A knock woke us later that night, just barely audible across the winds, and I lifted my head blearly to see Elena stumbling for the door, her hair messed up, looking as exhausted as I felt.
Jeremy was quick to move past her, gently pushing her back to the living room with a soft "I'll answer it. You go back to sleep."
"I'm pregnant, not helpless." She muttered but it was clearly a temptation too great to resist. Elena turned around and lowered herself back onto the couch, Clay reaching up as he slid closer, sighing.
I watched Jeremy head for the door and vanish into the hallway. Voices, and the chill of wind blasting in through an open door, was all I could really make out.
Nick sat up slowly, stretching, curls all over the place. He jumped to his feet and ran a hand across my shoulder. "Relax, babe, I'll go check on the babies."
Babe? I rolled my eyes and watched him get up, stumbling a little in his sleepiness, wondering if I had to squash that nickname fast. Or did it really matter? Nick could call me whatever the hell he wanted. I shifted up slowly, crossing my legs, leaning against the couch.
Jeremy was talking to someone and I saw Elena listening intently too, her eyes half open, Clayton's fingers gently threading through her silvery blonde hair.
"You'll have to excuse us- we're not keen on radios or the internet." Jeremy was saying, as the door was shut, and I knew it had to be pretty serious if he was inviting them inside. A glance at my phone said it was close to one in the morning. Jeremy's voice came back. "Elena?"
Elena sighed softly. She rose to her feet from the couch. She looked uncomfortable and tired, her hand tracing over her stomach, Clayton's intense stare burning into the back of her head as she left.
"Sorry, can you get us something to drink? Something warm." Jeremy's voice drifted from the front room. Other appologies drifted in, all men, but nothing about i seemed threatening.
Clayton glanced at me and I got up, quickly, beating Elena into the kitchen. He didn't need to tell me. She and I moved into the kitchen, the warm water re-heated, the two of us getting cups and preparing them.
"Who is it?" I asked softly as I tried to get the teabags into each cup, yawning, making sure I got the right kind.
"Police." Elena shifted the hot water to one side and slowly poured it into each cup.
"I'll carry it." I said quickly, as she went to grab it, and she rolled her eyes. "Clay will beat me up if I don't."
Elena made a soft sound, either amusement or espseration, I couldn't quite be sure, and I followed her into the small sitting room that Jeremy was sitting in with a pair of policemen. They looked tired and cold, noses red, hands pink as they rubbed them together. Both looked appologetic as I slid the tray down and Elena sat down beside Jeremy.
"Elena and Anne are both parents here. You've probably seen them around town." Jeremy explained as I went to sit in the armchair near them.
"Sorry to bother you folks. But it's the law right now. Because of the blizzard, all families are to come to one of the shelters. Sorry to come so late, we should have come earlier, but there's been a few families in the county who refused to come in or forgot." The man looked geninuely appologetic and even tired. "Sorry to come so late."
"That's all right. Where were you wanting us to go?" Elena was pretty calm, even as she yawned, which just made the two men look even more appologetic as their eyes flickered to her clearly pregnant stomach. "At this time?"
"Better now than in the middle of a blizzard. There's the school or the library in the town, from what I understand, both are set up for young children to be entertained."
It wasn't the kids that worried me. I pictured the Pack, holed up in a small building for a day or two with the humans, and did not like it. Clearly Jeremy was thinking the same thing, he pressed his lips together, still apparently calm.
"Did you folks need a lift or some help? Are your cars able to take the snow? It's pretty dangerous but the blizzard's still not here, so it's safe enough. We've got a few more families to reach but we can-"
"We've got quite a few adults here, who stayed over for Christmas, so we'll be all right. The school or library, you say?" Jeremy gently cut him off and pushed the cup of tea at him. "Drink up, it'll warm you up."
They took the drinks gladly, busying themselves with the sugar and milk, while I glanced at Elena. She wasn't impressed with the idea either.
"Aren't you worried about the sickness spreading?" She said to them as they drank.
"Well, naturally. My own kids are already there." The other man nodded as he clutched to the warm mug in his hands. "But without power, we're just as afraid that folks will get sick, without any chance to help. Safer to evacuate people where there's medical personell on the spot. This is great, thanks."
"We're unlikely to need help." Jeremy spoke up. "Is this mandatory?"
"It is, or we wouldn't be the ones giving the message." The older policeman answered. He geninuely looked appologetic and drank his drink quickly. "Got to be heading off. The sooner you get going, the sooner you can get the kids to sleep again."
"We'll have to go past Anne's home to pick up some things for her children, but we'll leave within the hour." Jeremy reassured him. The two men stood up, Jeremy leading them out, Elena gritting her teeth as Clayton came in.
"You can't be seriously thinking about going." He muttered, flopping down beside her, his nostrils flaring as the scent of the humans rose up from the cups. Clayton scowled at them as if they were the humans, and then his eyes went over Elena and myself. If it wasn't for the way his muscles in his neck sort of tensed, and his hand sort of tensed, I might not have thought he was angry. The man was really good at hiding it these days. "We're all needing rest."
"If we don't, they'll return." Elena replied. "I don't feel that eager to go either."
We went quiet as we watched the lights of the car outside flash across the windows, before it was gone, and Jeremy was coming back inside covered in snowflakes with a fresh blast of the gale blowing outside following him.
"I was thinking," He said, calmly, "We should take everyone to Nick's house."
Nick's house. Even Jeremy saw that big old place as Nick's 'house'. I hid a smile at that.
"We're not going."
"We'll say we got caught up in the storm. A tire blew or something. A few more hours of that wind and that snow, and we'll be stuck anyway, and Nick's house can probably cope with all of us better. And..." Jeremy's eyes grazed over me, significant, "There's guards there."
Oh bloody hell. He was thinking about attacks again. This was why I needed a holiday. I didn't want to depend on guards, as nice as they were, right now. Still I caught his point. It was unlikely anyone could or would bother in the middle of a blizzard, with a house full of Pack, but Jeremy tended to always seem to think things ten steps ahead of everyone else. Elena nodded as she stood up. She sighed. "I don't really want to leave but I see your point. We'll get that firewood into the car, get everything packed up, and the kids will barely notice if we're calm."
That was probably true, except for Matt, I could see the kid instantly catching on. Since the bite he'd become increasingly aware of everyone's moods, this keen puppy staring at the grown wolves, and attempting to get involved. Now that he was officially a 'pre-teen' he'd become even more determined to join in. No Justin Bieber or weird rap artist for him. He wanted to be a badass werewolf like Clayton.
My thoughts drifting and body tired, Elena's response made me jump.
"We're going. Better trapped there, than trapped in a school with humans. Clay, can you get Antonio and get the firewood into the car? Anne, do you have much wood and food there?" She blinked, a moment, rememberng that I hadn't actually been around for a week. Elena hesitated. "Better ask Nick and Reece."
"On it, darling." He reassured her, standing, and moved to follow Jeremy into the living room.
"I'll?" I asked. I wasn't sure suddenly.
"THere's some boxes in the garage, folded up, some tape in the kitchen draw. You can get the food into the boxes." She stood up awkwardly, reaching the stage where her stomach was hampering her progress, gladly accepting my gentle push. "Thanks. These couches are traps. You get that done and we'll get the kid's things from the laundry. I don't want to wake them."
I nodded and went to do my job in the cold kitchen, taping up the cardboard boxes and stacking things in them, using the insulated shopping bags for some of the things from the fridge. Nick wandered in, yawning, smelling of milk and the faint scent of talcum powder. "Babies set for another few hours."
"Good, because we're moving."
"Moving?" He blinked at me and yawned again, only now staring at the boxes, confusion flooding his face. Nick seemed to wake a little and stared at the window suddenly. "What's wrong? Attack?"
"Of the law kind." I muttered. "We're all going to the big house."
"How much food you got at your castle, Nick? How much wood?" Clay called as he wandered in through the side door, his golden blonde hair covered in the white flakes, reaching up to brush them off him impatiently. "How much do we need to pack?"
"All the wood she ne-" Nick yelped as a foot met his shin and jumped back. "We've got some, yeah, but not for everyone."
"ENough wood for three days?"
"Suppose, but we only really use the fireplace in the living room." He replied.
"We might need it burning more if it's going to be cold. You get that all packed up, Nick, help her out." Clay nodded at what I was doing. "Can't hurt to have extra."
Probably not, though I suspected he wasn't keen on leaving Stonehaven, and his mood had clearly soured outside in the freezing cold. Clayton shot the dark window a look before he wandered into the living room for more wood.
"Never wake a sleeping wolf." Nick grinned. He moved closer to kiss my neck, brushing my hair aside, lips grazing the nape of my neck. "Need help?"
"Please." I turned around to wrap my arms around his neck, nuzzling into his neck, shutting my eyes. "Just a hug."
"Anytime for you." His voice rumbled against my neck. It comforted me and I felt his arms squeeze harder as he lifted me up. "Anytime. You're okay with me now?"
"I love you even when I'm upset."
"You too. Right." Nick let me go and backed off, rubbing his hands together, eyeballing the cupboards. "Let's get the food packed and surprise everyone by not creating another baby right here and now." He flashed me a grin and headed for the cupboard.
We didn't talk as we worked, sleepy and worn out from the past month, and it felt like the past hung in the air around us. So much, I wanted to tell him, and that he might have wanted to ask, but neither of us knew where to start. Or maybe it was the wrong time of the day to offer it.
My eyes kept going up to the windows though, searching for ... I wasn't sure. I was on edge now. My anger had gone, my self-pity, but I couldn't quite let go of this need to be on edge and protective all the time. Nick's eyes went to the window quite a bit as well.
We carried the boxes out, several at a time, stepping carefully on the slippery path to the cars. Clay had loaded one iwth all wood, and we slid the boxes into the back of one of the others. Three cars were going.
"Where's Paige?" I asked as I came inside again, shivering, breathing in the warmth of the living room with relief. I loved the snow but... not at night, not just before a blizzard, with a crazy wind.
"She left while you were asleep." Elena called. She wheeled one of the suitcases into the hallway with a few waiting already. "They're in town for the blizzard. Lucas' father wanted him in a more accessible place."
Fair enough. That didn't shock me in the slightest. She went back into the study and called, "Food all packed?"
"A few more boxes to put in the car but we're done." Nick was already in the kitchen. "You want us to get the kids when we're done?"
"Yeah. We're getting the cars warm. We'll just pick them up in the blankets, settle them in the back, and hope they won't be too interested in walking. Antonio's getting the cars warmed up." Elena nodded and stretched, slowly. "Then back to bed for all of us."
"Sounds wonderful." I groaned softly and went to get the last of the boxes.
Reece moved past, his muscles flexing as he carted bags outside, I caught glimpses of some of the other Pack outside working. Elena was directing them from the doorway, the fireplace was put out, the back of all three cars packed right up. I slipped a lot, glad I wasn't driving in this, as I tried to get the last of the stuff packed.
Somehow we managed to be done within half an hour. Antonio and Nick went for the triplets, easily handling them between them, as I woke Matt up and carried him down to the car. Or that was the plan. Like I'd expected the second I'd come into the bedroom he shared with Kate and Logan tongiht, his eyes flew open, and he was packing within seconds. Christmas toys, mostly, and I ended up trailing after him with his bedding as he apparently decided it was less important than getting his new stuff down the car. Clayton lifted up both his twins at once, kissing them as they grumbled, while I grabbed their bedding as well.
It was the twins and the triplets that caused the most fuss, no surprise, though once the twins were in a warm car they fell asleep easily. The triplets on the other hand, once they had been woken, did not go back to sleep. They sat there, whining, grumbling, and Antonio sat in the car with them trying to pacify them while we got everyone into cars.
I crawled into the back seat of the other car, with the twins, leaving poor Nick and Antonio to the over-tired triplets for the entire drive. While Jeremy drove, more confidant in the gale winds and the snow than I could have ever been, I kept my eyes on the other two cars behind us, watching their headlights obsessively. THe world was white around us, white and beautiful, the winds howling against the cars and making them shudder on the roads. The roads were slippery, deep with snow, which made the going slow. It felt peaceful except for the look on Jeremy's face as he drove, his hands white on the wheel, jaw set. Reece was asleep in the front seat already- he was snoring softly.
The twins slept so calmly. I watched them, their noses a bit pink with cold, but warm and secure in the warm car, little bear hats on their heads. They must have gotten them today, I hadn't seen them before, two cute pale brown hats with bear ears sticking up, and a pair of eyes and noses above their foreheads. Trust Nick. They looked warm enough though.
"It's going to be a slow drive." Jeremy spoke up, cutting through the sleepy daze I was in, his eyes meeting mine in the dark through the mirror. "Have a nap too. You might need it."
I didn't argue. I curled up, shut my eyes, and tried to nap.
The door opening woke me, as it did the twins, I heard them stirring with their soft sounds beside me. I opened my eyes, half expecting to see the Skinwalker or something, but it was just Jeremy. A tired smile was etched across his face as he held out a hand to help me back out again.
"How slippery is the path?" I muttered. Silly question- the second I tried to stand, I failed, and I got why Jeremy was so keen on helping. "What can I do? Oh." I hesitated as I stood up more carefully, Jeremy's hand there. "FIre in the living room."
"Probably a wise idea. You get that done and the kids can sleep in there tonight. I think Nick's got the triplets under control." Jeremy hesitated as a car pulled up. I heard it too, the triplets just as noisy as before, if not worse. But he flashed me another smile. "Quickly, inside, before he capatures you."
I grabbed the keys offered and headed into the living room with a torch in hand. Like it had always been, it had all my stuff, my paintings, my slightly worn couch, scratched coffee table, toys here and there, a toddler mug' sitting sideways on the coffee table. Probably empty, when it tipped, I hoped. No suspicious stains anywhere. I quickly swept toys and objects to one side. No point trying to clean up the room. The sounds of babies being carried in made me glance up as I knelt at the fireplace, stacking the wood, sticking the little 'quick fire' things into the fireplace.
"Nick's going to wait in the car with the kids till the beds are set up." Jeremy said lightly as he gently lowered the car seats to the ground, both twins already asleep again, their eyelashes resting gently on their cheeks. He knelt beside me and we worked on the fireplace. "He said they're not really going to be much help when the twins are so happily sleeping."
"Tired babies?"
"Exactly."
I was relieved the twins were being so good about this. They were cosy, warm, loved, and too little to care much about where it was they slept. I sighed softly as we got the fire going. Naturally, as soon as we had a small fire under the logs, it was time for the twins to really wake and need me. Jeremy motived the little fire to grow as I changed nappies and comforted the babies, who seemed to only need a quick snuggle, but it reminded me that I'd have to get them food soon. Without power. It was lucky we had a gas stovetop.
"Is it really that bad for the humans?" I muttered. I knew the answer but...
Jeremy just nodded as he stood up. I heard others coming in and out through the front door, probably with the boxes of food, tired voices as kids were brought inside. Only Matt seemed really awake, Kate was clinging to Clay like a little monkey and Logan trudged behind his mum, leaning against Elena's side, eyes already half shut. He'd have probably let her carry him if Clay wasn't so obsessive about Elena not lifting anything.
"Where's the bedding?"
"Blow up matts and spare mattresses are in the garage." I hoped they were still there, anyway, I'd at least been prepared for a flood of Pack. "Bedding's in the box in there."
"Big box?"
"Literally. A huge plastic box." It was probably designed for moving cold things, I wasn't sure, but I'd found it cheap and cleaned it out. Great place for storing pillows and stuff.
Clayton vanished as Elena got the kids to flop on the couch. Matt wandered over to sit beside the fire, while Jeremy teased it into a better blaze, holding his hands up.
"Don't touch it."
"I won't." Matt muttered, yawning. "Can we get marshmallows?"
Jeremy's lips twitched. "No."
With Rose more or less asleep, I carefully lowered her back down into the car seat, and got up. She started to wake and I glanced at Matt.
"Hey, can you hold Rose for a little while?"
"Hold her?" He blinked as he shifted over. "And talk to her?"
"Yeah. Softly." I nodded as I carefully lowered her back down into Matt's arms. He seemed fascinated by her. "She's sleepy so she just needs someone for now. I'll get the porta-crib and the bedding for the kids." I stood up straight.
"I'll get some help, get the food and things in. Better we do it now than tomorrow when the blizzard really hits." Jeremy stood as well. "I'll wait with the babies till you're back."
I nodded and hurried, knowing everyone was eager to crawl into bed, hanging onto the torch in the darkness of the house. Without power it made for an interesting attempt to pump up air mattresses. Jeremy unfolded the twin's porta-cot and got them into bed somehow without waking them. It was when the triplets got carried in, still awake and grumbly, that they really woke up and started to cry. Somehow, between myself, Jeremy, Clayton, Nick and Antonio, we managed to feed the twins, change their nappies again, feed and change the triplets, and sooth all five of them to sleep, while trying to pacify the annoyed sleepy kids who kept getting woken up.
It was almost five before all kids were asleep, and we collapsed in the kitchen, boxes of food unpacked on the counters. No one looked like they could be fucked to move or to talk for a long time. Coffee was out- since Elena had become pregnant, all coffee was decaf anyway.
"Fuck." Reece muttered, head on arms, eyes shut.
"Couldn't have made it to that school even if we tried." Clayton muttered.
No one had the energy to verbally agree, I noticed a few jerky nods, before people started to wander off for bedrooms. Clay and Elena, and myself and Nick, were probably the only ones who'd try and fit into the living room with the kids. Although this big old home was too much, and it really was, at times like this I had to admit the extra space was pretty useful.
I followed Nick into the living room, he collapsed onto the couch with a soft groan, tugging over me.
"Sh- you'll wake them again."
"No, you will." He grumbled, squeezing my back. A sound made us both jump but it was just Clayton dropping the fire guard around the fireplace, so the toddlers couldn't get to it, and flopping a mat beside it.
I got up slowly and managed to squeeze a single mat in against the cold wall, Nick dropping blankets on it, the two of us crawling in and snuggling into each other in the very snug space. Whatever else we had to worry about... it wasn't something we had to worry about right now.
That was what I hoped, anyway.
Waking to the sound of screaming, anyone would have been forgiven for waking up in full 'crazy ass wolf mother mode', and I lurched up half expecting to see the house on fire, or magic spells raining down around my ears, or some creepy 'skinwalker' at the window. What I did see almost made me wish it was something like that.
Kids. On the loose. Tired kids.
And we were trapped in the house with them.
Outside the blizzard was almost in full swing, more or less, the windows rattled, there was nothing except white outside, white that banged against the windows, that darkened the already dark room. I had to give it to Nick though, he was already up, already trying his best to calm them down. He smiled appologetically at me as I yawned.
"Sorry, tried to let you sleep in after your ordeal. Clay's retreated to upstairs." Nick yelped as Dominic raced past, stepping on Nick's sock covered toes, an aeroplane in Dominic's hands. "Mickie, come back here!"
Mickie? Okay, that was a new nickname. Dominic. Mickie. Mick. I smiled somewhat, sitting up, finding that our blow up mat had deflated overnight.
Sleep was tempting but Nick was barely in control, even with Antonio and Reece nearby, so I got up and wandered around in zombie mode. First for the kitchen, I wondered how the hell I'd clean dishes without going mad, only to wander in and find Jeremy at the sink. Hot steam rose up around him as he scrubbed at the kid's 'unbreakable' dishes.
"Relax, kids are fed."
"How'd you do the hot water?"
Jeremy blinked at me like I'd lost my mind. "Gas stovetop. Big pot."
Oh, duh. I yawned again, rubbed my forehead, trying to get myself re-focused again. Of course that was how he'd done it. I was buggered today. "Oh yeah."
"Clay's upstairs with the big kids." He informed me and gestured towards the fridge. "Cold things are in the garage where it's freezing, but there's some breakfast in there."
"All rationed out?"
"If we want it to last, it needs to be." Jeremy nodded. This pained him, I knew that, the man had a habit of throwing food at the Pack. Not surprising. Full tummies made for happy wolves. This ration thing was going to make our control more edgy by the week.
Still, for now, the 'rations' was more than enough for me. My mind drifted over everything, the business, the bitch who'd gotten 'DNA samples', the skin-walker. attacks.
"Much chance of any attacks in the storm?"
"I don't think so." Jeremy replied as he dropped a lime green plate onto the drying rack and tugged gloves off. "The wind's strong enough to knock around a werewolf."
"That's a relief." It was, sort of, but at the same time I kind of felt like I needed to be doing something. Hunting something. Attacking. I felt the slow tremor of unease run through me, the urge to change, to hunt, to …
"But you could probably risk a run." Jeremy added, his dark eyes on me. "If you needed."
"It's not that. It's just ...all the things we've got to worry about now. It makes me edgy." I muttered. Stabbed the cold meat on the plate. "That's it."
"That's it?" Jeremy actually smiled somewhat and flopped down, yawning, stretching his arms. "I am a bit ...edgy... too. We all are."
"Three days to plan?"
"Three days to plan and relax." Elena said from behind us as she came in. "Big kids have eaten now." She dropped empty plates into the hot water and sat down beside Jeremy, rubbing her eyes, looking as exhausted as the rest of us. "I'd nap but the baby isn't sleepy."
"Having a wriggle?" I offered. Wriggle was probably a nice way of putting it. But she wasn't even full term yet.
She nodded. There was a tenseness as she shifted on her seat. "More or less. Clay wants me to lie down anyway."
Jeremy wrapped an arm over her shoulders, hugging her close, affection all over his face. "Don't feel like you need to stay up all the time today."
"Clay would have me in bed all day if he got his say." She smiled somewhat and yawned, which triggered both of us to yawn, Elena yawn stretching out even longer than hours. "But I might try a few more hours." She stood up slowly and headed for the hall again, leaving the two of us.
"How along is she now?"
"Closing in on twenty weeks." Jeremy replied softly. "More or less."
She looked further along than that to me but I wasn't sure. Some people gained weight faster than others and this was her second pregnancy. Weight tended to show faster with the second. I knew it had for me. The chances of her carrying more than one was probably higher than for humans as well.
"Do you think she's having twins again?"
"It might be that, I considered it." Jeremy admitted. He stood up and went for the coffee plunger. "Do you want some decaf?"
I didn't see the point but I nodded anyway. The smell of the coffee did help clear my brain somewhat.
"If she is, we'll borrow your furniture. If that's all right." Jeremy strethced again, yawned again. "Clay thought you'd probably be glad to move it out of your house."
He was right. We had way too much stuff for the kids. "Yeah, please. Borrow away. Clothing too. Toys."
That made Jeremy smile somewhat. He didn't speak again till I was offered a hot mug of the steaming coffee, his hands cupping the warm cup, and his smile fading.
"How has your depression been?"
"It hasn't been a big problem." I muttered. I saw his eyebrow raise and remembered last night. Oh yeah- I'd threatened to dump Nick and the kids and run away to Australia. "I mean, I'm stressed. More than depressed. It's just a lot."
"I can see how you'd be stressed." Jeremy agreed softly. We heard a loud yell from the living room- Nick raising his voice at the kids. Rare event for him. He raised his eyes to the ceiling. "I can really see it. But if you need to leave, even just for a few weeks, speak to Elena. The Alpha's the one who needs to know."
"I know." I did know too. The last time I'd run away, I'd not told anyone, and I knew that was more or less a BAD thing to do. "I do know."
"It just lets her know what to expect, what to plan for, and how to handle Nick."
"I don't want to run away. Or hurt Nick." I didn't. I wanted to escape other things, not Nick, escape other memories that involved Nick.
"I know." Jeremy reached out to take my hand, his palm warm from the hot drink. "You're not coping with this alone. Everything you have to deal with, we'll all take on. The business, the children, because that's what we do. Pack. You do it for us and we do it for you. Leaving, without telling us, hurts everyone."
It was like being scolded and loved all at once and somehow it made me feel worse for the 'I need to run away to Australia!' tantrumn I'd had last night. I nodded, grimicing, caught between wanting to smile reassuringly and cry. God. When did I become such a crybaby?
"I don't know what to do with the business, Jeremy." I admitted. "They want me to run it."
I suddenly felt like a kid again, speaking to an older wiser person, and Jeremy's calm dark eyes only heightened it. Emotions came back a little. "Sorry, I don't mean to whine..."
"No, you've got a burden. I told you. We all take it on. They deal with medicine?"
I nodded. Jeremy went quiet and stared into the black liqued in his cup. "And the humans with abilities."
"Caged away." The words, even as I said them, took on a meaning for me that went beyond dislike. Caged away... like I had been. They had been changed, their whole world turned upside down, and they were suddenly imprisioned. Like I had been. "If I'm in charge, if they're serious, I can't ...let that happen."
"No, but what are we dealing with? New supernatural species." Jeremy agreed, nodding slowly. "They might want to go straight home and we can't let that happen."
We. The word kind of comforted me. Jeremy wasn't talking as if this was just my choice. He stared at his cup.
"I kept joking about how I had to create an X-men type school."
Jeremy chuckled softly and gazed at the window, as it rattled in the gale winds, watching outside thoughtfully. "Well, they do need help. Guidance. Their lives have to change now."
"Do they have to keep it secret?" I wondered out loud. Took a sip of the hot drink, swalling it quickly, feeling the warmth burn my throat.
"I honestly am not sure. For the moment, yes."
"Less humans in the world and more supernaturals. The balance is tipping."
We both went quiet then. That was true, in a way, with so few humans now. So many dying or dead. They still outnumbered us by huge numbers, even billions, but the gap was closing.
"It doesn't matter how this disease was created- it mutated."
"Like they do." I agreed softly, thinking of the common cold.
"It can supress a supernatural's abilities and trigger latent abilities in humans, from what we know." Jeremy breathed out. "Balancing it."
"It's a brave new world out there." I suddenly saw it- supernaturals. Open in public. Humans either hating or loving them. Crazy. Supernatural hunting humans. Humans hunting supernatural. New wars, ignoring skin color, but targeting whether a species could do some fancy trick or not. "A new reason for battles even. From both sides."
"Which is why we've kept it secret. Not just to protect us, but to protect them. Any mutt who assumes he's better than humans and has the right to enslave them should be dealt with." Jeremy nodded. He drank, eyes back on me now, then lowered his cup. "Their prophecy, around Elena and Clay's children, probably would use this. I might go back to my notes and double check. The last thing we need is supernatural religiously using a prophecy for human hunting."
"What would they do to humans who've become like us? And then there's the skinwalker. Daniella." I groaned softly. I hadn't even thought about our 'allies' in Forestwatch. "Oh man, I forgot about them. Do you think they'll be okay?"
"They're fine. I made sure of it when I found out about the blizzard. And that's a good question." Jeremy stood up. "You might not be imprisoning them. You might be protecting them by keeping them secret. We're here for a few days. Forget the Skinwalker, let us deal with that, think about those humans. We'll have a meet when everyone's rested, from what Elena's been saying, and we've all got things to work out."
"A meet?" That was a good idea.I stood up as well. "Well, I better research too."
"I'll be in Antonio's study." Jeremy reached out to hug me, hard, his warmth and scent flooding over me again. "Rest too. Nick will be asleep by lunch."
I nodded and we went our separate ways.
A/N-
I am back somewhat! :) Posts won't be as amazing as they were before, I've got a lot happening in life, but hey... health is improving enough to get some writing done! Believe me, I've missed this story and everyone.