Library

9. Amber

Much to my relief,we take a car downtown—not the subway. It’s going to take me some time to step back into those tunnels after getting pushed into the tracks and nearly flattened by an oncoming train.

The West Village is only a few miles south of the Fairmont’s sparkling skyscraper near Central Park, but it feels like another city entirely. It’s quaint and calm in comparison, with cobblestone streets, tree-lined sidewalks, and stone-faced buildings that are six or so stories tall, at the most.

When I first moved to the city, this was the neighborhood I was supposed to call home. My grandmother’s apartment is somewhere near here.

Part of me wants to go see it.

The other part knows we have more important business that needs attending.

The car ride downtown is awkward, to say the least. I glance occasionally at Damien’s hand resting in the middle of the seats between us, but I don’t reach for him, and he doesn’t reach for me, either.

Finally, we stop in front of one of the elegant brownstones lining the street.

“Not exactly the type of place I imagined shifters calling home,” I say as I gaze up at it.

“And you imagined vampires living in a luxury skyscraper?” Damien asks, sounding more lighthearted than he has in days.

“Makes more sense than wolves in townhouses.”

He gives me an amused smirk, then he’s out of his side of the car and opening my door in seconds.

I step out, warmed by the sun as I study the building. The brownstone is unassuming, blending seamlessly with its neighbors. There’s no sort of marking on it—nothing that would signify it as the secret base of wolf shifters in the city.

I follow Damien up the steps, he rings the bell, and we wait in silence.

A few seconds later, the door swings open to reveal a short, muscular woman in jeans and a tank top.

“Maria,” Damien says her name calmly. “Thank you for meeting on such short notice.”

She barely looks at him. Instead, her focus is entirely on me.

“You’re the new star touched,” she says. “Amber.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” I hold her gaze, and she stares straight into my eyes, as if daring me to back down.

I don’t.

I’m aware enough of shifter protocol to know to not submit.

“Very well.” She steps aside, revealing a warm, inviting foyer that speaks of generations of wealth. “Follow me to my office. Jax and Autumn are there as well.”

Both names are familiar to me, although I only know the little Damien shared about them. Mainly, that Jax was the alpha of the Pine Valley pack until his grandson, Connor, took his place.

Connor is Ruby’s fated mate.

Autumn is Jax’s fated mate. She’s also Connor’s ex-girlfriend.

The whole situation is so twisted that it’s no wonder Jax and Autumn moved here from Pine Valley to serve as Guardians in the city.

I’m lost in thought as Maria leads us into her small, but cozy, office. The walls are lined with shelves filled with books and weapons, and a large, wooden desk sits in the center of the room, with Jax and Autumn standing in front of it.

Even though Jax has a grandson, he looks like he’s in his upper thirties, thanks to the fact that shifters age far slower than humans. He’s muscular and broad, his presence filling the room, as one would expect from an alpha wolf.

Autumn is just as striking, with long, light red hair and eyes so sharp that it’s like they’re drilling into your bones.

“Damien,” Jax nearly growls his name.

“Jax.” Damien nods to him, as composed as ever. “Your grandson is excelling at his role as alpha.”

Jax bristles, saying nothing.

Autumn reaches for his arm and brushes her fingers against his skin, as if she’s stopping him from doing something he’ll regret.

“This is Amber,” Maria breaks in, although it far from helps ease the tension. “Star touched by the sun goddess, Sunneva.”

“Show us,” Jax says simply.

“Show you what?” I ask.

“Your magic.”

It’s some sort of alpha challenge.

And, luckily enough, I recharged enough this morning to accept it.

So, I take a deep breath, dig inside myself, and reach for my magic. As always recently, I have to push through the filmy surface of the potion, but the magic is there.

Holding Jax’s gaze, I turn my palms up to the ceiling and create a glowing orb in each of them, like miniature suns. They pulse with energy, casting shadows around the office, and I make them so bright that the others have to squint their eyes to see.

Jax looks like he wants to bring out his claws and swipe them to the floor.

Luckily, Maria steps in before he can act.

“Thank you for your demonstration,” she says to me, and I take the cue to pull my magic back in. She nods approvingly, moves to sit on the chair behind the desk, and turns her attention to Damien. “What brings you here today?”

“I’m glad you asked,” Damien says, and then he tells her everything about Lucas, Viktor, the shadow souls, and finally, the potion.

The shifters say nothing as he speaks, absorbing each word.

“We need to take out Lucas and his downtown clans before they can gather enough force to overpower the city,” he eventually concludes.

Maria glances at one of the weapons in the shelves—a stone arrowhead—deep in thought. “An interesting proposal,” she finally says, turning back to Damien. “Please step out—both of you—so I can speak with Jax and Autumn in private.”

“Thank you for your consideration,” he says, and he leads us into the hall without another word.

I give the three of them a final glance over my shoulder as I follow him out.

The door closes, and I frown at it.

“You did well,” he says.

“Thanks,” I reply, although I continue to study the door. “Aren’t they worried we’ll overhear?”

“The door is made of wood,” he explains. “Nearly everything in here is made of wood or stone. Given the shifter affinity for earth, a strong magic user of theirs will be able to block supernaturals from hearing through the barrier.”

“Jax?” I ask.

“Possibly.” Damien’s lips quirk into a smile. “But my bet is on Autumn.”

“Interesting,” I say, since even though there was something about her I didn’t like—probably her haughtiness—I do respect her.

“However,” he continues. “While we can’t hear them, there’s no reason to assume they can’t hear us.”

“Noted,” I say, and we wait in silence for the shifters to welcome us back inside.

Seconds stretch into minutes. Twenty-three extremely awkward minutes, to be precise.

Then, finally, the door re-opens.

“We made our decision,” Maria says. “Come back inside, and we’ll tell you how we want to proceed from here.”

Comments

0 Comments
Best Newest

Contents
Settings
  • T
  • T
  • T
  • T
Font

Welcome to FullEpub

Create or log into your account to access terrific novels and protect your data

Don’t Have an account?
Click above to create an account.

lf you continue, you are agreeing to the
Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy.