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There was a softcrack, and the light faded away. Celeste groaned, pressing her lips together as she shook her head. “Dammit. There’s something here, but maybe I’m missing something.”
“Are you alright?” I said, sitting up straighter.
“Hmm? Oh, I’m fine. Just annoyed. I can tell, at least, that her foothold is still there, but it’s…dormant. Like my wolf was.”
“Hmm.” I frowned. “Well, that’s something. Don’t go chasing her back.”
“Why?” Celeste said, frowning. “If I can figure out where she is, maybe I can—”
“Because that witch is twisted,” I hissed, “and the last thing I want is for you to get trapped in the inner workings of her sick mind. We will keep working on this, but you’re obviously getting tired. A witch’s supply of magic isn’t limitless.” I shook my head. “Rest. Try again under the full moon.”
Celeste gave the cluttered table one last look. “Yeah, I guess so,” she decided. She glanced toward the stairs. “Do you mind if I take a nap? I think that took a little more out of me than I realized.”
“Do whatever you need,” I replied, motioning toward the second floor. “I will be here.”
Celeste offered me a tired smile, padding over to press a kiss to my temple. “Don’t stress too much,” she said quietly before disappearing up the stairs.
As Celeste headed upstairs, I stared up at the ceiling, trying to settle my wolf. There was one thing I’d left out about the upcoming eclipse, but it felt like all the information I’d shared was already a bit of an overload. I didn’t want to overwhelm my fated mate entirely, yet…
When my power waned, I would become vulnerable. Not only would we need to act quickly in those ten minutes to seal our mate bond and deal with the Lunar Lord’s curse, but we would also need to make sure we were entirely protected. When I was at my weakest, the Solar Sovereign would be at their strongest. Just as the moon strengthened me, my rival was the most powerful when the moon was eclipsed. I was the strongest when the same was true of the sun.
I must find them.
I was confident now that they were about, having crawled out of whatever hole they’d hid in for the past centuries. Perhaps I should’ve investigated more thoroughly in the past, but the Solar Sovereign had become little more than a rumor. Once, I’d even entertained the notion that they’d died and the line had finally passed into oblivion.
If only I’d been so lucky.
I’d listened to my hubris, and now I was paying the price. Their growing presence had emboldened Faulkner to try and stake more control over the United States. He’d even tried to busy himself with the shifters—my domain!
Just because no other problem had made itself known yet, I couldn’t discount the possibility of another paranormal trying to carve out their own slice of my power. I had no doubt the Solar Sovereign was trying to do the same. If anyone else wanted to form their own fiefdom, they would have to do it before the solar eclipse, when the Solar Sovereign would attempt to assassinate me and consolidate their power over all shifters.
I could not let that happen.
I’d never met a Solar Sovereign, but they were written into the Celestial Pack’s lore. Whereas the Handmaidens had called upon the Lunar Lord to shoulder the burden of madness for shifters, thus freeing those loyal to them of the generational curse, the Solar Sovereign derived their powerfromthat suffering. No coven of witches had made an agreement; instead, they demanded sacrifices and bloodshed from their followers. The most loyal might be granted some of the Sovereign’s own powers in exchange for what they gave, perpetuating the cycle.
The Solar Sovereign fed on the normal world as well, using humans as pawns in their machinations. In the distant past, the Celestial Pack and the Lunar Lord hadn’t always been stronger than the Sovereign. The Sovereign would even cause human conflict in order to profit off the resulting bloodshed.
I couldn’t let that happen. If I died, none of this would impact me, but…Celeste.
She would have to live with this new world order, and as my fated mate, I knew the Solar Sovereign would extract every last bit of terror and strength from her, eating both up like a delectable treat. My precious mate was a good, kind person, and now that she’d found this world, I couldn’t imagine her abandoning it to chaos, even if I was gone. She would be doomed.
And it wouldn’t just be Celeste I doomed, but all supernatural life. The shifters would be the worst off. My curse wouldn’t be mine, it would be theirs: the pain, the horror, the lack of control, all of it. It would only be a matter of time before a shifter attacked a human, and the peace between the normal and paranormal worlds—
I shook my head before I could go further down that rabbit hole. I knew what could happen. Dwelling on it wouldn’t do anything but waste my time.
I need to know where they’ve been and who’s been harboring them.
Peeling myself off the couch and out of deep thought, I strode over to the table. Careful not to disturb any of Celeste’s things, I retrieved the phone she’d left on the kitchen table earlier. Keziah had left it unlocked for us, so I opened the screen and quickly dialed Walter’s number.
He picked it up after the first ring. “Hello?”
“Walter, it’s me,” I said. “Delila has transported us to Snowmass territory. I need you to get in touch with each member of the Order of the Stars and set up a meeting as soon as you can while accommodating as many members as possible. Make sure the meeting falls after the upcoming full moon.”
“Of course,” Walter murmured, as if he’d never dream of overlapping with the lunar cycle.
I needed to get my allies accounted for as soon as possible. As much as I wished I didn’t have to deal with my wolf’s nature, I had little choice in the matter.
“Is that all?” he asked when I didn’t reply.
