Page 104 of Commanding Blood And Bonds

AUGUST

An ethereal gust of preternatural wind woke me the day after our first fruitless field trip to California, but when my eyes opened into the gloomy gray space, four vacant walls greeted me.

Ally, where are you, baby? I asked mind-to-mind as I sat up, painfully aware of how tight my hamstrings were after demon hunting the prior evening. That had been the more exhilarating pastime, as our days had been spent attempting to secure human alliances and encountering disbelief and crippling distrust more often than not.

“Ally?”

Resounding silence was my answer. Even after opening the bedroom window, the muffled isolation of snowfall was my only greeting. With a sigh, I pulled on my pajamas and a pair of combat boots before padding out into the hallway and down the stairs. The last lingering flicker of the fire in Kingsley’s metal stove was my only form of company, and it was dancing in unnatural movements, spindly limbs stretching and curling like a ballerina made entirely of flame.

Ally?!

Fear skittered down my spine, but I silenced it, closing my eyes and holding out my hands as I’d so often watched my mate do—sensing, probing—even as our bond burrowed deeper, gently tugging at the karmic thread binding us together.

She didn’t tug back.

But intuition had me glancing out and to the left. On silent feet, I snagged my jacket from the coat rack by the door before creeping out and down the porch, where—sure enough—steady footfalls broke the glimmering crust of late winter snow. Three sets, to be exact. Stretching my magic, I found them. Like a distant tug on that invisible line—a song meant only for me. Following their trail, I ventured into the blanketed darkness, intrigue and concern warring in my chest. Why weren’t they answering mind-to-mind? What on God’s green earth had drawn them out into the frigid morning?

The world had gone gray again inside this mountain valley; the clouds grazing the earth in a foggy hug that chilled my lungs with every breath. Allowing my flames to spark in my veins for warmth, I looked up and around, studying the crystalline layer of hoarfrost coating each branch and pine needle as I entered the perimeter of the forest at the far side of Kingsley’s property.

What felt like an eternity later, my steps slowed as I spotted Ally—dressed in nothing but her silky pajamas—standing in eerily immortal stillness, staring out over the sunken snowfield of a frozen pond.

“Ally? Baby?” I breathed, unsure why I felt such an intense instinct to stay quiet. A subtle shushing sound drew my attention to where the Carters huddled beneath the bowed branches of an evergreen, wrapped in a fluffy fur blanket. A small flame flickered in front of them, dancing in that same peculiar pattern—as if her magic was conducting them without her awareness.

“No, mate,” Alec whispered, shaking his head adamantly.

But it was the hard set of Fae’s jaw and her furrowed brow that had my attention darting between them, then back to Ally—and around the surrounding space.

Her eyes were locked a million miles away, staring into the other with such blind fixation that I couldn’t help but study her, silently closing the distance. She didn’t so much as shift. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t adjust her weight or her deep, steady breathing that spoke of sleep. But her eyes…they were twitching. Lids fluttering at an impossibly fast pace—like she was seeing everything at once.

I reached for her mind, terrified I’d find her trapped in one of those sweat-inducing nightmares that robbed her of peace—but Alec’s shield snapped forward, coiling around my own with the viciousness of a boa constrictor.

Anxiety had me looking sidelong, earning one simple shake of his head, his expression uncharacteristically serious.

Opting to trust his judgment, I made my way over to their makeshift camp where they’d cleared the ground of snow and ice with magic. Settling beside Fae, I smiled weakly when she lifted her fur blanket like a wing in offering.

Anxiety chewing a hole through my windpipe, I ducked beneath it, nodding in thanks before the three of us…watched.

The gentle glow of rising sun beyond the thick canopy of clouds and forest turned the frozen lake into a softbox, a glow gradually filling the space as she continued to stare—only the puffs of breath solidifying before her proving she was alive and not carved of the mountain itself.

Mentally, I reached out, tapping against Alec’s shield, relieved when his eyes flashed to mine a beat before he dropped his walls and let me in.

What is this? Is she sleepwalking? I asked quickly.

Kind of, but also, no.

Very helpful.

I do try. He chuckled softly, and we both looked back to where she stood, watching her breath cloud and dissipate. She’s…entranced in visions, for lack of a better explanation.

I don’t understand. I’ve never seen her do this.

I have, Alec assured, though something foreboding lingered in his voice.

Albeit, only once, Fae amended.

When?

When she read Aren, Alec said. In the beginning.