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  The hum intensified. Supercharged the room with an energy that licked and snapped against Elise’s skin.

  “You have my offering.” Naomi stepped from the shadows, Garrett a stoic shadow behind her as she calmly walked forward. The bright light containing Draven’s ghostlike form radiated off her simple white skirt and matching tank. “My gifts. My life. To bring things into balance, both are yours.”

  “No!” Alek tried to bolt from his place at the west, but Priest was there before him, holding him back in an unrelenting grip. He said something to Alek, the context impossible to hear over the growing sound around them, but whatever it was sucked the wind out of Alek’s struggles. Deflated him in a second.

  Kateri stayed locked in place, her eyes huge and trained on Naomi. “Nanna.”

  Naomi smiled, a beautifully serene look shared by a woman who’d not only come to grips with this moment, but welcomed it. “He took my mate. He took my son. He will not take my grandchildren.”

  The tradeoff with Jade.

  Naomi hadn’t been worried about someone getting hurt. She’d been worried about not having an equal sacrifice. Someone to sever Draven’s powers once and for all.

  “The sacrifice is offered,” the Keeper said. “One laid before me with willingness. Your sacrifice was forced. Stolen from the life of one too young to know better.” A tiny pause. A heartbeat that pulsed like thunder. “Your powers are void. Stripped and buried back within the darkness where they belong and your spirit banished alongside them. Your freedom is unobtainable. Your suffering endless and bound by the leniency and compassion you’ve shown your victims.”

  The bright glow around Draven’s form grew bolder. Blinding.

  A deafening explosion filled the cavernous space and an inexplicable force blasted them on all sides, the impact crashing into her and Tate with the force of a tidal wave.

  Tate rolled with it, wrapped her up and broke her fall, the sharp thud as his head hit the concrete and the Keeper’s voice the last thing she heard before an endless blackness swallowed her whole. “Draven Rahandras, your judgment is final.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Living in the moment was a hell of a lot easier to practice when the moment in question didn’t suck. For Tate, sitting in a hotel room, watching his mate try yet again to rouse Jerrik from unconsciousness while so many others in his clan waited in their own rooms and mourned the loss of one of their own, this moment and the last three days in general definitely sucked. Worse, Elise had nearly run herself into the ground trying to pull off a small miracle and was practically dead on her feet.

  A shadow moved behind the drape-covered window, the harsh late-afternoon sun outlining an unmistakable silhouette.

  Tate pushed off the wall where he’d waited the last hour and quietly twisted the doorknob before Priest could knock. “Hey. How’s Alek?”

  Priest’s gaze cut to Elise bent over Jerrik’s body and Vanessa a near mirror image on the other side. The two weren’t best buddies yet by any stretch, and frankly, he’d just as soon Vanessa not get within twenty feet of his mate, but they’d reached a peaceful agreement. A treaty, of sorts, brought about by tragedy and triumph and sealed in growing respect.

  Motioning to the second-floor walkway outside the door with a jerk of his head, Priest stepped away from the door. “Let them focus. They’ve got enough to deal with without us adding distractions.”

  For Priest, it was a pretty polite summons. Under normal circumstances, he’d have simply commanded Tate’s presence, but all of them had been a little less ballsy lately. A little more humbled and mindful of what they had.

  And what they’d lost.

  Tate followed him out, leaving the door propped open just enough he could hear Elise if she called or could get back in without the key. Isolated from most of the tourist venues around Rapid City and the Black Hills Forest, the hotel was empty save the people they’d brought with them. A good thing considering the odd hours they’d come and gone within the last several days. “So, has he talked to you yet?”

  He being one highly pissed off Alek. Where everyone else had faced their grief with a certain amount of solemnity and respect, Alek had woken from the Keeper’s explosive pronouncement with a palpable anger that had morphed to raging fury when they realized Naomi’s body was missing.

  Priest had faced it down like he did everything else—head-on with absolute resolve. But the guilt and weariness were written all over his face. “He finally let Kateri into his room. She’s trying to talk him into a trip to Black Hills for a shift and a run.”

  “He can’t avoid you forever.”

  “He won’t. But he’s got a right to be pissed at me. He needs time to work through it and his wolf will help.”

  “It was Naomi’s decision.”

  “I know that. You know it. But logic’s cold comfort for a man like Alek. For anyone who’s lost someone they love.”

  Considering how things had turned out, lost seemed an especially apropos word choice. In addition to Naomi’s body being MIA by the time they’d all woken from the Keeper’s body blast, the rest of the building had looked untouched. Still as drab and dreary as when they’d first walked in, but minus the crushed and torched crates and litter cluttering the floor. No blood marks and no sign of the body Jerrik had carried in when he’d first arrived. It was like nothing at all had happened. A reset like the movie Groundhog Day, but with a much eerier vibe that none of them cared to repeat.

  But Draven was gone, his dark magic and the threat he brought to their clan eradicated along with him.

  Priest lifted his chin toward the room behind them. “Still no change?”

  “Nothing. Physically, they both say he’s fine, but they can’t get him to wake up.”

  Face hardened to a cold mask Tate hadn’t seen in years, Priest twisted to stare past the parking lot to the forest in the distance. They’d hoped with Draven’s banishment, the darkness inside Priest and whatever lingered in Jerrik would be banished with him, but Priest had assured them the parasite he’d fought for the last fifty years was still there. Quieter than before, even somewhat content that its maker had suffered a gruesome fate, but still just as dangerous and deadly. Like a dormant infection just waiting to raise its ugly head.

  Assuming Jerrik woke from his unconsciousness, that meant he was likely in for the same arduous journey back to sanity Priest had fought years ago. Then he’d still have to find the will to fight. After all they suspected he’d been put through—all the atrocities he’d undoubtedly committed under Draven’s hand—finding the will might be a long shot.

  “You don’t think he wants to wake up,” Tate said.

  “I think if his journey’s anywhere near what mine was, he’s got a long road in front of him.” He faced Tate. “We’ll get him there, though. We’ll take him home and work him through whatever he needs the way your mothers helped me.”

  The door behind them opened and Elise padded out, her tired eyes narrowed on the skies above the Black Hills beyond rather than on either of them.

  Vanessa trailed close behind her, but all of her attention was on Elise, a concerned expression pinching her features. She looked to Priest and Tate. “Something’s up. She was sitting there...totally focused...and then straightened like someone had woken her up from a dream. The next thing I knew she was headed out here.”

  Elise paused at the white railing, her hands lightly resting on the top and her head cocked as though straining to hear something far away. “I’m fine.”

  Not exactly a response that gave Tate a whole lot of warm and fuzzy on the surface, but the wonder and curiosity in her voice and the steady thrum of the bond between them kept both man and beast in check. Whatever it was that held her attention, it was something good. Something good enough to lift her lips in a soft smile and make her green eyes spark in the bright sunshine.

  “Go get
Kateri and Alek,” she said on a near whisper. “Hurry.” With that, the deep forest green of her healer’s aura burst around them, and her eagle swept forward, its welcome cry filling the wide-open space around them.

  “I’ll get them,” Vanessa said, then took off at a near run to Alek’s room at the far end of the walkway.

  Tate looked to Priest. “What the fuck?”

  “I have no idea.” Priest shook his head, obviously as confused and dumfounded as Tate was. “What I do know is your mate’s got a keen instinct. One that’s got us past a lot of shit the last few weeks. If she’s on to something that gets her that keyed up and hopeful, I’ll frog-march Alek out here myself.”

  Voices sounded down the walkway. First Vanessa. Then Katy. Then a much terser response from Alek.

  Elise’s eagle kept going, soaring outward and upward until all that remained in sight was a quaver of black against the bold blue sky.

  “Goddammit, Alek!” Katy bellowed from Alek’s room. “I don’t care how pissed you are. Elise said she needs you, so suck your shit up and get out there!”

  Tate chuckled. “I think you’re rubbing off on her.”

  Priest hung his head, but the first smile Tate had seen in days split his face. “No, I just helped her open the door.” He lifted his head and met Tate’s stare. “Kind of like what you and Elise did for each other.”

  A sharp screech cut across the sky, not Elise’s eagle but another bird of flight.

  Elise’s eagle answered and the bond inside Tate pulsed with a white-hot joy that struck deep. “She’s not alone.”

  Priest straightened, all levity erased and his keen gaze fixed on the horizon. “And that’s not another eagle. That’s a hawk.”

  As if to confirm his statement, the screech came again. Bolder this time and filling the air around them.

  “Alek!” Priest roared and strode to the concrete steps that led to the parking lot below. “Kateri, get him out here.”

  But he’d already heard it. Everyone had. Sabina, Kateri, Alek, Garrett and the rest of the warriors all filing out of their rooms and following Tate and Priest down to the asphalt.

  The two birds came into view, the massive span of Elise’s eagle and dark coloring against the bright sky easily dwarfing the smaller hawk behind her.

  But she was there.

  A hawk.

  Naomi.

  “Is it her?” Kateri murmured as she moved in between Priest and Tate.

  Priest pulled her close to his side, an uncustomary anxiousness etched on his face. “I don’t know, mihara. Until we see her—”

  “It’s her.” Alek strode forward.

  The hawk and eagle swooped downward. A sparkling gold light blended with Elise’s more potent green.

  And then they were there. Elise obviously tired and a little shaky, but beaming a smile to rival the sun and Naomi beside her, for all intents and purposes seemingly untouched by any harm. Not even a stray gray hair out of her perfectly wound braid.

  Alek caught her up in a bear hug and held her tight, his grumbled words unintelligible to the rest of them.

  But they made Naomi laugh.

  Made her throw her head back and clasp the back of her grandson’s head and hold him a little tighter.

  Kateri was next.

  Then Priest.

  But Tate went to Elise. Pulled her tight against him and guided her cheek so it rested on his chest. “How did you know?”

  “I didn’t.” She lifted her head and smiled up at him, her eyes wet with tears that hadn’t quite spilled over yet. “My eagle knew. She heard Naomi’s hawk from the Otherworld and told me to follow. Naomi’s been there the whole time. Protected by the Keeper.”

  Priest stepped back from Naomi, the realization on his face proving he’d heard every word. “The willingness was the key.”

  Naomi nodded.

  Alek stood close beside her, his stance such that he was still firmly in the grasp of disbelief and fearful she’d disappear again.

  “When the vision came to me,” Naomi said, “it also came with the night of Draven’s sacrifice. A young girl slain to claim enough power to overtake the primos. Completely unwilling.” She grabbed Alek’s hand and squeezed. “A willing sacrifice made is always more valuable. More powerful. But the Keeper didn’t want my magic or my death. The intent and faith was enough.”

  “You’ve been gone three days,” Alek said, clearly agitated by the delay in returning Naomi to them. “If she didn’t intend to keep you, why keep you away this long? We thought you were dead.”

  “We grieved.” Where the guidance came from, Elise couldn’t say. And frankly, after all she’d learned and experienced in the last month, she didn’t care anymore. Only knew that her intuition and her magic were incredible gifts meant to be used. To be headed above logic. “The emotion made the sacrifice more formidable. A sacrifice of many versus a sacrifice of one.”

  “A sacrifice made for three days,” Garrett said. “A triad—one to bind Draven’s body, one to bind his spirit and one to bind his soul.”

  “But it’s over, right?” Kateri said. “It’s not just a temporary deal. You’re back for good and Draven’s dead?”

  “Souls never die,” Naomi said, her smile a little softer than before. “But his is bound to the darkness. And yes, until my time comes, I’m here for good.”

  “Do me a favor,” Alek said to Priest. “Don’t let her talk you into that shit again.”

  “Personally, I’m hoping we don’t have reason for any more grand gestures,” Katy said before Priest could answer.

  Priest glanced back at the hotel room where Jerrik lay unconscious, the barest hint of a frown marring the relief of having Naomi back.

  Elise picked up on it, too, the single-minded determination she’d shown the last three days to give Jerrik whatever he needed to find his way back clicking back into full gear. She pushed against Tate’s chest and tried to free herself from his hold. “I’ll go try again.”

  “No.” Priest said it the same time Tate tightened his arms. “You’ve done enough. So has Vanessa.” He scanned the people gathered around who’d gone silent at his quiet command. “What he needs now is time. We’ll take him home and see to him there.” His gaze sharpened on Elise. “What you need is rest.”

  Elise frowned up at Tate. Then at Priest. “But someone needs to stay with Jerrik.”

  With the warriors who’d gathered behind Alek, Vanessa had all but disappeared in the crowd, but her tentative voice rose above them. “I’ll stay with him.” She stepped more fully into view. “I slept last night, and you could use a break.”

  Funny. They’d had some pretty serious jaw-dropping moments in the last week, but Tate had never seen the crew who’d traveled with them grow as silent as they were in that second.

  Elise, though, didn’t miss a beat. “Thank you.” While her body was mostly lax against him, she grinned up at Tate with a sly smile that belied her fatigue. “To be honest, though, I’d rather fly than rest. Maybe explore the Black Hills a little more?”

  Explore his ass. He knew that look. His mate might need some serious sleep, but she had more than a little adrenaline to burn off after the burst that had likely hit hearing Naomi’s hawk. While she might not be up for a full hunt, he had zero problems giving her a good chase. He smoothed his palm down Elise’s spine and met Priest’s gaze over her head. “When do you want to head back home?”

  Priest smirked, tucked Katy tight to his side and muttered to the other people around him, “That’s code for, We shouldn’t plan to see them until sometime late tomorrow.” He chuckled along with everyone else and jerked his head toward the forest stretching out behind them. “Go. Have fun.”

  Elise’s laughter as she pushed free of his arms was the lightest he’d heard in days. “Well, he’ll have to catch me first.” She wiggled her fingers in a pl
ayful goodbye a second before the green that marked her as healer house consumed her and her eagle burst free.

  Alek snickered along with a handful of the other warriors. “Yeah, good hunting, Tate. You’ll have a hell of a time finding her before nightfall.”

  “Oh, I’ll find her.” His coyote paced and pushed for release, the sting and burn that came before the shift rippling beneath his skin and the bond between them pulsing bright. He paused to meet Alek’s stare a second before he gave his companion free rein and welcomed the shift. “She was made for me. I’ll always find her.”

  * * * * *

  To read more books from Rhenna Morgan,

  visit her website at www.rhennamorgan.com.

  Enjoy this excerpt from Guardian’s Bond

  by Rhenna Morgan.

  Now available in ebook, audio and mass market

  from your favorite online retailer.

  Priest Rahandras has lived with the darkness trapped inside himself for years. Betrayed by his own brother and forced to watch his clan’s brutal annihilation, the only thing Priest wants more than to escape the curse that haunts him—as both man and beast—is to rebuild.

  Until the mate he’s longed for walks into his life with an elder from his past. She’s everything he’s wished for, and the key to the clan’s very survival.

  Chapter One

  Safe with the Keeper. Guarded from the dark.

  Over and over, Priest repeated the protective words in his head, merging his magic with the ancient symbols he inked at the base of Jade’s nape and down her spine. Black and red swirling links with shades of gray joined each sacred talisman. No one would hurt her. Not her or Tate so long as he drew breath.

  His forearm ached from his constant grip on the tattoo iron, but the steady drone and vibrations from the coils as he worked deepened his trance. Beneath his free hand, Jade’s body trembled from the rush of pain-induced endorphins she’d endured for nearly four hours.