Their Light

Chapter 44

Hadley

I had no idea it would look like this," I said as we walked through town.

Domu.

The major settlement of this secret society of Probus and Kustos.

The stone buildings towered over us. Each flowerbed and street sign was pristine. I couldn't find faults in anything except maybe that some of it felt too perfect. The architecture showed character and age, but it was definitely kept in tip-top shape. It was unlike any city I had ever been in. I felt like I was walking through a European city or something out of a fairytale book.

After getting settled, Peter made breakfast, and it was as delicious as usual. I really wanted to see the town, but some of the others needed to get some work done. Namely Kent and Ryder. Isaac stayed with them to guard the house while they were preoccupied.

"What'd you expect?" Caspian asked me. He kept pace beside me as we followed Zeke and Peter through the city. They said we were just exploring, but they seemed to have a destination in mind. I didn't ask, not wanting to ruin a surprise.

"I don't really know. It's like a completely different world."

We continued down the sidewalk and turned the corner. The sidewalk forked ahead of us, leading into a beautiful park. It was well-kept and actually pretty busy. I froze in my tracks, spotting a child creating a small tornado of leaves. That was not a figure of speech. She spun a literal two-foot tornado of leaves around her and a man who I guessed was her father.

"What's wrong?" Peter asked, noticing what has caught my eye.

"Aren't they worried about being seen?" I glanced around, but no one seemed bothered by the display of power.

"No, Probus are encourage to practice their gifts, and the wards around the city keep out any curious humans as well," Caspian informed me.

The girl giggled as her tornado dissipated. Her father scooped her up and threw her into the air, smiling. She shrieked in delight, drawing the attention of a woman not too far away. She rushed over and appeared to scold the man. The scene warmed my heart and I couldn't help but smiling. But a part of me saddened at the thought of what I could have had.

"What about Kustos?" I asked, curious. They shared a few looks that were answer enough. "Not so much for Kustos, I guess."

They nodded. At this point, I was expecting it. I huffed in disgust as the boys guided me away from the park. They promised me we would all go back together at some point, though. I wanted more time to really explore and enjoy it.

We continued on and just when I was about to give in and ask where we were going, we stopped in front of a cafe. I glanced inside and gasped. Zeke smirked and held the door open as I rushed inside. A familiar head of gray hair greeted me from a nearby table.

"Winny!" I greeted her cheerfully.

She stood up on my approach, looking happy but apprehensive. I hugged her immediately. She tensed, but slowly relaxed and hugged me back. I opened myself up more and realized she was in pain. It wasn't horrible, but it was definitely there. While my arms were touching hers, I quickly healed what I could without saying a word. She pulled away and looked at me accusingly, but I just sent her a pointed gaze back.

It was a draw.

We turned our attention to the boys. Peter pulled out a chair for me, and Zeke hugged his mom. We all sat down while Caspian ordered some drinks. I'm glad he did because I would have had no idea what to order at a place like this. There were only a few other people in the cafe. They glanced my direction every once in a while, but besides that they didn't pay us any mind.