Their Light

Chapter 35

Isaac

"What did you do?" Hadley asked me immediately as I entered her room. I strolled over to her, unable to keep the smirk off my face.

"Nothing important," I told her before pausing for dramatic effect. "Yet."

She snorted, and it was the best sound I had heard all day. I hated the Tenebris for causing those shadows under her eyes. Ryder wouldn't be amused later, but it would be worth it. Finn had already targeted Kent. Kent's packing list was very detailed and organized. It was also very lost, at least for a while. Finn hid it from him... I actually hadn't seen Finn in a while. Maybe I should check on him soon.

"Okay, just make sure to warn me when I need to duck and cover." Her tone was very disbelieving, and her laugh at the end was contagious.

"Always," I promised once I finished laughing. She struggled to put together the next box from the floor. I winced when I glanced at her wrapped ankle. Taking the box from her grasp, I taped it together and handed it back to her.

"Once we get to Domu, we can get a healer to see to your ankle." She looked down at it before turning her gaze back to me.

"Your sister?" she asked. I couldn't help but smile when the thought of that troublemaker was brought up. She was a nuisance, but I missed her.

"Sure, she would love to," I told her, thinking back on my earlier phone conversation with her. "She actually wanted to come here again and heal it, but we all agreed it wasn't safe for her to leave Domu right now."

Hadley nodded in understanding as she piled things into the box. She reached for something a little out of her range, but before she could move, I was there handing it to her. We worked in silence for a while. I could hear the others moving about the house. No one was going to complain about me helping her, though. One of us needed to be with her. I would always volunteer.

I paused for a moment, noticing her glancing around the room. I followed her line of sight but saw nothing.

"What's up?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Nothing," she told me. She sounded sincere, so I let it slide. A lot had happened recently. She probably had a lot of her mind.

Once she finished filling her current box, I scooted it away and taped it closed as she wrote on the side what was in it. We continued like this for a while. A part of me dreaded that we had so much to pack, but a larger part of me felt so content that she had so many things now. When she came to the house, she only had a backpack.

I noticed her rubbing her eyes, but didn't say anything. She should probably take a nap, but I didn't see how I would convince her to do that. She wanted to help out. I paused in my planning when I noticed her frozen on the ground, her face pale.

"Hadley?" I asked instantly. "What's wrong?"

"Isaac," she said. Her voice hitched. "Can you come over here?"

I immediately went to her side as she surveyed the room. "I can't help if I don't know what's going on."

I looked around the room, immediately on guard. I didn't see or sense anything out of place.

"I saw something," she told me. I kept my surprise contained and let her continue to explain. "It looked like, honestly, the Tenebris, right behind you."

I stepped in front of her, crouching down and reaching a hand out. I pulled on my power, feeling the static energy gather around me. The lights in the room flickered and then an alarm blared through the house. Small sparks flew off of my hand. She gasped but ignored it and focused on alerting the others.

Footsteps pounded up the stairs, getting closer. I felt relief that the others would be here soon. Before they could make it through the door, though, it slammed shut, making both of us jump. I cursed, wrapping my other arm around back pulling her tightly behind me.

I would protect her.

No matter what.