AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Do you feel them?” he asked quietly.
The boy shifted his feet but kept his gaze focused in front of them. “I know there’s something there. I can feel energy.” He looked at Declan. “Some of it feels sad but most of it feels angry.” He looked away again. “Are they spirits?”
Declan nodded. “Souls left behind for various reasons. Some have been here for centuries.” He paused for a second. “How have you dealt with your magick? Who has been your teacher?”
“Myself.”
His answer surprised Declan. “But the charms you wove, the protection wards I found were intricate. Well developed. Are you telling me you learned all that on your own?”
Kaden glanced at him as if he had two heads. “Dude, there’s this thing called the Internet? You can freaking learn anything you want.”
Declan didn’t quite know what to say to that.
Kaden started forward and he was left to follow behind. They slid between the darkened rows, the air around them heavy with early-morning freshness. It was damp, cold, but the teenager seemed impervious to it.
He watched the boy as they slipped farther inside the cemetery. Kaden had never been here before and yet he showed no fear. He walked with confidence but paid attention. The boy was smart—had leadership qualities. From what Declan could tell, he’d mastered skills that took many sorcerers years to accomplish. With tutors.
Shit, the mark of seven. Declan wished he knew which way Kaden’s tendencies were going to swing.
A crow appeared overhead, its nasty cry cutting through the silence with the subtlety of a jackhammer. Declan watched as it flapped its wings and settled upon a large mausoleum. The DeLacrux mausoleum.
“Hey, this is Ana’s family, isn’t it?”
Declan nodded. He climbed the steps once more but this time took a few minutes to study the building. It was impressive and by the looks of it, one of the oldest in the cemetery. He crossed to the large double doors. There were names etched along the side but it was the last one that caught his attention. Jean-Charles DeLacrux.
His gut tightened. Who the hell was this guy? Frustration rifled through him and the energy that sat at the tips of his fingers burned hot. He’d thought at first maybe a lover, and that was bad enough. Hell, the thought of Ana with anyone else drove him fucking crazy. When they’d worked together at PATU and she’d carried on an affair with Diego that lasted several years, they’d been some of the hardest he’d endured.
But what if this stranger was in fact tied to her on a level that transcended that? What if the dude was her mate? Her husband? And if so, where the hell was he?
He turned abruptly and swore.
Kaden was gone.
Overhead the crow cawed loudly as if to say, Dumb ass. It continued to screech at Declan as he started down the steps. His hand shot out and a bolt of energy quieted the bird. Permanently.
He didn’t bother shouting out the teen’s name. It wouldn’t do any good. It would just alert Kaden to his whereabouts, and anyone else lingering in the cemetery of their presence.
Declan closed his eyes and concentrated. There was nothing there. Weird, but he couldn’t sense the boy. Where the hell was he?
Alarmed, he took off, senses on high alert as he passed through the rows in silence. He knew Kaden couldn’t have gone far. Jean-Charles had distracted him for only a moment.
As he trod deeper into the cemetery he noticed the fog along the ground was thicker. It clung to everything it touched, like ghostly tentacles. Unease tasted like crap and Declan stopped, listening carefully as he pulled up the power that lay inside him.
It thrummed heavily in his chest. He moved forward once more, silently. Something was out there. He could feel it.
The lost souls that wandered amongst the tombs followed in his wake. The wind picked up as he neared the far corner. Here the tombs were run-down, sadly neglected. Through the gloom he saw shadows moving and his power gathered, sensing an imminent threat.
The shadows melted into gray, with beams of light emanating from deep inside. Crackles of energy shot out from them and he clenched his teeth as they rolle
d across his flesh.
He knew them.
Declan broke into a run, his body feeding on the juiced-up adrenaline that flooded his cells. He jumped over the toppled remains of a tombstone and as if the Red Sea had parted in front of him, the fog was suddenly gone. He paused, and the only sounds he heard clearly were his heart beating like crazy inside his chest and the tortured breaths that fell from his lips.
Kaden was several feet away, legs spread, chin raised in defiance, staring ahead. A man sat upon the crumbled remains of a tomb, and it was he who drew Declan’s attention.
The eyes that stared at Declan were not amused. The body was in repose, as if relaxed, yet the man was anything but. He was on the hunt, his power emanating off him in waves.
