"If you don't want to stay with us, just let us know and we'll help you if we can."
"Why?"
Doc frowned, tilting his head as if he didn't understand the question.
"Why wouldn't we help you?" Ed asked.
"Among other things, I destroyed your house. I've put you all in danger. I've fought against you."
Nikolai waved his hand dismissively. "That was the Andersons."
"You helped us as much as you could," Doc insisted. "You did more to keep Sofia safe while the greater demon was here than any of us could. We want to help you, if you want us to. You don't have to decide now, Ash. We just want you to know you can stay."
The demon's expression twisted. "I'm not used to having a choice."
"We know." I put my hand on his. "Take your time. Get used to it."
He took a deep breath and nodded.
"One day at a time," Allan said.
Doc studied the demon for a minute then shook his head. "Nikolai could wear my clothes, but I don't think you can. We'll have to go shopping."
The demon frowned. "For?"
"Clothes. Unless you want to magic something all the time."
Though Doc didn't say it out loud, I also knew that he didn't have many to spare at the moment, either, since most of his things had burned in the fire. There was no need to bring that up, however.
Ash raised his eyebrows. "I, uh, thank you."
"We'll go tomorrow. I don't know if any of us have the energy to do anything with what's left of today," Doc said.
The sun was almost down. I had slept until nearly three and it was almost four in the evening now. Doc was visibly starting to perk up, though I didn't know if he had noticed.
My left over demon senses tingled with the hint of snow, too. It wouldn't be tomorrow, but we were in for another storm soon.
"So, now that the Andersons are handled, should we start looking at building a new cabin?" I grinned. Excited about the prospect.
"I can see about getting supplies delivered," Doc said.
"Supplies?" Ash glanced at me and Nikolai.
"Is easier to build a house when supplies are already present."
Ash shrugged. "I can help with that, if you want. Some of the trees can be thinned, dirt and stone can be repurposed. It's been a while since I've been able to create anything with magic."
Nikolai raised his eyebrows. "Yes, that would be good."
"So, no supplies needed?" Doc asked.
"Save your money for furniture," Ash said. "The mages and I can build the cabin with what's here." A faint smile crossed his lips. "With larger showers."
"I vote for a large bathtub, too," I put my hand in the air.
"Fireplace," Nikolai said. "If we're taking requests."
"Bigger kitchen," Ed and Allan said together.
Doc laughed. "Whatever you all want."
Ash did smile then. "We should make some plans. We don't need full on architect plans, but some ideas of where we're going before we get started. We'll be able to make minor modifications once we've finished, but it will be easier to get it close the first time."
"You have done this before?" Nikolai asked.
Ash nodded. "Quite a few times. I believe I can even mimic modern electricity, so guests won't notice anything strange."
Doc raised his eyebrows. "We probably still want to use some, just in case anyone ever raises questions about utilities, but I certainly won't complain about a lower electric bill."
Ash nodded and magicked some paper onto the table. "Let's get some ideas then."
We spent the next few hours looking at pictures on the internet and developing plans for building our new cabin. Neither Nikolai nor I were ready to start right away, but plans for the following weekend were underway. That would give us some time to finalize our design, too.
Chapter 13
Sofia
"They want to come out for Christmas." I groaned and flopped back on my bed in my dorm Monday evening.
By this morning I had felt mostly recovered from the fight against the Andersons. I still didn't really want to perform any magic, but I didn't feel like I might collapse if I tried and school had gone okay. Nikolai had recovered quickly. Unfortunately, Doc was still actively avoiding direct sunlight, though it didn't seem like it was as big of a problem for him as it would be for a full vampire. He had looked exhausted in class, but still managed to keep everyone involved. Ed and Allan had also recovered physically, but they were both pretty quiet about the fighting they had engaged in. Ash was settling in well enough, though the yurt was getting a bit crowded with all of us up there.
"Your parents?" Victoria spun around in my office chair.
"Yeah."
"Well, I mean, it makes sense that they want to hang out with you for the holiday."
"It would almost be easier if I went there."
"But you don't want to be gone from your pack?"
"Would you want to be gone from all of that?" I grabbed my phone off my chest so I could reply to my mother.
Sofia: Sure, Mom, that sounds great.
Mom: I'm glad, Honey, we'll let you know when we've made all the arrangements. You'll be staying with your friends while the dorm is closed?
Sofia: Yeah.
I groaned. "And I have no idea what I'm going to do about the guys. She seems cool with me staying with them while the dorms are closed, but… yeah." I trailed off, not even sure what to say.
"Just own it. If they give you grief, you can bust their asses."
"Yeah, they're my parents."
Victoria laughed. "Oh, right."
I needed to text the guys. I brought up the group text.
Sofia: Hey, so my parents are coming out for Christmas.
"So how was your weekend?" Victoria gave the chair another spin.
"Oh, okay." I really didn't know how much to tell her. Finally, I decided she knew everything else. "We rescued Ash. He's free now."
Victoria was silent for a minute. "That's why you wanted me out of town."
"Yeah."
"Everything go okay?"
"Better than I expected. No one on our
