Page 30 of Cam's Treasure

"Cam, could you turn this knob over here?"

I shook off the thoughts of our dads, focusing back on Caleb and Cam as he reached over Caleb's shoulder to obey. Wait, wasn't that the one...

Before I could warn him, water burst out of the pipe, smacking Cam straight in the face.

Cam's eyes went wide as saucers, while Caleb grinned at him, his shoulders shaking with laughter. He quickly turned off the water, but Cam was already drenched.

Compared to all the pranks Cam had pulled on Caleb, this was pretty mild, but the fact that it'd been so unexpected made it so much worse. Or better. I couldn't decide.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing as Cam wiped a palm over his face, then pushed the hair away from his eyes.

"Youhavebeen holding a grudge!" Cam accused with a pointy finger, making Caleb chuckle. He held his palm up, accepting the accusation gracefully.

"Maybe a little. That was very satisfying."

I couldn't help laughing at that, and Cam turned to me with a scowl, though his eyes glimmered with amusement.

"Why didn't you get Micah too? You know he was in on all the pranks too, right?"

"Yeah, but he wasn't the one who came up with them, was he?" Caleb asked with a raised brow before turning back to the pipes. He adjusted the pipe he'd sprayed Cam with before tightening it into place while Cam grumbled to himself.

After Caleb was finished—and Cam had changed into dry clothes—the three of us ate some reheated curry and naan. Then Caleb left. Without taking a payment, of course. We got the clan-member discount, apparently. Considering how many people were in our clan, I wondered how Caleb made any money at all.

Cam and I cleaned up the kitchen, for once without the background sound of the steady drip-drip-drip from the sink, and then decided to sit on the back porch for a little bit. "Like a couple of old people," according to Cam.

With the help of Elian—a forest spirit—we'd turned our backyard into a beautiful garden. There was enough space leftfor Cam to shift into his dragon form and take off or land, but the edges of the backyard were lined with bushes blooming with a riot of colorful flowers. Plants surrounded the edges of the pond, and Elian had even created an archway of beautiful flowered vines around the stairs. In a word, it was magical.

The greenery had also invited little critters, and the garden was one of the few places where Saaya happily stepped out of the shadows. I loved sitting on the porch and watching her chase after squirrels or the rare rabbit that snuck into the garden, though she knew she wasn't allowed to hurt them.

Cam and I settled together on the bean bag we'd placed on the deck, and he leaned into me, his arms circling my waist as he rested his head on my shoulder. I was dressed in my favorite soft pink crop top and shorts, and Cam's fingers petted my belly as he held me, toying with the piercing once in a while.

"This is nice," he mumbled after a moment, and I hummed in answer, sliding an arm out of his hug so I could wrap it around his shoulders instead.

We sat there for a while, my thoughts drifting aimlessly as I focused on the feel of Cam's comfortable warmth beside me, and I'd been just about to suggest going inside for an afternoon nap—or a quickie—when Cam straightened up, his eyes alert.

"What is it?"

His brows furrowed and he scanned our surroundings.

Do you feel that?he asked, switching to our mental link.

I scanned our surroundings with my psychic senses, but other than the thoughts of our neighbors, I found nothing, so instead I focused on Cam's mind, on whathewas sensing.

I could feel the pinprick of awareness in his mind, the sense that something new or different was coming, something unfamiliar.

"Look!" Cam said out loud, pointing up into the sky. I followed his gaze to a spot of light in the cloudy sky, and at first I thoughtit was the sun, desperately trying to peek through the dark clouds.

Then I realized the bright dot was getting bigger. No, not bigger.Closer. It was coming closer, and I was pretty sure it was headed right for us.

Cam rushed down the stairs, holding an arm out when I started following him. "Stay back, Micah."

I fumed, but I knew that he was better suited to this. He was a dragon, and my psychic powers were useless in stopping an enemy physically.

The dot drew closer and closer, and my brows furrowed as I realized it was...a ball of fire. What the hell? Was it a meteor or something?

But no, I could sense its magic through Cam's mind, so I knew it was something supernatural. But what?

Cam took a step back, then shifted and spread his wings wide, putting himself between me and the flaming ball.

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