Aegis (Book Three)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sometimes the hardest part of being an author is having to break the hearts of your characters 💔 Buckle up everyone!

Chapter Twenty-Four

The next morning, Orion drops T, and I back off in our apartment. She has been going back and forth checking on the shelter, but as soon as we are back, she all but runs there. There have been a few issues in the past few days and I know she is anxious to try and resolve them. I unpack our things and do a load of wash downstairs.

Sitting down for a moment trying to gather my bearings, I stare at the photos that Thalia has set out and they almost seem to have multiplied. I see a few photos from when she was younger and that makes me smile. Walking closer I see a small, faded photo tucked in the corner of a frame. Picking it up gingerly, the girl in the photo reminds me of Cathleen, but her eyes are brown. It must be one of Cathleen's cousins, I know she has a bunch from her Aunt Ruka.

Thinking of Thalia, we still haven't talked through everything, but both of our minds are preoccupied with the craziness of the situation at hand. It's hard to even think about salvaging our relationship when there are so many unanswered things running through my head. I need to keep searching for answers and I have a feeling the empty and locked up, shell of Paradigm is going to have a lot of them.

"Hey Mason," I say as I fold laundry. The phone sits on the dresser on speakerphone as I run around.

"I see you are back in Circa City," he says.

"Yes, I just got back."

"How did everything go?"

"It was rough, but we did a good job diffusing the situation and I learned a lot," I say, and I hear noise on the other end. He has the window cracked in his car.

"You sound tense," he says, and I sigh.

"Things are still messy between T and me," I admit.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" He asks me and I finish folding the laundry.

"Are you sparring today? I really want a good workout," I say, and he chuckles.

"I just finished filing paperwork with the school and I'm on my way to the gym now," he says, and I grab my empty backpack and grab everything I need.

"I will meet you there," I say, and we bid goodbye.

Shoving my Aegis things into my bag, I search around for my hand wraps and watch. Finding everything I need; I text T where I am going before walking out of the apartment and running to catch the bus. Texting Mason where I am, he lets me know he's stuck in some traffic. When I walk up to the gym, I see his friends waiting out front.

"Zana!" A few voices chorus and I walk over and greet them.

"Mason is running a little late he was on a date," Link says wiggling his eyebrows. Tilting my head to the side I wonder where he is going with this. Link from what I can tell is definitely more of the trouble-making type compared to his twin Levi. 

"Oh, was he now? Who with?" I ask seeing through his bluff.

"Some girl he met at school," Levi, his twin chimes in. Maybe I underestimated Levi's meddling abilities. 

"So, was he texting me while he was on said date?" I ask amused. Clearly, they are lying to get a rise out of me. My ability might make me denser than most, but I am not that dense mentally.