{"id":3348,"date":"2017-09-13T00:00:29","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T04:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3348"},"modified":"2017-09-14T17:59:50","modified_gmt":"2017-09-14T21:59:50","slug":"twenty-one-04-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3348","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-one – 04"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Hecate’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll deal with it when they do. We\u2019ll have time\u2014probably not as much as we\u2019d like, but we\u2019ll have it.\u201d Matt held her eye steadily for a few seconds. Neve reached up and grasped his shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cAngie and I can take the twins,\u201d she said softly. \u201cYou can do what you need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

He shook his head, adjusting the basket in his hand. Kurt was fast asleep despite the storm and the rain. \u201cNo,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cThe only thing I need to do is this. Come on. Let\u2019s get you guys back to where it\u2019s warmer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hairs on her arms and legs had risen in goosebumps. She hadn\u2019t noticed the ambient chill until Matt\u2019s mention of it. That left her a little unsettled\u2014both that she hadn\u2019t noticed and that the chill was so pronounced.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s probably not a good sign, if he\u2019s right about Thordin holding the storm\u2014and I think he is. This feels like other people doing the same thing.<\/em> She had experienced that more than once in her lifetime, though she had only held the weather a bare handful of times, she had been in the presence of more than one of Olympium\u2019s masters controlling the weather. It explained the ambient buzz in the air, the ache that gripped the back of her head, one she\u2019d been fighting to ignore since it had begun.<\/p>\n

Matt wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she leaned into that embrace. Standing next to him, her heart quieted and breathing got a little easier; panic that had started to well up without her knowing began to ebb just as quickly as it had come. His breath stirred the hair over her ear.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hecate nodded. \u201cMostly, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened out there?\u201d Neve asked quietly as they began to move toward the main cookfire. People moved around them, hanging up sodden clothes to dry and shifting supplies, the activity of their camp-turned-village returning to normal in the wake of the attack. The tension was still there in the air, though, hadn\u2019t quite drained away.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of camazotzi<\/em>,\u201d Matt admitted. \u201cA few made it inside the wards before we were able to push them up high enough. J.T.\u2019s having a look at Thom right now. One got him pretty good and it\u2019s\u2014it seems different than before. It\u2019s like the claws did more damage than they have before. I\u2019m not sure what the hell that could mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concern flashed through Neve\u2019s eyes and Hecate felt a flutter of discomfort ripple through her guts. There were a dozen things that it could mean and most of them weren\u2019t good.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll need to talk to Jameson. I wonder\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHow many got inside the walls?\u201d Neve asked. \u201cWas Cam\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s fine. Not a scratch. He came out onto the field with me after Thordin, after Sif\u2014\u201d Matt broke off, making a soft noise of frustration. \u201cHe\u2019s fine. He\u2019s probably getting cleaned up and changing into dry clothes. Go on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neve took a deep breath and nodded. She squeezed Matt\u2019s arm before she broke off from their little group and headed for the corridor beyond one edge of the tents, seeking her lover and the father of her children. Hecate watched her go for a few seconds, a tightness gripping her heart before it eased. Matt squeezed her gently before he glanced down at Angie.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour brother\u2019s okay, too,\u201d he said. \u201cA little sore because a camazotzi<\/em> decided to throw Thom at him, but he\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Mr. Phelan and Miss Marin?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re okay, too.\u201d Matt gave Angie a reassuring smile. The girl nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hecate\u2019s guts twisted and she squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds. No one, least of all a child, deserved to witness all that Angie had. She could only imagine how much worse it had been in the months before she\u2019d come, in the months since the end.<\/p>\n

How much more will she see? What will it do to her?<\/em> She opened her eyes, looking at the three infants in their care. What will it do to <\/em>them?<\/em><\/p>\n

She exhaled a shaky breath. Matt looked at her, worry in his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m all right,\u201d she assured him softly, then kissed his cheek. The words did nothing to erase the concern she saw when she meet his gaze, but it was all right. She loved him even more for that concern, that he cared enough to worry. \u201cIt\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pressed a kiss to her temple, squeezing his eyes shut for a few seconds. She sighed softly.<\/p>\n

Angie smiled and looked away, continuing on with little Gwen in her basket toward the fire. There were voices there, a little weak laughter, but laughter just the same. That gave Hecate a little hope back, hope she\u2019d lost somewhere in her thousands of years. Even in dark hours, there was still laughter, and light, and hope.<\/p>\n

Perhaps they had a chance after all.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on,\u201d she said softly. \u201cWe\u2019d better catch up to Angie before someone wonders what\u2019s keeping us.\u201d<\/p>\n

A soft sound that was almost a chuckle escaped Matt and he nodded, cheek pressed against her hair. \u201cRight. You\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

He squeezed her gently and guided her toward the warmth and light of the cookfire and the cluster of people around it, people they both hoped that someday she\u2019d be able to trust as friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Hecate’s point of view.] \u201cWe\u2019ll deal with it when they do. We\u2019ll have time\u2014probably not as much as we\u2019d like, but we\u2019ll have it.\u201d Matt held her eye steadily for a few seconds. Neve reached up … 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":[240,269,14],"tags":[225,150,171,170,228,194,227,181,149,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-3348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-6","category-chapter-21-book-6","category-story","tag-angie-van-rijn","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-gwen-johanson","tag-hecate","tag-kurt-johanson","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-S0","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3348","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=3348"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3350,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3348\/revisions\/3350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}