Excuse my poor grammar guys, I have sucky vision and I miss a lot. Would love some reviews.

Thanks

Chapter 3

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity folks, be the one and only deemed worthy to lift the mighty and powerful Excalibur."

Leave it to DeeDum to make a show out of the silliest things and still get people riled up about it. I felt the urge to mention that king Arthur was a fictional character and so was Excalibur. I had to wonder though, even as conning as the twins were, how did they manage to get their hands on an angel sword. The swords were unyieldingly fateful to their owners and did not take well to strangers with less than reputable intentions, even Pooky Bear had only recently allowed Raffe to wield it again and he had been its owner for centuries.

The bets started pouring out like a water spill. I watched as large men made their attempts at lifting 'Excalibur' to no avail. It was kinda funny to watch actually, their scrunched up faces and bulging muscles straining as if they were trying to lift a bulldozer, not the relatively small sword that probably weighed no more than a few pounds. I even giggled a few times.

"This is some kind of trick, what the hell did you all do to this thing? I want my goddamn money back." Bodden grumbled, unhappily. His smug face red with the effort of trying to lift the weapon. I smiled, feeling a surge of satisfaction from his inaptitude.

"No can do big guy, all bets are final" He let out a string of curse words and F...bombs

"You kiss your mom with a mouth like that?" DeeDum mused, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

Bodden glared and flipped them off, clearly not taking the joke for what it was.

"Ahh, don't be a sore-baby loser. I bet even our angel killer won't be able to lift it, you shouldn't feel too bad about it B-man."

I stiffened as eyes turned in my direction. I had meant to stay behind the scenes, I've had enough attention to last me a lifetime but I didn't realize in my attempt to get a closer look at the sword that I was now up front and center almost in the middle of the circle.

Oh well, too late for a retreat. I wouldn't give that D-word Bodden the satisfaction of seeing me walk away like a dog with the tail between its legs anyway.

With the confidence I wasn't exactly feeling at the moment I kept my chin high and folded my arms over my chest to hide the trembling that seem to be getting worse with each passing day.

"How about it Penryn, want to do the honors?" One of the twins challenged, wiggling his eyebrows.

"There is a big pod at stake." He continued.

"And it could be all yours angelkiller." added the other twin shaking the pile of bills in his hands and pointing at the sword.

"Tempting, but not something I really need to prove to myself boys." My lips twitched with a suppressed grin.

"Oh that's right, you already killed an angel and you're screwing another on the side. Guess you've already proven yourself, isn't that right angelwhore?"

Bodden spit out, curling his lip in a saccharine smile. I knew he was baiting me and on most days I didn't give two shits about what he thought but I wasn't about to let him bully me in front of half the camp. It set a bad precedent and he seemed to have forgotten what happened the last time he pulled a stunt like this.

I walked right up to him, keeping an unyielding stare on his face.

"You just can't deal with the fact that I rather screw an angel than a worthless piece of shit like you."

The crowd Ooh and Ahh as if this was nothing but a schoolyard confrontation. Bodden flushed-tomato red and before I could react his hand connected with my face. I felt the sharp sting of the slap radiate all the way to my toes.

"Why don't you get the hell out of here and take your freakshow of a family with you, bitch!"

He slapped me, the prick actually slapped me. My mind was having a hard time wrapping around that. He didn't punch me because a slap was so much more humiliating in contrast. This was about to turn into shit storm like the one in the first camp. I could expect no help from the spectators, this was just a good show for them.

I took pride in having good sense-most of the time-and attacking someone in blind anger wasn't smart, I knew that, still my fist shot out before I could think better of it, Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough, my reflexes were all over the place.

Bodden easily caught my wrist bending it in a painful twist then his free hand connected with the other side of my face. The pain blurred my vision for a few seconds, I was seeing black spots and if he wasn't holding my arm I was pretty sure my body would hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. What the hell was wrong with me.

In in blur of movements, his grip on my arm was gone and my knees hit the floor. I blinked several times then saw Cap holding Bodden by the neck.

My mother was beside me, pushing my hair back. Cammy appeared on my left, lifted my hand slowly and examined it. This was so not what I had in mind when I let my mouth run free.

"You touch anyone else in this camp again and I will chop both your hands and feet off then dump you in the bay in the middle of the night for the sharks to feast on you. Get what I'm saying bud?" Cap towered over Bodden at least four inches of burly muscles.

"Hey Cap we were just letting off some steam, Bodden didn't mean anything by it." I turned to the new voice, surprised.

I thought Alpha was on my side? Obviously not. When had he become besties with the dickhead? My mom shot him a death glare that had him cowering back into the crowd.

"You wanna blow off some steam, go chop some wood or knock your head against a tree for all I care." Cap released Bodden who gasped, pressing his hands to his throat.

"We have enough things to worry about without having to worry about the people we live with." He was addressing the shrinking crowd now.

"If you wanna live like animals that's fine. There's a big world out there, you're all welcome to find another place."

"You rather harbor an angel whore like her?" Bodden points his meady finger at me.

"She's sleeping with the enemy, she of all people should not be allowed to remain here."

"You call me an angelwhore one more time and I'm going to rip out your vocal cords asshole."

He snarled at me, like the animal he was.

"Cap he kind does have a point, I'm not saying he was right to hit her but Penryn is on friendly terms with the angels. I think that does present a conflict of interest."

This time it was a man-whose name I didn't know-who spoke. I had seen him around the camp though and I remember him at the fight on the bridge. I looked around taking in the reactions all around me. No one was speaking on my behalf which led me to believe that Bodden's opinion was not an isolated one. I knew it would be difficult for people to accept the angels as allies but, we had all fought beside one another. Raffe and the watchers had protected us, fought for us and now they were out there looking for the children and trying to make things better again.

"I remember you from the night of the blood hunt, If I recall correctly one of the angels you speak off saved your life at the bridge." I threw the words at him with all the disdain I could muster.

"One good deed doesn't erase every horrible thing the angels have done. They are our enemies, they invaded our world and killed thousands of us."

Speculative murmurs of agreement rose around me. I shouldn't be too surprise people love to put blame on others and is not as if I could condemn them for it. A part of me hated the angels just as much as they did.

"Not all of them are our enemies, some don't mean us any harm." I settled for saying, even though it sounded lame even to my ears.

The nameless man stared at me for a minute before speaking.

"Why don't you look at your little sister when you say that, because they were they ones who did that to her in case you forgot."

The breath whooshed out of me as if I had been punched in the gut. The images of my nightmare of Paige screaming for my help invaded my mind and I had to wrap my hands around my midsection.

"You don't have the right to say anything about my daughter, you don't know a damn thing." My mother was on her feet, her voice furious."

"Why? It's the truth isn't it? Those monsters kidnapped our children and turned them into abominations for their own amusement."

It was a woman who spoke this time, tears brimming her eyes. My heart ached for the pain that was obvious on her face.

"Not all of us are as forgiven as Penryn and we deserve the choice of deciding who gets to live here." This was going from bad to worse real quick, as a very similar situation came to mind. Doc hadn't been wanted here for his participation in creating the abominations for the angels. He'd been kicked out and was now working with Laylah to help the children of the very people who didn't want him. The Irony of the situation did not escape me, I had returned to warn my people about the attack-the night of the blood hunt-I put my own life on the line and fought beside the very same people who were now pointing accusatory fingers at me.

Would they really kick us out? I didn't care what they did to me but Paige and mom had a home here, they were safe or safer than out there anyway.

"This isn't helping anything." Cammy spoke softly beside me. She was the kind of person you could always count on to play referee.

Everyone began talking at once, their voices ringing in my ears like nails on a chalk board. I closed my eyes tightly feeling tremors rock my body.

"Stop!" The loud booming voice of Cap knifed straight through the voices, silencing everyone. He stood tall and confident, letting his eyes scan the crowd from side to side.

"So this is what it comes down to? Your big solution is to kick Penryn out, send her to the wolves and wipe your hands clean?" He nodded softly to himself. No one spoke.

"The same teenage girl that came to warn you all about the blood hunt, then stood by your side in a fight to the death against the angels." His intimidating stare landed on each individual. No one dare hold his gaze for more than a few seconds.

"Well that's highly mighty of you all and a hell of a way to start the new world." He crossed big, brawny arms over his chest.

"Those things are evil, they can't be trusted." Bodden growled.

"Let me tell you something about evil, boy." He spat out acerbically.

"Good and bad is a choice we all get to make everyday." He paused, seeming to choose his next words carefully.

"It wasn't the angels or monsters who killed my wife and daughter after all. It was humans like you."

The silence that followed his confession was almost deafening in the dimming light of twilight.

Cap moved around with precision, keeping eye contact with the mass.

"Does that mean I should hold you," He pointed at a random man.

"or you" He moved along from people to people.

"responsible for their deaths? Guilty by association right?"

No answer.

"We've all lost someone dear in this war and there's plenty of blame to go around, but going against each other is not gonna make the pain go away. We need to stick together to make it through this, and until we can all go back to our cozy houses and our nine to five jobs, this is our home. Respect one another and accept the fact that whether you like it or not we need the angels help and they are willing to give it. This is the world we live in, so I suggest you all wise up and get on with it." There was no room for arguments in the finality of his voice.

I let my eyes roam around the faces that varied different emotions from acceptance, to defeat and even guilt.

"Oh and in case it wasn't clear, anyone else feels like blowing off steam on another person and you will be kicked out. I have my own family to protect and I won't have meatheads creating any more problems here." He spoke directly at Bodden.

"Now, I'm sure we all can find something productive to do with our time." With that parting message, the horde of people opened like the red sea and went on their way.

Cammy helped me to my feet and my mom walked over to Cap-who was disappearing into the supply room.

I winced when Cammy pressed on my wrist.

"I think you might have a small sprain." I sighed, wanting nothing more than a bed and sleep without nightmares.

"Come on, I can fix this right up." Too tired to argue I followed along quietly.