Chapter 178
Asher’s calm demeanor is impressive as he tells Evan to close the door behind him.
He does as ordered, awkwardly standing in the hall as the Lycan King orders children around like an expert babysitter. Or maybe he’s just indiscriminately used to ordering people around.
“Lily, stop screaming and get a towel to clean the floor. Finn, put her cup in the sink to be washed. Maddox, take Pip and feed her some snacks to calm her down. Fenris, keep the damn dog quiet p>
From chaos to order in only fifteen seconds.
It isn’t hard to figure out what happened. Pip must have opened her cup, probably all over the cat. It explains the demon-yowl.
“Shouldn’t we dry off the cat?” Lily asks, plopping a towel over the water puddle.
“No. It might scratch you if you try.” Asher hands Pip off to her older brother and motions for me to come closer.
A little confused, I stand obediently in front of him as he narrows his eyes at my face. “Your eyes are red p>
I frown. “A polite person wouldn’t mention it p>
He seems startled, jerking his head back a little. “You think I’m polite p>
“No, because if you were, you wouldn’t have mentioned it p>
“Ah.” He seems a little disappointed, and Fenris huffs from where he’s laying on top of Bailey, pinning her to the floor.
The golden retriever’s eyes are wide enough to see the whites around them, and Finn looks like he’s itching to save her from the predicament.
Bailey whines, and Fenris’s lip lifts in a soft snarl.
The whining ceases.
Asher lifts his hand to my face, brushing hair out of my eyes. The faintest touch of his fingers against my skin sends another surge of energy his way. “You should rest more. You look exhausted p>
“Actually—” Evan interrupts, awkwardly sidling into the conversation, “have you looked at the weather p>
Asher scowls at Evan, but his eyes seem more focused on the mere five inches between my shoulder and his than the interruption.
He grabs my hand and yanks me to his side. At least this time it doesn’t cause my brain or body to dive headfirst into panic mode.
“What about the weather?” he demands.
The contact with his skin leaves me light-headed, my energy draining in a now-familiar way. I guess I haven’t recuperated enough arcana to make up for what we drained.
I yank my hand out of his, breathing out a soft sigh as my dizziness fades almost immediately. How long will it take before I can handle these casual touches? A week? A month? Never?
The thought of permanently flinching away from him makes my stomach twist, but I remind myself we’re working on it. I’ll just have to practice.
Evan meets Asher’s gaze with an impassive face, and I wonder how he manages to be so calm in the midst of all the insanity to hit us. He’s just taking it all in like this is normal.
“There’s a massive storm system moving in. They’re saying it will hit later tonight—record rainfall, flash flooding, the works. Temperature’s supposed to drop like twenty degrees and put us back at a normal fall chill.
“It’s all over the news. They’re calling it a ‘weather emergency’ and telling people to prepare for power outages.” Evan rubs the back of his neck, then shrugs. “The weird thing is it came out of nowhere. No one knows how it’s happening p>
I blink, trying to process what he’s saying. A storm system that big doesn’t just appear. There’s satellite imaging, predictive models—
But then, we just had a strange storm coming straight out of clear skies without warning.
So I guess it can.
Asher rubs along his jaw, looking thoughtful as he stares over Evan’s head.
“We need to find shelter,” he says finally. “When is it supposed to hit p>
“Around seven tonight. Maybe eight p>
“Then we have a few hours to drive. Violet, look about one hundred twenty miles out, find a place for us to stay with a structure that can withstand tornados. Another large parking lot should do; we can run the children into the store if it comes down to it p>
“Tornados?” Lily squeaks.
Finn scoffs. “Evan didn’t say anything about tornados p>
“We need to prepare for this storm to be as strange as the last one. Both of you, use the bathroom. We aren’t stopping this time, even if you burst p>
Evan nods. “The first storm made national news. Bunch of motorists stranded when their vehicles died all at once, power outages… Weather service is getting hammered for the lack of warning, but they say there was none to give p>
I glance toward the window. The sky outside is clear blue, not a cloud in sight. But we know it means nothing.
“Okay, kids. Get ready to go. Everything off the floor, put your cups in the sink. Use the bathroom. We’re pulling the slides in as soon as you’re done p>
“What about the cat?” Lily asks, hurriedly swiping up the last bits of water off the floor. “How are we going to take it with us p>
“Oh—I don’t know if we’re p>
“I’m sure it will be fine until we can buy one,” Asher says calmly. “Don’t worry about other things. Just get everything ready for us to leave again p>
“Got it,” they all chorus, and Finn’s the first one to run for the bathroom.
“I’m first p>
“No fair! I was going to be first p>
“Just shut up and go,” Maddox snaps. “Didn’t you hear him? We’re in a hurry p>
I also have a job to do, so I escape from Asher’s side to sit on the couch. One hundred and twenty miles; I have no idea what the next town is, much less what’s coming in two hours of driving. But my phone has everything I need to find out.
The screen lights up, and I open my map, about to search for a potential overnight spot when a notification banner slides down from the top of my screen.
[Divinity Connect: You have been added to the side chat, “Echoelle’s Fan Club p>
I freeze, my thumb hovering over the screen. What the actual hell is this?