Chapter Thirty-Four
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URZRA HAD NEVER FELT such a rollercoaster of emotions before meeting Bria Janke. The worst part was that she knew what he was feeling all the time. He wished he could switch them off to spare her, but he also didn’t want to become an emotionless robot.
“You need to try to keep yourself together when you’re around her,” he scolded himself as he headed to the closest property. Someone might have seen them driving towards their new base. He wanted to make sure they weren’t going to be ambushed.
Even now, the knight alternated between joy and despair when he thought about his female.
Bria was everything he’d ever wanted in a partner, not that he’d been given the option of having one before.
None of the knights had ever had a long-term relationship.
This time, Fate had changed the rules and he didn’t know why.
He just knew he wanted to seize the chance and make the most of it.
“How can I convince my cambion that we should be together?” he asked as he approached the nearest house.
It was empty and hadn’t been lived in for months when he peered through the windows.
He entered through the unlocked back door and checked the pantry.
Just as he’d hoped, it still had food inside it.
He searched for something to carry it in and found some large, heavy duty plastic bags.
The knight made the rounds of all of the houses and none of them were occupied. A few had bodies inside when he broke in to search for food. He still hadn’t answered his own question when darkness fell and he headed back to Bria.
He could hear his female humming as he approached their base. She’d sensed him coming and opened the front door. “You found more food?” she asked, seeing the bags that were slung over his shoulders.
“Merry Christmas,” he said with a grin when she stepped aside to let him in.
“You’re five months early, but I appreciate the gifts,” she said, closing and locking the door. “I take it we don’t have any dangerous neighbors?”
Urzra shook his head as he dumped the bags on the dining table. “We don’t have any neighbors at all,” he corrected her. “They were either raptured, left afterwards or ended their own lives.”
She wasn’t surprised to hear that and her expression turned grave. “It must have been hard for the people who were left behind after losing their friends and families to the Rapture,” she said.
“Most people would have had trouble coping,” Urzra agreed, then began unpacking the bags. “Where do you want me to put these?” he asked.
“I’ll take care of that,” she said. “Take a seat and rest.”
“I don’t think anyone has ever said that to me before,” he said, casting his mind back through time as he ambled over to an armchair. “It’s comfy,” he said in approval when he sank down onto the tan-colored recliner.
“All you need is a can of beer and you’d look like a guy who just came home from a hard day’s work,” Bria joked.
She began putting the items he’d scrounged up in the pantry.
She’d found an old kettle and was heating up water to make herself some coffee.
Something was cooking on another gas burner.
It smelled nice and he almost wished he needed to eat.
“I saw the lake while I was out scouting,” Urzra said. “It’s small, but there are fish in it. I’d like to try catching some so you can have a fresh meal.”
“That sounds great,” she said in surprise. “I saw some fishing rods in a shed behind the house when I searched the place earlier.”
Urzra felt a strange need to provide for his female. It was what had driven him to search for the food and beverages. “My brothers will probably laugh themselves stupid when they find out how I’ll be spending my time while waiting for Amaros to find me,” he said with a sheepish grin.
“Fishing isn’t manly enough for the mighty Knights of Order?” Bria asked mockingly as she stirred her food.
“None of us have ever been fishing before,” he said in a rueful tone.
The kettle started whistling and she poured the water into a mug. “Fishing is easy,” she said. “You just need to dig up some worms from near the lake and put them on the hooks. Cast the line into the water and wait for the fish to bite.”
“Will you show me, female?” he asked, knowing she would sense his vulnerability at being rejected again.
“Sure,” she replied. “I used to fish every now and then back home. I’m pretty good at it.”
His tension faded and he relaxed into the chair. He was too tall for it and his legs hung over the end, but it was the most comfortable chair he’d ever sat on. “This is the life,” he said, lacing his fingers over his stomach. “What did you do to keep yourself busy before the Rapture?” he asked.
Bria checked her meal, then spooned it into a bowl.
It was orange in color and was some kind of soup.
“I read most of the time,” she said. “Ethel left me enough money in her will that I didn’t have to work if I didn’t want to, as long as I was frugal.
With my talent to feel emotions, the only kind of jobs I could have done would have been solitary ones anyway. ”
“What sort of books do you read?” he asked next, glancing at the e-reader she was charging. It sat on the coffee table, plugged into a long cord that led to a wall socket.
“All sorts of things,” his cambion said. She carried her bowl and coffee to the other recliner and sat down. “I’ve been reading a lot of romantasy lately,” she confessed.
“What’s romantasy?” he asked.
“Books based in fantasy worlds that are heavy on romance,” she explained, cheeks going pink in embarrassment.
“The main female characters usually have some kind of magical talent. Their men are warriors or have magic of their own. They get into all sorts of trouble as they save their towns or worlds from whatever problems they have to face.”
Urzra cocked his head to the side. “You just described us, female,” he said teasingly. “You have magic and I’m a warrior with magic of my own. We’re fighting our enemies to save this world from the chaos they bring.”
Bria’s face went a darker shade of red. “Yeah, but we’re not a couple,” she pointed out.
“We could be,” he reminded her. “I’m not pushing you, Bria,” he said, holding his hand up when she frowned darkly. “I’m just saying that’s what Fate intends for us. I’m content to wait until my commander arrives and see if he knows what’s going on.”
She was still frowning, but at least she hadn’t fled from the house. His cambion took a sip of her soup and he felt the burn on her tongue with her. “Too hot,” she complained, then blew on her spoon.
Instantly hard again, Urzra wished he didn’t react like a horny teenager around her all the time. “I’m going to take a shower,” he said, then lurched to his feet.
“Make it a cold one,” she said to his back with a hint of amusement as he strode down the hall. “Towels and washcloths are in the linen cupboard just next to the bathroom!” she called out.
Urzra stopped to grab the items she’d named, then locked himself in the bathroom.
“You’re pathetic,” he scolded his reflection beneath his breath.
Maybe he would get used to Bria now that they would be spending so much time together.
Somehow, he doubted he would stop responding to her with stark desire every time she did something adorable.
The cold water did a good job of dampening his libido.
Bria had finished her dinner when he returned.
She glanced up from her e-reader and smirked.
Urzra gave her a wry look, then glanced around the living room.
He was bored and needed something to occupy his time.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing at a device sitting in a cabinet beneath the TV.
“That’s a gaming console,” Bria told him. “People play video games on it.”
Intrigued, he crouched down to open the cabinet. “Can you show me how it works?” he requested.
“I’m not a gamer, but I can help you set it up,” she replied.
It took a few minutes to set the console up and get it running.
She found a collection of video games in another cabinet next to the TV.
“You’ll probably like this one,” she said, choosing one.
“It’s a driving game where you get to run people over and commit crimes,” she explained.
“You don’t need to use the internet to play it. ”
“I’m already hooked,” Urzra said with a grin of anticipation. The game had already been installed on the console, so she just had to insert the disc into it.
“It’ll have a tutorial that will show you how to play it,” Bria said, then returned to her chair.
Urzra was riveted to the TV as he started the game, but he was aware of his female watching him from time to time.