AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was almost home.
Would my coven be happy to see me? Would they still be so hurt by what I'd done? Probably the latter. They were my true family, and I'd just up and left them without warning.
But it'd been for their own safety. I couldn’t risk a single one of them—not after so much had happened because of me.
“Are you excited to be home?” Kai said, coming up beside me as if he could read my mind.
“I…” Why was my mouth suddenly so dry? I mean, I knew why, but the timing sure was inconvenient.
“It’s okay,” Kai said, his voice so incredibly gentle, as it got whenever he was comforting or supporting me. Gods, how many people in the world had partners that cut them down, that were petty or jealous? Yet here I was, pushing away a truly good man. “I understand that it’s complicated.”
Yeah, complicated. That was one way to put it.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kai said, giving me a single pat on my shoulder. “It’s okay for things to be complicated, even if we love them. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of things I need you to explain to me when we’re not in the middle of a covert mission through enemy territory, but I can wait for the moment.”
It was such a simple thing to say, and yet it did make me feel better, especially as we marched forward, moving ever closer to all of the mothers and aunties I’d left behind.
“You really grew up around here?” Mad Dog asked from ahead as we continued on, except now we were on a climb up sheer, rocky outcrop that was more shale than anything solid.
“Yup,” I said shortly, concentrating where I put my hands or feet to continue up. “Why?”
“Huh, just doesn’t seem like much of a place for a child.”
“Perhaps it wasn’t,” I admitted. But there wasn’t really any place for a kid who was cursed at my levels, so it was far better than me destroying my entire family back home, even if it meant I didn’t remember that family or home at all beyond occasional flashes.
Mad Dog must have sensed that my mind was elsewhere, because he just gave me a nod and continued on, going back to his verbal competition with Tristian. As for Darla, she was busy talking to Irina, no doubt distracting herself from the discerning vampire’s gaze. I certainly appreciated that.
Eventually, however, we made it past the rocks, into the thick, deciduous forest that marked the inner border of the coven’s territory. But I knew we weren’t quite there yet until I began to feel the thick pulse of defensive magic winding through the coil, clinging to the trees.
Ah.Home.
“We’re close,” I said, holding a hand out. “Everyone should get behind me and stick close by. My family is not unkind, but our coven isn’t exactly fond of the outside world, so just let me do the talking, okay?”
“By all means,” Kai said. “Take the lead.”
As all of our group lined up behind me, I reached out, gently prodding the magical barriers to press forward. Although I hadn’t told the others, what I was doing was incredibly risky. Iwas counting on the fact that my coven’s magic would still accept me, that it wouldn’t see me as a foreign invader and sublimate me on the spot. It would be far too easy for them to have updated things and for everything to go to shit in less than a second.
Despite all that, I concentrated, feeling out the tendrils that'd once been so familiar to me. I wove my energy between them, looping here, winding there, navigating curses, hexes, and malicious enchantments alike.
It unraveled before me, revealing a safe passage to my mind. Nodding to my companions, I led them forward and stepped into a beautiful, sprawling community I hadn’t seen in years. Even with all my running, I’d ended up right back where my memories started.
Life was funny like that.
Chapter 17
Kai
Perhaps it was foolish of me, but I thought Ayla would be happier to be home, as nervous as she was. But the moment we were through the magical barrier I hadn’t even been able to sense, I could feel her anxiety nearly double.
I probably shouldn’t have, considering she was trying to keep a low profile, but I took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. I kept my hold loose enough that she could pull away if she wanted to, but instead, she gripped me that much harder. It was a subtle thing, but I was happy to be there for her.
Just in time, too, because a moment later, a middle-aged woman stepped out of the air right in front of us, just blinking into existence without even batting an eye.
She was definitely eccentric looking, with wild, untamed red hair, and all sorts of symbols painted across tanned skin. Her clothes were quite old fashioned, and they looked about as stained as all of the healers at the fort did whenever they came out of an intense brewing session in the infirmary.
The woman also lookeddangerous, magic crackling around her fingers, and the whites of her eyes glowing a bright blue. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I had to clamp downon my instincts to bare teeth. Were we about to have a fight right out of the magically cloaked gate?
Then her gaze fell on Ayla, and all of that crackling energy fell right out of air, the threat going with it. The woman’s hands lowered, and she took a single step forward.
