The tight knot in my chest finally loosened. New Quinn mingled with the old. “Yes. Stay. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t—”
“There is nothing to be sorry for.” Xan put a single finger over my mouth. “If I were in your place, I might have thought the same. I will do better.” He looked at the door. “I don’t know where Ezra was going with his question, but he should have thought before he opened his mouth. He can cool his heels in the hall.”
The longing on Xan’s face made me bite my lip.
“Will you be okay?” I asked.
Xan looked away from the door and let out an odd chuckle. “I’ll survive. Let’s get some sleep.”
By morning, Xan was gone. Ezra too. A half-cooled mug of coffee sat above my head with a scrawl in plum purple:We will do better.
I pursed my lips and shook the glowing square to release the magic. Only time would tell. I split the coffee with my friends, and the emotional rollercoaster from the day before continued.
Some Lawsons wanted to stay, others to leave. Two chose to follow their Prophet into death. I didn’t seek out the details, but it made me hug Cayden close. He was better today than he’d been yesterday. He refused his family’s requests for scripture. Instead, he offered them stories of the outside world.
Midday, a squad of Abernathy’s arrived with Jamie at their head and Lark in their midst. Rowan, who’d spent most of the morning going through the Prophet’s office, pulled Cayden totheir side. While Cayden’s people made a decision, ours began stripping the compound for resources.
To me, it felt wrong, but even if no one came with us, within days, another family would overrun the compound and do the same. The future was literally a dog-eat-dog world. At least if Cayden’s family joined us, we could give them some of their resources back.
Alone for the first time, I wandered into a warm, dark room and collapsed onto a chair. A head popped up from a dark leather couch facing a tan-green glowing heat cone.
I screeched in surprise.
Instantly, Ezra burst from my shadow, hand on his sword. I caught his thigh before he could draw. His arm anchored me, butterflies erupting as my magic surged warm and alive again.
The woman let out a tittering laugh, and tan-green light spilled out of the cauldrons, fully lighting the room. The only not-Lawson, Lawson from yesterday, was hard to miss.
“Nova’s my name,” Nova introduced herself. “You’re Quinn, and the man’s Ezra.”
I inclined my head.
She sat up straighter, and a second woman’s head popped up. A feminine Cayden with sunken cheeks and sleepless eyes looked out at me from under a messy mop of mostly braided green hair.
I recognized her immediately: Cayden’s sister, Aludena, the one who’d had their child.
“I’m sorry to have intruded; I thought the room was empty.” I stood.
Nova pointed. “Stay.”
The sofa groaned as phantom hands appeared, spinning it like a toy. A matching love seat got similar treatment, and one of the hands gestured for us to sit.
“Uh.” I blinked at the hands. “Thanks.”
The hand gave a little salute and winked out of existence.
I finally looked back at the pair on the couch, only to find Nova coaxing Aludena out from a pillow she’d been attempting to hide behind. At my attention, she finally dropped it and pulled her shoulders back.
Ezra loomed, hand still near his sword. I yanked his clothes, pulling him down. He sat smoothly and claimed my hip with a possessive hand. My face warmed, but I didn’t move his hand away. Words had never been our strong suit.
Nova raised both her eyebrows. “I thought you were with Cayden?”
“Um.” I squirmed. “I’m with… a lot of guys, and somehow no one at the same time.”
Nova snorted, and Aludena nodded as if it was the first thing anyone said that made sense.
“I mean, they’re not like on a schedule. I don’t have a goal…” I wished I could sink into the floor. “I’m… dating around. Urgh not better. Not really dating either; it’s complicated.”
Nova laughed again, and I swear, even Ezra chuckled.
