My eyes welled with tears. “Thanks.”
I instantly loved him. I loved everything about him and this place. For the first time since leaving Montana, I felt like I’d come home.
Gramps led us back out into the hallway we’d been walking down before Donovan had called out for him.
“He’s so sweet,” I said, running to catch up.
Gramps nodded. “Seeing the world through Donovan’s eyes has been one of the greatest joys of my long life. His mind might not make connections like yours or mine, but he has the best heart: loyal, honest, and kind.”
His eyes grew misty, and I swallowed hard to contain my own emotions as my heart squeezed.
Shifters didn’t get diseases—and we rarely developed disabilities. With our rapidly healing genetics, physical or mental disabilities were just really rare.
“He’s three-quarters human, one-quarter high mage,” Gramps said as if reading my mind. “With being raised in the mortal world, you’d be familiar with autism. That’s the closest thing I can think of to relate this to.”
“He’sperfect,” I assured my grandfather, but the sadness in his expression remained. The only knowledge I had about autism was what I’d read in school, but I could imagine that Donovan wasn’t all chocolate and smiles all of the time.
“We love him very much,” Geoff assured me. “In fact, I’m confident we’ve learned more from him than he has from us.”
Before I could fully digest that last statement, Gramps stopped in front of a set of wooden double doors, smaller than the ones in the foyer, but the wood was polished and smooth. He then turned to face me. “Before I declare you my heir, you’ll need to meet our ancestors and get their blessing. Considering the circumstances, they’ll manage much of your spirit training.”
Okay.My brain was on overload, and his words made no sense. At this point, I’d just roll with it. I forced a smile.
“Whatever I can do to help so that Kian and the others don’t get your power…” I told him.
Gramps smiled tightly. “Once I start your initiation as my heir, Kian cannot refuse your entrance to High Mage Academy, assuming you pass your initiation test. Then you’ll be allowed to attend school for training with the other high mage students and then become my rightful heir.”
Initiation test?
I shook my head. Best to not even touch that one right now.
“Great. Let’s get started.” The sooner I passed this part, the sooner I could get back and make things right with Rage.
He nodded but didn’t move to open the door, his eyes reflecting some sort of unease. There was something else there, a look I couldn’t interpret.
“What?” I asked, trepidation worming through me.
He winced. “The blessing is … powerful, and if you aren’t … well, it could be dangerous.”
Of course. But there was no way I’d let Kian and the others raise the dead or take my grandfather’s power. “There aren’t any other options, right? And you think I’m our best hope at stopping crazy-Kian and his cohorts, so … I’ve got this. Let’s do it.”
He patted my shoulder. “I think you’ll be fine.” Then he turned, and it sounded like he said, “I hope.”
Great.
Without another word, he pushed open the double doors.
Steam billowed out into the stone hallway, the dense moisture temporarily hiding the contents of the room. What the…?
As the vapor cleared, I peered into the space … and gasped.
I don’t know what I expected to see. A gym room with a training mat and punching bag maybe, or dummy targets for knives, but notthis.
The room, if it could be called such, was almost cave-like, except the walls and ceiling were all a hazy glass like a greenhouse. The floor was uneven stone, and a path wove through the cavern toward where the source of the billowing haze originated. I followed Grandpa into the space, kicking several gray pebbles from the path. Little patches of green moss were scattered over the stone. It was like we had stepped outside, but we were still in the house.
In the center of the room were two small pools of water, one beside the other. Moonlight bled through frosted windows, casting shafts of illumination through the condensation and across the water, which bubbled and steamed.
“Whoa.”
