Janelle frowned. “Why are they attacking now?”
“We don’t know.” Kait ran his hand through his hair. “Evalia needs to stay here until further notice. We have been informed that the Svikari are planning an ambush.”
“Okay. What do you need me to do?”
“We will need food brought to us. Other than that, I think we are good. Be careful and try not to be seen, or they may target you too.”
She snorted. “I’d like to see them try. They have hurt my baby too much, and I am ready to pay them back for it. They attack me, an angry mother bear will be waiting for them. They will regret it.” She stalked into the other room, where I could hear her start to rummage through the cabinets. A few minutes later, she came back out. “Alright. I have a grocery list. I’ll be back shortly.”
Kait quickly opened a gateway for her and she strode through it. I almost felt sorry for anyone that tried to attack her. I glanced at David, but he was sleeping peacefully. His breathing was deep and even and despite the dark circles under his eyes, his coloring was good. I wandered around the room for a minute before Travis stepped in front of me.
He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on the head. Some of my panic faded. A second set of arms surrounded me from behind. Travis's foresty scent and Kait’s Christmassy scent mixed together. I breathed in deep as their scents calmed my frayed nerves. Arousal spiked, but I pushed it down. This was not the time for that.
Kait chuckled. “If this isn’t the time for that, then when is?”
I pushed them both away. I wasn’t going to fall for his seduction. “When we aren’t being hunted, and when one of us wasn’t just severely hurt.”
“It only looked bad. David wasn’t hurt that bad.” Kait shrugged as he moved away. “I have to say, I’m disappointed, but I won’t push it.”
I sighed. I had liked them both holding me like that. But, most of the panic was gone from my mind, and I could finally think clearly. We needed to form a plan. This had to end.
“Kait, do you have a plan?”
He turned and grinned evilly at me. “I have the start of one. Wanna hear it?”
Chapter 11
“Yes, I do. And don’t say my role is to sit here in the safe room. I am fighting with everyone else.”
He smiled and inclined his head. “As you wish.”
I smiled at the reference to one of my favorite movies. One that Travis had watched with me. I looked at Travis and he was grinning at me. He got it too. It made me feel warm inside to know that my guys knew me so well after just two weeks.
Kait continued, “We can’t let them know that we know about the ambush. Obviously, the best choice is simply to not show up tonight. The big issue is how to reschedule Friday’s meeting without tipping our hand. We also need to decide if we want to hunker down here, or if we want to move to a different safe house.”
“I feel like a broken record, but I don’t want to miss too much school, Kait.”
“I understand, but you may have to miss another week or two.”
“If I miss that much, I may as well give up on this whole semester!”
His voice was sharp as he snapped, “Your life is more important, Evalia! Stop arguing with me. School is not important!”
“You’re not the one wasting over five thousand dollars on one semester! I don’t have a job! I don’t know how I’m going to pay for this in the first place. It will be even worse if I fail, and I have to pay for the classes again! Yes, my life is more important, but right now, this feels pretty damn important to me too!”
He sighed. “The problem is you are focusing on the wrong things. You are worried about trivial things instead of looking at the bigger picture.”
“The bigger picture terrifies me, Kait.” My hand grabbed my braid and started spinning it as I turned away from him. “I don’t want to think about what will happen if the Svikari win, or why they suddenly decided they don’t need me anymore. I want to bury my head in the sand and act like everything is fine. I have to focus on the smaller issues, or I’m going to lose it.”
Travis came over and held me. “Babe, don’t worry about the money part. We will take care of it. Like Kait said, you need to focus on staying safe.”
I sighed. “I don’t want your money, Travis. I want normal life, without having to worry about when I’m going to be attacked next.”
Kait’s voice was hard as he said, “We understand that. I’m sorry to be blunt, but you need to stop whining, and start listening.” He glanced at Travis. “My recommendation is to move to a safe house in Shadoewynne. We have more resources there, including soldiers not stationed at the castle.”
Travis nodded. “I agree.”
I pulled out my phone, and started emailing my professors, asking for the assignments. I guess I was being overruled. Kait made a noise in the back of his throat, almost like a growl. I glared at him. I wasn’t going to say anything, but I’ll be damned if I don’t think it!
He just shook his head. “I have a house that no one knows about in Shadoewynne. We can go there. We will take very little with us and test them for tracking spells before we leave. There will be several gateway jumps to ensure we are not followed.”
I groaned. “Just knock me out now. Gateways and I do not get along.”
A small smile tugged at the corner of Kait’s mouth. “We will take care of you, Princess. Don’t worry about it.”
“What about the food Janelle is going to buy?”
Travis
