Chapter 1
“Oftentimes people in our lives, even people we love, don’t seem as relevant, vibrant, or necessary until they are taken away. Only then are our eyes opened to the massive space they actually took up in our lives, and only then do we realize no other shape will fill it.” ~ Gerick
The Draheim realm breathed. Gerick felt it the moment Perizada flashed them in, an awareness that sank into bone and blood alike.
The air was cool and clean, heavy with the scent of pine, stone, and rain-soaked earth.
Towering evergreens stretched skyward along the slopes of the mountains, their roots gripping ancient rock as though the land itself refused to loosen its hold on them.
Mist curled low along the ground, drifting lazily through the forest like a living thing.
This realm was alive. And it noticed any changes to it.
Gerick stood still, boots planted on a bed of moss and stone, his hands relaxed at his sides. He did not reach for magic. He did not push his presence outward. Draheim respected restraint. And there was no reason to piss off a being that could literally eat him.
He noticed Lucian scanning the tree line with a predator’s focus, while Lilly lingered slightly to the side, her magic humming softly beneath her skin.
Her yellow eyes seemed to be taking in the beauty of the realm, while at the same time her shoulders were pulled back and her chin lifted, alert and paying attention.
Perizada stood at Gerick’s shoulder, composed and steady, her expression carefully neutral.
Gerick found himself wishing that he and Myanin’s bond worked the way the wolves' bonds did. To be able to feel each other in such a way. To know with absolute certainty that Myanin lived.
If she hadn’t, he still felt like he would have felt something. Like the severing would have been immediate, violent. Mates always knew when their other half died. Even still, there was a hollow ache that refused to fade.
She was trapped, and Shade was with her.
He felt the rage he’d managed to tamp down begin to rise again.
He trusted his mate, he wasn’t worried about some past love connection between the two.
She belonged to him now. But it was obvious in the interaction between Shade and Myanin that she didn’t want anything to do with him.
Gerick didn't know her history with the djinn male, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good.
And Shade forced his way back into her life.
And now, she was stuck with him until Gerick could figure out a way to get her back.
He was drawn out of his thoughts as the forest quieted.
Birdsong faded. The breeze shifted, curling through the trees in a slow, deliberate sweep.
Even the light mist seemed to draw back, as if the realm itself was holding its breath.
Then the ground vibrated.
A deep, resonant hum rolled through the mountains, ancient and powerful, echoing through stone and root alike. Massive shapes moved beyond the trees, scales glinting faintly through the fog as something vast approached.
Lucian exhaled slowly. “We have incoming.”
Perizada inclined her head. “Serapha.”
The draheim emerged from the forest without urgency, her immense form weaving effortlessly between the towering trees.
Her scales were a pale iridescent white, that shimmered like diamonds.
Wings folded tight against her sides, vast and scarred, each ridge telling a story older than most civilizations.
She stopped at the edge of the clearing, towering over them, her massive head lowering just enough for one bright blue eye to fix on Gerick.
“Well,” Serapha said, her voice resonating through the clearing without effort, deep and edged with dry amusement. “If it isn’t the warlock who never brings good news. It has been a very long time, General.”
Gerick inclined his head. “I’ve only ever brought you news one time, old one. You can hardly say I never bring you good news.”
Peri’s head turned slightly to look at him. “Why? If you’ve only brought her bad news, no matter how few times, then you literally are the bearer who never has brought good news.”
“Thank you, Perizada, for that enlightening observation,” Serapha said, humor and warmth lacing her voice.
Gerick ignored the high fae, because really, what else could you do? “It’s good to see you, Serapha.”
“Liar,” she replied flatly. “I can feel the rage flowing off of you in violent waves. The word ‘good’ shouldn’t even be in any sentence you use.”
“Unless it’s ‘look how good and dead he is,’” Peri muttered.
Serapha’s gaze shifted to her, the harsh edge softening just a fraction.
“Perizada. It’s been a whole, what, two days since I saw you last. You’re just as mouthy as ever.
And, you had a brood of adorable children with you.
If you’re back, then something has gone terribly wrong.
And if something has happened to any of those babes, I will quite possibly burn every realm to the ground to hurt any who have harmed them. ”
“Pipe down, you overgrown lizard,” Peri said, her tone dry. “The kids are all alive and still annoying as hell. And yes, things have gone terribly wrong. But I’m not dead, so there’s that.”
The draheim huffed. “We’re all wondering how you’ve managed to remain not dead for so long. It seems like someone is always trying to kill you.”
Lilly muttered under her breath, “Some things never change.”
“No one asked you, warlock queen,” Peri told the female, though her words were sharp, Gerick knew how deeply Peri cared for Lilly. Their relationship, though not without hiccups, was one born from shared pain, struggles, battles, and loss. Very few things could ever break such a bond.
Serapha ignored her and looked back at Gerick. “Speak. What is it that has you in such a state of anger?”
“Myanin, my mate, is trapped inside the Nushtonia,” Gerick said.
The realm reacted. Not violently, but unmistakably. The air tightened, pressure rolling through the clearing like a distant storm. He heard draheim deeper in the forest rumble and the ground trembled as they shifted their weight, wings rustling faintly.
Serapha’s eyes narrowed. “Inside the book of the dead?”
His hands clenched into fists. “Yes.” The word echoed longer than it should have, as if the forest itself was reluctant to accept it.
Serapha straightened slowly, her wings loosening just enough that the air trembled beneath their weight. The faint glow etched into her scales, or something older that refused a single name, dimmed, then flared again in a slow, controlled pulse.
“The Nushtonia does not trap things,” she said. “It consumes. It binds. And it remembers.” Her gaze sharpened on Gerick. “How and why has this happened? And last I heard, it was in the hands of a lunatic sprite. How does it keep changing hands so fast?”
“It’s a slippery little bastard,” Peri said, her voice tight with anger.
Gerick couldn’t disagree with her. He kept his attention on the draheim before him as he spoke. “Because it was opened without anyone realizing a life force had been kept inside.”
Serapha’s jaw tightened. “Who was this life force?”
Perizada stepped in smoothly before Gerick could answer, her voice steady. “A bound power tied to death. Ancient. Imprisoned by the djinn a very long time ago. Raja.”
Serapha’s eyes flicked to her. “Ruler of the Realm of the Dead?”
Peri nodded. “And no, none of us were expecting that turn of events. Sometimes it honestly feels like the Great Luna hates me, but in reality I know she’s just growing my character.”
“You’d think at some point she’d realize your character is simply stunted to that of a six-year-old,” Lilly offered, a small smirk on her face.
Gerick normally would have found their banter humorous, but at the moment, anything but trying to figure out a way to get Myanin back was simply wasting time.
“You’re not wrong, Warlock Queen,” Serapha agreed. “Now, tell me the rest. And do not leave anything out, Perizada. It seems every time you leave my realm, you cause even more chaos. I might need to trap you here again.”
Lucian crossed his arms, his wolf seeming to press just beneath his skin. “I honestly wouldn’t hate that.”
“Thanks, wolf,” Peri huffed at him. “I’ll remember your words the next time you want to snuggle.”
“No snuggling references in my presence,” Lilly sang. “Just get on with the events of what happened so we can keep my General from going postal.”
Silence followed. Not empty silence, but the kind filled with calculation.
Finally, Peri explained all that had happened in the clearing, starting with Shade opening the book, all the way to Jewel and Dalton dying, Raja’s escape, and Fane’s orders to seek out help from other supernatural beings.
When Peri was done, Serapha had laid down in front of them so that her head was closer to their level, her eyes bouncing from each of them and back again, as if she was measuring each of their emotions and reactions to the retelling of the events.
Serapha turned back to Gerick. “And your mate threw herself into this prison willingly?”
“Yes,” he said. “To save the healer.”
Serapha huffed softly. “ Sometimes I wonder if the healers aren’t the cause of all your problems, Peri. Perhaps the Great Luna really does think your character has some serious flaws. She did make you the ambassador of the gypsy healers, after all.”
There was no real mockery in it. It was more like the draheim’s weariness coming through.
“So, in order for Raja to be free,” Serapha continued, “someone had to take his place. Someone had to keep the balance that the djinn put in place when they trapped him.”
Gerick swallowed. “That’s what I’m afraid of. She will be bound to its will.”
Serapha studied him for a long moment, her massive head tilting just slightly. “You’re holding something back.”
He met her gaze evenly. “Obviously, we were all there when it happened. I heard the words spoken. The rules were twisted, intentionally. The healer was the key, not a sacrifice. When Myanin replaced her . . ” His jaw tightened. “The prison didn’t close the way it was meant to.”
“And this is why Raja was able to escape,” Serapha said slowly.
“Yes.”
The draheim’s tail lashed once, cracking against stone. “Then the damage is already spreading. We have already felt the shift in balance.”
Perizada exhaled quietly. “It is.”
Serapha turned to her fully now, her tone sharpening. “You feel it, too.”
“Yes,” Perizada replied. “I imagine it’s moving across realms. Like rot in the roots. First in the human realm, and now here, in this realm.”
Serapha seemed to be thinking as her gaze drifted away from them, looking off into the distance. After a few minutes, her gaze shifted back to Gerick. “I feel a couple of things radiating off of you. First, there is power not your own.”
Gerick nodded. “I meant no disrespect to your kind, but I have the book in my possession. I will not give it to anyone else, not while my mate is trapped inside.”
Serapha’s large eyes narrowed. “Fair. There is also rage, laced with jealousy thick on your skin like oil. What is it that you are jealous of, warrior?”
“Shade, the djinn warrior who opened the book and a male who has history with my mate, is inside the book with her,” Gerick explained, feeling his ire rise with every word.
He had no reason to be jealous. He trusted his mate completely, but that didn’t stop the possessiveness in him from rearing its ugly head.
Serapha seemed to consider his words. “If he’s inside the Nushtonia with your mate, then the book has two anchors instead of one.”
“I’m guessing, by your tone, that’s a bad thing?” Lilly asked.
The draheim nodded. “It gives the book twice the amount of power.”
“Myanin’s power has been bound,” Peri pointed out. “It shouldn’t be getting anything more from her than a bad attitude and strong addiction to cotton candy.”
Gerick’s heart thudded as he worked through the pieces Peri laid out. “With no power, does that mean it will drain her life force?”
“I’m honestly not sure,” Serapha admitted.
“The Nushtonia is very old and has accumulated a lot of power over the centuries. That alone could have caused the rules it must follow to have changed. Which means you did the right thing coming here. We might be able to contain whatever evil it might be planning, not to mention keep it out of the wrong hands.”
Lucian shifted closer to his mate. “So you’ll help us.”
Serapha looked over all of them, warlock queen, wolf, high fae, and one very stubborn general held together by fury and a bond stretched thin but unbroken.
“If Raja is free,” she said slowly, “then Draheim will not remain neutral.”
The forest seemed to breathe again.
“But,” she continued, “we do not rush blindly into wars we do not yet understand.”
Perizada smiled faintly, her eyes filled with mischief. “I feel like rushing in can be surprising to the enemy and catch them off guard.”
Serapha inclined her massive head. “You will stay. You will tell me everything. And by everything, I mean where the rest of your allies are. Then,” her eyes gleamed dangerously, “we will decide how best to remind the Realm of the Dead that Draheim remembers old debts.”
Gerick exhaled for the first time since arriving. He finally felt, though it was still minute, that they just might have a chance at getting his mate back.