s only twelve inches too wide and six inches too tall,” Oak said, then shrank the wood down. The door and frame became thicker rather than shedding any of the extra wood. The stone walls were a good twelve inches thick, so she had plenty of space to work with.
“I’ve never seen a cambion use their talents in this manner before,” Tol murmured. He’d seen plenty of instances of them using trees and other plants to kill, but not to create.
“There,” Oaklie said when the frame fit snugly into the doorway. “Now you can nail or screw it into place.”
“It won’t be weatherproof,” Cam said, concerned that rain and snow would still get in through the gaps.
“I’ll fuse the wood into the gaps after you guys are done,” the cambion told him confidently.
She stepped back and the men worked together to screw the wooden frame to the stone. “We need to cover the holes so we can’t see them,” Camriel said, smoothing his hand over one of the holes in the wood.
“Stand back and watch,” Oaklie said. Arkas knew what she was going to do. He grinned in anticipation as his mate’s power went to work. She smoothed the wood over the screws until they were invisible, then filled the gaps as she’d promised.
Zoe and the other females had gathered around to watch the final touches. “We finally have a real door,” Zo said, tearing up at the sight she thought would still be months away. Cam tested it to make sure the handle worked. There was no need to lock it, since their base was so strongly warded.
“I’m not done yet,” Oak said. She sent her magic into the door for a final time and images began to appear. A stag exactly like the one she’d sculpted became engraved on the wood, along with pine trees and a lake.
“That looks just like our lake,” Grace said in wonder. It had been dark when she’d given Oaklie the tour, so she hadn’t shown her the lake yet.
“It’s beautiful,” Zoe said, crying even harder now. Amaros drew her to his side and handed her a tissue. He kept a supply in his pockets for when she became emotional.
“The same image is on both sides,” Oaklie said. “I can change it if you want.”
“It’s perfect,” Amaros said firmly, knowing his mate loved it already. “We’re all grateful you’ve joined our family, Oaklie. Your skills are just as useful as everyone else’s.”
“I can’t wait for the rest of our family to arrive,” Xanthia said. “I wonder when the next knight and cambion will show up?” she added slyly.
Everyone turned to Zoe expectantly. Her tears vanished and she scowled in response. “Stop trying to force me to have a vision!” she scolded them. “Oak and Ark just arrived a few hours ago. It could be weeks before the next couple get here.”
“Weeks?” Qi asked in surprise. “Do you really think there’s going to be that much of a gap?”
“Yeah,” Zoe said, rubbing her forehead. “That’s my hunch anyway.”
“I guess that will give us time to fix up our base a bit more,” Kochab said speculatively. “Qi and I can also find more humans to join Pastor Hogan’s growing army of converts.”
“Weeks,” Grace muttered too quietly for the others to hear her as they headed back to the great room.
Zoe had already mentioned the next knight and cambion would be a couple.
When was her warrior going to show up? How could there still be no sign of him after seven pairs had become bonded to each other?
Now there was going to be a delay until Fate sent the next newbies to join them.
That would push back her own chance to finally find love even longer.
Zoe caught the fleeting expression of pain on her best friend’s face. Sorrow replaced her momentary ire. Amaros tightened his hold on her as he guided her to their favorite couch. Her time will come, love, he said soothingly into her mind.
I know, Zoe thought back at him. But he didn’t know just how long it would be before Grace’s perfect match would arrive.