Chapter Twenty-Five
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A PIERCING WHISTLE echoed throughout the stone base in the Adirondack Mountains, drawing everyone’s attention. “Get your butts to the great room, azzholes!” Vic shouted, knowing the people outside would be able to hear her.
“At last,” Zoe muttered. Cam and his mate had chased everyone except Xanthia out of the building an hour ago. The knight and two cambions had been working on a secret project for weeks and she didn’t even have a hint about what they were up to.
“What the hell’s going on in there, girl?” Tori asked as they left the picnic tables near the lake.
“I have no idea,” Zo confessed.
“I bet I know,” Grace said teasingly. “But I’m not going to tell you.”
“Cough it up, short stuff,” Jaq said. “What secret have they been hiding?”
Grace darted away before the knight could grab her and try to tickle her into submission.
“You’ll find out soon enough, big brother,” the teen said, then used her talent to zoom ahead of them all.
Xan had tested her speed by trying to film her movements.
Just as Grace had expected, she was so fast she seemed to teleport away.
She sensed Cam was gone when she entered the base, but he arrived a moment later with their human neighbor. “Hey, Queeg,” she said as she entered the great room.
“Little sister,” the Mad Prophet said in greeting. “I need to hang my hat up,” he said.
“I’ll do it,” Grace offered. She took it from his hand and was gone for less than two seconds.
“There,” she said in satisfaction, then sat down on her favorite spot on the couch.
Queegly took the chair beside her as usual.
There was always a vacant spot next to the kid where her knight would eventually sit.
Angel sauntered into the great room as everyone began filing inside. “Don’t even start!” Sinai said, pointing at the growing kitten. “I just fed you an hour ago!”
Opening her mouth wide, the feline began yowling loudly, refuting her claim.
“I’ll get her a snack,” Eze offered to spare his mate. She gave him a grateful look as he scooped the gray cat with darker gray stripes into his arms. Angel screeched at him, demanding food as he loped away.
Amaros escorted his mate to their couch. Zoe was holding their sleeping baby in her arms. Nova was awake and was staring at her mother’s red hair as Wynter rocked her in her arms. “Our little girl refuses to go to sleep,” she murmured to her mate.
“She’s as stubborn as her beautiful mother,” Tolas joked and received a mock glare in return.
“Get some food and a drink, then we’ll get started,” Camriel said. He seemed nervous to his family. Only Grace knew what was going on, but she kept it to herself. Now that she knew what her main skill was, she’d become far more aware of everything that was going on around her.
Xan and Vic had made enough sandwiches for everyone, so they all piled up plates and grabbed soda or water.
Ezequiel returned with a fully sated and purring kitten draped over his shoulder.
“The monster has been tamed,” he said wryly as he took a seat next to his mate.
Sin gave him a kiss of thanks, then handed him a plate full of food.
“Let’s begin,” Cam said, then nodded at Xanthia.
The cambion switched on her computer and a picture appeared on the huge TV that hung on the wall.
The couches and chairs had been arranged so they could all view his presentation.
“As you know, I’ve been planning to make some renovations to Queeg’s cabin,” Camriel said.
At his nod, a photo of the rustic cabin appeared on the TV. “This is why you asked me to duplicate a camera for you,” Sin said in realization.
Cam nodded and grinned, then tried to look serious again.
He stood next to the TV with his mate standing beside him.
Victoria looked proud as she backed him up.
“At first, I was just going to knock down one wall,” Cam said and rough plans of the cabin came up on the TV next.
“Then I had a dream and my plan changed,” the warrior went on.
The Mad Prophet slid a look at Grace to see she was the only one who didn’t look surprised. He’d been given the same dream, but Zoe hadn’t been sent the memo. The human was good at hiding his thoughts and kept his expression neutral.
“This is what I saw in my dream,” Camriel said and dramatically gestured at the screen.
“Holy crap!” Oaklie exclaimed when Xan brought up the next image. “That’s not a cabin!” she said. “That’s a freaking mansion!”
Gone was the rustic cabin and in its place stood a huge, two-story wooden house.
“It has a large kitchen as well as a dining room and two living rooms,” Cam said proudly.
“We’ll be building a laundry, a bathroom and a mud room as well as a couple more rooms downstairs.
The bedrooms upstairs will all have ensuites and the second living room will be up there. ”
Everyone was shocked by the drastic changes to the current cabin. “Who’ll be building this mansion, brother?” Kochab asked.
“We all will,” Cam said, waving his hand at his entire family. “It’ll be an excellent bonding experience.”
“None of us have ever built a house from scratch before,” Amaros pointed out, then picked up on his second in command’s disappointment. “But with your carpentry skills, I’m sure we’ll be able to build Queegly a home he’ll be proud of,” he added.
His brother beamed at him, spirits restored. “It’ll be a long process, but I’m sure we’ll get it done before winter sets in,” Camriel said confidently.
“It’s nearing the end of September now,” Ark said. “How the hell are we going to knock down the cabin and build this mansion before it starts snowing?”
“We’ve probably got a couple of months before the snow will start getting bad,” Vic said in defense of her mate’s plans. “Cam calculated how long it’ll take and he thinks we can pull it off.”
“I’m with you, brother!” Braqel stated. “I missed out on helping you all repair our home. I’m looking forward to assisting you to build the Mad Prophet’s mansion.”
“Hear, hear,” Urzra and Ramiel said together. They were all grinning, happy to finally feel included.
“Run us through your plan, Camriel,” Zoe requested, slightly miffed that they hadn’t consulted her about it. She was supposed to be the matriarch and she’d been left out of the loop entirely.
“You’re going to love it, Zo,” Xan promised with a grin, then brought up a bunch of images. “Cam wants to model the house after your design for our base.”
A lump formed in Zoe’s throat when she saw the colored renderings of the mansion.
The kitchen was identical, if smaller than the one in the base.
So were the living and dining rooms. Even the bedrooms and ensuites were similar.
Redwood floors were on both levels. “You’re right, I love it,” she decided.
The only difference was the walls. Instead of being made from stone, they would be covered in drywall inside.
“I can’t wait to get started,” Grace said, green eyes gleaming with excitement. This project would surely draw them all closer just like her favorite knight wanted.
Camriel spent the next hour detailing his plans and the timeline he wanted to follow.
Semiaza had known his mate was up to something, but he hadn’t known the details.
He was just as blown away as the others by the time the presentation was over.
Xanthia had managed to hide her thoughts from him, probably by distracting him with sex so often.
He gave her a chiding look and she snickered inside her mind, knowing he heard it.
“So? What do you think?” Camriel asked anxiously. Vic took his hand as he waited for the verdict.
“I think it’s perfect and we’ll start tomorrow,” Amaros said, as if he could possibly go against Fate’s will. She’d sent his brother the dream for a reason. None of them were going to argue with destiny.
Cam did a fist pump of glee and hugged Vic hard. “I knew he’d love it,” she murmured into his ear. They shared a lingering kiss while their family discussed his plans.
“So, I guess I’ll be moving back into the base for a while,” Queeg said to Grace in a wry tone. He hadn’t even been consulted about any of this.
“You can use one of the spare kids’ bedrooms for your radio station,” the teen said, patting his hand consolingly. “At least you won’t have to hike so far to visit us for dinner now,” she added cheekily. He chuckled and she snickered in delight.