Chapter 81 Still a Zoo
Sage squeezed Canyon’s hand and looked up at him. He smiled.
“Are you guys going to live out here?” Reed asked.
“No, no,” Sage said, shocked at the thought. “I can’t live here.”
“Then where? Canyon and Timber’s?”
Sage’s stomach swooped and she shook her head. She couldn’t live with the vod, what about Paisley?
Troy looked suspicious. “You haven't claimed her,” he said.
Canyon’s eyes narrowed and his voice challenged Troy. “Shit's complicated. Where's Trevor?”
“He's out—be back in a half hour.”
Canyon nodded. “You’ll hear about it then.”
Troy and Canyon appraised each other.
“You have to see our cabin,” Reed said. She took Sage’s hand and pulled her through the living room to the back door and slid it open, revealing a wide wooden porch and steps to the ground. Rogue was near the bottom of the steps, fussing over a rucksack.
“Everyone here is so great,” Reed said, crossing the porch. “So friendly and open.” She looked at Rogue as they passed and her voice darkened. “Well. Almost everyone.”
Reed pulled Sage around to the side of the house. Canyon and Troy followed. Reed stared across the yard and pointed.
A giant evergreen tree split its branches in the middle and waved at them from 40 feet in the air. Sage stopped in her tracks, dumbfounded. All the trees waved, sounding like wind, smelling like spruce, their crowns moving eerily like a crowd at a football game.
Sage took a step backwards, falling against Canyon. She looked up at him and he was smiling broadly, his eyes on the tree, whispering, “Tree soldiers.”
Sage clapped her hands. “Amazing! I can’t believe it.”
“Coolest power ever,” Troy said, beaming with pride, then he leaned down and kissed Reed’s belly. She smiled, held her belly and said, “We’re pregnant.”
Sage hugged Reed, and then she hugged Troy, saying, “Congratulations, how exciting.”
Troy put his hand on Reed’s belly, saying, “There’s at least two in there, and we’re talking names. If one of them is a boy he’s going to be Truck Brontosaurus Burbank.”
Sage laughed, surprised into it. Canyon laughed too, then rubbed the back of his neck and said, “That’s… interesting.”
“See,” Reed told Troy, pointing at Sage and Canyon. “Truck's not a name. We should think of something else.”
Rogue walked by, the rucksack slunk over her shoulder, and said, “I've got an uncle named Truck.”
Troy pointed at her. “It is a name!”
Rogue nodded, her eyes on Reed. “And if you don’t like that, what about Rack or Reena?”
Troy looked like he was considering it. Reed shook her head, shooting eye-daggers at Rogue.
Troy snapped his fingers. “I like it.”
Rogue nodded again, full of my-job-here-is-done energy, then strolled off. Reed stared after her. “She did that on purpose,” she said. She grabbed Sage’s elbow and whispered in her ear. “She mocks Troy constantly. I’m this close to telling her off.”
“Oh no,” Sage said. “I mocked Troy. Are you mad at me?”
Reed smiled. “No, you do it in a funny way.” She pointed at Rogue’s back as she walked away. “She’s just mean.”
Like the vod, went through Sage’s mind, and she shook the thought off, looking at Canyon. Canyon wasn’t mean.
Reed pulled her toward the back of the house, where two rows of four cabins sat. “Ours is Cabin #9. We have a dual cabin with Troy’s brother, and his mate.”
Sage’s mind felt overrun with details. Reed pulled her down a center path between the cabins, until they reached the last one.
It was twice as big as all the others, almost like a duplex, but with one connecting room in the middle.
Reed pulled her to the front door on the left, and they went inside.
The door opened into a living area, with the kitchen and dining area to the left, plus a hallway to a bedroom.
On the right was an airy dayroom walled in mostly with glass. Boxes were stacked everywhere.
Reed pointed at the dayroom. “That’s the connection to Trent and Rowan’s place.
They’re not here right now—off on some secret assignment.
” She moved boxes off the couch and Sage went over to help.
Troy and Canyon moved farther into the room to look out the back windows, talking about some investigation.
Someone knocked on the door and Reed answered it. Timber stood there. He pushed his way inside and flopped down the couch. “Graeme's not home.” He pointed at Canyon. “Wulf’s outside.” He pointed at Sage. “Heather said she’s coming by to meet you and she’s bringing the spicy baby.”
“Spicy baby?” Sage repeated, sitting down in an easy chair. “Should I be scared?”
“Kendra’s pretty scary,” Timber said, nodding.
“Psh. She’s just a baby,” Troy snorted.
A knock at the door came again. Reed opened the door, but instead of a fire baby, it was…
Crew Arcoal! He wore jeans, boots, and a dark blue Henley top.
He held a female’s hand, but Sage barely noticed.
He’d saved Paisley and she owed him everything.
At the very least, she wanted to express her gratitude.
She moved to the doorway, waiting for someone to introduce them.
“Sage, this is Crew and this is Dahlia,” Reed sang.
“Hi,” Crew said, coming in the room, with Dahlia next to him.
“Hi,” Dahlia said with a smile. “We saw you drive in and rushed right over to meet you.”
Sage clasped her hands in front of her, saying, “Crew. Ah, on behalf of my family, we want to say thank you for saving Paisley White, when you, you know, back last October when she was—”
Crew smiled. “No problem, but it wasn’t me. It was Dahlia.”
Sage’s swung her gaze to Dahlia, looking at her for the first time. She was short, like Sage, with untamed brown hair and big brown eyes, wearing slacks and an SPD sweatshirt.
Dahlia said, “I didn’t do much, just die.”
Everyone in the room laughed except Sage and Reed. Sage looked at their amused faces, not sure what to think.
Canyon crossed the room and took her hand. “Khain was after Dahlia all along, using Paisley to lure Dahlia out in the open and kill her in front of Crew without him being able to fight back.”
“Kill?” Sage whispered, staring at this very alive female.
Dahlia shrugged. “I got to choose whether to live again. They sent me back.”
“Who sent you back?” Sage asked.
Dahlia shrugged. “You know, Rhen and my echo. We can talk about it sometime if you want. Go to lunch.”
Sage nodded, feeling dazed at the same time. “I would love that.” She released Canyon’s hand and took Dahlia’s in both of hers. “On behalf of my family, thank you.”
Dahlia smiled and hugged her. “Well, you’re our family now, too. And you’re welcome.”
***
Sage sat on the edge of the tub. She’d excused herself to go to the bathroom to check Mina’s phone for messages.
There was nothing from her mother, and nothing from Mina, but Mina’s work had called, and Mina had a text from Ellis.
Sage didn’t answer the phone or read the text.
She thought about texting Mina to tell her it was Dahlia who saved Paisley, not Crew, but decided it wasn’t worth trying to remember the cipher.
She considered taking notes to help her remember everything she’d learned but decided against it, not wanting to look like a spy.
She considered if she should call Paisley or not and finally decided she should, but a video call went unanswered. Sage sent a message to her mom: If Paisley can’t get ahold of me later, please tell her I said, ‘Goodnight and I love her.’
Sage stuck the phone back in her back pocket and went out into the living area where no one was left but Canyon. He stood near the hallway, watching for her, his arms folded, looking strong and handsome.
He opened his arms and she went right into them. “The spicy baby’s outside,” he said.
She lay her head on his chest and took a moment to hug him, listening to his heartbeat, amazed at how quickly he’d become a stable, comforting presence for her.
“It’s going good,” he said.
“Mm,” Sage said, waiting for a kiss. He kissed her softly on the lips, then more urgently, pulling her into him.
The front door opened and Reed called her name.
“Sage!”
“Coming,” Sage called. She smiled at Canyon and walked backwards, pulling him toward the open door. He grinned at her and followed, one hand in his belt, his grin sparking heat inside her.
They reached the door and saw a knot of people she looked out and saw everyone gathered loosely around a tall blonde with—Heather—and the fire baby.
The fire baby was cute, with a button face, dressed in soft yellow pants and jacket with tiny booties—but her HAIR! It stood straight up, looking like burning flame on top of her head.
She slung one arm around her mama’s neck, turned her head and appraised Sage like an adult.
Sage took Canyon’s hand, whispering. “How old is she?”
“Maybe two and a half months.”
“She’s advanced.”
“Very. She speaks perfectly, like an adult, but only in ruhi, and only to certain people.”
“Nuh uh,” Sage said, smiling, but Canyon wasn’t.
“Swear,” he said. “She’s even got a nemesis already: Conri, and a favorite: Mac.”
Sage laughed out loud. “Now I know you’re making that up.”
Canyon grinned. “You’ll see.”
Sage took a deep breath and stepped outside. Heather swung around with the baby on her hip and smiled widely at Sage, saying, “Hi!”
Reed introduced them. “Heather, Sage, Sage, Heather.”
“Hi!” Heather called, excitedly, making Sage smile, but the heat coming off mom and baby kept her from getting close. Heather grasped the baby gently on her arm and said, “Can you lower your temperature please, just for a moment?”
The baby sniffed and turned her face away, but the heat receded. Sage rushed in and hugged Heather swiftly, the two women laughing.
Sage stepped back.
“Okay, that’s enough, thank you,” Heather said, kissing the baby on the cheek. A short-lived heat-shimmer exploded outward, hitting Sage in the face like a blast from the oven, distorting the air around it, so they could see it pass and dissipate like a soap bubble.
“She’s beautiful,” Sage said.
“Thanks. Her name is Kendra.”
Sage waved. “Hi Kendra.”
Kendra buried her face in her mom’s neck, then looked in the opposite direction, making the group around her laugh.
Sage fake pouted. “Babies usually like me.”
“Kendra only likes M-mac,” Troy said, flubbing the ‘M’ slightly.
Rogue was walking by, her rucksack on her back. She mocked Troy, imitating his speech, then laughed rudely, continuing on her way.
Reed stiffened and got in Rogue’s face, her eyes flashing with anger.
“What did you just say?”
Rogue rolled her eyes and kept walking.