‘What the fuck is this?’ asked a voice to his right.
Kyan’s spine locked as another Empyreal strode inside.
Logan.
He looked between Kyan and the Messenger, and Kyan couldn’t help but echo Logan’s sentiments.
Unless there was a mission of high priority, like the protection of a politically important supernatural, Empyreals didn’t get their directives at the same time. And if they did, the Wake usually paired people who were better suited.
Were they being reprimanded for the fight? Empyreals brawled sometimes, but Kyan hadn’t often heard of them being scolded, likely to keep that aggressiveness as sharp as possible. Perhaps they called him here to arrest him, or worse?
His first and loudest thought was: I can’t die before I see her again.
He fought the urge to cover the dotted binding scar and insteadflicked his eyes away from Logan, keeping his body loose, relaxed, and his hands behind his back.
Obedient.
The being before him turned.
The inhuman man had white skin and dark hair. They were so ordinary-looking you wouldn’t glance twice, but that was the point. After months considering who the leaders of the Wake might be, Kyan had no doubt that this still wasn’t one.
‘You called for me,’ he said instead.
The Messenger smiled. ‘You’re our most loyal hunter.’
It felt like a threat. Like an unspoken question.
Atest.
Logan made an unamused sound.
Kyan fought the urge to swat him into a wall.
‘We have a mission for you both. Two vital hunts have come up at the same time, but seeing as one holds a … connection to one of you, we thought it best to give you the choice. You decide which Empyreal takes which hunt.’
Warning prickled up Kyan’s spine. Why hadn’t they brought in Callum? He was a far better Empyreal than Logan. Not to mention more stable, capable, and charming.
Because something else is going on here.
‘We’ve recently had reason to believe there is a young woman causingproblems. She may be the daughter of a long-vanquished enemy.’
That warning turned violent, tapping in his pulse like an emergency countdown.
‘We need her found and brought in for questioning.’
Kyan was about to accept the mission. They meant Nicole, he was certain. How many questions could he ask without sounding like he knew too much?
But why would they have brought him here, unless they knew? Nicole and her family were so careful … What had happened since they’d been parted that had given her away?
Before he could say anything, the Messenger continued. ‘Our other mission is a Druid.’
His body temperature shifted, cold and hot, his heart sliding to his boots.
‘There are no Druids.’ The words weren’t the rasp he feared they’d be, but a lost tide, crashing over him in one deadly wave.
Sixty years after his Druids’ home in Ulster had been destroyed, Romans had razed another Druid settlement on Anglesey – Mona, it had been called then. A sacred Welsh island of deep-rooted magic that had been a lively supernatural sanctuary.
He’d held out hope that any who survived that great massacre had gone on to re-create their ranks to keep the essence of magic, blood reading, and astronomy alive.
