Chapter Twenty-Eight
––––––––
CAMRIEL COULD BARELY contain his excitement when his mate agreed to accompany them to their base. Both Amaros and Zoe had cleared Victoria. He wished she hadn’t been forced to kill the child, but he’d been evil and dangerous.
“Do you know if any of the other pro wrestlers are still in New York?” Grace asked his mate. She was a bit starstruck.
“Nope,” Victoria replied. “I didn’t run into anyone I knew after the shiz hit the fan.”
“It must have been bedlam in Manhattan,” Zoe mused.
“No fudging kidding,” Vic agreed. “People were murdering each other on the streets. Central Park was a killing field. I had idiots chasing me every time I went out for a jog or to scrounge for food.”
“You went jogging after the apocalypse?” Grace said incredulously.
“A girl’s gotta exercise,” the wrestler pointed out. “I decided I needed to get the fudge out of there after the blazing red comets turned up, though.”
“You saw the soldiers arrive,” Zoe figured.
Cam’s ears perked up, but he didn’t turn around to face the trio. Amaros was just as interested to hear her answer.
“I didn’t see them land,” Vic said. “I knew they must have crashed into the East River when the city wasn’t obliterated and I went to investigate.”
“My mate is brave,” Camriel murmured to Amaros. His leader inclined his head in agreement.
“What did you see?” Grace asked.
“Ninety-seven wet, naked men with a weird red sheen to their eyes,” Victoria reported, sounding like she was still spooked about it.
“We’ll discuss this further once we’re home,” Amaros said loudly enough for the females to hear him. He wanted to be able to devote his entire attention to their conversation.
“How much further is your lair?” Victoria asked. Cam flicked a look back just in time to see her catch sight of their clothes drying on the lines. “I’ve got to rig something like that up at the cabin,” she muttered.
“It’s just a short walk through the trees,” Zoe told her.
They took the path to the base and stopped to let Victoria gawp at the sprawling gray stone building. “You can barely see there’s a building hidden here until you’re up close to it,” she marveled. “How big is this thing?”
“It’s huge,” Grace said. “Cam can give you a quick tour while Zoe and I get the coffee going.”
Camriel could have hugged the teen at the opportunity she’d just given him. He tried to keep his expression casual as he swept his hand at the open entrance. “It would be my pleasure to show you around,” he said.
Victoria gave him a skeptical look, but stepped through the doorway and followed him into the structure.
Cam showed her through the north wing first, which was mostly empty rooms so far, apart from storage.
He headed to the main room next, taking her to the room where the females’ clothing had been placed.
He waited in the hallway while she chose some dry clothes to change into.
She stuffed her wet attire in one of the bags they’d shoved into a corner.
“We’ve got a great room, a kitchen and a infirmary set up in the main section,” Camriel explained, briefly showing her each room when they continued the tour. They still needed to fix the hole in the floor of the infirmary. The boards were just a temporary measure.
“Ooh, you’ve got a library,” Victoria said when she saw a tall bookcase crammed with books in the great room. More tomes were piled up on the floor against the wall. She’d seemed to be impressed by their kitchen as well.
“We’ve set up bedrooms in the south wing,” Camriel said, guiding his mate to the final wing. “We found a resort further up the mountain and have been scavenging gear from it,” he added.
Victoria glanced into the rooms that didn’t have makeshift doors yet.
Amaros and Cam had fixed boards over the rest of the empty windows to keep the weather out.
“Do they all have fireplaces?” she asked.
They were back-to-back with a stone wall in between them, so two rooms could use the same chimney.
“The ones we’ll be using as bedrooms do,” he replied, heading towards the far end of the hallway. “This is my room,” he said and shifted the temporary door out of the way. He watched in anticipation as Victoria strode inside.
She came to a stop and turned in a slow circle.
“Nice rug,” she said, eyeing the furry black carpet.
“I bet you’ll have a great view once you install some windows.
You might want to think about getting some curtains, though,” she added, pointing at the boarded-up window that faced the back of the woods.
The fireplace was on the wall to the right, backing up against the one in the room next door.
“The trees and shrubs will give us privacy,” he said.
“Us?” she asked in surprise. “Does Grace sleep in here with you?”
“Of course not!” he exclaimed. “She’s like a little sister to me.”
“Who are you sleeping with, then?” she asked, beginning to smirk.
“Hopefully, with you,” he retorted silkily. “I set this room up for my mate. I hope it’s to your liking.”
Victoria frowned at him, hand going to her sickle. “What is it with this mate business?” she asked. “How can you be billions of years old, by the way? You barely look much older than me.”
“Amaros will explain everything,” Camriel said. “We’ve existed for as long as this planet, but we spend most of our time in the Void.”
“The coffee is ready!” Grace called out from the kitchen.
“Thank God,” Vic muttered, clearly needing the brew.
She hurried past Camriel and made her way to the kitchen.
She found another short hallway linking the south wing to the main wing.
There were passageways everywhere and it would be easy to become lost in the maze.
At her count, each building had twenty rooms each, with sixty in total.
The ones in the main area varied in size. Some were gigantic.
Following in her wake, Cam was pretty sure the cambion liked their bedroom.
She’d nodded in approval at the number of closets and dressers he’d installed.
The bed seemed to meet her needs as well.
The only thing missing was a bathroom, but there was still room for an ensuite in the corner between the windows.
“Let’s take these to the great room,” Zoe decided. She grabbed some snacks and led the way through to the largest room in the structure. Amaros stoked the fire while everyone chose a folding chair to sit on.
“Don’t you drink coffee?” Victoria asked Camriel.
“I won’t need to eat or drink until after we’ve become bonded,” he replied.
She paused in mid-sip of her drink to gape at him. “What the fudge?” she asked, looking at the other cambions to see their reactions.
“They’re aliens,” Grace reminded her. “Amaros only started eating and drinking after he and Zoe knocked boots to complete their bond.”
Victoria rubbed her face with her free hand, then took a cautious sip of her hot drink. “Okay, I’m going to need you to start from the beginning, Amaros,” she ordered. “Tell me everything, so I can make some sense out of this fudging madness.”
Cam was glad he didn’t have to do the talking.
Being around his mate was enough to make him tongue tied again.
She was so beautiful he just wanted to stare at her forever.
His heart lurched every time she glanced over at him.
Her initial skepticism of their history was soon replaced with fascination as Amaros told her their story.
“So, this Fate character decided to flip things, since this is your last rodeo?” Victoria said when Amaros was done. “She decided to fudge with the soldiers’ DNA so the ones who were released early could only produce one cambion each and we’re all female?”
“That’s correct,” Amaros confirmed, putting his arm around Zoe. “Fate has given us all a chance not just to live, but to thrive this time.”
“Things could be a lot worse for our kind, Vic,” Zoe said when Cam’s mate seemed skeptical again. “I have the disturbing feeling that our sires have been given the same choice.”
“Since when?” Grace asked in alarm.
“Since right now,” Zoe said with a shiver.
“Anarchy must have stolen the idea from Fate. That’s why the Mad Prophet thinks they plan to be here for the long haul.
If our dads bond with us, they’ll force us to use our powers to kill the knights and they’ll win this war.
We’ll become the slaves Vic thought Grace and I were in reality. ”
“My pops is a real piece of shiz, to borrow your vocabulary,” Grace told Vic. “The last thing I want is for him to get control of me. I can’t wait for my knight to turn up and claim me.”
Victoria’s gaze went to Camriel. Heat rose inside him at the challenge he saw in her beautiful eyes. “Is that what you’re going to try to do to me?” she demanded. “Claim me like a prize?”
“Yes,” he replied honestly. “Just as Zoe is the most precious thing in the world to Amaros, so shall you be to me.”
Silence fell at his bold announcement.
“They can sound a bit ancient sometimes,” Grace said to break the tension.
Zoe giggled, then the two females went into peals of laughter. Victoria smiled in amusement, but she wasn’t thrilled about her role in Cam’s future. “What does the bond do, exactly?” she asked.
“It makes us more powerful,” Amaros explained. “Both Zoe and I are stronger and faster. Our talents have been boosted as well and we can speak to each other telepathically. I would die to save her life and I’ll destroy anyone who tries to harm her.”
“Aw,” Grace said at his declaration. “See why I want one of them for myself?” she said to the wrestler. “Who wouldn’t want a gorgeous dude who’s dedicated to making us happy?”
“You do realize how fudging nuts this all sounds, right?” Vic demanded. “I’ve only just found out I’m not fully human. Now I’m supposed to chain myself to a strange guy for the rest of my life?”
Camriel was stricken by her reluctance to bond with him. He’d hoped Amaros would be able to explain it all to her and she would jump at the chance to bond with him. His stubborn mate was going to drag her heels. He wasn’t sure how to convince her to change her mind.
“Why don’t you let Cam date you?” Grace suggested. He shot her a look of pure gratitude for stepping in.
“Date me?” Victoria said and gestured at the world at large. “Where’s he going to take me? To the movies? Out to a restaurant? We can’t even go to a supermarket to scrounge for some fudging food without someone trying to shoot us in the back.”
“Allow me to woo you, Victoria Tudor,” Cam said earnestly. “Let me prove that I’m worthy of you.”
Zoe and Grace nodded at her encouragingly. “No one is going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” Zoe said. “Get to know Camriel and you’ll see he’s a great guy who’ll do anything for you.”
“I’ll think about it,” Vic said, sounding uncertain, yet curious. Cam could live with that. At least she hadn’t rejected him outright again.