Page 61 of Fennick’s Fortune (Sentinels of Apollo #2)

Looking around, I was proud of the work we’d done and how quickly it was accomplished.

After returning from Phoenix the second time, we realized that if we kept bringing more shifters to town, we needed a place to house them, even if it was temporary.

Having them in our houses didn’t allow for privacy for any of us or them.

Leave it to Twyla to find the solution. At the end of town, there was an old hotel that had gone out of business a few years back.

No one was interested in taking it over or converting it to something else.

The word was that it was too much money to spend, and there was no guarantee that they would make a profit.

We understood that need, but in our case, we didn’t expect to make money.

We wanted to give those we helped, assistance and a leg up on finding jobs and permanent homes.

Since it had been there for so long without offers, the owner, who now lived in Los Angeles, was more than willing to negotiate on the price.

We got it for a steal, we thought. We had the contract signed, and it was ours within three weeks.

We hired well-versed construction, plumbing, and electrical workers to make it safe and habitable. My friends and I helped when we could, and so did Asa’s group. They were excited about moving in. Most had jobs, but finding housing was still hard in some cases, so some remained in our homes.

It took two solid months to finish, which was fast. Today was the grand opening. Of course, the regular citizens of Needles were all curious about why we bought it and how we expect to make it profitable.

Our spiel was that it was to provide homes to the newest members of our community. We pretended to be as surprised by the influx as they were. It was explained that it was for permanent residence, not for tourists to come and stay a few days and then leave. There were other places for them.

However, the celebration was open to everyone.

We had food, games, and music. It was treated almost like a mini carnival.

There was something for everyone. I was standing, checking the crowd.

My mate was off talking somewhere. I’d have to find her soon.

I hated to be far from her, even more so these days.

Much to our delight, a couple of weeks ago, we found out she was pregnant.

We were overjoyed and couldn’t wait to welcome our cub into the world.

Akiva had been feeling off and having some nausea.

She suspected she might be, but held off telling me until she confirmed it.

It wasn’t Nova who did that, nor was it the doctor.

Akiva did when she connected with the life growing inside of her.

She was able to determine that there was a baby.

At the moment, we were holding off on finding out what it was.

According to our calculations, since we hadn’t had her first OB/GYN appointment, her due date was right around Christmas.

It was possible we’d get a very special gift on the actual day.

All attempts to find out why our bears hadn’t told us sooner, or the exact age of the fetus, were refused.

I was telling anyone who would listen our news. Akiva tried to calm me, but I couldn’t help it. Brax and Cerys only had two and a half months to go. Cerys was round and beautiful, even if she did think she was ugly.

There has been other good news in these past few months.

After a lot of work, fighting, and begging, Keir had been successful not only in getting the Katz family to move here but also in convincing Fiona to be his mate.

There were also many scary and other moments mixed in there, too.

However, in the end, they were where they were supposed to be.

The ones terrorizing the Phoenix area were dealt with, but others were out there.

We heard the whispers. When we could, we worked to run them down and stop what they were doing.

The situation with the Council of Oracles hadn’t rectified itself.

They were still on the outs with the Sentinels and Apollo.

I kept wondering when Apollo would reinstate a new council.

I wasn’t looking for a position on it, but it would be helpful to have the support.

We continued to seek out shifters to fortify their defenses. The Knights were whispered about. Some disappearances were attributed to them, but we couldn’t confirm them as accurate.

While we were anxious to face the Knights and Pytho and remove them from our lives, we needed the time to build our defenses and implement our offensive measures. The longer it took, the better equipped we’d be.

For Akiva and me personally, the urgency to find Lazarus Kincaid grew as we learned she was pregnant.

We wanted the threat of him re-entering her life eliminated.

We had friends all over who had the connections and know-how to help find him.

So far, no such luck. He either lived off the grid entirely or lived under a different name, making it almost impossible to find him.

We held out hope that, as Akiva’s memories were fully recovered, it might lead us to a way to find him.

Her dreams were becoming more frequent, and she was constantly learning about her family, her mom, and the women in captivity.

I had to say, I was always surprised at the powers that were revealed and that Akiva would suddenly be able to use them.

Her magical side was powerful, even more so than her bear.

It made us both wonder what it would mean for this baby and any others we had.

I was shaken from my thoughts by the arrival of my six friends. We stood there, taking in the view.

“You know, I think we did a damn good job on this. I hope it’ll be enough. Surely providing thirty apartments will be enough,” Nico said.

We’d had walls taken down, small efficiency kitchens added, and other work done to give us thirty apartments. Most were two-bedroom units, but a few offered three bedrooms.

“I agree. Depending on how long this goes on with the Knights, Pytho, those roving gangs, and then finding Lazarus, who knows? I hate to say it, but…” Banner let his words drop off.

“Don’t you dare say it,” Brax barked.

“Banner, don’t. You’ll jinx us,” Gunnar pleaded.

“There’s no such thing as jinxing someone. It’s up to the Fates. And I have a feeling that those three are about to mess with us again, real soon,” Banner finished.

We all groaned, and he was shoved repeatedly. He’d put out in the universe the challenge to let the chaos begin. If it did, the one on the receiving end better be Banner. It might teach him a lesson to keep his mouth shut.