* * *
By the time she reached the cliff Jule indicated the next day, Yully’s soul was humming like an electric wire. She could now feel everything around her, and she assumed whatever her father unlocked was the cause.
She was late by an hour. Only two forms and a body draped in black remained on the cliff side. Fog coated the ocean, and a cold, moist wind made her eyes water. She shivered despite her lamb’s wool coat, her hands plunged deep into pockets that contained weapons.
The closer she stepped to Jule, the more her body hummed. Something had happened during their separation; he glowed in the fog and mist. Unable to take her eyes from him, she approached slowly. His long, sleek hair was tied in a tight braid, and despite the cold and wind he wore only a long-sleeved sweater that hugged the muscles of his arms and shoulders beneath a down vest. His suede pants clung to long, thick thighs and were tucked into heavy boots.
She didn’t remember him being so large. The closer she got, the stronger she felt him. Startled by the bond, she stopped.
“I didn’t think you’d come,” he said without turning.
“I did it for Sean,” she replied. “I’d known him for a few years, even if it was only in passing.”
“He would appreciate it. I do, too,” Jule said then motioned to the blond man. “This is Rourk, my other Guardian assigned to Ireland.”
Her eyes went to the beefy blond. He tipped his head in a silent greeting. His face was solemn.
“Come closer,” Jule said in a quiet voice.
She did, stepping apprehensively to the foot of Sean’s body. He was tightly wrapped in black fabric, his head towards the ocean.
“We have an old tradition, dating back to the time before the mortal and immortal worlds were split,” Jule said. “There are three of us who can release a Guardian’s soul.” He knelt beside Sean’s body as he spoke.
“What happens if they’re not released?” she asked.
“They’re imprisoned in their bodies for eternity. They know no peace.”
Her throat tightened at his words. She couldn’t help thinking of all the Guardians buried in her yard. Jule’s next words were low and in a tongue she didn’t understand. The hand he rested on Sean’s forehead glowed bright in the fog. Jule’s hand grew too bright to look at directly, and a small ball formed in his palm. He tossed it in the air, and it dissipated into sparkles that floated upward.
Sean’s body collapsed beneath the blanket, and the ocean’s wind whipped the cloth into the air. Rourk snatched it before it flew away.
“Farewell, brother,” he said.
Yully wiped her eyes, touched by the scene before her. Rourk passed her, the blanket clenched in his arms. She watched him go before facing Jule. Jule’s eyes glinted with the magic in his body, and the air around him shimmered in a different power than that of her father. Jule’s felt ancient, older than the energy in the cliffs and ocean combined.
He approached her, and she took a step back. He stopped in front of her and gazed down at her with quiet intensity. He didn’t touch her, but the magics sparked between them.
“What made you come?” he asked
She wiped her eyes again, overwhelmed by his presence yet comforted by the flow of energy between them. He wasn’t like anyone else; she didn’t have to try to feel his magic. It flowed between them: balanced, calm, powerful.
“It seemed right,” she said at last. “I couldn’t … I didn’t know my father did this. At least I could pay my respects.”
“Sean wasn’t the first.”
“I know,” she said with some anger. “I know what he is. I’m sorry for your loss, Jule, but my father, he’s all I have. He took me in when no one else would, and he protected me.”
“From Guardians, like Sean, who are sworn to protect people like you.”
“Look at me, Jule.” She indicated the new bruises on her face and neck. “No one could protect me against him if I betrayed him.”
“I can.” His words were confident and soft.
He spoke the truth, just as her father lied to her. The man before her was unwavering, and she had the impression of everything she was not and everything she needed to be whole. The ache within her deepened at the idea of trusting someone for the first time in her life, and the energy flowing between them grew more intense. Jule wouldn’t hit her as her father did.
But there was another reason she dared not leave her father, one she feared voicing even to the man before her. Her father was planning something that depended on her magic. If she was the only one who could help him, she was also the only one who could stop him.
“I can’t do it, Jule,” she said. “What I want doesn’t matter.”
He broke the barrier between them and touched her face. Her breath caught, and he pulled her into his body. She braced herself for a flood of his power, but it didn’t come. Instead, the sense of a shared soul and magic returned. Her tortured thoughts went to the thousands of men, killed by the only family she’d known, whose souls were trapped for eternity beneath the ground.
Suddenly, the cold roar of the wind gave way to warmth and quiet. She lifted her head from his chest, surprised to find them back in the cottage. The pot-bellied stove crackled with burning wood, and a light in the corner made the cottage feel even cozier.
Jule forced himself to put some space between them. It took more effort than he thought to break the otherworldly connection binding them. He felt cold as soon as he stepped away, and the urge to touch her again thrummed through his body.
The Magician looked around, confused, before recognition crossed her features. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, her green eyes showing her torment and her magic like a halo around her. One of her eyes was black from a blow, and the sight infuriated him. They’d both changed dramatically in the two days they were apart, and he wasn’t sure it was for the better. At least, he was finding it harder to resist her strange magic every time they met. She sat on the couch, and he sat opposite her in the armchair. While only three feet apart, the space felt immeasurable. Her pain was raw, yet there was mettle in her backbone if she’d gone to Sean’s funeral, fully knowing her own father killed the Guardian.
“I thought we should talk,” he started. “I’m beginning to understand why the … why your father wants you. It’s not gonna be a good thing, if you stay with him.”
“I know this already,” she replied in a tight voice. “Jule, can the souls of those long dead still be freed, even if they’re trapped in the ground?”
“How many has he killed?”
“Tens of thousands.” Her voice caught.
Floored, he was quiet. She looked up at last, her eyes glimmering with tears.
“He said he had to kill them or they’d kill me. I didn’t know until last night,” she went on.
Jule rose and paced to the window. Dread settled into his stomach. Even when he’d been in the immortal realm, no one crossed a Watcher or Other. The number of beings capable of killing one was less than five, and the last thing they needed was an Original Being showing up to complicate matters.
Xander. He couldn’t shake the sense it hadn’t been a dream.
“I can feel them,” she said in a whisper.
Hearing the heartbreak in her voice, Jule found his resolve to keep his distance melt. He crossed to the couch and sat beside her.
“They can be freed,” he assured her. “I just need to know where they are, so I can free them.”
Relief crossed her features. She raised her eyes to his, her breathing uneven. He felt her turmoil through their bond and ached to ease her pain. Her green eyes pierced him to the core, and a light flush spread across her skin. He could see himself becoming addicted to the energy flowing between them. It only seemed natural for them to sit next to each other, and what would feel more natural would probably scare her off.
Her eyes went to his lips. This time, she broke the space between them. She touched his jaw with cold fingertips, and the bond between th
em opened. Jule took her hands in his and rested them on his thigh.
“Careful,” he whispered. “Whatever is between us is only getting stronger.”
“You feel it, too.”
“Yes.”
“I feel safe with you, Jule, and it terrifies me. I keep telling myself it can’t be real,” she said, her voice barely audible.
“It’s very real,” he said.
“My father will kill us.”
He understood her fear. If he crossed an Other, he knew exactly what the risk was. The woman before him was just discovering her power and was on the leash of a creature that knew neither compassion nor mercy. Jule hesitated only a moment longer before he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.
She leaned into him, yielding as the intensity of the bond between them grew hot and demanding. Whatever she’d accidentally done to him in the alley, she’d sealed them together in a way he never thought possible. Their souls already linked, all that was left was for their bodies to become one as well.
“Stay with me, and he’ll never hurt you again,” he whispered against her lips. “I swear it.”
“You can’t stop what comes, Jule. Only I can,” she replied. “I can’t stay more than tonight.”
Her words lit his blood on fire, and he eased her back against the couch, their magics swirling around them.