Page 92 of Desire

A set of red eyes moved from deeper within the trees, approaching. He stopped short of the moonlight that shone on the ground several feet from the trees.

“Eloise and I yet need your protection. Please hold onto what remains of your humanity and avoid the trackers.”

“Love,” he growled.

“I love you too, Father.”

He grunted and retreated into the shadows.

Garron came to stand beside me and wrapped an arm around my waist. I met his concerned gaze.

“I feel well,” I said automatically. “No depletion of note.”

He sighed and leaned his head on my shoulder.

“I fear you will attempt to cast a spell beyond your abilities. Be wary of your limits, Kellen, or you truly will leave us like snow.”

I kissed the top of his head and watched the forest for the others’ return. Edmund’s knuckles were raw and split when he joined us. I didn’t question why; I simply told him to fetch the tea.

The first trackerdied the following morning. Aware of their intent, I had kept myself open to their presence. He disappeared abruptly, surrounded by the beasts.

“You paled,” Eadric said.

I leaned into Brandle’s warmth and closed my eyes.

“The beasts claimed a tracker’s life.”

Brandle stroked my arm as he said, “They made their choice by not leaving with the dawn. Their fates are their own.”

I nodded and forced myself to take the next bite of oats that Eadric offered.

By dinner, another tracker lost his life. I could feel the fear growing in the remaining three.

“It’s plain that the coins protected them from the beasts,” Garron said. “It’s unfortunate we melted them.”

“Nothing good would have come from keeping those coins,” I said.

That night, I settled between Daemon and Darian. As I closed my eyes, something whispered that danger would come to our door again soon.

I slept fitfully and checked the trackers often. Shortly after dawn, only one tracker remained.

My restlessness grew with each passing minute until I felt it—magic from a pool of water near the tracker. A tingle of warning, unlike anything I’d ever felt, washed over me, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

Danger.

Death.

Fear flooded me, and I reached for the bramble. It burst from the ground, creating a dense, impenetrable barrier.

“Kellen? Love?” Liam said from beside me. “What is it?”

I opened my mouth, but my throat tightened, trapping the words I desperately wanted to speak.

She’s coming.

“Kellen?” Brandle said, clasping my chin.

His warm gaze held mine as I struggled with what Maeve’s arrival would mean. The charms would keep them safe, wouldn’t they? I thought of all the times I’d lost control and hadn’t hurt them. But Maeve wasn’t me. She understood how to cast. I’d seen what she could do, and the tracker was right that my abilities were parlor tricks in comparison.

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