Chapter 36 Coalescence and Consequence
COALESCENCE AND CONSEQUENCE
Iawaken with a start, disoriented. Fear pulses like a second heartbeat before the familiar scent of books and sandalwood ground me.
The house is too quiet. A pressure lingers in the air, thick and suffocating.
Movement in the doorway has adrenaline surging through me as I sit up.
Griffin steps into the room, the glint of a blade over one shoulder. Holden remains at the door, his dark eyes trained on me.
“Did we wake you?” Griffin’s voice is gravelly but soft as silk as he pads toward me, wearing the dark gear I’ve seen him leave for work in.
I search over them both again, needing to confirm they’re whole and uninjured. “Is everyone okay?”
Griffin nods, settling beside me on the couch. “We caught up to the wraith about a hundred miles north of here. It was starting to turn west, so it’s a good thing we went when we did.”
“How did it get that far? It was moving so slowly.”
“Wraiths can blink in and out of existence, almost like a wayfinder,” Holden explains.
“Do you know how it got here?”
They both shake their heads as Holden crosses to his desk.
“Are there more?”
Griffin runs his fingertips across the short scruff covering his chiseled jaw.
“No. For all we know, it might have been wandering for a century and only appeared because it sensed us.” His gaze catches on the book about wraiths that Gwen helped me find, still opened beside me.
He moves to lift it. “Some light bedtime reading?” There’s a playful edge in his voice, but I catch the underlying concern.
“It says they travel in packs.”
He gently closes the heavy tome, setting it on Holden’s desk. “They can’t get near Mysthaven. Daire’s the only one capable of transporting in and out of the house.” He stands and offers me his hand. “You should get some rest.”
I shake my head. “Where’s everyone else?”
Griffin’s expression tightens. “Lochlan and Daire are tracking the wraith’s trail. Ensuring nothing followed it here.”
The trails were also mentioned in the book, a magical signature that attracts other demons and monsters. Gwen hoped it didn’t leave one, mentioning they don’t always.
“How do we get rid of it?”
“We’re not sure,” Holden says. “We’ve never tried.”
A soft knock echoes before the door pushes wider, and Kai steps inside, one hand clamped to the back of his neck, his dark hair mussed. “Did you find her?”
His question invites more doubts than comfort. Did they think I had run? Or were they worried about me?
Griffin stands. “I should check on their progress.” He looks reluctant to leave. I am too, but the words to ask him to stay remain stuck in my throat. “Try to get some rest,” he tells me again, then heads for the door.
Kai tosses a long-sleeved shirt to me. The cool, sleek fabric is instantly recognizable: nullite.
“What’s this for?” I ask.
“The office is small. And if something followed the wraith, one of us might need to cover you,” Kai says.
Holden’s gaze jumps between us. “Explain.”
I’m shocked this revelation hasn’t already been shared. “It prevents an imprint,” I say, my voice as flippant as my mood.
Holden’s gaze cuts to Kai. “You tested it?”
Kai nods once. “During Elemental Mastery, a few weeks ago.”
“And you didn’t think it was relevant?”
“It isn’t relevant,” Kai says, voice flat. “She can’t wear it all the time. It weakens her shields and takes her longer to heal.”
“It weakens my shields?” I ask, annoyed and slightly horrified over the fact.
I’m rarely near Kai anymore in that class or D&C, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t pay attention to him.
Watch for what triggers his dimples to stamp deeper, count how many opponents he takes out of the rings, and sometimes just admire the stacks of muscles that feel like a taunt.
While Griffin is the only one that I unintentionally send my thoughts to, I’m terrified it could happen to others or that Kai may inadvertently read my thoughts while testing said shields.
“Not enough to be an issue in class,” Kai says, stepping forward. “We’ll discuss it later. The others are out there, and it’s a matter of time before something finds that trail, if they haven’t already.”
Panic flares in my chest, recalling the list of creatures attracted to wraith trails. I slip the nullite over my tee without another objection or question, and hastily grab another text on wraiths.
Kai joins me.
“Not that one,” Holden says. “It’s written by the Gods and won’t help us.”
“How do you have it?” I ask.
“That’s not the right question for this moment.” He stands, moving to the shelf on his left, and says a charm. Several books glow red, including the small stack that Gwen helped me find.
Kai helps collect the marked texts and stack them on Holden’s desk.
“These all contain information about wraith trails,” Holden explains. “Let’s get started.”
I’m mesmerized by the spell that I hope to remember to ask about later as we dive into the texts, pausing periodically to discuss a detail or theory.
The texts blur together. I skim pages, searching for keywords, constantly rolling up the nullite sleeves that swallow my fingers.
A soft alarm has Holden cursing.
“How close?” Kai asks.
“About fifty yards from the perimeter.”
“Shit. Maybe we just blaze it all.”
“It won’t get rid of the trail,” Holden counters. “We need to disrupt it and hope that it causes enough internal chaos that it stops being a beacon.”
“What if we flood the area?” Kai suggests. “Maybe it would shift it out to sea.”
Holden winces. “Maybe?”
“They only last for a few days right?” I clarify, trying to recall all that I’ve read in the past six hours.
“But the trail will already be attracting demons,” Kai says, shaking his head. “It will be a war zone, and we won’t be able to hide it.”
“We can’t take the risk,” Holden confirms.
I grip the book. “I know, but what if, instead of trying to get rid of the trail or disrupt it, we hide it?” I tug at the nullite shirt. “Conceal it.”
“How?” Kai asks.
“The wraith’s trail is created out of energy, right?
Gods use an opposing power that neutralizes the trail, canceling its energy.
Balance and all that.” I dismissively wave off the tangent of words that dare to follow.
“What if we can cancel the energy, or mask it, by opposing energies? Water and Fire. Earth and Air, and—” I pause, turning the book to show him the diagram.
“A purification ritual,” Kai says softly, glancing at the page.
“You said Vestras can fuse elements. And since a Vestra is supposed to be the definition of balance…”
Kai runs his fingers through his dark hair. “It might be worth a shot.” He looks at Holden.
“We’re running out of time. If nothing else, we’ll at least need to be out there to fight whatever comes.”
“You should go upstairs,” Kai says.
“The wraith triggered my cindrel. If nothing else, at least I’ll be able to make one hell of a bonfire out there.”
The two exchange a look before Kai sighs. “Griffin and Daire are going to kill us.”
“They’ll have to get in line,” Holden says as another alarm blares.
My heart pounds as I stand, still unsure if they’re going to accept me going, unsure what I’ll do if they don’t.
Holden tosses me a jacket. “Stick close.”
We leave a silent Mysthaven, our pace clipped with urgency. “How will we find the trail?” I ask.
“They’ve already found it,” is all Holden says as we enter the darkened forest.
I trip over a vine, swearing as I stumble. Kai steadies me, and then two small orbs of light appear, one near my feet and another at head level.
“I guess we can rule out shifter,” he says with a pirate smile.
Holden looks at Kai’s hand still wrapped around my arm, and then at Kai’s opposite arm, at the absence of the imprint. “We should have you wear that and start combat training in the mornings.” His tone is unreadable.
“No thanks,” I say, shaking my head as we continue. I’ve seen them practice, and it’s brutal. “I prefer you all being too afraid to touch me.”
Kai drops his hand slowly. Deliberately. “No one’s afraid of touching you,” he says, his voice quiet but charged—not with anger, but conviction.
Holden exhales through his nose. “Watch your step, and don’t get too close to the trees.”
The warning has me shifting closer to Kai. “Why? What’s on the trees?”
“Twining juleps,” Holden says as he continues.
I really need more time in a day because I’ve barely scratched the surface of botany, and too often I’m reminded how many plants here could hurt me.
“What are twining juleps?” I ask Kai.
“They look like vines but are a type of invasive species that derives from another planet. Gwen grows them in this section of the yard for medicinal purposes. They’re nocturnal and grab anything that gets near them.”
I don’t ask why they didn’t contain them in a greenhouse, or what kind of medicinal properties it has, or even what it will do to the beings it grabs. I don’t need more nightmares.
Kai and I walk in tandem, our shoulders brushing until we reach the clearing where the guys stand with their backs to each other.
“What the fuck?” Griffin asks, glaring at Holden and then Kai. “There’s a gooland less than twenty miles from here. What were you thinking bringing her?”
“No one brought me,” I say, surprised by the sharpness of my own voice.
Griffin’s expression falters. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
“He’s right,” Daire says, stepping forward, his broad shoulders raised. “It’s not safe out here.”
Before I can respond, Lochlan stalks forward, grabbing Kai’s arm and flipping it over.
“Apparently nullite suppresses the imprint,” Holden says flatly.
Lochlan’s curse is so soft it could be confused for an exhale. “Tell me you guys have a plan.”
“We have breadcrumbs of a plan,” Holden admits. “Did you guys find the start of the trail?”
Daire nods. “At the coast, as expected.”
Holden nods, but his jaw tightens, proving that despite it being anticipated, he doesn’t like it. “Let’s see how far we can reach.”