Chapter Fourteen
~Kalo~
Vaughan dismissed everyone with instructions to gather information, but none of us immediately moved.
Felix and Calista were already whispering rapidly to one another, ideas sparking between them, while Darius looked grim, no doubt wondering how to protect the pack’s territory from a threat he couldn’t see.
Leo kept hold of my hand until everyone began pushing their chairs back, and even then, I could sense his reluctance as he released me.
As much as I didn’t like the revelation that a reaper was apparently after my soul, Leo seemed to be taking it even harder.
As we all rose, Felix turned towards Vaughan.
“Alpha, with your permission, I’d like to run some tests on Kalo.
Nothing invasive,” he added quickly when Leo bristled beside me.
“But I’m curious to know whether he retained some magical sensitivity from his time as a genie. That might give us a lead.”
Calista nodded, her expression equally earnest. “We aren’t going to outmuscle or outrun a reaper. Our only chance is to understand how it operates, and for that, it would be useful to know whether Kalo can see it simply because it’s after him, or if his magic past plays any role.”
Vaughan considered that for a moment, his gaze sliding to me as he thought it over, and I stood a little straighter beneath the weight of it.
“You’re not obligated to take part,” the Alpha finally said, his tone measured. “If you’re uncomfortable with testing, we’ll find another approach.”
I shook my head before he could talk himself out of it. “If this creature is hunting me, or anyone on this land for that matter, I want to know everything that can help. Tell me what you need me to do.”
Felix’s face lit up. “Perfect. We have a few things set up in a room upstairs.”
Leo frowned at him. “You already have it set up? How?”
Felix had the decency to look a little sheepish.
“We were curious about any lingering abilities Kalo might have even before the reaper’s appearance.
We were hoping to broach the subject a little more gracefully, but given the developments, it seems we might as well go ahead now.
”Leo shot him a look of mild exasperation, and a warm flicker of something unfamiliar stirred in my chest. I could actually feel his protectiveness; not just see it in the way he shifted closer to me, but almost sense it inside me, a soft pressure in my chest that wasn’t entirely mine.
Another side effect of the mate bond, perhaps?
“Is this necessary right now?” Leo asked, addressing both Felix and Vaughan but watching me from the corner of his eye. “He’s barely had a chance to get settled.”
“I can do it,” I interjected. “I’d rather do something than just sit and wait.”
The man at my side searched my face, his blue eyes sweeping over me with quiet intensity, looking for strain or hesitation. When he found none, he exhaled softly. “Fine. I’m going with you, then. Like Vaughan said, we should stick together.”
I had a feeling he would have insisted on coming whether or not the Alpha had suggested it, but I didn’t bother to point that out.
With that, the group dispersed. Darius left first, presumably to return to his patrols, Vaughan picked up his phone to touch base with his contact, and Felix and Calista strode eagerly into the hall, inviting us to follow.
Leo fell into step beside me, close enough that if my hand drifted even an inch, it would brush his.
I could almost feel the charge between us, knowing that if our skin connected, that pleasant, tingling spark would start up again.
It was probably stronger for him, as everything about our connection seemed to be, but I couldn’t deny that I found it intriguing.
Outside a narrow door on the second floor, Felix came to a halt, entering a code into a keypad before throwing open the door, switching on the light, and inviting us inside.
When he’d mentioned ‘tests’, I’d pictured something like a laboratory or doctor’s office, but what greeted me inside looked closer to a study.
Shelves of faded books sat above a desk with a computer, a few jars of herbs and a handful of antique-looking items. In the centre of the room stood a small table with two chairs.
Leo frowned as he took it all in. “Where did all of this come from?”
“Most of it’s mine,” Calista explained. “Relics of my hunter life, though Felix has been adding to it as well. With all the supernatural species we’ve been encountering lately, it seemed prudent to start cataloguing things properly.”
Leo made a noise that might be agreement, but could be disapproval too.
Apparently, he didn’t like anything going on in the pack house without his knowledge.
Calista turned her attention to me. “We’ll keep this simple at first. Let’s see whether you can detect magical residue the way you detected the reaper. ”
“I didn’t ‘detect’ it,” I corrected. “I simply saw it.”
Felix flashed me a grin. “Seeing something that’s invisible to everyone else is a form of detection, technically speaking.”
“This will help us figure out if it’s a one-off,” Calista assured me. “If there’s a chance you retained any magical sensitivity from your time as a genie, it could help us.”
From the desk, she pulled out three small wooden boxes. Each one was different in size and shape, but none gave any indication of what might be inside.
Calista placed all three boxes on the table in the middle of the room and took a step back. “One of these contains a magically charged object. The other two don’t. Let’s see if you can tell the difference.”
“Take a seat,” Leo encouraged, his hand brushing against the back of my shirt.
Pulling out one of the chairs at the table, I sat down in front of the items, unsure about exactly how to proceed. Should I touch them? Simply stare at them? What was I even looking for?
Thousands of years of magic, thousands of wishes I’d granted, and I was no wiser about any of it than when I’d been a lovesick, trusting human man.
A minute ticked by, and another, but just as I opened my mouth to say I felt nothing, a vibration stirred under my skin.
Nothing strong or loud, but a subtle hum against the bone, like the vanishing flash of a half-forgotten memory.
My eyes drifted to the leftmost box, and I reached out to touch it out of instinct. The humming grew incrementally stronger, and I tapped my finger on top of it.
“This one. I think.”
Felix’s eyebrows shot up with no small amount of satisfaction. “That’s right.”
My hand dropped and the humming dimmed again, though it didn’t completely disappear as an uneasiness settled deep in my stomach. “Why do I still feel it? I’m not a genie anymore.”
“Maybe not, but magic leaves marks,” Calista told me. “It alters anyone who comes into contact with it, and you lived with it for thousands of years. It would make sense if something stayed behind.”
Felix nodded eagerly. “Let’s try something else.”
He stepped over to the shelves and pulled some kind of crystal out from next to one of the books. Returning to the table, he offered it to me.
Without thinking, I took the item from him, and immediately, the world tilted around me. A rush of something cold and sad and ancient brushed along my spine, and I dropped the crystal with a gasp. It clattered onto the table as Leo stepped forward.
“Are you alright?”
I forced a breath, shivering to rid myself of the eerie sensation. “I’m okay. I just felt… something.”
“Can you describe it?” Calista asked.
Reluctantly, I did my best to analyze the feeling, and soon, I found a familiar parallel with my own past. “It felt like grief. Old grief. An echo of it, sort of.”
Felix and Calista nodded at each other while Leo’s lips pressed together. “What does that mean? What is it?”
“It’s linked to a banshee,” Calista explained. “It heralds death.”
Similar to a reaper, then. Death surrounded me, apparently.
Oblivious to my unease, Felix pressed forward. “Okay. If Kalo can sense magical residue, maybe we can use that to track the reaper’s movements. If it left a trail…”
“It didn’t,” I said automatically, though no one had asked me. Three curious faces turned towards me, so I did my best to elaborate. “I mean, I didn’t notice one. I only saw the reaper itself, not a trail before or after it appeared.”
Leo’s hand brushed my shoulder in a silent question, and I shook my head slightly, hoping he’d understand my response.
“I think that’s enough for today,” he said firmly to the others, and I let out a soft, exhaled breath of relief. “Calista, you were going to check your records for more information, weren’t you?”
“I am,” she confirmed. “If I find anything useful, I’ll let you know.”
“I’d like to see if Kalo can see Evalina’s mother,” Felix suggested, but when Leo shook his head, he relented. “It can wait until tomorrow, though.”
The Beta and Luna both stepped back from the table, and I appreciated the way they deferred to Leo even though they outranked him. He obviously had their trust and respect, strengthening what I’d already begun to learn about his character.
“Let’s go back to your room,” Leo murmured to me, and I nodded in acceptance, suddenly feeling much more tired than I had before. Maybe detecting the magic had drained my energy, or maybe the weight of everything else was finally catching up with me.
As we walked down the hall, a strange sensation brushed the back of my neck, like the ghost of fingers tracing my skin. I froze, glancing back over my shoulder.
There was nothing there, nothing but the whisper of a shadow from a half-remembered dream.
You’ll never be free.