Coming Back Down

A Sort of Homecoming

  "I'm sorry, what now?" I rubbed my forehead as we were walking toward the farmhouse with Bill in tow and his wrists bound.

  "Sheidheda was found in Sanctum pretending to be a Prime until Russell had him imprisoned upon finding out he was not a Prime." Roan repeated. "Thankfully, Sheidheda has not quite yet been able to make his move to usurp the Primes, but Russell wants to discuss what to do with him with you first. We both agreed it would have to be you to determine his fate."

  "Do the people know?"

  "Only Indra. She was with me during these talks to give first-hand accounts of Sheidheda."

  "Who's Sheidheda?" Gabriel questioned.

  "Bad dude." I replied with a sigh. "And how's Madi doing? Any changes?"

  "She seems to be doing better. She enjoys going to the Sanctum school."

  "And Clarke?" I glanced at the taller man, and even though his expression didn't change, the look in his eyes did. "What did she do?" I sighed.

  "She tried to rally the convicts to her side in an attempt to take my position." He answered, and I raised my eyebrows in question. "She got knocked on her ass by the woman, uh, Nikki. Clarke then got into an argument with Madi over it, so Madi has been staying with Enan and I while she's still pissed."

  "Wow, she made Madi that angry?"

  "Apparently, things were already getting tense between those two since Clarke returned and you were Heda again."

  "Is Madi watching Enan then?"

  "....You'll see." Roan had an amused look on his face as we neared the tents and farmhouse.

  "See what?" My brows furrowed, but I spotted Enan with a man crouched in front of him and that beast of a dog at his side.

  "Okay, don't tell your parents, but Uncle John managed to snag you a bunch of those yummy Sanctum cookies." I heard the man say in a low tone before I saw him handing over the treats.

  "Murphy." I spoke up with my hands on my hips, and the man jolted to his feet, then nervously laughed when he saw me.

  "Hey, Viper! Lil' Man and I were just, you know, hangin' out." He glanced down at Enan holding a bag of cookies and tried to block my view of the bag with his leg. "Isn't that right?" Murphy raised his brows at Enan while crossing his arms.

  "Right!" The little boy mocked Murphy's posture while tucking the bag of cookies under his arm. My gaze drifted to Roan, and he shrugged.

  "Has he eaten dinner?" I asked.

  "Not long before you arrived." Roan answered.

  "Fine." Kneeling in front of Enan, I lifted his hair from his forehead to give him a kiss. "Save one for me, will ya?" I smiled, and Enan got a big grin on his face. "Make sure he brushes his teeth before bed, or I take your teeth, Murphy."

  "But, Viper, my smile is such a good feature."

~

  "And you're certain Sheidheda has no way of getting out?"

  "He's isolated with guards."

  "Then we can deal with him later. Don't mention Madi being Heda or that she had the flame at all." I muttered to Roan as we stood at the table with Raven while Gabriel had Bill at gunpoint in the corner. "Bellamy should still be waiting back in Gabriel's camp with a soldier to guard the Anomaly Stone. How do we propose to deal with him?"