A Cold Wind Blows (Forgotten series, #3)

Chapter 29

Two days later

"Let's go over it again." I helped pull Eli's pyjama shirt over his head and the boys looked at me from their various positions in getting dressed. The room was lit only by lanterns, I had the curtains drawn because it was still a bit too light out for them to stay open at bed time. "If something bad happens. What do we do?" I had to get the plan drilled into them. I was feeling uneasy. It was there, a twisting of unease in my gut that spoke of a situation that was going to go downhill or something bad was coming. I had felt like that since Azrael sent his parents to Mollitiam.

"Go to fort." Eli smiled brightly and I nodded. They had to get to the fort where it was safe. They would be joined with the other children.

"Yes. Now how?" I held out Caden's pants and he stepped into them, holding onto my shoulders as he did so.

"Someone will come and get us and escort us to the secure room in the fort." Lander tugged his own pyjama shirt on before he crawled into his bed.

"Yes. And?" I looked at Graham pointedly as I picked Eli up and carried him to his bed.

"We stay there until you come and get us." Graham looked at me and I nodded as I tucked Eli into his blankets.

"Yes. Now what do we do if someone tries to get you before you get to the fort." I didn't like the thought. I wanted to only think of them reaching safety but I knew that we had to plan for everything. I wanted to know that they would know what to do regardless of everything.

"We hide in the forest and when they are gone we slowly make our way to the fort." Lander looked at me from his bed and I nodded once more.

"Yes. What if they catch you?" My anxiety was nearly crippling. Not to mention the pain of thinking they would get hurt. I didn't want anything to happen to my babies but I had to prepare them for if something did. It had been getting easier for me to push away the emotional pain of my lost boy, to work through it when my children were safe and healthy but now that I felt they were at risk the thought of losing them like I had my boy was nearly unbearable. It nearly crippled me.

"Go for the soft parts!" Caden smiled at me broadly as I moved towards him to put him into bed.

"Like in training. Use their size against them. Disable and run but don't engage." Lander elaborated and I made a sound of approval in my throat as I tucked Caden in to bed and kissed his forehead.

"Very good. Keep repeating it to yourself. Every other child outside of the compound knows the exact same thing as you. They will be doing as we have planned." There were ten other children who lived outside of the compound and they all knew the protocol for dangerous situations. It was just with my gut feeling that something was wrong, I was drilling it into all of the boys just to be sure. I don't know what I would do if they got hurt. The old pain of losing my boy was getting so much worse at the thought of losing my little ones as well. I doubted I could survive that.

"Everyone ready for bed?" Azrael appeared in the doorway and there were a choruses of yes's and I moved around the room, kissing them good night and giving them their hugs. It was amazing how easy it had gotten for me to show them affection, the pain was still there but it was in the background and I usually kept so busy that I hadn't really had time to think about it. Azrael followed behind me and as he was finishing up I left the room to go grab Nina for her bedtime.

She was lying on the floor, chewing on one of her toys when I came in. I watched her for a few moments as she cooed at her toy. She was too adorable for words in her little red jumper. I picked her up, chuckling as I did so as she gave a small screech. I lifted her into the air and smiled at her. She gave a shriek of laughter and reached towards me before I lowered her closer.