Aftershock

GRADY RUEWEN

"ARE YOU SURE WE SHOULDN'T go check on her?" Grady asked Edaline for the tenth time, glancing nervously at the Cliffside pasture, where the entrance to the caves was. The way she'd run past them...it had almost been the frantic sprint of a cornered animal. Even though he'd cancelled the adoption, even though he had no right to be...he was worried for her. He'd grown much more attached to Sophie over the past few months than he'd ever intended to. And while that scared him...maybe it was good for him. Sophie was slowing pulling them—he and Edaline both—out of their shells, and it simultaneously excited and terrified him. It was like taking a breath of fresh air after 16 years of trying his damnedest not to feel. And he hated that she was in so much pain. If he could take back rescinding the adoption he would. In a heartbeat he would.

But at this point, would Sophie even want him to?

Edaline shook her head. "No," she answered for the tenth time. "Sophie needs some time to process whatever it was that happened—"

"Aunt Edaline! Uncle Grady!" a voice called. Grady whirled around and spotted his nephew, Dex, sprinting toward them.

"Dex!" Grady called, smiling. He hadn't seen his nephew in a while. Sophie said they'd gotten in a fight or something. Then he frowned. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

Dex skidded to a stop in front of them. "Where's Sophie? It's really important! Actually, I don't know if it's really important. But it was important enough for Wonderboy to pull me out of study hall."

"Wonderboy?" Grady asked, sharing an amused glance with Edaline.

"Fitz. Fitz Vacker," Dex clarified, blushing a little under the color he'd worked up running across the property. "He...well, it's a long and unimportant story. So where is she?"

"She just headed down to the caves," Edaline answered, pointing in the direction of the Cliffside pasture.

"But you probably should leave her alone—" Grady started, but Dex sprinted off before he could finish.

Edaline looked amused at his objection. "So, what?" he asked. "Dex gets to go talk to her, and I don't?"

"Exactly," Edaline laughed, but the sound was forced, and her smile didn't reach her eyes.

"How does that make any sense?" Grady asked. "We're her parents!"

Edaline's expression grew pained. "Grady..."

Right. He'd lost the right to think of her like that. Like his...like a daughter. 

"Do you think we made the right choice?" Edaline asked him, clutching her chest as if the thought brought her physical pain.

Grady wrapped his arms around her. Of course they hadn't made the right choice. Sophie was an amazing girl, and he was going to regret letting her go for the rest of his life. But Alden and Della would take care of her, she'd be happy as a Vacker. He and Edaline didn't deserve her, and she didn't deserve selfish parents that were just trying to replace their dead daughter. But he didn't want to say that, because Edaline didn't need any more regret. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to lie to her. "I don't know," he answered, stroking her long, auburn hair.

"I don't think we did," she whispered into his shoulder.

The wind was picking up around them, and fat rain drops were starting to fall. "We need to get inside," he told his wife. "You're going to make yourself sick."

"You get the tools rounded up," Edaline instructed, wiping her eyes and pulling back. "I'll go check on Sophie and Dex."

Grady gave her a quick kiss before collecting the tools and taking them around to the other side of the barn. The verminion hissed as he passed it, and he laughed. It had a strong will, he'd give it that much. But it was going to be hard to get it ready for relocation to the Sanctuary.

When he stepped back outside, the rain was so heavy he could hardly see ten feet in any direction. And it was so dark it seemed like it was night. He hurried back to the house, expecting to see Edaline and the children. But the house was empty. Where were they? He opened the front door and looked out into the storm. He could barely make out a small figure running toward him. Edaline.

He ran out to meet her. "Where are the kids?" he asked, frantically searching behind her for any sign of them.

"They weren't back at the house?" Edaline asked, shouting to be heard over the wind.

Grady shook his head. "No. Weren't they down in the caves?"

"Oh, Grady. Th-The tide was so high! And the caves were completely submerged! I don't know what to do!" She wiped her puffy eyes, but the rain was so heavy he couldn't tell the tears from raindrops.

"I'll go check the caves again," Grady told her. "Get back to the house and hail Alden. I might need help."

Edaline nodded her head and hurried back to the house as Grady headed for the caves. Sophie and Dex had to be okay. They just had to!

He couldn't...

Not before...

He had to apologize. He had to make her understand how much he wanted to keep her.

But when he got to the path that lead from the Cliffside pasture to the small beach, he started to get nervous. The waves were large and dangerous, so tall they hit the rock wall almost halfway to the top. And the caves were almost completely submerged, the waves crashing inside and pulling out large rocks. If the kids hadn't managed to get up the path before the storm had started, they could have been pulled out to sea.

"Sophie!" he called, the words snatched away by the wind before he even finished. "Dex! Sophie! Can you hear me? Where are you? Sophie! Dex?"

He kept shouting as he eased his way down the path, trying to get to the caves.

Suddenly, a strong hand gripped the back of his tunic and pulled him backwards up the path.

"Stop!" he shouted, thrashing about until the hand let go.

"What do you think you're doing?" Alden shouted. "You're going to die if you go any farther!"

"I have to find Sophie and Dex!" Grady answered, turning to go back down the path.

"No!" Alden cried. "They were in the caves?"

Grady nodded. "I have to find them!"

Alden looked sick. "Grady, if they didn't get out in time, there's nothing we can do."

"No!" Grady shouted. "I can save them! They're still alive! I just have to—"

"Grady!" Alden's strong voice snapped him out of his panic. "Did you check any of the other pastures or the forest? They could have gotten lost in the darkness and wandered off in the wrong direction."

Grady shook his head to clear it. Right. Why had his mind immediately jumped to death. The kids were probably fine, and he was overreacting. "Of course. They're probably just taking shelter with the gnomes."

Alden nodded, and slowly grabbed Grady's arm, like he was dealing with a wild animal that might be easy spooked. "Now let's just head back up the path and check up there."

With one last nervous look at the submerged caves, Grady followed Alden back to safety.