Nadine Book 7

74. Lights On

We go to ship island.

Mason looks around. "It's so empty. Grass and a few trees. No scents here either."

I take a breath. "I can smell the salt from the ocean."

"I mean werewolf, vampire, human even. Nothing."

"We don't show up too much unless we need to."

We go down some steps and through the long hall. Tye says, "Lights on."

The whole place lights up.

Mason laughs. "This is where you got the lights on at the castle."

"The whole advisor wing. All 7 floors of it are built like my ship. A lot of the same technology is there."

Tye and Thora go to the command area. I walk around with Mason. We find ourselves in an apartment.

"Blinds up." I smile as the dirt appears. "Imagine the views I see from space."

"I bet it's unbelievable."

"It really is."

"Will you take me up there sometime?"

"Actually. We're stuck in a time loop. A 10,000-year-time loop. I'm going with my mates to try and end it. Very soon we'll leave. We've tried in 14 other timelines and that's where our story ends."

Thora and Tye run in. "What are you doing in here?"

I point at the dirt. "I was telling him to imagine the views."

Thora laughs. "Well, I promise they're better than dirt. Maybe we can take you up sometime."

Tye nods. "Don't see why not. Let's go to the command area, so he can try more of the food."

"Alright."

We all walk to the command area and try different foods. We show him the brains and how stuff works. Then we go back to the pack house. I take a nap.

"Time for dinner, sweetie."

"I feel like I ran 10 miles."

"Get some food in you. Then you can go back to sleep if you need."

The wall is still gone. The tables out of the yard though. I walk in the dining room and the table and chairs are back in the right spots. The wall is still gone. Everyone is sitting in the chairs.

I sit down. "I really like the ocean breeze in here now."

Everyone starts laughing. We all eat, then me and Thora make the plans for a new pack house. This 1 will be super nice and almost twice as big. We talk to Savannah mostly. But we get it figured out. Mason will have a master suite.

I go to bed early again. It's too much to think about. I'm exhausted.

I wake up in the middle of the night and trip over the books.

"You alright?"

"Why do you keep putting books here?"

"So you don't roam off alone." He picks me up. "Are you hungry?"

"No. I thought it was morning."

He carries me back to bed. "Not quite." He lays me down, and I pull him in with me. He don't argue. He lays down.

I cuddle right up to him and make shapes again. I love the way his skin feels on mine, and he holds me so close. His fingertips move on my back and we fall asleep.

I wake up early again and he rubs my back. "What did you mean by the story ends?"

"That's where we die."

"How do you know that?"

"14 times. 14 timelines. I have contact with the last 1. They are figuring out some stuff for us. That's how we figured out the loop too. They are going at the same time as we are."

"And they are further ahead in their timeline?"

"10,000 years. That's how we go into the future. We jump into their timeline. It's not actually our future. But it would be nearly the same anyway."

"And you're planning to die then?"

"Yes."

"Then why make plans?"

"Hope. I think we're making each other have hope. It's better than sitting and waiting to die."

"What are you going to face when you get to where you're going?"

"We have no idea. But we have to try to end this. We don't want to keep doing it. We have to try now. Everyone else waited."

He nods and we hear a door shut.

I slide off him. "You better go before you get yelled at again."

He smiles at me. I can see the tears in his eyes. He kisses my fingers. Then he gets up and walks out.

Savannah walks in after a couple of minutes. "Do you 2 think I don't have a nose?"

"He didn't want to get yelled at again." We both laugh. I go down and get in the bath. I get clean before anyone even comes in to help me this time.

I get dressed and move to the sitting room. Thora sits with me smiling. Savannah gets done with my room. She smells me as she walks by and I lose it.

"What?"

"I'll tell you later."

Mason comes out of his room combing his hair and Thora looks back and forth at us a couple of times. Then she scoots super close to me. She whispers, "Did you kiss a werewolf by chance?"

"No, not that."

I see Mason smirk. Damn, he's got hearing like Dipak.

"What do you want to do today?"

Tre picks me up. He spins me in about 3 circles. "I love you baby."

"I love you Tre."

"I miss you. Can we do something today? I'll take you to the reef again?"

"That sounds amazing."

Tye runs in. "I'M TAKING HER TO LUNCH."

"I'll take you to the reef after lunch baby."

I smile. "Ok."

Tre puts me down and Tye picks me up. "Will you come to lunch with me babydoll?"

"Of course Tye. I would love to." He hugs and snuggles me.

Johen pulls me down on his lap. Mason starts laughing.

Thora nods. "I think they're done sharing her with me."

I snuggle in to Johen. "They do seem neglected. Maybe the older ones will be ok." I hold Johen's hand and lightly rub his fingers. He hugs me so tight.

Then everyone else walks in. We move to the dining room.

"Any new memories come back, sweetheart?"

"Not yet."

Tre rolls his eyes. "She remembered kissing Elek. But had no idea why."

Elek winks. "It'll come back to you. If not, I guess we can have the whole conversation again."

Dipak smiles. "Be careful with that. The 2nd time around, it never goes the same."

Marcus passes out blood and Mason signals for the food. After breakfast, Thora and I run the plans for the pack house by Marcus. He loves everything, of course.

"So, big porch. Then come into a huge sitting room. The dining room will be off the sitting room like it is now with the kitchen past that. Then staircases on the other side of the sitting room. The wing going that way will be for the guest rooms. We put 4 of them. The top floor there will be offices."

He nods.

Thora nods. "Top level. You'll have the balcony thing over the sitting room. But center will be your office. The other side, above the kitchen and dining room, is your apartment."

"Yea, but his office is his office and the kitchen is his kitchen. He doesn't need another 1. It's his house. I don't think he needs an apartment in it."

"So, we get rid of the office by the office. What would you put there?"

"Massage table." Mason's eyebrows pop up and he nods.

Thora jumps up. "OH WE CAN PUT ONE OF THEM SPA BED THINGS ON HIS BALCONY."

I jump up. "AND A POOL."

"YOU CAN MAKE IT LIKE A SPA IN THERE. ALL RELAXING."

"TYE." I run for the door.

"YOU NEED ELEK NOT TYE. IT'S THE SPA."

"ELEK." I run out the front hole. "ELEK."

He comes running. "ON MY WAY."

I drag him to Mason's office. "We're fixing the pack house since we broke it."

"Yea, we knew we'd have to do that."

Thora shoves the papers at him. "This is the plans. But this is his apartment. And we need..."

"He doesn't need an apartment. It's his house."

Thora yells, "JUST LISTEN."

"Go ahead."

I grab the 2nd floor page. "This whole area is his office. He'll have enough room for a conference table too, if he wants 1." I look around.

"Focus."

"This is his apartment."

"Bedroom."

"This is his bedroom. Thora was going to put an office and kitchen in there." Elek laughs. "But I said maybe a massage table instead of an office. And then we were talking about maybe we could make it like a spa. Put a bed swing on the balcony. A salt thing. Make it relaxing."

"That is a good idea for a bedroom. Have you ever been to a spa?"

"No."

"We can show him 1 of the spa rooms in China. Nik said they are done. We'll have to grab him before we go there. Let's go look at the spa to see if it's something he likes. He may not like spas. Not everyone does."

"I've never met anyone who didn't like a spa."

I shake my head. "Me either."

Elek makes a door. "Well I'm sure there are people out there who don't like it. Now let's go."