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Excerpt
“Come here, tiger, and learn your fate,” Creighton mumbled to
himself. “You’ve been tasked with defending the Supers,” he
continued. He knew his job. He’d been defending his friends as long
as he could remember. But meeting with the Sources? He wasn’t sure
what they wanted. The Sources, the oldest beings in the universe,
had called on him. When the Sources summoned a Super, he or she was
to drop everything and show up. He or she would learn their fate and
accept what the Sources planned. As far as he was concerned, he knew
his fate—protecting his human, Vanessa, from the rogue Hunters.
He stared at the rock walls of the cave of the Sources. Who lived in
such a rustic place? Sure, he was a tiger and the animal preferred
the outside, but bland black and gray walls with no illumination?
Come on. He needed a way to see where he was going,
energy...something not here. His shoes clunked on the hard packed
earth as he strode to the bit of brightness at the end of the cave.
He noticed shadows moving in the faint glow. The Sources? He’d found
them? Cool.
The words, I’m here, lingered on his tongue. Shouting to the ancient
beings wasn’t bright. He’d wait for them to address him. The closer
he got to the light, the slower he moved. A feeling of dread washed
over him. This wasn’t going to be some nice, happy meeting. Nope.
His tiger groaned. This wasn’t going to be pleasant at all.
“Come closer,” the Leader said. He leaned forward enough for
Creighton to see his scraggly white beard, but not his face. The
hood obscured the Leader’s face. The being pointed a long, bony
finger at Creighton. “Do you know why you are here?"
“I’m here to learn my fate and to thank you for summoning me.”
Creighton suppressed a smile. Never let it be said he had no
manners. “I’m Defending the Supers, like you’ve asked.” He wondered
what exactly the Leader was sitting on. Air? A rock chair? He
couldn’t tell. Not knowing added to his growing alarm. Would they
whisk him away to fight another part of the war and force him to
leave his friends? Crazy thoughts, but then again, he wasn’t sure
what to expect.
“You’re a cocky tiger.” The Leader turned over his palm. A flash of
light emulated from the center of his hand. “You have been called
upon because of the war. It has grown much worse than anticipated
and is out of control. You need to be doing more than simply
defending.”
Creighton nodded and tuned his thoughts to fight mode. “We cannot
tell the rogue Hunters from the main group. The Defenders are trying
their best, but without information, we feel we’re all working
blind.”
“You are,” another Source said. This one sounded female. “The
supernatural races depend on you.”
“Wait.” Creighton disobeyed the cardinal rule of the Sources and
stepped closer to the ancient beings. “Me? Our merry band of misfits
is a solid unit. You can’t mean that I am the only one who can stop
this. You just told Kynan he was the one to end the war. This cannot
wholly be on my head.” Good Goddess, he understood tactical
maneuvers and reconnaissance, but playing with emotions and
understanding the enemy weren’t his strong points.
The Source cackled. “You will grow in numbers.”
“Great.” He liked the sound of the group getting larger. Maybe
they’d find some more vampires and a couple more shifters to balance
them out. Or they’d be given the opportunity to have children. He
wanted to make lots of children with Vanessa. “We can use all the
help we can get, but you said to grow in numbers. Is having children
right now a good idea?”
“Not so fast, tiger. Do you enjoy being in your human form?”
“Yes, very much.” But he didn’t like the tone change in the Sources.
“Why?” More of his surroundings came into view. Black and brown
streaked on the walls along with something else—figures. He tipped
his head. He should’ve been listening, but the images grabbed his
attention. Some of the folk art type figures looked like animals.
“To keep the human form from being locked away forever, you must
find your mate. It is time you accepted that part of your fate as
well,” the Source said, pulling his attention back to the situation.
“I believe I’ve found her.” Now they were getting somewhere. He’d
known all along his fate lay with Vanessa and that she was his true
mate. He thought about her in his dreams. Even if she turned him
down, he knew where his heart belonged—with his Pasha, Vanessa.
“You believe? Tiger, there is much more to finding a mate besides
belief.” |
