Chapter Twenty-Six
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GRACE COULDN’T HAVE been more excited about the project they would all be working on together.
Cam was so proud of himself that she was almost moved to tears.
Seeing Vic being so supportive of her mate made the teen long for her own knight even more.
Grace wanted someone to cherish and for someone to love her like her sisters and their mates had.
Alas, she wasn’t quite nineteen yet. Fate thought she was too young to be paired up with the warrior she’d chosen for her.
“I guess I’m going to have a lot of work ahead of me,” Sin joked. Angel was curled up on her lap now and was dead to the world.
“Me, too,” Oak said wryly.
“Both of your skills will be essential,” Camriel agreed. “I’ll need you to duplicate pretty much everything we’ll need,” he said to Sinai. “And your help to shape the wood into the exact sizes I need for the frames, outside walls and floors will be a big help,” he told Oaklie.
Grace could tell both females were only pretending to grumble.
They were both secretly pleased that their talents were so useful.
She knew they were just playing down their reactions so the other cambions wouldn’t feel like they weren’t as important.
They all had their own skills that had proven to be essential so far.
She felt like she always had secrets now that she was aware of her true power.
It was amazing how much she noticed about her family now, but she would never use her knowledge to harm them.
The warning Queeg gave her that she could use it against people as well as helping them was always at the back of her mind.
“That’s not all,” Cam said with a grin. “I also want to build small fishing docks on either side of the lake.”
“You already built us a dock, brother,” Ram reminded him.
“That pathetic thing?” Jaq joked. “It’s already falling apart.”
Cam shot him a glare, but Jacquin just snickered. “I’ve learned a lot since then and the new dock will be awesome,” the big blond warrior told him.
“Oak will make all of the wood impervious to wear, tear and rot,” Grace said before an argument could start.
Jaq was cocky almost to the point of arrogance sometimes.
He liked to be the center of attention and often challenged his fellow knights to fights in the boxing ring and on the gaming console.
“Let’s clean up this mess, then begin moving Queeg’s belongings to our base,” Zoe said. There was no point wasting time, since they had a lot to do before winter arrived.
Carrying the dishes to the kitchen, they were ready to leave a short while later. Amaros motioned everyone to move into a cluster. “We might as well teleport there,” the commander said. He borrowed energy from his squad, then shifted them all to the far side of the lake.
Zoe and Wynter couldn’t do much, since they’d brought their kids with them, but they wanted to be a part of the process.
The knights teleported the studio gear to a spare bedroom that would one day be a nursery.
Queegly had chosen the spare bedroom next to Grace’s room to sleep in. His studio was right across the hall.
It only took an hour for them to work together and shift all of the furniture, clothes, utensils and everything else out. It all went into empty rooms in their base.
“It feels like such a waste to destroy the cabin after all the hard work we’ve already put in,” Sinai said. Angel had accompanied them. She was draped over Wynter’s shoulder where she would be out of the way.
Cam nodded in sympathy. “I’m thinking of it as practice,” he said. “We can keep the solar panels, the battery and the septic tank. Everything else can be replaced. Wyn, can you shut off the water?” he requested.
“It’s done,” the redhead said after reaching out with her magic to stop the water from flowing through the pipes to the cabin.
“I’ve already shut the electricity down,” Xan said before her brother could ask. “It’s safe to remove the battery and solar panels now.”
The knights swiftly removed the items and stored them in the garage where Queegly’s truck and caravan were. They returned to the cabin and waited for their next instructions.
“How are we going to knock this thing down?” Arkas asked, eyeing the old structure.
“We could use the bulldozer,” Camriel said. “We could probably teleport it here if we pool our resources. We’ll need to knock some trees down and clear a bigger space to build the mansion anyway.”
“I’ve got a better idea,” Caterina said, drawing everyone’s attention to her. The pyrokinetic was looking at their matriarch with a pondering expression. “We’ve all seen what the cambions can all do with our talents, except for Zoe.”
“You’ve all seen me predict the future and delve into the past,” Zo said with a slight frown.
Grace knew what was coming and she wasn’t sure whether to be excited or scared about it. She and Amaros had both witnessed a small taste of the seer’s other talent. It had been unnerving to say the least.
“I’ve heard our family mention your rage, but I’ve never seen even a hint of it,” Cat said.
“It’s real,” Amaros said wryly. “Grace and I both saw Zoe lose control once.”
“Did she lose control?” Bria asked shrewdly. “Or did she just open the door to her rage a crack and let a little bit of it out?”
Zoe looked down at her son who was sleeping peacefully in her arms to avoid the question. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to open the door,” she said at last when no one spoke.
“Maybe it’s time to learn what you can do with all that power, mama bear,” Queegly said, surprising them all.
Zo looked at him and Grace saw a hint of betrayal.
“He’s not talking about unleashing your rage completely,” the teen said.
“But keeping it pent up inside you constantly without any sort of outlet can’t be good.
Maybe do what you did the night Amaros made you think you could never have a baby and aim your fury at the cabin. ”
As usual, she said exactly the right thing to defuse the situation. “Are you sure about this?” Zoe asked her fellow oracle.
“It’ll be fine,” Queeg said to soothe her nerves.
“I’ll take little Arak,” Amaros said, holding out his arms. His mate handed the baby over to him, then approached the cabin.
“Here we go,” Vic murmured to Cam. He was just as tense as she was.
Everyone moved to stand in a cluster behind Zoe, then Amaros felt his mate gathering her power. Angel growled low in her throat as her fur stood on end. Hissing in terror, the feline sprang off Wynter’s shoulder and ran for her life back towards the base.
“She’ll be fine, babe,” Eze said to Sin. He didn’t want either of them to miss out on the spectacle they were about to witness.
Grace reached out and Queegly took her hand. Tori took the kid’s other hand and hooked her arm around Jac’s waist. Her mate didn’t have any quips inside him right now. He was just as nervous as the rest of them.
Zoe had spent half of her life containing the power that resided inside her. She’d never understood why she had so much rage simmering in her mind. Now that she was aware of her origins, she knew she’d inherited it from her sire. Just thinking about Rahab was enough to make her fury spike.
Thinking about their enemy’s plans to kill her entire family and take over the world was enough to enrage her.
Zoe Zayden cracked open the door in her mind and focused her fury on the cabin.
Taking a deep breath, she screamed at the structure and her rage manifested.
Amaros raised a ward around his family to protect them from the sheer power that blasted outwards.
“Holy shiz!” Grace shouted, but she could barely hear her own voice even with the barrier muffling the noise.
Zoe’s scream ended and she staggered. Her mate was by her side to catch her with one arm, while cradling their son with the other. Arakiel woke up and began to howl, reacting to his mother’s emotions. Nova cried with him and Wynter soothed her daughter.
“I’d say it worked pretty damn well, mama bear,” Queegly said in awe. Only splinters remained where the cabin had once stood. Their matriarch had managed to direct her power at the building and surrounding trees. The trees had been blasted to smithereens as well.
“We’re going to need a really big shovel to scoop up all the rubble,” Semi joked.
Tor snickered, then the females were all laughing hysterically. Grace saw how shaken her best friend was. Not even Zoe had been aware of just how deadly she could be, but the teen suspected she’d only scratched the surface of her powers.
“Take me home,” Zo murmured to her mate. Amaros teleported his family away from the destruction.
Grace’s laughter died and she shared a look with the Mad Prophet.
Queegly’s eyes were unfathomable at times, but she saw knowledge of the future in their depths.
He was hiding something from them all, but she didn’t call him out on it.
He’d tell them what they needed to know when the time was right.