Marriage is Murder

"You weren't going to go through the rubble, were you?" Edward looked at Khaat, knowingly.

"No," she said. "I wasn't."

"Good, because your father ordered us to bring it down. So we did," Edward said. "You were going to track it with your seers skills and the stone to see where it led by going over land."

"Yes," she replied.

"If you try to do that, in your shape, the strain it will cause to your body will kill you," Edward said. "Tracking is the right move, but its not your assignment. That's for those of us who are well enough and energized enough to do so."

"Then I'll gear up," Brian said.

"No," Edward said. "You and Robert are needed here. Any climbers?"

"Here," Michael said.

"Then you gear up. We may need to scale that north face, and its straight up," Edward said. "Any of the rest of you do any mountain climbing?" Angus said nothing. His grandfather already knew he could climb.

Khaat was tiring quickly from massive bloodloss. Brian saw her weakening quickly.

"No hiking for you for a few days, I'm afraid," he told her gently. "Give it a rest." He made her comfortable on the sofa and wasn't surprised when she fell into a half doze instantly. No one could lose that much blood and not be weak. "You lot need to check with Robert before you head out again. I'll go up and talk to him if one of you just keep an eye out to make sure Khaat stays comfortable."

Cassidy looked at Brian and smiled" I'll do that" she said Brant looked at Edward and nodded his head to say he was ready to do some climbing.

" Edward you remember when you took us climbing and I got snagged on the rope I think my foot got caught and I ended up upsides down" he said and chuckled " learned from that one didn't I" he said chuckling " count me in" he said He said Jim and Steven look at each other then as if agreeing silently Steven looked at them.

" I'll go Jim's going to stay here with Kate and Khaat, Jess is exhausted so will be resting and Cassidy is looking after Khaat so you'll need some one to stay" he said " besides out of the two of us I'm the stronger."

Brian went up and saw Robert still meticulously working with Kate.

"Everything alright downstairs?" Robert asked, not looking up.

"They want to go track the beast while he's vulnerable and before the pack reforms," Brian said. "You wanna cast a vote here?"

Robert paused and looked up from his work. "That was bloody, and they're tired," he said. "The other side might be weakened, but so are we. Do you think you can do this?"

"They think you need me here as a healer," Brian said. "And they're leaving a couple of others behind as well for backup for us."

"That is risky business," Robert frowned. "What does Edward think?"

"I think he thinks its a risk worth taking," Brian said. "Khaat had the same idea, in one way or another."

"Yeah, well, she's not going," Robert said.

"Agreed. She's asleep at the moment."

"Well, if they're going, be sure they're up to it, or tell them to wait until morning."

"I don't think they think they can afford that," Brian said.

"And we can't afford anyone else either injured or dead," Robert said firmly.

"Understood," Brian said. He turned to leave.

"Brian," Robert said. "If they leave, those grounds damned well better be clean. And they'd best be sure of it."

"Yes, Sir," Brian said. He went back downstairs and relayed Robert's concerns to them. The concern for the readiness of the group to do more today, and the need to be certain the grounds were clean. "Do you think you all can do this, or is Robert right? Do you need to wait til morning?"

Steven looked at Edward " whats a few more hours , best gain our strength " he said Jim looked at them both and listened .

" not like there going anywhere any time soon" he said Brant looked to Edward and waited on his reply. " besides Jack might come back in the morning and he's our strongest point ..if he doesn't wimp out again " Steven moved to sit down rubbing his shoulder that now felt stiff from all the use it had got that afternoon " besides if your spell holds true anything coming through will die when it leaves the cave" he added Jim chuckled and nodded.

" Edwards always work" Jim said.

"I'm leaving at 4 am," Edward said. "If you're coming, you'll be here no later than the stroke of 4. If I don't see you here, then I will know you decided to remain behind. No harm, no foul. Khaat is right that we do not want the trail to go cold."

"You'll go in the dark?" Brian frowned.

"Bloody well hard for them to see me that way, isn't it?" Edward said. "We can smell them. We dont' need to see them. And as grimy as they were, we'll smell them long before they could ever touch us. For now, you lot should go clean up and rest this afternoon."

"I guess I'll go back to my duties, then," Angus said.

"Do yourself a favor, Angus," Edward said.

"What's that?"

"Order out for dinner tonight. If everyone else is resting up, then you need to do the same. It won't hurt them to have carry out one night."

"Carry out?" Angus said, not having considered that for dinner when it came later tonight.

Steven breathed out and moved up the stairs to his room Cassidy did the same showering they both went to sleep , Jim staid down in the living room watching over Khaat as she slept " Im still staying " he said softly and looked at Edward over the top of his book that he'd opened and began to read. Brant sat down and took out his wand checking it over so he would know it was in tip top condition for the battle to come , Glancing at Angus he chuckled .

" when do you ever know Angus to do...Take out Edward" he said and smiled " hes bound to have something up his sleeve that's quick and tasty ta boot"

"I have done take out from Sparks for lunch," Angus admitted, "but not dinner."

"Relax," Michael grinned. "I've got this one."

"What are you going to do?" Angus frowned, knowing that mischievious look on his friend's face.

"Never you mind. I've got this. You go do whatever you do when you're not working,' Michael grinned.

"I have no idea what that even is anymore," Angus said, a little lost.

"God, have you forgotten everything?" Edward frowned. "First of all, go shower. You smell like werewolf."

"Um...okay," he shrugged and headed upstairs.

"Are you going to cause trouble, Michael?" Edward asked.

"Depends," Michael shrugged, stepping out on the deck and lighting a cigarette, closing the door behind him.

"Well, he's a boatload of information, he is," Edward said. "Jim, I presume, since you're staying you'll be making sure that the outdoor crew takes care of the barn and stays on a higher alert status. We should make sure we have accurate count of all of the stock this afternoon. We need to monitor that and make sure the protection spells stay intact. Patrols should be checking that regularly. But I'm probably telling you things you already know."

Jim chuckled and looked at Edward " don't worry I'm on it and doesn't harm to be refreshed " he said softly as he placed down his book and headed over to a young man who stood with a folder, opening it he looked down the list and nodded the young man smiled and left " that was the supplies report all stocked, bit low on the veg but that might have something to do with Steven not being able to tend the gardens much and apart from the missing animals you know about everything is in order, there going to check back in an hour then every two hours " he added " more so while your out and don't worry I'l be patrolling the area as well got to get rested for my patrol" he said and placed the list down next to Edward if he wanted to check for himself then he moved to sit down with his book .
Brant sat quiet but now he spoke up " I didn't know Angus had done take out I thought he always used to cook from scratch" he said some what confused.

"Thank you, Jim," Edward said. "Stay on it. Let me know if you need some relief. I'll take over so you can sleep later if you want."

"Khaat and I own a bistro in Diagon Alley," Brian said to Brant. "The chef there is wonderful and she's made friends with Angus. Periodically, she gets something on her menu that Khaat really loves, or sometimes she sends things over as a tasting for a potential new seasonal menu. Sparks' menu changes almost entirely every season because of the availability of seasonal ingredients. So, yeah. He does do take out sometimes, but almost always for lunch and not dinner.

"And he hasn't done much take out since we had the kids. Khaat is very, very finicky about what the kids eat. So Angus cooks fresh because of her wanting the kids to grow up without being picky eaters. And, I have to say, she's done a great job. There isn't much of anything they won't eat. When our house was smaller, we took more shortcuts with the food and did a bit more takeout than we do now. Its actually cheaper too to cook for this many than it is to order take out. And Michael only does take out once every decade or so. So if he's ordering the take out, he has something particular in mind. And that should be interesting."

Brant listened and chuckled " I know some one else who was paticuler in what young ones ate" he said and pointing behind his hand to Edward " always fresh and always made from fresh ingredients fresh from the garden that we had to fetch" he said and chuckled " didn't do us any harm hey Angus" he said but noticed he'd left already and shrugged. Steven nodded as he heard Edward but just smiled at his offer .

" no need I have gone several days with out sleep before now" he said " this is no different but thank you" he opened the book and turned a page as he waited " might go for a refreshing swim later" he added and turned back to reading his book with one final words " Brant the cheese cake from sparks was to die for especially the tropical fruit one" he said and sighed smiling " love that one, it was divine."