{"id":3401,"date":"2017-11-06T00:00:57","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T05:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3401"},"modified":"2017-11-05T20:27:21","modified_gmt":"2017-11-06T01:27:21","slug":"twenty-five-06-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3401","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-five – 06"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Hecate slipped out into the hall a few minutes later, dressed for the day in cargo shorts, a loose shirt, and sneakers. She was empty-handed, though she\u2019d likely try to stop by the fire for at least a cup of something warm on her way to check on Neve. Her heart felt a little lighter, lighter than it had in a long while.<\/p>\n

She had a purpose<\/em>. There was a reason for her to be here. Knowing that felt good\u2014very, very good.<\/p>\n

It was quiet by the fire, but there was still a pot of tea settled on the stones surrounding it even if no one else was there. Hecate stopped, crouching to pick up the kettle and pour herself a mug of tea before heading onward, looping back in the direction she\u2019d come. Cameron and Neve had a room at the far end of the hall from where she at Matt were\u2014theirs was closer to the center than Neve and Cameron\u2019s.<\/p>\n

There was a spring in her step and she was surprised to find herself humming as she drew up to the door. A blush stole across her cheeks despite herself. How was it that she was so damned happy<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Matt. These people, starting to feel like I belong somewhere again, like I\u2019ve got a family again, like these people are actually going to <\/em>protect me instead of using me for their own ends.<\/em><\/p>\n

She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly before she rapped on the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould be open,\u201d Neve\u2019s voice called softly, almost too quiet for her to hear. Hecate smiled a little and opened the door slowly, starting with a crack she could peek through. She smiled at the sight of Cameron fast asleep with baby Anne in his arms, leaning against Neve, who was nursing Artorius.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust checking on you,\u201d Hecate said softly as she slipped inside. \u201cCameron\u2019s finally asleep, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt only took all night, I guess.\u201d Neve smiled crookedly, glancing down at him. \u201cWhat about you? You slept, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBetter than I have in a long time,\u201d Hecate admitted, closing the door behind her and making her way over toward the bed. \u201cFor good reason, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for being here,\u201d Neve said softly, reaching to take Hecate\u2019s hand. She squeezed the other woman\u2019s fingers, and Hecate found herself surprised by the gratitude she saw in Neve\u2019s gaze. She blushed and looked down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just doing what needed to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t have to come and help me,\u201d Neve said. \u201cBut you did anyway because I asked and that means a lot. Thank you. Thank you so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hecate squeezed her hand back. \u201cThank you for asking for me. That meant a lot to me, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we\u2019re almost even, then,\u201d Neve said, then grinned.<\/p>\n

Hecate laughed. \u201cMaybe. I guess we\u2019ll figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neve nodded. \u201cYeah. Yeah, we will.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Hecate’s point of view.] Hecate slipped out into the hall a few minutes later, dressed for the day in cargo shorts, a loose shirt, and sneakers. She was empty-handed, though she\u2019d likely try to stop by … 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":[240,274,14],"tags":[275,271,150,161,171,170,194,151,149,148,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-3401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-6","category-chapter-25-book-6","category-story","tag-anne-mackenzie","tag-artorius-mackenzie","tag-awakenings","tag-cameron-mackenzie","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","tag-neve-vaughan","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-SR","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3401","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=3401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3402,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3401\/revisions\/3402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}