The next morning after a good night's sleep and breakfast, the teenagers were ready for another session of gaming. Jennifer had left for the hospital immediately after breakfast leaving the teenagers to clean up.
"Have fun. Order in lunch or cook anything you find in the icebox."
"O'kay, no worries mom. I'll take care of the kids," Gwen teased as she hugged her mother goodbye.
"Kids? Who are you calling kids?" grumbled Jace good-naturedly.
Gwen stuck her tongue out at her brother. "Whatever, I'm still older than you."
"If you please, mademoiselle. I am not a child. I am a man ... a very available man, yes?" he winked at the suddenly blushing Gwen.
Sophia rolled her eyes, "He's just proven again how immature he really is. Seriously Renzo, I am sure Gwen has much better taste in men than you."
Aria smiled but Chloe laughed out loud. "I suppose you are handsome in your own way but you can't beat Ash in looks."
"Yup, Chloe is absolutely one hundred per cent right!" Ash agreed.
"You're so prejudiced!!" Vera laughed. "It's because you're both a couple!!"
Jennifer smiled her heart full of warmth and love at seeing her children with this young group of fun loving people. Gwen had always been a kind, open and loving person but had distanced herself from her family after her parents' divorce and the entrance of her new stepmother into her life. With the mended family unit and her stepmother gone, Gwen had recovered becoming her cheerful and vivacious self again.
The elegant surgeon's gaze wandered over to her son. It had been some time since she had observed Jace so relaxed. He was opening up emotionally, learning to trust again. It will be alright, she thought. With friends like these, Jace will be alright. Her son had been recovering mentally and psychologically from his traumatic past. His recovery had really started when the three of them, Jace, Grayson and she had a good long honest talk. Many curses, apologies, tears and hugs later, forgiveness and acceptance finally emerged allowing the start of his road to recovery. Monique's timely imprisonment also accelerated the process. Yes, her son was in good company with this group.
She glanced at Aria. The Goth girl was looking attentively at Jace. He was talking to her. The pretty dark haired girl replied softly and gestured with her hands in emphasis to a point she was making. That made Jace nod back with a crooked half-smile. Yes, Jace will be alright.
"I'll leave you to have fun then. I'll be back tonight with dinner."
"O'kay, love you," Gwen held the front door open.
"Bye mom, see you later." Jace waved from where he was sitting.
"Bye Mrs. Anderson!" everyone chorused.
-----
"I never thought I'd want to login and play Orc Wars ever again," stated Jace as he got his virtual gear ready.
"If you're out, I'd stop playing too. Probably switch to something else. It's just no fun if you're not there for me to bail out every time you get into trouble."
"What about the times I bailed you out?" Jace countered.
Lorenzo flopped onto the couch next to Ash, "By the way Val and I have gifted Laz a Vogeruks horn each. But be careful when handling it, yes? It contains the nauk dzi vras."
"How can I forget? I don't want to accidentally get poisoned again. Once is quite enough."
"Now we all have two each. No one else in-game has it except the three of us," said Ash in satisfaction. "Are we going in now? I'm ready."
YOU ARE READING
Orc Wars 2 : Lazarus
Fantasy~WARNING~ This book contains SPOILERS, please read 'Orc Wars : Uprising' first. Don't say I didn't warn you. The legendary assassin, Lazarus was dying, slowly, inevitably. There was nothing he could do except survive for as long as he possibly could...
