“He doesn’t get a name yet,” Dirk said with a smirk as she tried to call her arcane to her palms. “Not until after.”
The choker at her throat prickled against her skin.
The man’s eyes widened, his answer stifled by the fabric.
“He would have already ascended if a certain witch hadn’t made it more difficult.” His voice held an echo of dark, painful promises. “Now we’re having to rush things. But that’s okay, if this one dies we can try again until you get it right.”
His eyes gleamed.
“You ready?” he said, before he threw her into the circle.
* * *
XANDER
The darkness called, the spirits glistening with an ethereal glow as they slowly found him. Even the moon hid behind the clouds, the stars nowhere in sight as if they knew the violence he barely suppressed.
Xander crouched, the wind whistling through the surrounding trees as he concentrated on the spirits, filtering through their voices. Many were cries of help, some with fear, and others full of anger at their passing. He didn’t care about their problems. No, he needed to hear something in particular.
Come on,he thought.Where are you?
Riley moved beside him, head turning towards to the left just as Sythe stepped out of the shadows. Xander hadn’t sensed him at all, in much the same way he had never sensed the fucking wraith. It’s a vulnerability that infuriated both the beast and the man.
He fully faced his brother, the darkness seeming to cling to him even though his arm was bare to the night, the glyphs tattooed there black against pale skin. A few of the Guardians had their own unique abilities inherited from their mothers, and heightened by their curse.
‘I can’t get any closer without detection,’Sythe said inside his mind, his voice the deep grumble of his beast.‘But there are no longer any watchers.’His tight leathers glistened, and Xander scented the richness of blood that coated his brother.
Riley nodded, which meant Sythe had spread the connection to include both Riley and Kace. ‘We will take it from here,’Riley replied the same way.‘I need you back there.’
Sythe hesitated, but still stepped back and disappeared. It was a trick he had learned as a kid, and it fascinated the surrounding spirits much as it did when they were all children. It wasn’t a drift, but he could become part of the shadows to the point even their beasts could no longer feel his presence.
‘Alice won’t appreciate the overprotectiveness,’Kace muttered, followed by Riley’s deep chuckle.‘That woman is a force of nature, I don’t know how you convinced her to stay at home.’
Riley smiled, and even in the dark they could see it was the one reserved for his mate. Xander would have given his best friend a snide remark if he wasn’t so worked up himself.
‘She agreed too easily,’Riley said.‘Which means she’s up to something.’
Kace smirked then, teeth flashing white as his need for violence vibrated the air around him.
Xander drowned them out, the spirits whispering again, coaxing. They were his eyes and ears across the many acres of land recently purchased under a fake name. It would have been a needle in a haystack if the wraith hadn’t sung like a canary, but only after Xander had broken every single bone in each hand. And then kept going. Kace usually dealt with that aspect of interrogation if the situation needed it, but he couldn’t help himself.
Kyra had escaped The Magicka, at least that was what they believed. Wasn’t it lucky Xander enjoyed keeping his prey alive after he received the information. If he had listened to his beast and sated his desire for death they would have been fucked.
Now all he needed was for the spirits to do their thing. He was famous for his patience, but right then he was ready to explode.
Xander couldn’t stop it as his gaze drifted to Kace’s throat, the skin whole but covered in blood he had refused to clean off despite it being days. They had almost lost a brother, and the only reason they hadn’t was because of Kyra.
‘She’ll be fine,’Kace said, reading the direction of his stare.‘She can handle herself.’
Pride swelled, but it was quickly replaced with dread. He didn’t understand his reaction, but right then he didn’t care, not when he felt such vicious rage. His beast pressed against the inside of his skin, ready, waiting. A predator.
“Where’s my family?”
“Am I dead?”
“Why am I drawn here?”
The spirits whispered and shouted, their voices a singular hum.
