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“He needs more sleep—”
“I’m fine,” Dane snapped irritably from across the room.
Clay sighed. “But he’s a stubborn ass and won’t go back to bed.”
“Maybe we can keep this short, and he can take a nap,” Grey said in a low voice and flinched. “Wait. What time is it?” He pressed the heel of his palm into his temple as he searched his memory for events, trying to peg them to a time in his head, but everything kept spinning out. “We were going to take a walk, it was early, and then the attack and the shower. Did I fall asleep? I don’t think so.” He was talking mostly to himself and trying not to let his cheeks heat as he remembered that rather wonderful shower.
“It’s about ten thirty a.m.,” Clay answered.
“Perfect time for cinnamon rolls for brunch,” Wiley added.
Just the mention of the rolls had Grey’s stomach growling again. The only thing missing was a cup of coffee. But he didn’t smell any brewing. Oh, God! The coffeemaker! Grey twisted around toward the direction of Wiley’s voice. “Did the coffeemaker survive the fight?”
He could hear at least two people snickering, but he didn’t care enough to try to figure out who it was coming from.
“Ummm…no. It took at least two bullets, and the carafe kind of exploded.”
“No!”
Cort’s arm wrapped around his shoulder, pulling him in close, but his body was shaking with what felt like silent laughter. Didn’t he understand that coffee was life?
“We’ve got a spare, Grey. You can breathe,” Baer said from the kitchen area. “I just got it out of the pantry and hooked it up. We’ll have coffee in about ten minutes.”
“Come on. Let’s get you to a chair before you fall down,” Cort teased, giving him a little push toward what he thought would be the family room.
He helped Grey onto the couch and settled beside him. When Cort released him, Grey couldn’t stop his frown. Emotions swirled in his chest as he listened to his friends moving around the kitchen, but no one was talking. Their anxiety, fear, and rage created a dense cloud in the room. Not that anyone shouldn’t be feeling those things, but those emotions seemed to put him more on edge because he couldn’t read their faces or even their thoughts to better make sense of it all.
Reaching out, he patted around a couple of times, finally locating Cort’s hand. He threaded their fingers together, and the relief was almost instantaneous. He could still sense everything, but it was as if everything was more manageable when he was holding Cort’s hand.
“Grey, are you okay?” Dane asked. He sounded a little tired but otherwise calmer than his last comment to Clay. His voice came from a short distance in front of him. He was likely sitting on the opposite couch.
Grey smiled and waved one finger at Dane. “Ah-ah. I’m fine. No using your powers on me. Clay will beat my ass and for the first time ever, he’s actually got a decent shot at it.”
Dane’s light laughter filled the room. “Not what I meant.”
“You’re an idiot,” Cort murmured beside him, but there was so much warmth and affection in his tone.
“I just…you look good. For the first time since the incident, you look really good. Relaxed.”
“Thanks.” Grey squeezed Cort’s hand a little. “I’ve had an amazing teacher.”
They had to wait only a few minutes before Clay, Wiley, and Baer served up coffee and rolls. Lucien joined them but remained largely silent. There was a miasma of dark emotions swirling around the Fire Weaver, and Grey could easily guess he was still struggling with the outcome of the fight. For now, he’d give him time to work his way through it all. He’d check on him later.
They all got lost in Dane and Calder’s description of the damage to the house.
As they finished eating, Jo and Flo entered through the back door, their voices alerting him to their presence. Grey couldn’t deny that he was a little pissed at them. The whole reason they’d been brought to the property was so they would be safe as they got their powers back, but their home wasn’t feeling all that safe anymore. With Ardette, they were invaded by animals. Now they had actual humans coming after them. How could they not do anything about it?
But he already knew the answer. They’d given a good chunk of their powers to the Circle. With what they had left, he had a feeling the goddesses were just trying to hold the line against the pestilents and the rift. They couldn’t protect them as well. The Circle needed to figure out how to cover their own asses.
“Where’s Willie?” Calder asked.
Flo sighed heavily. “She’s looking for her last Weaver. She’s worried about him.” The goddess sounded tired.
“Is everyone okay?” Jo inquired. There was a murmur all around the room that they’d survived the encounter, for better or worse.
