Their Light

Chapter 21

Zeke

We all watched Hadley and Peter go up the stairs before turning back to each other. Caspian especially looked trouble. I understood why, but the others hadn't grasped it yet. Kent opened his mouth, probably to reprimand Caspian, but he wasn't quick enough.

"Don't you understand how hard moving will be for her?" Caspian asked. His words were like a weight covering the room and making everyone pause in contemplation.

"Why?" Finn questioned.

"She's never had a home, a place where she feels safe, a space of her own. She's never had that until now. We created that her. She created that here. This house, her room, this is her home, whether she realizes it or not. This is her first home, and now we are just going to rip her away from it like its nothing?"

No one spoke for a moment, letting his words sink in. He was right, but what choice did we have? Her safety was the of the utmost importance.

"We don't have a choice," Ryder spoke my thoughts.

"I acknowledge that," Caspian said, sighing. "But we need to make sure she knows that this place will be here. She can come back to her home if she wants one day."

"We can't guarantee that," Kent bit out. We had no idea when or even if it would be safe enough to come back here. This house had been our home, too. I understood his anger. I didn't want to leave. Domu was not a place I wanted to go back to. I had very few pleasant memories of that city.

"Why not?" Finn challenged finally on board with what Caspian was saying.

"The Praeses might not let her go once she is in Domu, and that's assuming we are still allowed to even talk to her, let alone live with her," Kent explained, anger filling his words. "There's also no guarantee that it would be safe enough for her here, or that we would be assigned this district again."

"Let's not give them a choice, then," Caspian stated. I looked at him questioningly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"We are Affinitas to the most powerful Probus I have ever seen or heard of," Caspian stated plainly. "We will have some weight to throw around. Hadley more so than us, but that's not even counting all of our contacts in Domu. Don't count us out of the game before we've even played. Because if we're going to win, we're going to need all of us."

"So you've decided," Kent said. "You are for the bond."

"If you're not, you need to reassess and get on board," I stated, leaving no room for questions. Silence followed my words. I saw that while most of my chosen brothers felt the same way I did, a couple of them still needed a little persuading. I couldn't accomplish that, though. They needed persuading of the Hadley variety, but they would get there. It was fate, after all.

"We can look into options to strengthen our wards while we are in Domu," Isaac added, finally breaking the silence, determination in every syllable. Everyone else seemed to at least agree on that. Better wards were never a bad thing. We would all need to be better. We needed to do better for her.

We sat in silence after Caspian rightly put us in our place. I hated how this situation was affecting Hadley. I wanted her safe, but her mental health was also important. Especially if Tenebris was going to invade her dreams.

Even now, the Tenebris could attack again, and we would never see it coming. It didn't even trip any of the alarms. That thought overrode any rational thought. Maybe we should set up a few more just in case until we could find something stronger. Someone in Domu had to know something that would help.

Heated whispers drew me out of my thoughts. I glanced around the room and found the twins in an intense discussion near the kitchen entryway. I didn't even notice them get up. Whatever it was, it had something to do with me if their glances meant anything. Then they noticed me looking their way. They stopped and stared back for a second. Yep, definitely talking about me.

Kent spoke again, making Ryder slump in a little. Reluctantly, they headed my way. Stopping in front of me, Kent opened his mouth to speak, but I didn't let him get that far.

"What is it?" I asked them, cutting him off. Kent glared at me before starting again.

"We think Hadley should get a protective charm. Something to protect her when she is unconscious or unaware. She's vulnerable to another attack, especially when she is asleep like what happened tonight," he said and immediately I knew where this was going. I didn't like it one bit.

"We can get her one in Domu."

"And what? Have her stay awake for the few days that is will take to pack, get replacements, and move there?" Ryder snapped. I knew he was right, but what they were asking of me...

"We need you to call her," Kent told me. My mouth pressed into a thin line as I held back the flood of emotions that accompanied just the thought of her.

"No."

"But-,"

"No."

"Not even for Hadley?" Ryder finally asked me. I paused. The denial was right at the tip of my tongue, wanting to come out again. I hadn't talked to her since... it had been a while.

"She's the best and Hadley needs the best," Kent added.

I glanced up at the ceiling, finally hearing the water turn on. She did deserve the best. For her, if I have to, I would do the one thing I swore I would never do once I left that house. I nodded solemnly. They both breathed a sigh of relief and left me in peace. Smart men.

Dread filled me at the thought of this call that I had agreed to make. My phone suddenly felt like a weighted brick in my pocket. No time like the present. At least at this late hour, she probably wouldn't answer.

I slipped out of the room and headed onto the back deck. Sitting down on the steps, I took my phone out of my pocket. Even though it had been a while, I still remembered the number perfectly. Taking a deep breath, I typed it in and pressed call.

My anxiety increased ring after ring. Tension collected in my shoulders, tapping my finger repeatedly on my knee. There was a pause. I braced myself.

"Hello?" she answered. Her voice was exactly how I remembered it. Memories flitted through my head, the bad ones and the few good ones as well. I took a deep breath.

"Hi, mom."