Page 57 of Amaros
“Tell us about when you lived in a place worse than this,” Camriel demanded.He wasn’t angry, but he definitely wasn’t happy about it.
Seeing he was dead serious, Grace put her book on her folding chair.“My life hasn’t been all roses and sunshine,” she said in the same flat tone she always used when she was talking about her past.“My mom moved us around a lot.We never had much money and we couldn’t afford nice places to live in.A lot of the time, we squatted in abandoned buildings.Sometimes, we had to live in tents in parks, or in makeshift shelters under bridges.”
Camriel startled her by striding over.She shifted into a defensive pose, using the tongs as a shield.Hurting her was the last thing the huge warrior intended.He snatched her up and hugged her tightly.“Never again, little sister,” he vowed.“We’ll take care of you from now on.”
Grace looked utterly astounded by his vehemence and Zoe’s eyes grew misty.Amaros took the tongs from Grace’s lax hand and turned the meat before it could burn.Zoe saw the proud look he gave his second in command.Camriel blinked a few times, trying to hide how emotional he was.
“Um, thanks,” Grace said and patted his muscular shoulder.“You got me all wet,” she complained, but her heart wasn’t in it.
A human male would have made a crude comment, but the warrior simply put her down.“The Knights of Order will be the guardians of the cambions,” he said without consulting his boss.“No one will lay a finger on any of you without losing their entire hand.”
He looked at Amaros, almost daring him to argue.Amaros inclined his head in agreement.“The cambions will have our protection for as long as we remain in this realm,” he said, sounding formal.
Camriel let out the breath he’d been holding and relaxed.“Good,” he said in satisfaction.“I’ll let the others know as soon as we find them.”
“We’re going to have twenty big brothers soon, Zoe,” Grace said, taking the tongs back from Amaros.It was hard to tell if she was happy, or annoyed by that prospect.
“We’ll be one big, happy family,” Zoe said, musing about the vision she’d been shown.
“All we need is a cooler full of beer and this would be like an indoor cookout,” Grace said with a smirk.She was an expert at deflecting people away from her personal life.She’d told Camriel just enough to make him think he knew what she’d suffered through, but he was blissfully unaware that she’d barely scratched the surface.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
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AMAROS AND CAMRIELwere gone when Zoe woke up the next morning.She’d heard them quietly getting up and driving away in the tank an hour ago.Amaros had left a note on the floor just outside her room.She was reading it when Grace woke up.
“Where are the knights?”she asked sleepily, sensing their absence immediately.
“They’ve gone to town in search of supplies,” Zoe said.“They want to fix the roof before another storm hits us.”
Grace unzipped her sleeping bag, looking adorable in her shorts, tights and oversized t-shirt.“Brr,” she said with a shiver and quickly pulled on a sweater.“I wish we had central heating.”
“We can search for some firewood and use the fireplace in the kitchen,” Zoe suggested.
They scoffed down a quick breakfast of cold venison and water, then headed to the woods.Bringing back armfuls of broken branches, they moved the grill out of the way, then piled some of the wood inside the fireplace.They stacked more against the wall nearby.