the third.
With James, Max, Alia and myself, my bedroom was the most crowded. Heather and Candace offered to take Alia into their room, but Alia refused, much to the amusement of the two girls.
“Is she your sister or your girlfriend, Adrian?” Candace asked teasingly while helping me with dinner preparations later that afternoon. With some concentrated effort, I ignored her.
Not to brag too much, but over the years, Cindy had made me into an above-average cook, so Terry had assigned me to the position of head chef. During our morning meeting, we originally considered putting everyone on kitchen duty in turns, but I figured that it would be easier to work with the same people, provided they were willing to help on a regular basis in return for being let off from other household chores such as cleaning and laundry. Heather and Candace volunteered, and so did Scott, who also knew his way around a kitchen pretty well.
This was our first meal to prepare without assistance from the Walnut Lane volunteers, and we had in turn invited them to dine with us tonight as our guests. The good people of Walnut Lane had even stocked our pantry for us, so it was the least we could do to repay their hospitality. I was going for a sure win with something as simple as spaghetti and fried chicken, but even so, I had never been in charge of preparing such a large and important meal. When Candace refused to stop teasing me about Alia, I snapped at her pretty harshly. She recovered quickly, though, and dinner was a success.
Over the meal, we learned from Mrs. Harding that New Haven was now officially under Angel occupation and that the Angels were planning to establish their own capital city there.
“They’re calling it Lumina,” Mrs. Harding said with a wry smile. “Rumor has it the Angels have already made arrangements with the city government to seize all Guardian assets in former New Haven.”
So much for the Guardian Knight money in my bank account.
“Is King Divine going to be living there?” I asked, wondering if Randal and Cat might soon be sharing our old penthouse at the top of NH-1.
Mrs. Harding shook her head. “I’m afraid King Divine probably won’t live there permanently, if at all. It’s too obvious a target. The Angels will keep their king carefully hidden somewhere else.”
“A capital without a king, huh?”
Terry said to me, “If and when the Angels declare themselves the rulers of the world, if any remaining world powers knew where Randal was, they’d lob an atomic bomb or two just to make sure he died. He won’t be somewhere as obvious as a giant psionic city.”
Mrs. Harding nodded in agreement, saying, “Unfortunately, the chances of finding King Divine anywhere are pretty slim.”
That gloomy news, combined with the comfort of a full stomach and the relief of having spent an entire day in semi-normal conditions, compelled me to pull Terry aside after dinner for a quick but important chat.
“I’ve been thinking of what you said to me on the first night in the forest, Terry,” I began.
“You mean about priorities?” asked Terry.
“Yeah.”
Terry raised her eyebrows. “And?”
“And I still don’t care about the Guardians,” I informed her. “But I don’t plan to live the rest of my life in hiding, and I won’t live in a world ruled by a psionic king. Being converted can’t be any better than being locked up, and I’d rather die than accept either.”
Terry smiled. “Does this mean I can count on you to help me hunt down Randal Divine and save the world from Angel rule?”
“Yeah,” I breathed. “I’m in.”
I had only spared Randal Divine for Cat’s sake, and then only because I didn’t know at the time what Randal’s true power was. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. Cat had already lost one father. She’d just have to get over this one too.
“But Cindy comes first, Terry,” I insisted. “Once we get Alia back to her, I’ll help you all you want,
With James, Max, Alia and myself, my bedroom was the most crowded. Heather and Candace offered to take Alia into their room, but Alia refused, much to the amusement of the two girls.
“Is she your sister or your girlfriend, Adrian?” Candace asked teasingly while helping me with dinner preparations later that afternoon. With some concentrated effort, I ignored her.
Not to brag too much, but over the years, Cindy had made me into an above-average cook, so Terry had assigned me to the position of head chef. During our morning meeting, we originally considered putting everyone on kitchen duty in turns, but I figured that it would be easier to work with the same people, provided they were willing to help on a regular basis in return for being let off from other household chores such as cleaning and laundry. Heather and Candace volunteered, and so did Scott, who also knew his way around a kitchen pretty well.
This was our first meal to prepare without assistance from the Walnut Lane volunteers, and we had in turn invited them to dine with us tonight as our guests. The good people of Walnut Lane had even stocked our pantry for us, so it was the least we could do to repay their hospitality. I was going for a sure win with something as simple as spaghetti and fried chicken, but even so, I had never been in charge of preparing such a large and important meal. When Candace refused to stop teasing me about Alia, I snapped at her pretty harshly. She recovered quickly, though, and dinner was a success.
Over the meal, we learned from Mrs. Harding that New Haven was now officially under Angel occupation and that the Angels were planning to establish their own capital city there.
“They’re calling it Lumina,” Mrs. Harding said with a wry smile. “Rumor has it the Angels have already made arrangements with the city government to seize all Guardian assets in former New Haven.”
So much for the Guardian Knight money in my bank account.
“Is King Divine going to be living there?” I asked, wondering if Randal and Cat might soon be sharing our old penthouse at the top of NH-1.
Mrs. Harding shook her head. “I’m afraid King Divine probably won’t live there permanently, if at all. It’s too obvious a target. The Angels will keep their king carefully hidden somewhere else.”
“A capital without a king, huh?”
Terry said to me, “If and when the Angels declare themselves the rulers of the world, if any remaining world powers knew where Randal was, they’d lob an atomic bomb or two just to make sure he died. He won’t be somewhere as obvious as a giant psionic city.”
Mrs. Harding nodded in agreement, saying, “Unfortunately, the chances of finding King Divine anywhere are pretty slim.”
That gloomy news, combined with the comfort of a full stomach and the relief of having spent an entire day in semi-normal conditions, compelled me to pull Terry aside after dinner for a quick but important chat.
“I’ve been thinking of what you said to me on the first night in the forest, Terry,” I began.
“You mean about priorities?” asked Terry.
“Yeah.”
Terry raised her eyebrows. “And?”
“And I still don’t care about the Guardians,” I informed her. “But I don’t plan to live the rest of my life in hiding, and I won’t live in a world ruled by a psionic king. Being converted can’t be any better than being locked up, and I’d rather die than accept either.”
Terry smiled. “Does this mean I can count on you to help me hunt down Randal Divine and save the world from Angel rule?”
“Yeah,” I breathed. “I’m in.”
I had only spared Randal Divine for Cat’s sake, and then only because I didn’t know at the time what Randal’s true power was. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. Cat had already lost one father. She’d just have to get over this one too.
“But Cindy comes first, Terry,” I insisted. “Once we get Alia back to her, I’ll help you all you want,
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