Chapter 18 - Cyrus

"He still hasn't called back?" Lena asks, the tension clear on her face as she sets out glasses and wine. We had tried to see if there would be a way to better resolve her new errant powers before it was her turn to host the book club ladies, but we had come up short.

Luckily, she is doing really well with working on controlling her emotions, most of the time. There was a moment where Rufus outright asked her to hit him with her best shot. Also, a minor incident with Kaius, but no one really counted that against her when he was making a habit of sneaking up on her and scaring the crap out of her.

The dead silence from my father and Amelie has done nothing to reassure me of things back home in the past few days. Evander and I have resolved to give them one more day, and then we'd have to send him back to figure out what was going on.

Losing communication happens at times, but something about it just isn't sitting right with me.

"No, not yet. If we don't hear anything by tomorrow night, I'll send Evander back to check it out."

"This is a stupid idea, isn't it? Having the girls over?"

"I mean, as long as you keep yourself limited to one glass of wine and control your emotions, I think you'll be fine. If anything, I think it'll be good for you to spend some time with your friends."

"The guys being here adds a whole other layer of weirdness."

"We'll stay out back, I promise. We'll give you your space unless you need us. You've got this. You've been doing really well with controlling your emotions."

"Right. Mindset. I've got this."

I wrap my arm around her and squeeze gently in encouragement, planting a light kiss on top of her head. She's thawing the frigid cold war stance since we shared the whole truth with her. We'd gone through all the questions and answers she wanted. Evander even told her the truth about him being the one who was sent to extract me last time, about the orders from Nestor, and how that'd all panned out with me challenging him, nearly killing him, and taking over.

I don't know if it's the need to rely on us to get her through whatever is happening to her or the fact that we both seem to be coming to terms with the fact that there is space for us together here at this moment. Lena is letting me comfort her and help her, and I finally feel like a fraction of my old self instead of continually on edge, in spite of her seeming like a frayed nerve ending lately.

Her moods have been a wonderful rollercoaster to witness, but I can't even fault her when she's coping with whatever is happening to her. It would be a lot for anyone to try and wrap their head around. Our current theory is that she is just coming into some latent magical power somewhere in her genetic makeup. Maybe something about the proximity to the relic we're after.

Evander and Kaius want to get to the bottom of all the science behind it, but they need Nestor's guidance on where to even start digging.

Either way, finding ways for her to gently let off some steam right now seems like a good idea. I think her having a night with her friends may be exactly what she needs to regain a small sense of normalcy in the middle of all this chaos.

A couple of cars pull into the drive, and I give her one last squeeze before I grab our beer cooler to keep the guys occupied and out of the house.

"Have a good time with everyone," I offer her with a genuine smile. I am surprised when she stretches up on her toes to kiss me on the cheek.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Having faith in me that I can do this."

"Of course you can. I've never met someone so capable of bending her will into existence. All you have to do is decide it, and you'll make it happen."

"Okay, go enjoy your ax throwing."

"Oh, I intend to. Rufus thinks he has it in the bag, but I want to take my record back."

I step toward the door in time to hold it open for Sarah and a couple of other ladies. I bow my head slightly and move to leave but am stopped by Sarah's hand on my arm.

"Please tell me you're not lurking off without a proper introduction to everyone else." She's shaking her head as if that's the absolute last thing she will allow.

"Oh no," Lena interjects, "He and the guys were just going to hang out in the back and do some ax throwing to give us our space. We can still have girls' night."

Bernadette's eyes light up at the mention of the other guys while Georgia perks up over the idea of ax throwing.

"Let's throw axes," Julie laughs with a shrug, "It's not like we ever really formally made it girls' night. It just happens to be that because there were no men in this town."

"Excuse me?" Bernadette scoffs.

"Okay, no men in this town Bernie hasn't already slept with."

"Much more accurate," Bernadette laughs. "Now, yeah. Let's go throw some shit."

Lena looks a little flustered. I step back to her side and slide an arm around her, taking a deliberate, slow breath to try and remind her to keep her breathing controlled.

"It's totally up to you," I assure her.

"Fine, if nothing else, at least I can watch Sarah chase Rufus with an ax."

"Oh, that very well may happen once the wine starts up," Sarah laughs as she pours some glasses and hands them around.

"After you, ladies, I'll make introductions when we get out there. Apologies in advance for any of my research team's antics. They're mostly house-broken, I swear."

We pour out into the backyard where the guys have set up a small range for throwing. It was Kaius's idea for something to do when we had time to kill between patrols. It also doubled as an area for us to use for training when we needed targets.

The varied expressions from the guys as they turn to greet us make me chuckle. Evander looks like he's wishing the ground would open up and swallow him. Orion is definitely mapping out the quickest route away from everyone. Rufus and Kaius are in the middle of an argument, and I can't quite make it out yet other than the words "watch" and "scarf".

"Kai, Rufus, can you two stow the fashion argument for another day? We have company," I call as we close the gap and gesture to everyone to fall in.

"Ladies, I am sure you've found out by now I'm Cyrus, Lena's husband. This is my team. The tall ginger griping about his watch is Rufus. Next to him, with the shit-eating grin, is Kaius, who has most likely stolen the watch in question."

"It wasn't me this time! It was Roscoe, I swear," Kaius laughs, "He took the scarf too. I don't know how he does it, but I'm fascinated."

The ladies laugh lightly, and I can't help but join them.

Rufus has developed an even worse fear of the town's favorite furry bandit. Kaius just adds fuel to the fire by hiding peanuts in Rufus's pockets and rubbing them on his clothes whenever he has the chance. Rufus is like a walking snack bar for the little guy. More often than not, Rufus can't be outside for more than about ten minutes these days without his new shadow appearing.

"Those two pretty much need no further explanation. What you see is what you get," I continue with a laugh, "The rather mysterious-looking one back there is O. He's just really quiet generally, but I promise he does actually talk sometimes. Evan is the brains of our operation, the nicest guy you could ever meet and also our site manager. And my younger brother, Milo, isn't here today, but I've been told you can tell he's my brother when you see him."

Lena offers her own round of introductions for the ladies. Peyton, the town"s only attorney, apparently the one Merl mentioned to us before. Sarah, who knew most of us already, still got her introduction again. Bernadette, who was doing her very best to make all manner of flirty eyes in the guys' direction, apparently recently returned from college. Julie, who worked in town at the market, and her roommate Georgia, who taught at the high school and was Rose's volleyball coach, so she already knows Milo.

The group has a couple moments of loose tension before everyone starts mingling a little. Sarah drags Julie over to ask the guys to show them what the ax throwing is all about. Lena settles in at the little picnic table that we had moved out to the back, and I set the small beer cooler down.

I move to step away and she catches my hand, shaking her head a little and pulling me down to sit next to her.

"Sit with me?" she whispers in a plea. "It's easier with you close."

"Of course, if you need me, I'm here."

I settle in on the bench and straddle one leg inside and one outside so that I'm sitting sideways on the bench, and she leans back against me, doing the same as she settles between my legs. We're chatting comfortably with Georgia about the latest practice match that the team had. It's not the school season until the Spring, but she helps keep them competitive year-round with practice matches with the neighboring schools.

I think this is exactly the day we need—a way to just relax for a minute and unwind, especially after the chaos with Lena. We've been seeing more and more members of Eclipse trying to get close to her property.

I had Milo on watch at the mine today since he's able to use some of his weather abilities to his advantage. Lately, they've been far less interested in the mine and seem to be more focused on Lena than ever.

The steady thwack of axes connecting with wood or the occasional thud as they miss and hit the dirt fades into the background of the conversations as the tension and awkwardness seem to die down. I can feel Lena relaxing against me more as everyone's conversations stay comfortable and easy. A sad thought lingers in my mind that this could be our normal in another world.

We're doing great with Lena's focus until Rufus lets out what is quite possibly the most feminine shriek I've ever heard from a man in my life. Lena's hand grips my thigh tight, and a small jolt of electricity hits me as she works to rein it back in. I try my best to play it off, and thankfully, Rufus's lady-scream catches everyone's attention.

The tension in my body relaxes as Lena regains her composure, and my eyes find the source of the commotion. Roscoe is climbing Rufus up his backside. The pudgy striped body makes quick work of it and makes a beeline to Rufus's gold aviators, which he quickly snatches off the squirming head of my "fearless" team member.

Rufus will run headlong into a battle without any regard for his safety—I've seen him face guys three times his size without blinking, so the fact that he is completely undone by this little raccoon is just priceless.

Roscoe free-falls off Rufus's body with the agility of a super spy but the grace of a drunken hippopotamus as he hits the ground, rolling to brace his fall and curling himself around his trophy.

Rufus seems to be warring with his inner fear of rabies and his urge to throttle the little creature now putting the glasses on.

"I'm gonna kill it," Rufus grumbles, reaching for an ax.

"Red, if you so much as breathe on a single hair on his body, I'll have your balls for earrings," Sarah warns him, stepping between him and the raccoon.

"Woman, this is the last straw," Rufus groans, "That little thief has taken my watch, my scarf, my favorite hat, half my socks and now my glasses."

"Tough nuggets," Sarah deadpans, "And it's Sheriff if you aren't going to use my name, not Woman."

Rufus tilts his head to the side, trying to gauge how serious she is. He flips the ax in his hand and narrows his eyes at her.

"You wouldn"t, would you, Sheriff?" he asks, trying to lay it on too thick.

"Not. A. Hair. Red." Sarah crosses her arms in front of her chest. "I'm still pissed you've been letting Merl drink on your tab without a limit still. Give me a reason. I dare you."

The scene has all of us wrapped up, laughing. The buzz of my phone on the table pulls my attention away. Not many people have my number who aren't in front of me. I flip the screen over and see Amelie's name and picture pop up.

Finally.

"Hey, it's about time," I answer as I pat Lena's shoulder to indicate I need to step away to take the call before I step out from behind her at the table, "Where have you been, Am?"

I make it two strides from the table before a sob comes through the line and Amelie starts talking in a broken voice.

"They're all gone." A pit sinks deep in my stomach.

"What? What do you mean?"

"We have been under attack from multiple sides, Cy. This is the first time I've been able to get a signal to call out. We've been fighting for days. They're not letting up. I mean, there are only a few of us who have survived, and I don't know what to do. I can't keep defending it like this with only ten of us left. What should I do?"

"We'll come back, sit tight."

"No! You aren't listening to me. There's no way you guys will make it here and through them all in time. We've lost the ability to defend everything but the main cabin. You'd be fighting multiple clans to make it here, and for what? By the time you get here, we'll be gone."

Evander and Orion are at my side within a moment of the words coming through the phone. Their worry is written plainly on their faces.

Fuck. How did this happen? I never imagined she wouldn't be able to keep the defenses up. Something has changed, and fast.

"Run, whoever is left. Use the tunnels. Get what you can, but pack light and get out. Our people are more important than anything now. Ev, Kai, Rufus, and Orion will meet you wherever you need, and the guys will get you here safely, okay? Just make it to them at the end of the tunnels, you hear me?"

"But I can't… there's no way I can carry enough of the relics to matter."

"Amelie, this is as an order. Leave them. Take whoever is alive and run. We can replace stuff, not people. Now go."

The line clicks dead, and I meet Evander's eyes with a panicked expression of my own.

"Get them here, whatever it takes."