Chapter Thirty-Six
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SPENDING THE AFTERNOON at the lake, the knights and cambions eventually returned to their base.
The mansion they were about to begin building was the main topic of conversation.
Sin and Oak were ready to use their talents as required.
Tor wanted to plant a garden when it was finished.
Or at least get one started, since it would no doubt be too cold for anything to grow in it once the job was done.
Zoe took little Arak from Amaros and headed to the south wing to put him in his crib. He’d finally drifted off to sleep and had crashed hard. She was content with her life and she loved her family. Angel could be annoying at times, but the feline had become part of their family as well.
“Speak of the devil,” Zo murmured when she reached the end of the short passageway and turned the corner.
Angel liked to wander around and hated closed doors.
She spotted the cambion and raced towards her.
Instead of yowling loudly, Angel silently leaped up onto her shorts, then dug her claws in as she scrambled onto her shoulder.
Purring, she butted her head against Zoe’s ear.
“I know you want food,” Zoe whispered so she didn’t wake her son up.
“I’ll take you to the kitchen as soon as I’ve put Arakiel down.
There was no way the animal could have understood her, yet Angel draped herself over her shoulder to wait patiently. As soon as they left the south wing, she opened her mouth and screamed into the mystic’s ear for food. Zoe laughed instead of being annoyed.
Vic was standing at one of the fridges with a scowl on her face. Her once short black hair almost reached her shoulders and she kept tucking it behind her ears. Her friends were all heading to the skating rink soon. As usual, she and Cam would be left behind.
“Is something wrong, Vic?” Zoe asked knowingly. She opened the door to another fridge to get some cat food. Angel leaped to the floor and continued to yowl for food.
“Nope,” Vic lied in a sour tone as she scrounged for snacks. “What could possibly be wrong?” she asked grumpily.
“You know you and Cam could come to the rink with us if you’d just hash things out with GG,” the oracle said, keeping her tone light.
Vic’s scowl deepened even more as she piled food on the countertop. “GG doesn’t deserve my forgiveness,” the ex-wrestler said in a near snarl. “She might have you all fooled, but I know what she’s really like.”
Zoe let out an exasperated sigh and gave up for now.
There was no use trying to talk sense to someone who refused to let go of her grudges.
Everyone was waiting for their matriarch in the great room.
Nova had been put to bed as well, so Zoe and Wynter would have a few hours to relax.
Vic and Cam would look after their babies while they were gone.
“Are you ready?” Amaros asked. Everyone nodded, so he teleported them all to their second base in Brooklyn.
Cam was waiting for his mate when she stomped into their bedroom. He grinned at her glowering face and patted the bed. “Did you bring me my favorite snacks, female?” he asked.
“Of course,” Vic said, still annoyed at their seer. She dumped her armful of food and beverages on the bed, then plonked down beside her mate.
They ate in silence for a while, but Camriel could tell his cambion needed to vent. “Are you angry with Zoe?” he asked, then took a sip of beer.
“I’m angry with all of them,” Vic said glumly. “GG’s pulled the wool over their eyes. They have no idea what she’s really like beneath her perfect, glossy surface.”
Cam chewed a candy bar before responding. “I know she was mean to you and she treated you like dirt,” he said. “But she really has changed from what Wynter and Tolas have said. Why can’t you forgive GG for the things she did in the past?”
Vic eyed her mate, who was lying on his side next to her. She sat with her back against the headboard with a pillow behind her. His handsome face was open and enquiring rather than judgmental. She scanned his mind to see he was truly curious.
Instead of flying off the handle like she usually did, Vic thought back to when she’d been eighteen and had just joined the wrestling circuit.
“I used to watch pro-wrestling when I was a kid and I kind of worshipped GG,” she admitted.
“She was blonde, beautiful and popular. I wanted to be like her and I wanted everyone to love me like they loved her.”
Cam was shocked by that news. “I had no idea,” he murmured, beginning to understand why his mate hated her old rival so much now.
“GG was handed everything on a silver platter, but she was too selfish to realize how good she had it,” Vic said.
“She even had an awesome guy like Dalton Ashton and rejected him. She’s never had to fight for anything and expected everyone to worship her.
GG made me feel worthless when I joined the wrestling circuit.
I wasn’t rich and pampered. I was rough around the edges and GG always pointed out my flaws.
She taunted me and turned the other women against me so I was ostracized by most of them.
Only a few had been my friends and I hadn’t been close to any of them. ”
Camriel could feel her roiling emotions and sat up. Sweeping the snacks out of the way, he put his beer can on the nightstand, then shifted over so he could put his arm around his mate’s shoulders.
Vic refused to let the tears that had welled in her eyes fall. “Hardly anyone had ever really cared about me, but GG had the world at her fingertips,” she said. “It crushed me to be ridiculed by someone I’d looked up to so much. I guess I made myself a promise to pay her back in kind.”
Her knight held her tightly to his side as she struggled with her emotions. “I’m so proud of you, babe,” Cam said, heart brimming with love for this perfect female.
“Why?” Vic asked in misery. “Everyone thinks I’m the bad guy in this scenario because I can’t forgive GG.”
“GG might have been blonde, beautiful and popular, but she’s just a puny human,” he reminded her.
“You have more power inside your delectable body than all of your rivals combined. You could have crushed GG’s spine during one of your fights and made it look like an accident.
Instead, you restrained yourself and you played by the rules.
GG’s fame is gone and her looks will eventually fade, but you’ll be young and beautiful forever. ”
A reluctant smile appeared on Vic’s face. “I hadn’t thought about that,” she admitted. “It’s weird to know I’ll share the same lifespan as you, which will probably be an eternity. GG will grow old and die and rot to nothing and I’ll be this muscular and hot for billions of years.”
Cam was glad her spirits had been lifted, but he had one more point to make. “As for hardly anyone ever caring about you, you have me and an entire family of knights and cambions who love you now. You’re my entire world, female.”
Vic softened inside when she realized she’d hurt his feelings by accident. “I know how much you love me, Camriel,” she said solemnly. “I love you just as much. I’m pretty sure seeing you in that hideous purple prom suit and blue blouse was the turning point that made me begin to fall for you.”
Cam narrowed his eyes when he picked up that she was mentally snickering at him. He’d almost believed her for a second then. “You hated that suit and shirt,” he grumbled. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”
“Are you kidding?” his mate scoffed. “I just wish I’d been able to take a photo of how ridiculous you looked. I would have framed it and put it on the wall and shown our kids when they grew old enough to laugh at you.”
She broke into snickers, but he couldn’t be angry with his mate.
Their relationship had started out rocky, but it was rock solid now.
He wrestled her onto her back, scattering snacks all over the place.
His kiss made her laughter vanish, then they made the most of their time together before one of the babies or Angel needed their attention.