Chapter 618 Chapter 618
Konner hit speaker when Asher walked into the office. Terah would understand if she were here, she hated it when he spoke on the phone and she wasn’t part of it. He wanted to look through the actual notebooks and not at a screen. Asher glanced at the phone sitting on the desk and then held out the notebooks. Konner nodded to him and then motioned to the chair, he wanted to talk to him before he spoke with Journee.
Setting the booklets on the desk, he opened the first one. “Terah, I’m not sure how you found out about…”
“Nolyn told Olanna, and she told us.” A clattering sound was in the background, “I will swim to this island and free all the children, Konner.”
“I understand you’re upset about the children, but I don’t…”
“You told Reeves that they were going to need some Water clan to go look at it close. I am Water clan.”
“Yes, but…”
“The children will not live in tanks, Konner. Not as long as I can breathe—in and out of water.”
“They’re in barracks, sweetie. As far as we know, there is no water clan there.”
“I will ask my tablet what a barracks is. The children will not live in barracks, Konner.”
“Terah, it’s salt water and swimming in it,” he pinched the bridge of his nose, “I would be out of my head with worry about you being in that water.”
“I don’t know how you can be out of your head. We can bring a big tub—I will soak in it after I find the children on the island.”
Konner blew out a breath and then glanced at Asher, “We’ll discuss the details when I’m home.”
“Yes. Good. Okay, I need to go. I am teaching the new clan women how to bake.”
He picked up his phone, “you are?” He knew Asher was giving him a strange look, but he didn’t have time to explain it. One of his nightmares was going home to find out his home was burned down.
“The last time, there was only a little smoke. This time will be perfect.”
“Uh,” he closed his eyes and shook his head, “maybe you could ask Alviva to sit in; she used to bake a lot.”
“Oh, yes. I will do that. Now go do what you do, and I will kiss you a lot when you get home.”
Konner turned around to see Calum standing in the doorway. He looked very amused. Closing his eyes for a moment, he rested his hands on his head and took a deep breath. When he opened them, he turned to Calum, “I need to have a word with Nolyn.”
Calum cleared his throat and went over and picked up the pages off the desk, “Sounds like your mate is going to be going on the recon trip with you.”
“I have no doubt she’d be valuable. My fear is…”
“She’ll run onto the island naked and start breaking necks?”
Konner lifted his hand, dropped it, and nodded. “At the very least.”
“Still, it’s a thought to let her do little things to help.” He glanced at Asher. “The teams will be nearby, so safety shouldn’t be an issue.”
“What did she mean about the big tub?” Asher leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.
“The salt water,” Konner frowned, “although we were in the oceans many generations ago, we can’t tolerate the salt water for long now.”
“I didn’t know that.” From Konner to Calum, he looked, “I know very little about your clan.”
“Most don’t.” Konner opened the notebook and looked at the first page. “The less people that know, the easier it is for my clan to continue to exist.”
“I get that. You’ve found more since Terah, right?”
Konner glanced up from the book. “Yes, before the snow hit, we did manage to get to the locations we’d tracked down.”
“We’re still looking into why the one location was empty.” Calum put the pages back on the desk. “I figure it was our rat that warned them.”
“Still,” Konner undid his jacket. It was warm in this place. He needed to go to the river and go for a short swim and resoak his vest soon. “seven more in such a short time is leaps and bounds more than I’ve accomplished looking everywhere for years.”
Asher motioned to the notebook in his hand. “With all of your travels, you think you’ll recognize some of that?”
“That’s the hope.” He hadn’t said a word to anyone, with good reason, if his talk with Terah was any example; people didn’t keep quiet about things. “I’m hoping there’s news of more once we find this island.”
“Devin is going to call Taggart in a few and talk to him about getting to the island.”
Konner nodded, “I’d like to be part of that call.”
Calum nodded.
“Is it true?” Asher straightened away from the wall, “That was your mother that kept Journee alive all these years?”
Konner watched how Calum composed himself before he spoke. He likely wouldn’t have been able to do that had it been his mother.
“There’s a good chance, but I’m not going to put everything else on pause to run off when I don’t know where we’re going.”
Konner nodded. He knew that all too well. He had often dropped everything on the possibility of finding more of his people.
“How are your new clan members settling?”
Konner chuckled. “I don’t know if settling is a good word for it.” He rubbed his hand over his face, “Terah was easy compared to the newest ones.” He shook his head, “I think that’s probably why Nolyn agreed to come here so quickly.”
“The kids need a good education plan laid out for them.” Calum smiled, “it’s chaos at Blair’s and Noah’s with the online schooling.”
Asher quirked an eyebrow at him, “From the stories I’ve heard, I think it’s chaos no matter what.”
Calum nodded, “it’s an adventure when we’re there.”
“I don’t know the total numbers, but I’d say we’ve increased our numbers exponentially in the last six months.” Konner set the notebooks down. He needed a swim and some air.
“We have, but we’re nowhere near done yet.”
“I’m in it until the end.” Konner motioned to the door, “If you’ll excuse me, I need to take a quick dip in the river.”
“Come find me when you’re done. We’ll get in on that call to Taggart.” Calum turned around and went back out the door.
“Feel like a swim?” Konner grinned at Asher.
Asher shook his head quickly, “if it were any season but winter, I’d take you up on that, but the speed that water is moving and the temperature—pass.”
“Suit yourself.” Konner went over to the door and picked up his pack, and motioned to the door. “I can’t handle how warm it is in here.”
Asher went out the door. “Do you think it will be okay if I listen in on that call?”
“The more, the merrier. Getting to that island is going to take a lot of volunteers and some precise timing.”