{"id":1420,"date":"2012-09-14T00:00:23","date_gmt":"2012-09-14T04:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1420"},"modified":"2012-09-13T20:09:15","modified_gmt":"2012-09-14T00:09:15","slug":"winter-chapter-21-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1420","title":{"rendered":"Winter – Chapter 21 – 02"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>You\u2019re terrified?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The thought calmed him and unsettled his stomach at the same time.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan\u2019s not afraid to be fucking terrified.\u00a0 <\/span>The rest of us are scared more than enough for three times our number.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He\u2019s the only one that\u2019s not.<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>At least I thought so.<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cDon\u2019t act so surprised, Jameson,\u201d Phelan said softly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI\u2019m just as human as the rest of you.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cExcept for being thousands of years old and seeming to know everything we don\u2019t about the world we\u2019re suddenly living in.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>What do you have to be afraid of?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThe future, mostly.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan sipped his tea and watched the younger man through the edges of the fire.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI\u2019m not much a Seer.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>That\u2019s a gift\u2014or a curse\u2014that my cousin has.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThe cousin that hooked up with Thom\u2019s?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>J.T. asked, sipping his own tea slowly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The cold was reaching them even here by the fire, and it didn\u2019t surprise him based on the sound of the wind.<\/span>\u00a0 I should\u2019ve grabbed a blanket or something.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>The thought of a blanket brought thoughts of Carolyn and the bed they\u2019d been sharing.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He stared down into the mug between his palms.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It had happened so quick.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Too quick, almost.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYeah, Teague.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan looked away.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYour bloodline, but\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThe woman I saw in the dream,\u201d J.T. said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhen I dreamed about the woman in the tarn, when I saw you.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s reincarnation or genetic memory,\u201d Phelan said, eyes still focused on something far away\u2014perhaps something long ago.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He\u2019s no seer, but he\u2019s a druid of the old order.\u00a0 <\/span>Part priest, part warrior, part bard\u2014all of it and more at the same time.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Nan would have liked him.<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Of course, his grandmother probably would have thrown Phelan in the tarn, too.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhatever it is,\u201d Phelan continued, \u201cpart of me is grateful that you somehow remember it.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>For better or worse, you were my entr\u00e9e.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI fucking <\/span>punched<\/span><\/em> you, Phelan.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I wasn\u2019t your in.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>That was Care, reminding us all that we were being total assholes playing Twenty Questions with a guy who\u2019d walked for weeks to get to us.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI deserved it on more levels than you know.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan stretched slightly. His eyes slid closed for a few moments.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cTeague asked me to come to<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>you guys about two weeks before things came apart.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I didn\u2019t leave the city when I should have.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Too many other things I was trying to accomplish before I bailed, and I thought I had the luxury of time.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I didn\u2019t trust him.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I didn\u2019t trust what he\u2019d seen.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThe fact of the matter is, I should have been here before the world ended.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>You guys shouldn\u2019t have faced it alone.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe lived,\u201d J.T. said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe\u2019re still here.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Hell, it didn\u2019t start to get <\/span>really<\/span><\/em> bad until after you showed up.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan choked on a laugh and shook his head, opening his eyes as he took a deep draught of his tea.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s me.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Harbinger of doom.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He stared across the fire at J.T.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cDo you think they blame you?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThe only actual trouble that you brought to us was Vammatar, and she\u2019s dead.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>You killed her.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>J.T. stretched, wincing slightly as his shoulder twinged.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThe other guy\u2014what was his name?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cCariocecus,\u201d Phelan said.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYeah, him.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Shadow man.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>What he said to Mar and Thom at their wedding\u2014all the shit that he caused before you ever got here\u2014that sealed it.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He didn\u2019t come here to trouble you, he\u2019s here for us.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019m not sure why he\u2019s here for us, but he is.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s part of what\u2019s got me shaking in my boots,\u201d Phelan admitted.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIt makes me think he knows something I don\u2019t, and that\u2019s never a good feeling.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhat the hell could <\/span>that<\/span><\/em> be?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Phelan said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s got me worried.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Jacqueline\u2019s voice intruded on them both.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cGuys?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We have a problem.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I can\u2019t find them.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>J.T. looked at her, frowning slightly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThom and Marin,\u201d she said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThey\u2019re just <\/span>gone<\/span><\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYou.\u00a0 You\u2019re terrified?\u201d\u00a0 The thought calmed him and unsettled his stomach at the same time.\u00a0 Phelan\u2019s not afraid to be fucking terrified.\u00a0 The rest of us are scared more than enough for three times our number.\u00a0 He\u2019s the only … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,60,14,52,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-2","category-chapter-21","category-story","category-winter","category-year-one"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-mU","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1420"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1422,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420\/revisions\/1422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}