{"id":4412,"date":"2020-09-09T12:51:46","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T16:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4412"},"modified":"2020-09-09T12:51:46","modified_gmt":"2020-09-09T16:51:46","slug":"eleven-04-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4412","title":{"rendered":"Eleven – 04"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

I stared at the closed door for a few seconds, then my gaze flicked toward Phelan, who stared at it silently for a moment longer than I did, then took a slow, deep breath.\u00a0 He shook his head as he exhaled.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter all these years, it shouldn\u2019t surprise me that she knew I was coming,\u201d he murmured, mostly to himself.\u00a0 I canted my head to one side, watching him as he turned from the door and headed for a chair, sinking down into it as if he was feeling every single one of the many, many years he\u2019d walked this world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d I asked, my voice soft.\u00a0 Kailey looked at me like I was maybe a little crazy\u2014laughable, because she already knew exactly how crazy I might be.<\/p>\n

Phelan didn\u2019t answer right away.\u00a0 For a few seconds, he stared at the floor, as if he was still trying to absorb or process something\u2014what, I couldn\u2019t be sure, at least not yet.<\/p>\n

He would tell us, though.\u00a0 I had every confidence of that.<\/p>\n

Kailey stole another glance at me as Phelan held his peace, her brow furrowing.\u00a0 She looked like she was on the verge of saying something, maybe asking something, when Phelan cleared his throat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re here because of my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWait, what?\u201d\u00a0 Kailey took two steps toward him, then stopped, staring.\u00a0 \u201cThe one who wanted to kill my mom?\u00a0 The one no one talks about except for to say that<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan swallowed hard.\u00a0 \u201cThere are reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean other<\/em> than the fact that she wanted to kill my mom?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kailey opened her mouth but I broke in before she could say anything more.\u00a0 \u201cUncle Phelan, she didn\u2019t send<\/em> them, did she?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cBut she\u2019s why they\u2019re here regardless.\u00a0 If not for her, they wouldn\u2019t have any idea that we were out here.\u201d\u00a0 He frowned a moment, then amended, \u201cMaybe they would have known we were out here, but I doubt they would have come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand,\u201d Kailey said.<\/p>\n

Phelan took another deep breath.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s all right.\u00a0 It\u2019s complicated.\u00a0 But the\u2014the one who fell off his horse?\u00a0 He\u2019s my nephew.\u00a0 He\u2019s my nephew, he could be dying, and he\u2019s no older than either one of you.\u00a0 And her stories<\/em> set them on this quest, never realizing what they were getting into.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever knowing the whole truth.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thomas Merlin Ambrose’s point of view.] I stared at the closed door for a few seconds, then my gaze flicked toward Phelan, who stared at it silently for a moment longer than I did, then took … 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":[340,150,171,170,345,149,173,148,168,147,165,200,146],"class_list":["post-4412","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-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-19a","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412","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=4412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4413,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412\/revisions\/4413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}