A Knight's Purpose (Book 1) ✔️

Chapter 20 - A Comfortable Couch

My sedan looks a bit out of place in this middle class neighborhood. The paint is a chipped gold and it's clearly a few years out of date compared to all the new cars I see parked along the sides of the street. I'd driven through the night and most of the day to get here later than dinner. Night had just fallen, leaving the streets and the shiny cars illuminated only by streetlights.

I guess I shouldn't really be surprised Camden lives in a place like this. Enforcement pays a decent wage plus benefits for single parents, not to mention that their base was just an hour outside Chicago which meant most of the civilians had high paying jobs they commuted to. The town itself wasn't huge, only 30,000 people, but it was definitely one of the more affluent communities.

To be honest when I'd looked at directions I'd figured I'd end up in a suburb of Chicago but the town was surrounded for a few miles in any direction by trees and wasn't off a major highway. It felt surprisingly like any other small Midwest town. If you discounted the fact there was a giant "research facility" that operated just west of town there would be nothing remarkable about it.

To the magical community however, that "research facility" acted as one of five primary Enforcement bases along with the ones outside of Seattle, DC, Dallas, and Las Vegas. The last time I'd been here Chicago was barely more than 4,000 people so you could say the scenery had definitely changed.

After a few wandering turns to get familiar with the city layout, I pulled to a stop in front of Camden's apartment complex. It was nice, four stories, private garage, doorman at the main entrance from what I could tell. Normally I'd have the doorman call Camden down to get me but it'd been a long time since I got to pull Cam's tail. Thinking about the look on his face had me grinning before I even drove up to main garage entrance.

I roll down my window, sending a small pulse of energy to the keypad with a flick of my wrist. I'm quickly rewarded with a small spark and the gate swinging open to let me in. The first few floors all have numbered spots so I head to the very top and parked in one of the guest spaces. Putting my car in park, I get out, grab my bag, and shut my eyes.

Just because I'd left Sereya with Camden didn't mean I'd relinquished her. I can feel a buzzing resonance that lets me know family is nearby. Feeling my shoulders relax, I stroll towards the warmth. I only make one wrong turn before I'm standing before an apartment simply vibrating with Sereya's energy.

Smirking, I knock loudly. Nothing. My eyes narrow and I knock again. Another brief moment of nothing before Camden swings the door open, hand on the knife holstered at his waist.

"Hello, Camden, where's my lovely niece?" I brush past him and into the living room to find Sereya sitting at the island counter watching the door tensely.

Camden's jaw drops as I stroll by but I ignore him to watch Sereya's face light up as she sprints over to give me a full body hug. "Atti! You're here!"

Dropping my bag, I wrap my arms around her to bury my head in her soft black hair.

"Hello, little girl!" I give her a squeeze as Camden sighs, closing the door.

"How did you even get in here, Eve?" He folds his arms, glowering at me.

"You called, I came running to see my favorite niece." I wrap one hand around Sereya's shoulder and relinquish the other. "You, miss, have gotten very tall." Her head reaches my shoulders already. When last I saw her she was at least a foot shorter.

Camden cuts off her reply. "That doesn't answer the question, Eve."

Sighing, I shrug. "She's my blood. I can always find her if I'm close enough."

He freezes as Sereya looks up. "You can always find her?"

"If I'm close enough. I can teach her to block it but I'm the only blood she has left alive in this world so I wouldn't worry about it." I let Sereya go and cross my arms back at him.