believe you’re already back to us – green eyes and all!” Athen exclaimed.
“We figured the reintroduction process would be almost nothing, since it has only been a few days. And we were right!” she exclaimed.
“Well, let’s go into the family room. Noah is up in our guest room getting set up. We’ve gotta get him down here. We have lots to discuss,” I said.
I let the anxiety begin to trickle out of my system.
“It seems like we’ll finally get to concentrate on everything that’s on the horizon,” I said.
Athen came up behind me and before I knew what was happening, scooped me up, “Eeek!” I squealed.
“Don’t even try it, my man!” Cyril laughed, doing the same to Arie.
“Put us down!” I commanded. “Right there!” I pointed at the couch.
“Really? You want us to put you guys down?” Athen teased, as he dangled me over the couch.
Laughter was ringing out from both Arie and myself, creating far too much excitement for Matilda. She was bouncing around warbling and barking, enjoying everything as much as we were. Afraid that Athen might really let me go where I’d bounce on to the couch and then directly off, I squeezed his neck tighter vowing to hold on.
“What do you think?” Cyril questioned Athen.
“One…two… three!” Athen hollered.
I held on hard in my attempt to stay in his arms. I closed my eyes tightly; afraid for when I might be plopped on to the cushion below. What I felt, instead of gravity playing a trick on me, was the warmth of Athen’s lips running across mine. The softness reminded me of a better life that we would someday get again. I knew there’d be a day, when the weight of the immortal and mortal worlds would no longer be heavy on our heart. The hope for a life where love and kindness ruled, rather than constantly battling hate and evil, created a longing deep inside.
With every kiss I returned to Athen, the love to win the war grew exponentially. I didn’t want this moment to end, but he slowly released his lips from mine, hearing Noah coming down the stairs.
We had lots to discuss and go over now that things were somewhat back to normal, or at least our version of normal.
Chapter 9
We had all decided that now was the best time to make our way to the mountain. The earthquake activity escalated beyond anything natural. It had to be demon made. Having Noah with us, also, made it seem a little safer. We could no longer ignore the training that was going on at the base with Lilith and her faction. The tunnel system that Lilith had constructed was far too intricate to explore entirely with only the five of us, but we might be able to get in a few of the tunnels to see what lurked inside. It was a risky move but a necessary one.
Pulling off into one of the visitor parking lots, we all hopped out of the Jeep. I grabbed Matilda and placed her on the gravel. I was really nervous about using her, but she was small enough to come in handy if need be.
“What are you guys thinking?” Noah asked. He hadn’t been to this area before.
“If we hike in about six miles, we’ll start running into some of the entrances,” Cyril said, pointing to the trailhead that was farthest from where we parked.
“I think if we walk up most of it and then scale the rest in the air, we’ll get there in good time. We’ve got plenty of daylight.” Noah’s forehead creased.
I wasn’t sure if it was with worry for what we might encounter, or if he always wondered if he’d run into Vanessa. That was a real possibility in all of this mess. Vanessa wasn’t gone. She was just on the wrong side now, with no memories of a life once lived. My heart was heavy for Noah.
Athen came over and helped me secure my pack on. Cyril helped Arie with hers. He still didn’t seem to have any anger bottled up from what we put him through. I kept thinking that, at any moment, it would expose itself, but it didn’t.
Matilda seemed quite excited, but I was worried about her
“We figured the reintroduction process would be almost nothing, since it has only been a few days. And we were right!” she exclaimed.
“Well, let’s go into the family room. Noah is up in our guest room getting set up. We’ve gotta get him down here. We have lots to discuss,” I said.
I let the anxiety begin to trickle out of my system.
“It seems like we’ll finally get to concentrate on everything that’s on the horizon,” I said.
Athen came up behind me and before I knew what was happening, scooped me up, “Eeek!” I squealed.
“Don’t even try it, my man!” Cyril laughed, doing the same to Arie.
“Put us down!” I commanded. “Right there!” I pointed at the couch.
“Really? You want us to put you guys down?” Athen teased, as he dangled me over the couch.
Laughter was ringing out from both Arie and myself, creating far too much excitement for Matilda. She was bouncing around warbling and barking, enjoying everything as much as we were. Afraid that Athen might really let me go where I’d bounce on to the couch and then directly off, I squeezed his neck tighter vowing to hold on.
“What do you think?” Cyril questioned Athen.
“One…two… three!” Athen hollered.
I held on hard in my attempt to stay in his arms. I closed my eyes tightly; afraid for when I might be plopped on to the cushion below. What I felt, instead of gravity playing a trick on me, was the warmth of Athen’s lips running across mine. The softness reminded me of a better life that we would someday get again. I knew there’d be a day, when the weight of the immortal and mortal worlds would no longer be heavy on our heart. The hope for a life where love and kindness ruled, rather than constantly battling hate and evil, created a longing deep inside.
With every kiss I returned to Athen, the love to win the war grew exponentially. I didn’t want this moment to end, but he slowly released his lips from mine, hearing Noah coming down the stairs.
We had lots to discuss and go over now that things were somewhat back to normal, or at least our version of normal.
Chapter 9
We had all decided that now was the best time to make our way to the mountain. The earthquake activity escalated beyond anything natural. It had to be demon made. Having Noah with us, also, made it seem a little safer. We could no longer ignore the training that was going on at the base with Lilith and her faction. The tunnel system that Lilith had constructed was far too intricate to explore entirely with only the five of us, but we might be able to get in a few of the tunnels to see what lurked inside. It was a risky move but a necessary one.
Pulling off into one of the visitor parking lots, we all hopped out of the Jeep. I grabbed Matilda and placed her on the gravel. I was really nervous about using her, but she was small enough to come in handy if need be.
“What are you guys thinking?” Noah asked. He hadn’t been to this area before.
“If we hike in about six miles, we’ll start running into some of the entrances,” Cyril said, pointing to the trailhead that was farthest from where we parked.
“I think if we walk up most of it and then scale the rest in the air, we’ll get there in good time. We’ve got plenty of daylight.” Noah’s forehead creased.
I wasn’t sure if it was with worry for what we might encounter, or if he always wondered if he’d run into Vanessa. That was a real possibility in all of this mess. Vanessa wasn’t gone. She was just on the wrong side now, with no memories of a life once lived. My heart was heavy for Noah.
Athen came over and helped me secure my pack on. Cyril helped Arie with hers. He still didn’t seem to have any anger bottled up from what we put him through. I kept thinking that, at any moment, it would expose itself, but it didn’t.
Matilda seemed quite excited, but I was worried about her
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