AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes, but I don’t exactly know what they are yet. I didn’t have time to truly explore them before we were attacked. Not that I was in any shape to.” He turned to Clay. “Did it wipe you out, too? Getting your powers?”
“It did,” Clay answered as he frowned. “But not for long, so don’t worry.”
Hale shoved a hand through his long hair, pushing it away from his face. “I’m sorry I was no help during that battle. Where are the pestilents now?”
Clay walked to the French doors and looked out. “Just beyond the barrier, trying to break through.” Clay swore under his breath and shook his head. “They only need to get one of us, and it’s over.” He turned back to Harrison. “You know the way to the final spell?”
“The Guardians also knew the rift was in Arizona. I mapped out the trip so we can take the most direct route from the spell book to Sedona. It should only take us a few days to get there.”
Clay frowned. “Getting out of here is going to be tricky. We’ll have to wait for the pestilents to fall back and regroup.”
Harrison’s gaze traveled slowly round the room at the gathering of men. For countless generations, these six Weavers had fought the pestilents and died at the rift only to be reincarnated again and again to do it all over. Were soul mates really going to make enough of a difference this time that they’d be able to survive this encounter?
The horde of pestilents clawing at Wiley’s barrier left him skeptical.
Chapter
Three
“You heard the goddesses,” Clay bellowed and clapped his hands together as if he were trying to roust a group of lazy kids into action.
Hale glanced at his filthy and exhausted companions. Dane had herded them into the living room after they’d made a final check of the house that everything was secure. Most were still covered in blood and dirt, but none seemed to have suffered any kind of significant damage.
No one was moving now that they were stretched out on every available bit of furniture.
“We need to get packed and head to Oklahoma and then Sedona if we’re going to take care of the pestilents,” Clay continued as if he hadn’t noticed that nearly everyone in the room was giving him the evil eye.
“Babe, we appreciate your enthusiasm,” Dane drawled. He dropped onto the arm of the sofa. He looked tired, but not the kind of exhausted he’d been after Hale’s rescue from the South Carolina island when he’d needed to use a lot of his healing ability.
“But man, we need a break,” Lucien immediately followed up. “We just fought off an enormous horde of pestilents. Can we take a second to catch our breath?”
“Plus, I want to put up a stronger barrier around the house. At least until we leave. Something a little more powerful would be preferred so we can sleep at night.” Wiley narrowed his eyes on their fearless leader. “How many of you are feeling up to casting an involved, draining spell right now?”
That might have slowed Clay for a bit, because the big man paled. Hale was willing to bet that he was feeling more tired than he was initially letting on. His own body was aching and weary from simply getting his powers. He hated being utterly useless, but there wasn’t much he could do right now.
Baer pulled his mate into his lap, cuddling him close and ending the stare-off between Wiley and Clay. “I get why we’re in a rush to head west, but what about Hale’s mate?”
The Animal Weaver’s words nearly knocked Hale over. That was not even a question he’d been considering in all of this mess, and he certainly didn’t feel better having every eyeball in the room suddenly on him where he sat on the floor near Grey and Cort.
Wiley tipped his head up to look at Clay, looming near his own mate. “That’s right. This time around, the mates are supposed to be what makes such a huge difference for you guys. The goddesses have said so. Don’t we need to find Hale’s? All the rest of us have found our way to the Weaver house. Shouldn’t Hale’s?”
Clay frowned, but it was Grey who spoke up first.
“How long will that take? Days? Weeks? Months? Longer than that?” The Soul Weaver’s voice was soft but firm. “Clay found Dane quickly, but you didn’t appear in Baer’s life for nearly six months. I’d been here for seven months before Cort appeared.”
Hale glanced up at Clay to see their leader frowning at him with a sad expression in his dark eyes. “The longer we wait for Hale’s mate to appear, the more risk we are at with the pestilents. If we should lose one of us before we can close the rift, we have to wait another twenty to thirty years for the missing Weaver to reappear.”
