Returning

“Come on, Evan!” Emerald headed along the back of the main house, toward the woods.

“Shut up, Emerald. I am coming.”

“God, you are so slow!”

Evan gathered several small boulders as they moved toward the Zentiths. “There are only two Level IIs today. What is the big deal?”

“The big deal is if Talon catches wind of them, we are toast.”

Emerald notched an arrow in her bow, letting it fly toward the closest Zentith.

It dodged the arrow with a grin and flung an uprooted tree back at her.

Evan tossed the boulders, intercepting the tree before it reached Emerald.

“You could have been quicker,” she commented as she shot three more arrows in rapid succession, piercing the leg, upper arm, and shoulder of the Zentith.

“I swear to God, Emerald.” Evan created his spear, shooting it past the first Zentith and burying it deep into the skull of the one behind it. “Shut the fuck up before I throw a boulder in your face.”

Emerald stumbled, missing her next shot. “I am so over your criticism. One more nasty remark from you and I will not be held accountable for my actions.”

Evan’s next spear hit true, dropping the first Zentith where it stood. He turned to face her head-on.

“You are an egotistical bitch to me and I get it, I hate you too, but the days of me rolling over and taking your snarky remarks are over. Either watch your mouth or stay out of my way.”

Evan turned on his heel and headed back to the house.

For once, Emerald had nothing to say.

***

“What did your mother want?” Talon had felt Wren’s tension as she strolled the garden with her mother and sister and knew something was up.

“Money for my sister.”

“How much?”

“I would assume no less than a quarter of a million.”

“Do you have that?”

“Not yet.”

“Why does she want it?” he asked, not surprised at the flow of conversation. Her family was obviously money-driven.

“For a wedding present.” Wren went into more detail. No sense in hiding anything from him if he was going to marry into the family.

“My sister is not a good manager of money, and her soon-to-be husband must have paid quite a bit to clear her debts, if they are completely cleared as she seems to think they are.”

“I see.” Talon collapsed on the couch and pulled Wren down next to him.

“I could come up with it. I think I have it upstairs right now.”

“What?” Wren just stared at him. “No, you cannot do that.” Did he really have that much on him?

“Of course I can.”

“It would be a waste of money.”

“It is my money to waste,” Talon gave her a shrug. “Since your family is not happy about us, it might help smooth over a few ruffled feelings.”

“What do you mean?” Wren immediately latched on to his words. Something must have gone wrong with her father.

“Your father gave his consent, but only because he could not refuse.”

“I figured as much.” Wren settled down next to him.

“They are not on great terms with me, but they do like having control over my life.” She thought back to her mother’s words.

“Mother mentioned her disappointment in my choice.”

“I got the impression you had not told her about your engagement.”

Wren squirmed a bit. “I did not. However, I did let her know I planned to stay with you. She was not impressed.”

Wren let out a sigh, looking down at the hands in her lap. “She mentioned I should try to get back with…him.”

“Like hell you will,” Talon growled. ~That bitch. I should have had a private conversation with her too.~

“Let it go.” Wren stroked Talon’s hand, trying to release the tension that was coming off him in waves.

“I will put together what I have. I can always make more. It is no big deal.”

“Let me take care of it.”

“No.”

“But…”

Wren cut him off. “Do not worry about it. I am sure we will not be able to make the wedding. I will come up with something to appease them. I always do.”

^THE WEEKEND^

“I cannot believe he let us come,” Wren grumbled as they stepped off the small jet just outside the town where her family lived. She was sure the entire town would be buzzing about it by tomorrow’s wedding, making her sister even more upset that she was taking away from her special day.

“I can,” Talon grinned.

He was dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and a blazer, as the weather was turning cool. Wren had chosen a long skirt and a turtleneck for the weekend.

“If we have to fight, the skirt will be ruined,” Talon pointed out.

“I could do with a good fight right now,” Wren growled as they climbed into the waiting car.

“I wonder how Evan and Emerald are doing at the house?” Wren asked, trying to take her mind off what was about to happen.

“They are fine,” Talon replied, quite aware of what she was doing. “We just talked to them yesterday.”

“It is not yesterday I am worried about. They still have not patched up from their argument last weekend.”

^AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF WREN’S FAMILY^

“I cannot believe you went to fight without telling us,” Talon scolded the two teenagers. They had tried to slip past him and Wren.

“You were busy with Wren’s family. We made a decision,” Emerald said.

“You made the decision,” Evan spoke up. “I did not.”

“Shut up, Evan,” Emerald snapped.

“What did I say about your mouth?” Talon asked.

Emerald turned pale, closing her mouth.

“Did something happen?” Wren asked Evan.

Evan shrugged. “I told her to keep her nasty comments to herself.” He turned and headed up the stairs. “Talk to her, she made the decision, not me.”

Wren turned to Emerald, watching her burst into tears and run back outside.

“What the hell just happened?” Talon asked, confused.

“I have no idea,” Wren replied.

Just then, the phone rang.

It was Lily, calling to let them know that she was pregnant and was being pulled off active duty for a while. They were excited for Lily and Eric.

It would be fun to have a little one running around the compound.

On the flip side, because of it, Talon and Wren would be pulled out into the field more, when their schedule allowed it, to help.

They had just gotten off the phone with Lily when Carrie called. They were fine but would be gone for another couple of months.

They had seemed more interested in how Talon and Wren were progressing than in their own situation.

Carrie’s voice sounded strained and tired, but once Wren told her of Lily’s good news, she squealed like a little girl.

She spent the next fifteen minutes talking about being the godmother of the child, Michael quiet in the background.

^PRESENT^

Wren shook her head at the thought. She missed them more and more every day.

“Relax. Everyone is happy and healthy. Within the year, we will even have a child around the house. Won’t that be fun?” Talon spoke, trying to ease Wren’s nervousness.

It did not stem from worry about the others. That was just her way of dealing with her fear of coming back here.

“Sure.”

“Do you not like children?” Talon asked.

He had seen how she had played with them at the orphanage. Those memories made it hard to believe that she did not like kids.

“I love children.”

“Do you want children?” Talon asked softly as Wren pulled up the driveway of her parents’ home.

They were not staying there, thank the good lord above, but they had decided to stop there first to pay their respects. If word got out that they had not come here straight away, all hell would break loose.

“Yes,” Wren answered Talon’s question quietly as they entered the house.

She did want children. She just did not know if she would be able to have children.

“I see you have finally arrived,” Claire said as she came up and pointed to the coat racks. “Put your coats there and come help.”

“Yes, ma’am. Are we late?” Talon asked, noticing there was no greeting or touching of any kind between the women.

“No, but I had thought you would arrive earlier. There is much to do.”

They followed Claire into the house, where she gave Talon a quick tour and introduction to the group that had assembled.

As soon as she felt she had been polite enough, she took Wren and immediately put her to work, leaving Talon to fend for himself against the onslaught of looks and questions.

The rest of the day went in a blur as Wren ran to and fro, catering to her sister and the family friends.

Watching Wren become no more than a servant in the place that was supposed to be her home left a bad taste in his mouth. They may have expected her to be on top outside of her home, but it was obvious she was not worthy inside the home.

He had yet to see anyone say welcome home, let alone smile or hug her. He was not even sure they had touched her.

He continued to watch as she handled one crisis after another, and it was late when they finally checked into their hotel rooms.

***

“Good night,” Wren told him at her door, not sure what to do now that the time had come.

She had insisted on separate rooms so her parents would not be embarrassed, and Talon had agreed. They had not had a chance to “do it” in the past week, what with finals at school and the onslaught of attacks.

Each night, they had come in late and fallen asleep before anything could happen. Talon could feel his frustration growing.

~How much longer is this going to go on? Even our first time together was cut short. What is a man to do?~

Now he had her, he did not want to go back to using his hand.

He gave her a soft kiss. “Good night, hon.” He headed toward his room, only to be stopped by her hand on his sleeve.

“I am sorry. Once we get back home…”

He turned back and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I know, honey, I can be patient. Just focus on getting through the next two days so we can go home.”

“Are you sure?” Wren wanted to invite him to her room. The reality was she was not sure if she could sleep without him, but she did not want the town to talk even more.

“Good night.”

“Good night,” Wren whispered as he headed to his room.

She entered her room and crawled into bed. She already missed his warmth.

Even as she had the thought, she was drifting off into an uneasy sleep.