Page 83 of Caelum

Whole wars had been started on the back of a mourning female grieving her lost Chosen.

I rubbed my chin as I contemplated Stefan, wondering if their unease really was feeding my own, and I had to think that it might be.

I’d expected this moment to feel validating. We’d been working for months for this chance. We’d spent the past few weeks working behind the scenes on intel that would feed this mission, and we’d been training to be the best we could be.

Before Eve had come along, we’d eaten, breathed, and slept this mission.

Now? Shit had grown shaky and I wasn’t happy about it.

Not happy at all.

When the door opened and Eve wandered in, her nose in a book as per fucking usual, I wanted to grit my teeth at the sight of her. When I saw Stefan stuff the soap he’d been whittling under a cushion, I shot him a look and he just frowned at me.

Why was he keeping that little habit of his a secret from her?

I didn’t know and wouldn’t find out. Stefan could be a close-mouthed shit when it camedown to it.

Nestor didn’t stop playing but his tunes turned less melancholic, a change in the melody making it more upbeat, and Eren stopped eating pure sugar.

Because she made them feel better just by being in the room? Or were they hiding their nerves from her?

As I stared at them, looking at the men I knew as well as I knew myself, I had to accept that she made them feel better.

Stefan, before he’d started whittling, had been playing with his fingers. Cracking his knuckles, his unease making him rap the tips against the sofa.

Nestor’s music had changed, but I could sense the move hadn’t been a conscious decision because I could hear the undertones of the song were the same as what he’d been playing before, but it was just brighter, bouncier, somehow.

And Eren?

Well, he wasn’t eating. Instead, he’d curved his arm around Eve when she took a seat beside him. Her dark hair gleamed against his olive skin, and I hated that I noticed that. Hated, even more, that I saw her honey-colored eyes soften as she looked up at him and over at Stefan and Nestor. Me, she avoided like the plague.

As I stared at her, the woman who was a thorn in my side, I found myself, for the first time in forever, grateful that she’d given my brothers some peace.

This was the calm before the storm, after all, and if this was the last time we saw her, I’d remember her with thanks for this moment. A moment of respite before we were shipped off to a war that no one except the creatures and the Ghouls in this world knew we were battling.

TWENTY-FOUR

STEFAN

Over the hustle and bustle of boarding the plane, I eyed my brother—Dre looked like he could take off without the plane to carry him to Aboh. “You’re looking on good form, man.”

Dre grinned. “I fucking feel it.” He bounced on his toes. “My knee hasn’t been aching either.”

Though they’d released him, we’d been concerned sickbay wouldn’t sign off on him leaving with us for this mission, so I grinned back and we bumped fists. “Awesome.”

His eyes narrowed a second as the early evening sky gave way to the sharp lights on the plane as we ascended into the cabin. “Your back?” he asked quietly.

“Fine.” It wasn’t. It was aching like a bitch but I was getting used to it. In a strange way, it was helping my pain tolerance grow.

Considering what I’d be doing with the rest of my life, I didn’t think that was a bad thing. If I had a higher pain threshold, it would only serve me better along the years so I wasn’t about to complain.

As we boarded the plane, I’d seen Eve standing over by the gates. I wasn’t sure why it hurt me so much to see her standing by herself, but it did. And she was still there. Standing alone, in the growing shadows, watching us leave her.

I wanted to raise my hand to her, wanted to see her smile, but she wouldn’t see me on board. I was too far away and the windows were too small.

It didn’t stop me from watching her beautiful face as we taxied down the runway though. I only stopped looking down at the school when we were up in the air, Nigeria our destination.

Nestor shot me a knowing look when I finally stopped peering out of the window. “She’ll be okay,” he told me.

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