A Knight's Purpose (Book 1) ✔️

Chapter 34 - Collision

I'm just about to pick Maia up and carry her to bed when there's a small scratching at the door. Both April and I freeze and we zero in on the sound. I set Maia down silently and slowly reach to pull the blade strapped to my lower back.

I have the gleaming metal drawn and ready when the door swings open and an exhausted Camden stares tiredly at us. I give a small chuckle as all my tension releases, quickly holstering my knife. Maia stirs and wiggles but doesn't wake up.

I run a soft hand over her forehead before going to greet Camden. April grabs his bag and after quiet hellos I grab him a glass of cool water while he settles at the counter. He drops his head into his hands and April sits beside him with a worried glance.

We wait until he looks up.

"How did it go?" I ask when he still doesn't say anything.

A large, defeated sigh before he answers. "I think you might be right, Eve. It's possible Enforcement has a mole."

"You think Enforcement has a mole?" April gapes at him before glaring at me.

I shrug. "How else are they always one step ahead? Even I could get a drop on some of the Enforcement movements against the Iron Claw. So, what happened?"

He just shakes his head. "It went down perfectly, but the building was completely empty. They'd just abandoned it. Heck, they left pretty much everything behind. There were books, papers, alchemy equipment, you name it they had it and left it. Our guys secured the area and we're sending an investigative team but it didn't look like they left in a hurry so I doubt we'll find much."

April places a soft hand on his shoulder. "You never know. Maybe they forgot something."

He pushes off the counter with a grunt before walking to peer over the back of the couch. His gaze softens and he mimics my earlier move by gently pushing a loose strand of hair off Maia's face. He must have been a little rougher though, because an arm stretches up.

A sleepy yawn comes before a yip of excitement as Maia launches over the back of the couch at Camden. He catches her with a laugh and she squeezes him.

"I missed you too, kiddo." He kisses her hair and she hops off the couch to run around and stand in front of him.

She says something but her words are muddled. It isn't until Camden replies and his words are fuzzy that I realize it isn't them. I raise a worried hand to my ear as the distorted words seem to be coming in and out of focus. That's when I notice it's not the sounds coming in and out but the scratching that has turned to buzzing in my head changing in intensity.

"Hey!"

I almost leap a foot into the air as April places a hand on my shoulder. "What?"

I can tell by the look on her face I've spoken too loud. She juts her chin out and I turn to see Camden crouching worriedly in front of Maia.

I walk over but she's shaking her head. "Cam, I can't really hear you. What's buzzing?"

"Nothing!"

His eyes take on a frantic glean but April catches his attention. "It's happening to Eve as well."

Or something to that effect. Right now, it appears I can only hear things that are within two to three feet of me fairly clearly.

I've got a hand on Maia's shoulder and I'm frowning at her, trying to remember this feeling. It's happened before. I know I've felt this before.

"Tell me what you feel, Maia." I don't bias her with my own experience.

She looks at me, clearly frightened. "My head's been feeling weird but I thought it might have just been because Camden left. But now there's just a buzzing. It's hard to hear anything."