Differences over helping the Tenebrae consortium defeat Lusca.
All that aside, Beau and Hudson were now residents of Tenebrae Cove. Beau appeared to be older, Salem thought, closer to Kellan’s human age. Hudson was closer to Fray, Tobin, and Ciaran’s age.
They both stopped working and brought their gardening tools over to meet Dylan and Aurin with a smile. “Hello,” Beau said.
“Have you changed your mind about helping?” Hudson asked Dylan, offering him the shovel.
“Uh, that’s still a no from me,” Dylan said with a smile. “Not today, anyway. I told Aurin I’d bring him down to see the hard work you two have been putting in.” Then he gestured to Salem. “And Salem. You met before, but this is way less formal.”
“Hello,” Salem said.
They both looked at him as if he were some fascinating thing.
“You’ve done a great job with the house too,” Aurin said, nodding to the old house beside the lot.
“It’s a great house,” Beau said. “If retro ’50s is your thing. Wooden floorboards came up great, though.”
“Nothing a good clean couldn’t fix,” Hudson added.
Which Salem knew wasn’t exactly true. It was an old house. The weatherboard exterior had seen many years and far too much wind and rain, and the roof was rusted in places. But Hudson looked at it as if it were something worth saving.
Like it was more than he’d had before.
“Once we get the porch fixed and the roof sealed,” Beau said, clearly the more practical of the two. “Along with the plumbing and the wiring, and there’s rot in the laundry....”
“Full of character,” Hudson said with a laugh. “But seriously, it’s a great place. We’re very grateful. We’ve got our own rooms here, in our own house. Free to work and rest as we please.”
“Didn’t have that liberty in your old consortium, huh?” Kellan noted, as if it were something they’d discussed before.
“Makes us appreciate it more,” Beau said.
“And your garden,” Dylan said. “I spy some seedlings coming up. That was quick.”
“We planted specifically for high rainfall, and we do have the greenhouse,” Hudson said, and then they discussed vegetables and proper drainage solutions prior to planting, all topics Salem didn’t really care for. In that moment, he couldn’t help but watch Aurin.
He was smiling, engaged in conversation, but his eyes weren’t right. He’d squint, for just a moment, or furrow his brow. And every so often, he’d rub his side, his back.
He wasn’t well.
“Aurin,” he said gently. “Shall we head back?”
He nodded, scrunching his nose a little. He clearly didn’t want to leave, but he knew it was a good idea.
“Please don’t think us rude,” Salem said to Beau and Hudson. “But Aurin is still under the weather, and we have a few things to collect from his old room. I’d welcome a chat, and perhaps a meal, at another time.”
“Of course, anytime,” Beau said, his concerned gaze on Aurin. “I hope you’re feeling better soon.”
“I’ll be fine,” Aurin said. “Thank you.”
He was not fine, Salem noted. He was pale. He put an arm around Aurin’s shoulder and turned for home. “Can you walk?”
This, of course, made Aurin mad. “I’m not that sick,” he said. “I’ll be fine, and yes, I can walk. You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”
Salem gave Kellan a glance over his shoulder, a silent request to please come by later, to which Kellan nodded.
“We’ll bring your stuff over later,” Dylan called out after them. “Get some rest.”
They walked back to their little house in silence, mostly because Aurin was pouting. But he was also pale, and he was still wincing every so often. “I don’t know why I feel so awful. I thought I was improving.”
