"I won't be," Ellie promised.
"See you at midnight." Marjoram kissed her cheek.
Grant carried a small cloth bag with him as they walked back to the tunnel with Hawthorne. The witch easily floated them back down to Level One.
"I don't have patrol tomorrow, so I'll be back at midnight to take you back up," he offered.
Grant clapped him on the back. "You have my thanks."
Hawthorne grinned. "We know how much you hate dealing with tunnel escorts. I'm surprised you haven't killed one by now."
"Me too," he agreed.
By the time Broderick had added her and Grant's hand print to the biometric lock, she was already feeling the toll the long day was having on her body.
Grant watched her carefully. "The third time you rub your eyes, I'm taking you back upstairs, midnight or not."
"That's fair," she conceded. She donned a lab coat and began pulling out a few of the blood samples. Cracking her knuckles, she turned on the microscope and got to work.
She was so used to working in her lab alone she was surprised Grant's presence didn't bother her. In fact, he was sitting so quietly she had forgotten he was in the room.
When she turned to see what he was doing, she was shocked to see that the entire time she had been working, he had been silently knitting.
"Are you knitting?" she asked, even though it was clear as crystal that he was.
He looked up, and his eyes became slightly guarded. "Yes, does that bother you?"
"No. Why would it?"
"You don't think I'm...soft?"
"No. But even if you were, how is that a bad thing? I love that you have such a productive hobby. I always wanted to learn how to knit, but I get turned around or forget which stitch I'm on."
"It helps me focus, and it calms my wolf. He's a bit anxious."
She turned on the stool to face him. "Why?"
He hesitated, dropping his hands with the knit work to his lap. "I'm not a small man."
Ellie inhaled, her eyes going immediately to his yarn covered crotch. "You're not?"
He looked down and blushed furiously. "That's not what I meant, though..." He shook his head. "Never mind. What I was trying to say is that I'm very strong, even for my size. I don't want to hurt you."
"Oh." She smiled, feeling protected by someone other than family for the first time. "Maybe that's why Fate gave me to you; I'm built pretty solid," she laughed weakly.
"Why do you do that?"
"What?"
"Put yourself down so much."
She shrugged. "I think I learned growing up that it was easier to poke fun at myself and laugh than it was to hear it from someone else."
"You don't have to do that with me. You never have to do that with me. I think you're the most perfect woman I have ever seen. If others were too stupid to recognize that, it's their loss." His eyes filled with emotion. "There were so many long nights where I stared up at the sky and dreamed of having a mate of my own that it became a gnawing hunger. I plan on worshiping and devouring every single inch of you." His eyes darkened, and she shivered at his ravenous expression.
"I'm looking forward to it," she replied breathlessly.
Grant was about to respond when a loud beeping noise interrupted him. Ellie began unbuttoning her lab coat. "That's the alarm I set for midnight. Time to go give the children their last dose."
Grant carefully put his knitting back into the nondescript bag and, as usual, placed a warm hand on her lower back as they walked out of the lab and down the hall toward the tunnel. True to his word, Hawthorne waited for them.
She thought the warrior would disappear when they got to Level Six, but he stuck with them as they walked to the courtyard. His face looked pinched when he saw the children sniffling on their cots.
They quickly got the children their medicine while Adora and Demetrio walked between the cots, smiling down at the children. Ellie frowned when she noticed it was taking longer for the medicine to take effect.
Hawthorne quietly walked into the middle of the room in huge exaggerated steps, making the children laugh. He lifted a finger to his lips and raised his face to the ceiling. He spoke softly, and when he was done, the children were whispering in wonder.
Using his magic, he had dimmed the lights in the courtyard and created a perfect desert night sky above them, complete with moon and shooting stars. Ellie could almost smell the scent of earth. One by one, lulled by the faint sound of the non-existent wind, the children dropped off to sleep.
Hawthorne made his way over to them. "It's not much, but I had to do something."
Ellie was touched at his gesture, and she wasn't the only one. Around them, the parents gathered to whisper their thanks as well. Across the courtyard, Ellie saw her grandmother wave and leave. It had been a very long day for the both of them.