{"id":4408,"date":"2020-09-04T16:53:43","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T20:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4408"},"modified":"2020-09-04T16:53:43","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T20:53:43","slug":"eleven-03-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4408","title":{"rendered":"Eleven – 03"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\u201cUs,\u201d Kailey echoed, her tone incredulous.\u00a0 \u201cWhy the hell would they be looking for us<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot \u2018us\u2019 as in you and me,\u201d I said, stomach twisting as if my guts knew something the rest of me didn\u2019t, \u201c\u2018us\u2019 as in everyone here in the Valley.\u00a0 They were looking for the Valley<\/em>.\u00a0 Not something or someone specific\u2014us as a group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hecate was watching me; I could feel the weight of her stare and it was starting to be a little uncomfortable.\u00a0 I tried to hide the discomfort, instead focusing on Kailey, who stood a few feet away, staring at me, slack-jawed and almost\u2014almost\u2014<\/em>horrified.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d she asked, shaking her head.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t understand why they\u2019d be looking for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll things are revealed in time,\u201d Hecate said, her voice quiet.\u00a0 I recognized her tone\u2014it was the one she used when she was trying to prevent some kind of explosive outburst from her daughter.<\/p>\n

At that, Kailey turned her glare on her mother, though only for a moment, before her gaze returned to me.\u00a0 \u201cYou seem so damn sure of it, Lin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019m not,\u201d I admitted.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m just listening to my gut and what feels right.\u00a0 That\u2019s what my gut\u2019s saying, but we\u2019ll find out soon enough\u2014like Aunt Hecate said, in time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSooner rather than later, I suspect,\u201d Hecate said, standing.\u00a0 I blinked, watching her as she headed for the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see,\u201d she said as she opened the door, revealing a slightly startled\u2014and definitely perturbed\u2014looking Phelan.\u00a0 She canted her head to one side, studying him for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cYou want me to take over in there?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d he said through clenched teeth.\u00a0 \u201cYes, I think that would be best.\u201d<\/p>\n

She nodded.\u00a0 \u201cWill you stay with them?\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded once, glancing at me and then at Kailey.\u00a0 \u201cYeah.\u00a0 Yeah, I\u2019ll stay.\u00a0 Go on.\u00a0 Matt needs you more than he needs me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She chuckled at that, slipping out the door.\u00a0 \u201cHe only thinks he does.\u201d<\/p>\n

The door clicked closed behind her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thomas Merlin Ambrose’s point of view.] \u201cUs,\u201d Kailey echoed, her tone incredulous.\u00a0 \u201cWhy the hell would they be looking for us?\u201d \u201cNot \u2018us\u2019 as in you and me,\u201d I said, stomach twisting as if my guts … 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":[336,337,355,14],"tags":[340,150,171,170,194,345,149,173,148,168,147,165,200,146],"class_list":["post-4408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-11-book-8","category-story","tag-ambrose-cycle","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","tag-kailey-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-phelan-ocredne","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thomas-merlin-ambrose","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-196","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4408","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=4408"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4409,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4408\/revisions\/4409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}