Chapter Twenty-Nine.

Lucas rubbed his temples as he pulled into the hotel parking lot. While Cam did give him a lot of information regarding mage slave traffickers, he somehow also wiped out dozens of locations in half an hour.

DoSS kept an eye on every Thornton, and all of those not at the main estate died within an hour of the massacre there, which Cam claimed no responsibility for. They were confident that Cam had somehow acquired contact with the mysterious assassin and somehow convinced him to help.

Cam and his mother were the only living Thorntons left.

Shutting off his SUV, Lucas exited and made his way inside and up to the room that Cam had texted him they were in. Before he could knock on the door, Cam was answering it.

"Hi, Mr. Tules," he said. "I still don't like you."

"That's nice," Lucas smiled, looking past Cam and to his son and Jess. "May I come in, Cam? Or am I not allowed to?"

"You can come in," Cam teleported back to the bed where he was watching the game of cards between Kris, Eden, and the twins.

"Father!" Greyson hopped off the bed when he realized his father was there.

He rushed to his father and wrapped his arms around him, sobbing. Lucas wrapped his arms around his son and patted the teen's back as he took in the figures in the room. There was enough magical power in there to destroy a city, and that was before factoring in Callum and the intense aura of the mystery man.

"That's my brother, Mr. Kendall," Cam said without looking away from the cards, a slight frown on his face. "That was a stupid move, Eden. He's on my father's side. My birth father, Ulrima, not my imaginary father. He helped me sort things out. We're in town here to get some vests made that will fit me once my wings come in. Ooh! We could get some for Greyson now! Hey, if you stick around a little while longer, you can probably get Greyson some vests to wear while he's got his wings out. Mr. Kendall said they're made-to-fit and are enchanted to be self-cleaning, so he wouldn't even have to take them off. I think that means they'd clean his skin underneath as well. If you got them, then he wouldn't need to go shirtless whenever he manifested his wings."

Cam gave Greyson a sly grin, even though the teen was still hugging his father, even if his sobs has quieted down.

"Unless he likes being shirtless around Je-hey!" Cam protested as Eden and Jenna grabbed pillows from the bed and smacked him.

"He's been like this ever since we got back to the hotel," Greyson's voice was muffled by his father's coat. "Can we please go home? Please?"

"Yes," Lucas said, then looked at Jess. "Why don't you come, too? I can get things sorted out. We'll need you and Greyson to talk to a couple of people first, but then I can take you to your parents. Cameron, Jenna, Tyler, Eden, you four are getting dangerously close to having a bounty placed on you for your actions. The various department directions of DoSS are currently trying to decide if your actions this morning were justified or not."

"Uh, don't blame us," Jenna put her hands up. "Cam took out his family's estate, and that's all we know about what happened. Eden appeared to us and teleported us to wait for Mr. Kendall here."

"That was right after my shower," Eden said. "After Cam rescued me. I have no idea what anyone else did while I was showering or getting those two. Cam told me he wanted to eat breakfast with them with everyone here."

"Noah and Jade were getting to know each other better in their hotel room," Cam said. "And Dad doesn't really like it if Callum's more than a few yards away from me."

"I was here when Cam went after his family," Michael said. "He accepted who he was as a demigod and went into a bit of a rage over finding out they were responsible for Greyson's kidnapping and Eden's kidnapping. He came back right after that."

"And you are?" Lucas asked.

"He's my half-brother," Cam said. "I already told you that. Oh, and this is Kris, he's my nephew. I knew them before I ran away from home a few years ago, but none of us knew we were related until not too long ago. His dad's trying to get custody of me, aren't you, Mr. Kendall?"

"That means," Lucas looked at Michael. "You would be responsible if he acted out. You are aware of this, yes?"

"You are aware that I'm a nine-century-old demigod, yes?" Michael responded. "There isn't much you could do to me."

"Dad said you're nine hundred and seventy-one," Cam's right ear twitched. "The voices agree."

"I assure you," Michael said. "As long as people don't come after Ambrosius or his friends, he won't be causing problems anymore."

"You shouldn't make promises you don't know if you can handle," Lucas said. "I don't care how old you are, the last few months have taught me-"

"Uncle Ulrima," Callum said. "Has made Cam to promise that. You just missed him."

"That actually true," Greyson looked up and met his father's gaze. "Ulrima was just here. Like, just here. You probably missed him by about thirty seconds. He probably sensed you and left."

"He had a party he was going to be late for if he didn't leave then," Cam, Callum, and Michael said in unison.

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"If Dad's late for a party," Cam said. "Someone is probably dying somewhere. Kris, that was a silly move."

"What are you guys playing?" Lucas asked.

"Rummy," Jenna quickly pulled three cards from the discard. "Kris, that really was a silly move."

"We really just had a High God in here?" Lucas asked in shock.

"You do realize that most High Gods have a home in or near Tejina, right?" Michael asked, causing the teens to laugh at Lucas's stunned expression. "And that they actually live there, not just visit?"

"Beings older than anything," Lucas muttered under his breath. "And they decide to take up residence on Earth. Don't they have anything better to do, like wars to cause, blessings to give, and other random stuff?"

"They mostly just throw parties," Michael said. "It's the phase they're in at the moment. Their phases usually last a few thousand years. From what I heard, the last one was… quite dangerous for anyone who lived on the world they lived on at the time."

"So is Greyson going to get those vests?" Cam asked.

"Back to that," Michael held out a hand, a piece of paper forming. He handed it to Lucas. "That's the address for the person I use, if you ever want to get Greyson some vests which accommodate his wings. He makes them in both winter and summer varieties."

"What about spring and fall?" Cam asked as Greyson finally released his father and grabbed Jess's hand.

"He has a transitional season style as well," Michael said. "I think Mr. Tules wants to be going now."

"Alright," Cam said, then looked at Greyson and Jess. "See you guys later. That was a silly move, Eden."

"You weren't even looking!"

"I'm reading your surface thoughts," Cam looked at him. "I can hear you think the cards you're putting down."

"You're counting cards, aren't you?" Jenna asked.

"No."

"Then how do you know that's a silly move?"

"Because he could've used it with other cards in his hand," Cam responded. "By, Mr. Tules. See you later, Greyson and Jess. Oh, and Mr. Tules, you should talk to Greyson. He wants to talk with you about stuff. I think it's about wanting to actually date Jess. Like, seriously date her."

"Cam!" Greyson's face reddened as Jess blushed with him.

Cam giggled, then waved goodbye to them, and once they had left, he sighed and looked at Eden.

"I guess you guys are going now, too," Cam said.

"Yeah," Eden scooped up the cards and sorted them into a neat pile, before sliding them into their box. "You've got your stuff to do, and I need to talk with someone and get ready for tonight. I promised my brother I'd take him to the arena tonight."

"I'm coming, too," Cam nodded. "I wanna see you fight Jenna and Ty together."

"Please don't-"

"And I'm definitely telling Adam about it so that he can spread the word and make sure people know to bet on how long the match will last in addition to who the winner will be."

"-do exactly that."

The twins chuckled, and Eden placed his hands on them before teleporting them with him, leaving Cam, Kris, Michael, Noah, and Jade alone in the hotel room.

"Well!" Cam hopped off the bed and looked at Michael. "Let's go get that bye-bye itchy cream and have those vests made!"

"Cam?" Michael asked.

"Yes?" Cam responded.

"You snuck sugar when we weren't looking, weren't you?"

"No."

"Not in its raw form," Callum rolled his eyes. "Cam, I saw you with that pack of gummy bears."

"Maybe I had some treats, so what?" Cam asked. "It's not like you guys have let me eat since breakfast! It's lunchtime!"

"We can get lunch," Michael told him. "Then we'll run our errands and head back down to Tejina, I know you want to see that match."

"Yes!" Cam exclaimed. "Another road trip!"

"We're technically still on it," Kris smacked Cam in the back of the head as he climbed off the bed and pulled on his sneakers.

"Hey," Cam looked at Noah. "If you aren't going to tell me how I saved your life, then the least you could do is let Jade know you reciprocate the feelings you're both having and explore each other again before you go back to looking after Eden. You agreed to do it until the solstice. Let's go get lunch."

Cam hurried out the door, followed by Michael and Kris. Two hours later, they were at the shop where Michael had his vests made, Cam bare-chested while looking at himself in the mirror as the tailor, a man in his fifties, measured his torso. The teen wasn't sure about the next part, but Michael assured him that it was something done for all of them.

"I don't see why it's necessary," Cam complained.

"It's just plaster."

"Yeah, just plaster. It's not like he's encasing you in stone."

"Ooh! That would be so cool. Other than the part where you couldn't move. Or breathe."

"Don't scare the boy, he's already upset as it is."

"I bet he'll start screeching if you push it."

"I will," Cam muttered, and the voices decided to stop.

"Make sure to breath slowly and evenly," the tailor reminded Cam as he began to wet strips of newspaper and place them over the boy's torso.

Once Cam's entire torso was covered, from his shoulders to his waist, the tailor began placing strips of wet plaster on him, smoothing it over as he worked. When he finished, he had Cam stand still, breathing slowly and evenly, until the plaster fully set. Then, he dragged a finger along each shoulder and down Cam's sides, splitting the plaster into two halves.

"Why didn't you do it directly on me?" Cam asked.

"That's next," the tailor told Cam, who groaned. "Stay still, I need to wipe you down again."

The tailor grabbed a wet cloth and began wiping the bits of plaster and newspaper still on Cam off, then he used a dry towel to dry him. After finishing that, he began kneading a clay-like material in his hands. When it grew soft enough, he pressed it against Cam's back and spread it. It took the tailor nearly twenty minutes to cover the boy's torso in the material, and when he finished, he placed his hands on Cam's shoulders and closed his eyes.

Cam felt a tingle of power, and the material set, turning hard as rock. The tailor split it into two halves, then carefully set them on the table beside the plaster mold.

"And we are done," he told Cam, who was inspecting his bellybutton. "This one should have separated fully, and I didn't press any into there."

"So do your molds tell you how big I'm going to be?" Cam looked at the molds. "Because right now, I'm scrawny and still going through growth spurts."

"Not right away," the tailor told him. "I need to assess them with my magic. This will take around two weeks, should all go well. You can expect your vests by the end of January at the latest."

"And it really works?" Cam asked. "They'll be however big I'll be when I'm finished growing?"

"Yes," the tailor answered.

"And they'll really let me stretch out my wings without problem?"

"Once your wings come in, yes," the tailor answered.

Cam stuck his tongue out at Kris.

"What's that for?" Kris asked.

"Because I'll have wings and you won't!"

"Cam," Michael said. "While you're shirt's off, let me put the cream on, I saw your hands repeatedly going to your back, then stopping when you remembered about the cast."

"Fiiine," Cam said. "Then we're heading back home. I wanna nap on the way so that I can watch the fights just fine. I'm betting Eden'll only last twenty seconds, at most, against the two of them combined."