Page 84 of The Warrior
Tristan stood up from the table pointing at Finn. “If you start referring to yourself as Finnibun, I’m out.”
I shrugged. “So much for your cult, Finn.”
Tristan was going through the kitchen cabinets. “I’m hungry, Athena. Do you have anything to eat?”
“Not much. People are hoarding so there wasn’t much in the store.”
Finn spread his arms and held his palms upward. “Don’t worry, honey, holy people like me can turn stone into bread and rain into beer, just like Jesus.”
“You didn’t go to church much as a child, did you?” I asked.
Finn didn’t have a chance to answer before Tristan interrupted. “You have churches in the Northlands?”
“We do, and we learn about God and Jesus in school. If Finn had paid attention, he would know that Jesus turned water into wine and fed thousands of people with a few loaves of bread and some fish.”
Tristan gave a skeptical frown. “How is that possible?”
“It’s not,” Athena said in a flat tone.
“Don’t listen to her; we holy people perform miracles all the time.”
“In that case, would you mind performing some miracles around here?”
“I would be happy to, honey, but we Nmen specialize in beer and meat, and since you don’t like either I’m not going to waste a miracle on a nonbeliever like you. I’ll save them for my cult members.”
“How about a cup of tea for me and Laura then? Do you think your abilities would cover that?”
“No problem.” Finn got up and moved to the kitchen. “Icouldget the water to boil just by looking at it, but sometimes it freaks people out when I do that, so today I’ll just do it the old-fashioned way.”
“Uh-huh.” I gave him a smile.
“When is the interview with Archer’s friend?” Athena asked Tristan.
“Tomorrow morning.”
Her eyes widened. “But we just got back here two days ago.”
Tristan nodded. “I know. I feel guilty about leaving here again so soon, but you’ve seen our family unit. The house is nowhere ready to move back in to, and they are all cramped together at Martin’s mom’s house.”
“But they miss you, Tristan.” Athena sounded sad.
“At least I got to spend all day with my family yesterday. Even my mom can see that I’m better off staying with you and Finn until our house is rebuilt. You would have been proud of me, Athena, I’ve given the twins more hugs in one day than I have their entire lives,” Tristan claimed.
“That’s good, I’m happy to hear it.” Athena looked to Finn. “Did you give Charlotte the toy back like we talked about?”
“I did. She was very happy to see it again. I told her she could still donate it at a later point, if she wants to.”
“What toy are you talking about?” I asked.
Athena explained. “Charlotte is five years old and Tristan’s younger sister. When she heard that children in the Northlands don’t have toys, she was kind enough to give her favorite toy to Finn. She wanted him to bring it to a child in the Northlands which is really nice, but now that most of her toys have been lost in the earthquake it seemed the right thing to give it back to her.”
“Kids in the Northlands do have toys,” I pointed out. “At least my brothers and I did, but I guess if you grow up in a school like Finn, it might be different.”
“Talking about school…” Tristan lit up. “Solo, Storm, and Hunter are going to be surprised when I get back tonight.”
Athena’s shoulders sank. “Tonight?”
Tristan gave her a sympathetic glance. “If you don’t want to come, Finn and I could go by ourselves.”
