Behind the house was a similar structure, but with few windows and an enormous barn style door facing the house.
“Circle the structure once, give them a chance to see us before we land,” Rafe ordered.
Beast did as instructed without comment. It gave us a good chance to take a look all around the house. I didn’t see any sign of people or animals, but there was a single light glowing at an entrance, made of a covered carport supported by tree trunks. I wondered where he was getting electricity this far out, but then I spotted an electric line and poles that ran through a break in the forest to the rear of the house. Overhead, a strong ley line ran from north to south over the house and another intersected it directly over the house. I could see why Rowle would choose this location.
Beast completed his circuit and glided to a landing in the driveway a good hundred feet from the carport. Maia and I set down beside the others.
When Rafe didn’t immediately climb down, I followed his lead and stayed on Maia.
I watched the house, tempted to trigger my shield, but Rafe had not triggered his own. We waited; I assumed for some sign that we’d been seen.
My phone buzzed and I jumped in my seat. Who the hell was calling me at a time like this? I withdrew it from my pocket and stared at the display. It was from an unknown caller.
“Well, see who it is,” Rafe said without taking his eyes off the house.
I swiped right and raised the phone to my ear.
Alex’s voice came from the speaker, “What in the hell are you doing here?”
Chapter 40
raphael
“Alex!” I heard Tess exclaim. “Are you all right? Are you safe? Did he hurt you? Where are you?”
Without taking my eyes off the building, I said, “Don’t you think you should give the boy a chance to answer?”
She may not have heard me, but she stopped talking and listened.
I flipped a leg over Beast’s neck and slid to the ground. Turning, I held my hands up for Cris. She only hesitated for a second, and then she gripped my biceps while I clasped her around the ribcage and lowered her to the ground.
“Thank you,” Cris said.
“My pleasure, Cris.”
I thought I noticed some of her usual warmth returning, but then her eyebrows narrowed and she let go of me. I held her for one more second and then dropped my own hands and stepped away.
“Alex, we’re here in peace. Rafe wants to talk with you and Rowle,” Tess paused. “I don’t care whether you want to talk to him or not. That’s Rowle’s decision to make. Just tell him Rafe wants to talk. Alex, please, have I ever lied to you?”
Apparently, that last bit worked. Tess slid to the ground and came to where Cris and I stood beside Beast.
“Shouldn’t you at least raise a shield?” Beast growled.
“That would either show that we were afraid of him or that we were here to fight,” I said.
“You aren’t afraid of him?” Cris asked.
“Afraid? No, I respect his power, but I wouldn’t say I fear him.”
Tess offered me her phone. “Alex said he would put Rowle on.”
“Thank you.” I took it and clicked on the speaker symbol to let Cris and Tess hear.
“This is Raphael. Are you there Rowle?”
After a second, I heard Rowle’s distinctive voice in the speaker. “Well, Raphael, how nice of you to visit after all these years. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“We need to talk, Rowle. You’ve taken something that by custom and decree should be mine,” I said.
“Raphael, you know I don’t follow Verðandi’s orders or wishes. I haven’t since your great-great-grandfather was a boy. Her rules and decrees mean little to me.”
“But they did once. You know that once reaped, a Wanderer has to go to another Wanderer to apprentice.”
“I can train Alex better than you ever could. You are skilled Raphael, but there’s so much that Walt never got the chance to tell you. Wouldn’t you rather he be trained with someone who remembers more than you ever learned?”
I felt my irritation warm. I tried not to snarl my response, but I wasn’t successful. “You know why Walt didn’t get to finish my training and if you want this to be pleasant, you won’t mention him again.”
“All right, Raphael. I’ll keep a civil tongue in my head if you will. Do you wish to come inside to talk?”
“If I can trust you not to attack any of us while we’re inside your home.”
Rowle hesitated. “In my day, Raphael, if you invited a man into your house you had to protect him with your own life.”
“I’ve heard the custom, I wasn’t sure you still followed it.”
“We are all impacted by our upbringings, regardless of the centuries that continue to change. Very well, Wanderer, I offer you and your two ladies the hospitality of my hearth and bed. You may come inside and I will prevent anyone from harming you and yours while you are under my roof.”
“Thank you, Rowle,” I said calmly, trying to put a little respect in my tone. The man was probably close to three hundred years old and a direct ancestor. Even if I tried to kill him later, I could grant him a little respect, regardless of what he had done to me and mine in the past.
I closed the connection and handed the phone back to Tess.
“Well, you heard him; shall we go inside before the storm gets here?” I asked.
Cris
