Henry shrugged. “This is when it all gets a little hazy. I mean, we can make that assumption, but none of the research we’ve found on ravens actually says that they’re an elemental at all. They don’t even seem to be shifters, even though we know there are some bird shifters around.”
“True.” Sawyer turned his chair around and faced Henry. “I love doing this with you.”
“We’ll figure it out. Two heads are better than one.”
“How about three?” Andvari said from the doorway. “Mind if I join you?”
“Nope. Come in.”
“What are we working on?”
“Trying to figure out how the ravens connect to Sawyer. His sister said they’re like his hellhounds. So she has her hellhounds and he has his ravens. And hellhounds are fire…”
“What are the ravens?” Andvari asked.
“That’s the question, but the books don’t say.”
“The air thing makes sense,” Andvari added. “Four elements, four gods and goddesses. One to manage each.”
“Yeah, it does make sense.”
The problem was, it didn’t sit right with Sawyer. And Henry agreed. He trusted Henry’s gut, especially as his eyes kept moving over the mystery glyph. One circle above to represent the mother. Three lines beneath to represent the sisters. It had to be one created after the magic changed and Sawyer and his brother’s existence were erased from the records, so what about it had captured Henry’s attention?
“Just keep reading,” Henry said. “The answers are here. We just have to find them.”
“The grimoire should be here today,” Andvari said. “Hartwig notified me earlier that he was sending it with another contingent of my brethren.”
Sawyer leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. They were certainly gearing up for war, and if he was supposed to fight his brother to obtain control of an entire element, it would certainly be a fight to the death. His brother was already playing dirty. From what Sawyer had been able to piece together, Palinouros had messed with the magic of all the kids he’d captured. Sawyer had no idea to what purpose, and not even Henry had been able to answer it.
The answers were there, as Henry said. And Sawyer was determined to find them.
Andvari
Andvari had no idea how his mates managed to stay cooped up for hours on end with stack after stack of books at their elbows. His head ached and his shoulders hurt. He stretched and his lower back popped, releasing some of the tension. He let out a sigh of relief.
“That bad?” Sawyer asked with a grin.
“Misery. How do you do this?”
“I like learning,” Sawyer quipped. “I’m not scared of the big bad books.”
Andvari mock-growled and moved quickly around the table. He had Sawyer up and against him within seconds. “Do you doubt my courage?”
Sawyer smirked. “Maybe.”
Andvari couldn’t hold his frown when face with Sawyer’s grin. “You’d be right. Books are scary. Come on. Let’s go work out. Then we’ll take a swim or something.”
“You guys go,” Henry said.
Sawyer reached out and touched Henry’s cheek, drawing his attention. “Enough. Come with us.”
Henry straightened and his back popped as well. “Ow.”
“Yeah. We’ll wait for the grimoire and get back to it then, okay? Let’s take a break for a bit.”
“Yeah, okay,” Henry said.
Andvari took one last glance at the books before following his mates outside. Their mates were all close, each of them more successful than Andvari at steering clear of the stack of books in the library, although they’d all come in at times, just touching base and touching Sawyer. Not that he minded not having them all around. Not really. He liked hearing Sawyer and Henry talk, watching them work. It included him in something special that the two of them shared. They really were a marvel to see.
