Thousand Year Switch

Chapter 20

The rest of the Malake ha-Mawet were hanging out in the common room, a huge room with ugly red carpet, bookshelves and overstuffed armchairs. It must have been used for socializing after the services, and potlucks of course. I was sure this room had seen many potlucks.

They were sitting in the arm chairs drinking coffee and a few more were banging around in the little kitchen attached to the room.

"Steve!"

A slim man with short yellow hair and freckles jumped up when he saw us. He strode over and slapped Beefcake on the back. "Good to see you in one piece, old man!"

Aden waved, and the other two that had remained in their seats nodded back, a broad shouldered woman with flinty blue eyes and an extremely tall black man. The man was sitting, but he had to be at least six-foot-something, by the way he dwarfed the chair. He wasn't skinny either. He gave me a wide, white grin, like he could tell what I was thinking. Shit, I was happy he was on my side.

"Hey, losers! Come out of the kitchen!" Freckles yelled, and two more men walked into the common room. The taller one had full sleeve tattoos and a plate of scrambled eggs, and the other one, a short Latino guy, was stirring a pot of Macaroni. 

"So this is him?" The short one shoveled a forkful of macaroni into his mouth and examined me critically while he chewed, and the black guy, who I ironically dubbed "Tiny" right there on the spot, grinned even wider.

"I'm Lucas," I volunteered, "nice to meet you all."

A few of them murmured a greeting back, and the blonde Amazon woman gave me a nod, but mostly they just studied me like some new and interesting species. I shuffled my feet and cleared my throat, and then Aden saved me from the uncomfortable silence.

"This is Morgan," she said, "and of course, you guys know the rest of us."

"Hi," Morgan waved cheerfully, and they all stared at her narrowly.

Amazon woman said, "And what's a Malake doing here? The location is no huge secret, but since when do we simply invite them in?"

"Relax." Aden held up a hand. "She's alright."

"So you say." Freckles stood up, glaring at Morgan and for a moment it looked like there was going to be trouble.

"Woah," I said nervously. "Guys, she's saved my ass about a million times so far. I think it's pretty safe to say she's on our side."

"Unless she's just doing it to gain your trust." Short Guy had his muscular arms crossed over his chest, and he studied Morgan suspiciously.

"Okay, okay," Beefcake said crossly. "Everyone just relax."

"Hey." The tall tattooed guy spoke around a mouthful of egg. "Didn't you have Ed and Dave with you?"

Ed, Dave, Steve...jeesh. My nicknames were way better.

"They'll be coming along shortly." Beefcake's voice sounded casual, but he and Curly exchanged another look.

Aden pulled Curly aside as he set down our luggage, and I could hear her murmur something to him about Kamloops. He nodded curtly,

"Alright, shouldn't be a problem. Keep your cell phone on you at all times."