And then she walked into the one place he thought of as a sanctuary during his travels. He loved bookstores. Everywhere he went, he’d always made sure to visit at least one. The second he heard her voice he contemplated running out the back. Instead, he stood his ground. This invisible force may be connecting them, but he wouldn’t allow her to run him out of the one place he could relax. He choked on a laugh, remembering Selena’s expression when he called her out. Her face turned such a deep shade of red he thought her head would explode. And he’d wanted to touch her again.
He stared at his hand, opening and closing his fingers. Then he sent his life force to his fingertips until blue sparks flew out. The same energy that created the biting aura Rainer used on him at the airport. Almost immediately, he felt the drain on his system.
As a child, the first thing he’d learned was how to harness his life force. Other cultures called it chi. Being born in the Illumenari allowed someone to connect his or her energy with that of nature’s. Technically, they were all still human, but with better upgrades. At least that was how he’d like to think about it. As an Arbiter, he could only rely on his body’s energy and the energy he could take in from within a ten-meter radius. Rainer, being Legacy—the second most powerful class—could absorb energy from anything within twenty miles.
He considered the charge touching Selena caused as his energy probably reacting to hers as a human. Illumenari were forbidden to drain humans. Maybe his demotion short-circuited his system somehow, and every time he touched her a reaction happened. She could be a livewire of some sort. It had been known to happen, at least from what he’d read during his training.
This reasoning calmed him. Maybe he didn’t have to avoid her. He wanted to test the theory. Touching her again quickened his heartbeat. Staring beyond the large men tackling each other on the screen, he imagined Selena’s flushed face. The way her eyebrows came together and the corners of her lips turned down. A light sweat rose on his fingertips. At the farmhouse, he’d only touched her arms when he lifted her away from him. The skin there was so soft. So smooth. He could just imagine how much softer her cheeks were. And her lips…
What the hell was going on?
He rubbed his face hard. Selena Fallon spelled trouble. And something told him no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn’t be able to avoid her. The second thing they taught an Illumenari child was to accept the inevitable. Accept that Supernaturals were a part of the world. Accept that there were things they couldn’t explain. Embrace the unknown. How could he go against years of training?
“That’s more like it,” Rainer said from somewhere.
He pushed up and glared at his uncle over the back of the couch. “Just because I’m watching TV doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. Quit dicking around, and tell me about the case already.”
His warden approached. “For weeks, dogs have been disappearing around town.”
“Dogs?” That was unexpected, almost as much as Rainer doing something he’d asked.
“It might not even mean anything.”
“You wouldn’t have mentioned it if it didn’t.” He pressed mute on the universal remote. “If you think something’s up, then I’ll look into it.”
“I’m not so sure anymore. Letting you run around Newcastle might be a bad idea.”
Closing a fist around a pillow, he chucked it at his uncle. “Don’t be a tease.”
Without blinking, Rainer caught the pillow and hit him with it. The air in his lungs exploded like he’d slammed into a brick wall. Fuck. The Boogeyman was back, and he’d fused his considerable energy with the pillow, actually transforming it into a weapon. One of the reasons why many Illumenari were content to reach Legacy level. That kind of power? The ability to turn anything into a weapon was enough for most. He curled into a tight ball to minimize the pain and muffle the groan. Each inhale burned. He should have known better than to attack Rainer. Even as a joke it was potentially fatal.
When he could speak again, he said, “I really should call Child Protective Services on you. My banishment didn’t include summary beating, you know.”
His uncle didn’t even bat an eyelash.
A couple more pained breaths later, Dillan’s lungs worked again. “As much as I like to bum around, let me start tracking.” He sat up. No one in the Illumenari could stay idle for long. It was always on to the next mission. He had lived a hard life for far too long to relax now. “I’ll even do it in my spare time, after school and homework.”
Rainer considered him for the longest time. He kept his mouth shut. He’d already made up his mind. Even if his uncle said no, he’d go out tonight. Besides tracking, he had to find his partner. It worried him that he hadn’t heard from Sebastian since arriving in Newcastle. It was unusual for the hellhound to be incommunicado.
The silence between them reached an uncomfortable level. Rainer did it on purpose. Upper hand shit and all that. Dillan stayed still, waiting for his uncle’s next move. The first to flinch always lost.
“You sure you can handle this case?” he eventually asked, pulling out his cellphone from his back pocket.
“It’s missing dogs, Rainer.”
“Alright.” He tapped the touchscreen and grinned. “Then I need to introduce you to a couple of people first.”
Unsure what his uncle was up to, Dillan leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. “This is ridiculous. Why don’t you just let me go?”
“Indulge me.”
“Why would I do that?”
“You know…just so you don’t get killed. Isn’t that right, gentlemen?” He spoke the question into the phone.
At the murmurs of agreement, he sat up straight. Two voices jumped out at him. One a deep baritone, the other gruff.
“Seriously? You have them on speaker?” He scratched an eyebrow. “Is this a test? Does the Council know?”
“This one is off the books.” Rainer folded his arms over his chest.
“In short, the Council doesn’t know.”
The gruff voice laughed. “You have quite a handful there, Rainer.”
His uncle snorted. “Believe me…I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve wanted to stab him in his sleep.”
Both men chortled. Dillan bit back the curse at his throat. If this little charade allowed him to actually work, then he’d play along. Not exactly a mission by Illumenari standards, looking for missing dogs, but he’d take what he could get.
“Can we move this along?” he asked, successfully keeping his sarcasm at a minimum.
“Right.” Rainer got serious. The phone line went silent. “Gentlemen, it’s my pleasure to introduce Dillan Sloan. I believe you have the files I’ve sent you.”
“What files?” He glared.
His uncle kept talking. “He’ll be helping with our disappearances.”
“What files, Rainer?”
“Good to have you here,” said baritone. Dillan assumed he’d meant him. “We’ll get the word out that someone’s investigating.”
He frowned, still shocked his uncle had a dossier on him and was disseminating it to strangers. Were the men he spoke to Illumenari? He felt compelled to test the waters.
“Why the cloak and dagger shit?”
Rainer was about to respond when the owner of the gruff voice beat him to it, “It’s better this way, son. We’re very proud of the privacy we’ve achieved here at Newcastle. Let’s not put a wrench in it, shall we?”