The Cardinal Bird (1 of Cardinal Series)

Chapter 22

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I shuffled to the door, eager to leave the room and thankful to Marc for interrupting when he did. Out in the hallway, everyone else was lined up, duffle bags slung over shoulders, and in various states of consciousness--from Raven who was propped against the wall with his eyes closed compared to Karl who had a cup of coffee in his hand and was bouncing on the balls of his feet. North was silent, leaning up against the wall, but--unlike Raven--his eyes were open. Silas stood beside him looking somewhat dazed. Nathan's hair was tousled, same as Marc's. Axel was just stoic, so that was actually per the norm.

Taking a closer glance at Marc, he seemed to be in a bad mood, glaring at the cup in Karl's hand for some reason.

Karl headed over, chuffing Raven under the chin as he passed him. Raven nearly fell sideways as he startled awake, his hands fisting and swiping out at the perceived threat with such force that I almost imagined I could hear the swish of the air. If Karl hadn't kept walking, he would've been taken down without a doubt. There was so much power behind Raven's swing. But that didn't seem to shake the unflappable Karl. He was calm as a queen.

Karl noticed the incredulous look on my face and chuckled. "For future reference, don't wake Raven up. Unless you don't have a choice. And then...yeah, no. Still don't wake him up. Find someone else to wake him up."

"I volunteer as tribute!" Corey said cheerfully. I turned my--still--incredulous look his way. He blushed, shuffled his feet, and looked down. "You have to know how to wake him up."

"Yeah," Axel deadpanned. "With a long-range water gun."

I just couldn't seem to stop being shocked this morning. Was Axel cracking jokes now?

Corey grinned. "Well, he likes me."

Karl finally reached us. "Corey, everyone likes you. It's all part of your charm. Anyway, if we have to wake him up, we'll find you since you like it so much."

Corey's face went supernova, and I stared in fascination wondering if I hadn't met my male match in the blushing department.

"я проснулся (I'm awake.)" Raven gruffed with his eyes still closed and head tilted back against the wall. His voice was even deeper than usual.

"Not awake enough to be speaking in English," North said.

"Маленькая птица меня понимает. Это все, что имеет значение. Я могу говорить на своем родном языке. (Malen'kaya ptitsa understands me. That is all that matters. I can speak in my mother tongue.)"

"Corey не понимает тебя. (Corey can't understand you)," he pointed out, switching to Russian for some reason.

Raven finally deigned to lazily open one of his dark brown eyes at that comment. He slowly turned his gaze to North. I didn't know how Raven got his name or if it was his real name, but he seemed more feline than birdlike. His gaze was cold and predatory as if he could just as soon kill you as he could ignore you but was just deciding which option would be less work.

"Why are you guys talking about me?" Corey asked, causing everyone's attention to shift his way. The combined force of everyone's attention was so intense that I felt my cheeks trying to blush on his behalf--which was ridiculous because I was already still blushing over Raven's statement about me understanding him.

Marc turned to me. "What are they saying, Sang? Sharing is caring." North slapped him on the back of the head, but it didn't deter him. "C'mon Sang."

"Uh," I said. I wasn't sure if I should translate. North had probably switched languages for a reason, even though I wasn't sure what that reason was. "Don't we have to leave?"