Indie knew the ache of loving a memory all too well. It killed her to know Skylynn was carrying the burden and had been the entire time she was protecting Indie.
She didn’t say anything for a second. She wasn’t sure she was looking forward to this role of hers, of choosing who should be released from the Veil and who should stay.
Indie always saw herself as a fair person, but she also always put her family first, and Skylynn was family. The catch was, in a sense, every warrior in this supernatural war was family, too.
“I’m going to get Skylynn out, square this debt, and make you happy,” he said with a near wicked smile as his hands moved back to her thighs and started to edge forward again.
Now was as good as any time to prepare him for the coming guest, Indie assumed. “Did you find anything you could use in the library I showed you?”
“No,” he murmured against her neck. “All of that is from the other side. Skylynn wasn’t shadowed over there.”
Indie laced her hands through his hair and closed her eyes taking in the sensation of his touch. She had to force herself to focus.
“Well, I have news, my sister contacted Skylynn’s mother looking for—,”
Phoenix stopped his kiss abruptly. “How does one of your bloody sisters know Saige?”
There was fierceness in his eyes, not aimed at Indie, but it was surely there.
“I’m not exactly sure. What’s your problem with her?”
“My problem? I have a problem with Skylynn’s mother?” Sarcasm was dripping from his lips.
The mood was slaughtered. Indie moved her body on the desk and crossed her legs and leaned forward to be eye to eye with him. “Spill it.”
He cursed under his breath. “Saige is a wickedly powerful, immortal.”
“Sounds like my crowd.”
A smile flickered on his kissable lips but vanished. “Skylynn imprisoned me. She stole my ashes, more than you had on your wrist for all those years. As long as she had them she could call me on a whim, to help her with whatever she had gotten herself into. She didn’t carry those ashes on her, her mother held them, stored them, guarded by spells. Skylynn would move into her mother’s dreams tell her what she wanted then Saige would summon me,” he narrowed his eyes at the memory. “I don’t like being beckoned like a bloody hound.”
“Is she cruel? Saige?” Skylynn had already explained to Indie why she was at odds with Phoenix, that it started long before Indie came under her watch.
“No, cool and professional, until it comes to the likes of her daughter that is. She will give anything to remove the curse from Skylynn. I can’t believe she’s coming here, though. I’ve never seen her step out of New Orleans.”
“She’s not.”
At this, he raised his brow.
“They sent someone else. Someone Saige recommended.”
Phoenix leaned back in the chair. Indie could see him weighing this situation.
“Who is coming, Genevieve?”
“I didn’t catch the name.”
“You invited someone into our home to read text from an alternate reality, and you don’t know their name?”
“You don’t get the modern Falcon’s. We’re twice as fierce as we were on the other side. My sister would never fly someone here that she didn’t trust.”
“But your sister trusts Saige?”
“Apparently. She knew her. What are the odds of that?”
He smirked. “With a shadowed soul lurking there is no such thing as odds.”
Indie tilted her head inviting him to elaborate. “Skylynn can push ideas into minds, invade dreams. She may have you believing she is absent to most, but she has her ways. She could have easily led your sister to believe that she knew Saige—”
Indie stopped his argument short by leaning forward and stealing a kiss and wrapping her legs around him. “Skylynn wants what we have.” Indie moved his hands to her waist. “To feel the way we feel.” She leaned in to brush her lips across his. “She adores me and would never put me at risk. We’ll watch whoever gets close, but it’s an unneeded precaution.”
He never agreed. Instead, he figured out that Indie was playing his game, using passion to distract him and he decided to one up her. In a beat, she was laying across her desk at the mercy of his all too skilled hands.
Chapter Three
When most girls leave home for the first time, their family might say a little prayer for safe travel, give sound advice and warnings, maybe pack a few snacks. Not the case in River’s family. Well, the sound advice was given. Protection spells were spoken over her, and Saige gave her herbal tea, she said it was to calm River’s nerves and dreams.
It didn’t.
Flying privately for the first time was a gift in and of itself. The cabin of the airplane looked more like a flying apartment, and River was the only passenger. Mrs. Falcon was not returning home, if she were this would be easier. On the flight River dozed. It was hard not to do while sitting in the plush, heated leather seats. The night before, she’d stayed up until nearly dawn decoding other texts, and the nightmare she had made it feel as if she didn’t sleep at all.
River was starting to think Saige was purposely trying to awaken her subconscious.
In her dream on the plane, she didn’t see the hurricane battles. She saw those visions the corpse brought to life, only this time they were not rushed. They seemed to go on forever. What she saw was a utopia, a world set in sweet fairytales. The emerald sea, the palace, and a home came to view over and over. Scribes. River saw a lot of scribes, and endless words.
She was startled awake by a man in a suit that surely cost more than a semester’s worth of classes. Apparently she had landed long ago, and this was her ride. Benjamin Falcon. He looked at River the same way Mrs. Falcon did, as if he found something familiar about her. Which only unnerved River all the more.
Before leaving, River wasn’t given time to travel home and pack nicer clothes. She felt like she was dressed to go out on the town, not to meet uber wealthy people who clearly had a witch or two in their family line.
She was wearing black fishnet stockings over dark purple ones, high boots with buckles running down the side, and a black dress that came to mid-thigh. Her wrists were covered with homemade bracelets all with stones woven within. Each stone symbolized something different: protection, center, balance, and so on. She had her hair pinned back in a few places, but she couldn’t cover the edge in her cut and make it look more professional, not with the black tips. She had the thought to take her black nail polish off and shed a few rings but instead, she fell asleep.
Benjamin eyed the Pentagram River wore on her long necklace along with the Ankh. River didn’t bother to hide it. She knew symbols made people uneasy sometimes, but the way she saw it, they should figure out the meaning before they criticize. River didn’t get a judgmental vibe from him as his driver took them to Genevieve’s home, though. It was all small talk at first, what River had studied, why she had the passion. River was fluent with what she studied and avoided the why.
“I want you to understand that this household has gone through a recent trauma, and we are still adjusting,” Benjamin said to her.
River offered a nod, but couldn’t hide the curious look on her face.
“I don’t mean to frighten you, but I do have a document I need you to sign,” he said as he handed her what could have passed as a novella.
River eyed him like he was a fool as she turned the first page then tried to read the legal mumbo jumbo.
“It is basically a nondisclosure agreement. What you find, see, or understand at the manor will remain with the family, you cannot discuss your time here, or the documents you find. Or utilize the information in any way.”
“I can’t sign this,” River said as she handed him the document back.
He seemed surprised by her audacity.
“Mr. Falcon. I understand that family legacy and secrets belong to a family and only that family. But I also know
that what I study here will become a part of me. The knowledge will. I can’t claim that I will never use that knowledge again, for it very well may help me understand other text in my future.
“I have no idea what I’m walking into to be quite frank. I have no plans to publish my findings, discuss my findings publicly nor do I have the interest or time to broadcast any dark secrets of the Falcon name. I’ve watched your family move the lives of several students that just wanted one more shot. I’m here to help you because I was asked to. I didn’t seek you out. You sought me. I paused my life to fly all the way here to read text that you found. I didn’t fly here to read through this legal agreement. If that were the case, you should have sent it to me before I left my home with a little more than an hour to prepare.”
“I see,” he breathed.
River turned in her seat, breaking her professional stance. “Look. I come from a powerful family, too. I have legends behind my name as well. Most of the population could not comprehend the secrets behind my family name and those that attempt to would claim they are science fiction. People are scared of the truth, the unknown, and the unexplainable. I was raised to respect the unknown. I understand if you would like to send me home at this point.”
“My sister spoke highly of your family.”
River nodded once.
He reached for the controls next him; the glass between them and his driver slid up, giving them privacy.
“I’m a practical man, Miss Sabien. Facts. I respect facts. When facts do not align with the laws of nature I have issues,” he hesitated. “Recent circumstances at the Falcon manor have left me both grateful and discomforted,” he paused searching for words. “What is the oddest circumstance you have witnessed in your life?”
River had to hold back a sly grin. He saw her struggle. She lifted one shoulder in an attempt to shrug. “You asked me why language was my passion. It’s not, really. Knowledge is. Someone I loved very deeply was threatened by forces that are not logical. I searched text to save her, to save all of us. I will spare you the details but in the end we survived what challenged us then and are preparing for the next time we will be tested by forces that logic is lost on, and spirituality thrives in. Past generations were more connected to the mystical side of our being. They listened to the silence and recorded what they heard. Great seers of the past knew what would occur today. The knowledge is there, someone just has to take the time to read the words.”
“Forces that are not logical,” he repeated to himself just before pursing his lips. “All right then. I am offering you trust. Let me be clear, though, if I find that you are here for financial gain, or if you plan to profit off of my family, I will have no choice but to make your life a living hell.”
“I don’t need or want your money. I’m here to help you. I assure you that I doubt I will find anything that will surprise me.”
He smirked and said, “You will be staying at the manor.”
No freaking way. River thought. “I like my privacy. Is there not a hotel nearby?”
“You will have privacy at the manor, the only residents are Genevieve, the sole owner of the manor, her companion, and two close friends. There is staff as well, but only a few stay the night.”
In and out, River, you can do this, she told herself. “I address her as Miss Falcon or Genevieve?”
“I’m sure Genevieve will be fine, she will correct you if she’d like for you to use a less formal name.”
How many names could one girl have? “Were these texts discovered in the home or given to you.”
“Why does it matter?”
River wanted to tell him that she was concerned that if they were given to him they might be cursed or have bad energy attached to them, but this man did not give off the vibe that he would take her literally. More than likely he would think she was off her rocker. “From what I was told there were already translations of the text. I would like to discredit the translations so I can make my own.”
“They were found in a hidden library.”
“You’re telling me that in your family home you found a library that no one knew was there?” What have I gotten myself into?
He held River’s stare for countless seconds. “Yes.”
Then he adjusted how he sat so he could stare out the car window.
Awesome. This is going to be a blast. River could only hope this woman Genevieve wasn’t a stuffed shirt too.
River followed his lead and took in her surroundings. She was mystified by the amount of snow on the ground. She had never seen this much snow in real life. She had never felt air this cold. She was out of her element and knew it.
When the limo slowed down, River was lost in her thoughts trying to distract herself from the uncertainty of the path before her by thinking about the fight her and Ash would have as soon as she figured out River was states away.
All at once she felt even colder. She felt prickles—a stabbing sensation that felt like needles trying to escape her flesh. On the outside, she looked calm, but she was near panic on the inside. She had not felt evil like this in years. River edged forward on her seat ready to fight.
She swallowed nervously as she rolled her window down.
“No,” she breathed. Lining the streets on the path they were driving along were masses and masses of walking spirits.
Five years ago, River was taught to see the Veil. It’s easy to do in the Quarter, or any town with a lot of old energy. River didn’t see ghosts on the regular, at least not in the real world, but she was seeing them now. How did she know they were dead? Well, for one you could see through them—they were like fog—that and, of course, the marks of their death were on their shroud. Most of the dead River had seen in her life had awareness about them. These didn’t, they seemed like cattle moving toward a feeding trough.
“Miss Sabien?”
The limo came to a halt at a massive gate. The dead did too, they kept walking trying to push through the brick wall as if they could not see it. They should be able to move through it. What was stopping them?
“Are you all right?” Benjamin Falcon asked her.
River was clutching her pentagram so hard that her knuckles were turning white.
“What kind of tragedy happened here?”
River was sure she would have seen this many souls lost on the news. There were more here than any recent natural disaster would produce.
“Car accident.”
This fool is lying to me, River thought. She was walking into a trap. She reached for the door and grabbed her bag, ready to run. She was going to call and get her mother to fly her home.
Benjamin Falcon reached for her arm to comfort her. “The house is further up.”
The limo was moving forward at a slow, calculated pace, the uneasy feeling was fading as they moved forward but all River could think was that she had just stepped into a cage.
Her chest was heaving at this point. The Queen of the Veil, she told herself. Of course the dead would flock here.
The limo stopped and River didn’t wait for the driver to let her out she flew out of the door and walked with a purpose toward the gate they’d passed. She knew she could get more out of the dead than she could out of text. River wanted them to tell her this was a safe deal.
A few steps in she stopped. Standing before the gate was a boy who was small in stature. He had deep gray eyes that glinted with malice. His dark hair was neatly combed back making him look as if he had a regal presence. His clothes were odd. River could not place them in any one era; they were a cross between the eight hundreds and the Grecian times.
He smiled coldly at her. “You have trespassed.” Those words left his lips, but he was far enough away that she shouldn’t have heard him, yet she heard him as if he were standing next to her breathing them down her neck.
She knew him. She didn’t know how she knew him, but she did. He nodded his head and the dead around him turned to flames and bellowed in agony. He laughed at the sound of their screams
. You would think the rest of the dead would run, but they kept coming.
“This way Miss Sabien,” Benjamin Falcon said to River as he took her arm and turned her. River knew he didn’t see what she did—he also didn’t know his home was under siege.
River looked up at him only to freeze—the home behind him was massive, so big that you would have to shift your gaze just to take it all in. But that wasn’t what shocked her. What shocked her was that she dreamed of this place. This manor was the home in her nightmares. So much for the heaven theory, River thought in utter awe.
“You have forsaken your kind. Peril is created by you,” the evil being at the gate said into her thoughts.
River turned to glare at the being, the one that had surely possessed flaming corpses in her dreams for years. She lost all patience with him then. She knew how to use her energy as a weapon, and did so—she thrashed out with enough force to at least knock him back a few steps, yet that didn’t happen. Instead, he retaliated and when he did the force knocked her out cold.
***
Gavin and Mason were in the front foyer waiting on the decoder. Mason was shifting back and forth, literally, appearing on one side of the room, then the other. Sometimes so quickly that it looked like he was standing on both sides of the foyer at the same time.
To Mason, this whole deal was just sick, like both good and bad sick. He didn’t know his body anymore. He’d always been aggressive, a bit fast on the move. With his transition happening, it was ridiculous. There was no way to hide it when he was on edge.
A constant source of adrenaline coursed through Mason’s veins, which should be expected with death at his back, the flame of a Phoenix piercing his soul, and the legacy of being a guardian attached to his existence.
The room pulled to his energy, no joke. A minute ago one of the maids hightailed it away from him, crossing herself and saying some prayer after she watched a vase tip over, right after the petals moved toward him for no reason.
Skylynn had been trying to work with Gavin and Mason on centering their energy and looking more human, but honestly, only Phoenix really knew what they were going through, and between popping in on his peeps in this war with them, and keeping Indie in check, he just hasn’t had the chance.