Page 65 of Awakened and Betrayed
An image of me crouched over Parker as I desperately try to heal his lamia inflicted neck wound, flashes through my mind.
“I just saw you come out of the store and wanted to thank you. I didn’t mean to cause all this,” she gestures to the paladin.
I move to step around Pebble, but he anticipates the move and blocks my path.
“Pebble, relax, take it down to Defcon...whatever is the non-threatening number. I know her son.”
“Yeah. but you don’t know her.”
“I thought you guys are here to protect me from lamia; why would I need protection from casters? What am I missing here?” I ask, confused.
What is it about the situation that set off their alarm bells so much, that they would come out of stalker mode and show themselves. I look around at the paladin around me taking in their positioning. Pebble is in front of me, his back to me facing what I assume is thethreat.The rest of his coven is giving me their profiles, which means they’re watchingmeand this group of casters that just approached me.
I sigh and step closer to Pebble. Sabin follows my move so that our backs stay in contact. I drop my voice so only Sabin and Pebble can hear me.
“Pebble, are you in on theVinna can’t be trustedpart of your mission too, or is it just your coven?”
Pebble turns his head slightly towards me but keeps his body squared off with Mrs. Steward and her mates. “What are you talking about?”
“Look at your coven. If they were guarding me, they’d be giving me their backs right now. Do you see any backs?”
Pebble’s gaze flits over the members of his coven that are in his line of sight, and his eyes narrow.
“Yeah, you should probably look into why they’re not telling you what’s up,” I advise.
I reach back for Sabin’s hand so I can somewhat communicate where I’m going to move, so that he can go with me. We need to do some field training as a group, I realize. Yeah, we can talk to each other in our heads, but until we master mental talk in the middle of a fight in a way that doesn’t distract or get anyone hurt, we need to work out a communication system outside of that.
I clear my throat and raise my voice so all of the surrounding paladin can hear me. “I’m going to step past Pebble and talk to my friend’s family. I am not a threat to them or to you. But if any of you try to stop this innocent interaction from happening, I’ll make you sorry that you did. We clear?”
A couple of incredulous snorts sound off around me. But Pebble steps aside to let me by. As I pass him, I lean down and mumble.
“I don’t know if you’re okay, or what’s up with your coven, but if you need a place to stay, my house is a safe place. Sabin will give you the address.”
Sabin quickly lists off the numbers and road info, and Pebble gives an almost imperceptible nod of his head. I move toward the Stewards and none of the paladin attempt to stop me. I would guess they’re not allowed to engage with me unless I start something, I doubt my little threat had any real effect. They think they’re big, badass paladin assigned to babysit some too-full of herself little girl. They’re not going to take me seriously until they’re recovering from a lesson inI say what I mean and mean what I say.
I put my hand out to Mrs. Steward, but when I get closer to her, she forgoes my offered handshake and pulls me down into a fierce hug. I wrap my arms around her to keep from tumbling over from our height differences. I rub her back, and she proceeds to whisperthank youto me over and over again.
She pulls back after a couple of minutes and wipes at the wet tracks on her cheek. Sabin pulls a handkerchief from his pocket and hands it to Mrs. Steward. The sight of it suddenly stirs a memory in me, when a kind stranger offered me a handkerchief when I was younger. I don’t know why this memory has stuck with me, but I remember thinking people who carry handkerchiefs are good people.
I catch Sabin’s eyes with mine and give him a huge smile. I can tell he’s trying to figure out why I’m looking at him like this, but his eyes fill with affection and he grins sweetly back at me.
“How’s Parker? I’ve been meaning to check in on him, but things have been a little crazy.”
To prove my point, I motion back towards where the paladin just were and find that they’re gone. It’s all I can do not to scan my surroundings and pick them out from wherever they’re hiding and watching right now.
“He’s doing very well, thanks to you. He’s not going to continue with the paladin program, I think the experience with the lamia showed him that it’s not what he wants to do,” she tells me, and I nod with understanding.
“Sorry I’m so flustered, I didn’t even introduce you to my mates. I just saw your markings, and I knew it had to be you, and I just had to say thank you. Trulythank youdoesn’t even begin to cover how grateful we are and how much we owe you for saving him.”
She grabs my hand in both of hers and looks at me with such a beautiful motherly ferocity that I feel my eyes start to sting a little.
“I owe him, really,” I admit. “He carried my friend out, and it gave me a chance to say goodbye.” I pause so I can get control over my emotions, and Mrs. Steward pulls me down into another hug. “I’m sorry Parker was even in that situation in the first place,” I tell her, and she shushesme and squeeze me tighter.
“Well Vinna, you are a member of our family now, and if you ever need anything you come to us, okay? I don’t care what it is; you can count on us. Now give me your phone, and I will put our numbers in there.” she tells me, as we break away from our hug.
We exchange phones and numbers, and when it’s all done, she gives me an approving nod and smooths down her dark hair.
“Thank you for talking to us, we won’t steal up the rest of your day, but we mean it. You need anything, you call, okay?”
