Page 16 of Brave Spirit (Bound Spirit #6)

“I don’t know,” I answer, not considering the possibility until now.

It would explain why the goddess would need me to find them.

“If they are bound, then I should be able to help them. Hopefully it will have less volatile results than when mine broke. The goddess only mentioned that they would need to bleed onto their family arcane focus.” I pull out the pale blue stone hanging on a chain from under my shirt.

The front is covered in small hairline fractures, while the back has a stylized wolf carved into it. “Each main bloodline has one of these.”

“Since you’ve met your Lyncas grandmother, talking with her may be a good place to start your search,” Kaleb suggests, putting his squished sandwich on top of his paper lunch bag. “If the potentials are anything like you, I imagine their unique abilities would put them on a matriarch’s radar.”

“About that…” I focus on the careful removal of the rest of the crust, unable to meet anyone’s gaze. “Turns out I’m the high priestess for both the Volkov and Lyncas bloodlines. That’s why I was chosen.”

Kaleb’s voice is full of scholarly curiosity when he asks, “Does that mean if you acquire the Lyncas arcane focus, unlocking it will make you more powerful?”

Nolan looks at Kaleb, his expression shifting to one of exasperation. “She brought Felix back from the dead, saved me from a soul sucking curse, and cut two witches off from their magic. How much more powerful does she need to be?”

“According to Mischief, I’ve only scratched the surface of what I’m capable of,” I admit, once again feeling overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of what I am and what my future requires of me.

Nolan gets up, hops over the center of our oblong circle, and sits down, squeezing in between Mei and Connor.

He steals one of my hands from their very important fidgeting duties.

“Listen, my love. I don’t fear who you are or what you’re capable of accomplishing with your magic.

Not anymore. I’m worried that the more powerful you become, the less control you’ll have over your own life.

” He rubs his thumb along the back of my hand.

“Just because you’re capable of doing what the goddess asks, doesn’t mean you have to. Your future is for you to choose.”

“If I don’t find and help them, then they are as vulnerable as I was before all of this.

” I squeeze his hand as I gaze up at him with an appreciative smile.

“As much as I want to choose a quiet future, if I have the power to protect those who can’t protect themselves and do nothing, then I’m just as bad, goddess or not.

These potentials are spirit witches. They are in danger from the council.

With my help, they’ll have a fighting chance against them. ”

Nolan sighs and kisses the back of my hand. “I wish it wasn’t you. You’ve been through so much, and this will only put a bigger target on your back. If the council finds out what you’re up to…”

“I’m toast,” I finish, a grim frown pulling at the edges of my mouth, “but even if I don’t do anything, too many people witnessed what I really am.

Yeah, they all promised to keep it a secret, but the council will eventually start sniffing around when my grandmother returns to the witching world sans granddaughter.

I doubt Neva or Gina will have any qualms about reporting on me, assuming they haven’t already. ”

“Even if they tried, I imagine a disgraced coven leader and her daughter don’t have much clout to get through the bureaucracy to speak to anyone important,” Mei chimes in, shifting closer to Rand to give Nolan a little more space.

“My point still stands,” I argue, leaning back into Connor’s chest. “I’m on borrowed time. I should use it to help the potentials if for no other reason than we’ll be stronger together.”

Donovan clears his throat and runs a hand through his thick hair. “Speaking of futures that we can’t escape… I’ve been tapped to start my demon fighting career early.”

“What?” I screech, causing both Connor and Nolan to wince.

“What happened with the two undead vampires last October got back to the Concilium. At the nephilim retreat, it was decided that my skills were being wasted by going to human school.” He crosses one arm over his chest and grips his shoulder, as if he still feels the pain of his broken wing from that night.

“They settled on allowing me to stay for now, but I’m responsible for any demon activity in the area. ”

Nolan rubs his brow with his free hand, the other still securely wrapped around mine. “Well, as long as it doesn’t get out to more demons that you’re the last Morningstar, I doubt any of them would have any interest in Twin Cedar Pass.”

It’s clear the memories of that night wash over us all.

While I was taking out the previous alpha, Donovan was decapitating Nolan’s demon possessed sister, Letti, to keep her from murdering Nolan, and Kaleb was fighting her equally terrifying companion.

My gaze touches on each of my guys, thinking about how much two demons marked them.

Donovan still sees visions of Letti’s ghost, while Kaleb doesn’t talk at all about what happened, but sometimes I catch him staring at his hands as if they are stained in blood.

Felix and his family were murdered simply because it would affect Nolan and Donovan.

Connor feels guilty because he didn’t somehow save them, even though he had no way of knowing the Jacobs were even in danger.

Nolan has so many invisible wounds that are still healing, leaving me unsure how that night’s events measure on the scale of all he’s suffered.

If that amount of destruction can occur with two demons who had a very specific vendetta, then I fear what would happen if it got out that Donovan is right here in easy reach.

He wouldn’t be alone in his battle, but the casualties could be massive before all the demons were stopped.

The thought alone pushes me to want to get better at my magic.

My ancestors protected continents. I, at the very least, should be capable of protecting a small town from a possible demon invasion.

Felix finishes all of his food like he’s a bottomless pit and then guzzles his drink until it’s empty.

“You okay?” I ask, worried as he drops the bottle to the ground.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” he answers, rubbing the back of his neck—a clear sign he isn’t fine.

I send a pointed look toward his neck and then up into his nervous eyes. It doesn’t take long for him to break.

“Okay, okay—yeesh, that look could get a spy to spill their guts.” His gaze shifts to Nolan and then back to me.

“So… I, uh, don’t know when it would be a good time to bring this up, but since you all just talked about a bunch of stuff in front of me that if the wrong people knew, all my memories would definitely be wiped, now is probably a good time to, uh, bring it up. ”

“Which is?” I make a circular motion with my hand to encourage him to continue.

He holds his hands up, his palms facing me. “Just hear me out, okay? It’s a simple solution to the whole I’m human and therefore forever in danger of losing all my memories issue.” He gasps a little at the end, talking so fast that he forgot to breathe.

“Spit it out,” Donovan grumbles, dropping his hand from his shoulder so he can cross his arms over his chest.

As Felix stumbles over his words, Nolan sighs and then simply states, “He wants to be made into my thrall.”

“That.” Felix points with one hand while touching a finger to his nose with the other hand.

I blink at them for a stunned moment, my mind stuttering over what I know about thralls and then applying that to Felix. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I’ve thought about it a lot, and it solves a bunch of problems. I’d be supernatural adjacent enough that my memories would be free and clear.

No more lying, which you know I’m bad at, and no more having to figure out where to stash the human when you all have important supernatural stuff to do.

” He rubs the back of his neck again while looking at me with pleading eyes.

“And I wouldn’t be anyone’s thrall. I’d be Nolan’s thrall, and we already hashed out what that would be like. ”

Compassion and understanding cross Kaleb’s features. “Felix’s fears are certainly not unfounded, especially with the increased attention we’re all getting. Are you sure this is what you want?”

Felix nods his head, clearly relieved that Kaleb isn’t fighting the idea. “Nolan walked me through all the terms and conditions. I know what I’m getting myself into, and it’s worth it to me so I can stay with all of you and make sure I never forget you.”

“If it’s what you want, then I support you,” Kaleb states, which is odd for him, considering he is usually very big on examining all potential issues before endorsing one of our crazy plans.

Donovan raises one of his heavy brows. “How exactly do you all plan to get the coven to agree to Nolan taking a thrall? Especially after all they went through to cure him, making it possible for him to drink bagged blood again.”

“My grandmother should be able to provide medical justification. She believes all vampires should consume fresh blood when possible. However, convincing Mildred to allow it…” Nolan drops a weighted gaze onto me.

“You want me to convince my nan to allow ‘James’” — I finger quote with my free hand— “to be made into a thrall because your grandmother says so?”

Felix’s eyes turn sad puppy round, and he puts his hands together. “Please.”

Usually, the sad puppy eyes don’t work on me—I have more than enough experience with the wolf version—but on Felix, it’s impossible.

I have a hard time denying him anything, especially since I’m heavily responsible for him being in this predicament in the first place.

“Fine, I’ll do my best to convince her.” I point at Nolan.

“Get me something good to help my case, because ‘his grandmother said so’ probably isn’t going to fly on its own. ”

He nods, while Felix shoots his arms into the air. “Yes!”

While my thoughts migrate to how I’m even going to broach the subject with my nan, with an amused grin, Mei comments, “Lunch is always interesting with you guys. I used to read books alone while I ate. Now, I have my own soap opera playing every day. The Young and the Restless have nothing on you all.”

She absently trades Rand a mochi for another cookie.

He excitedly bites into the rice candy, clearly pleased with the exchange of food.

If she isn’t careful, she’s going to end up with a smitten wolf dropping off a freshly hunted deer on her doorstep so her parents will know what a good provider he’ll be.

I’ve seen the offerings while on pack land and made sure Connor was very aware that Mildred wouldn’t appreciate any dead animals on her doorstep.

I release Nolan so I can bury my head in my hands. To think, I was expecting calculus to be the most challenging part of my day today. Speaking of… “You two are doing all my homework for the next two weeks.”

Felix and Nolan agree without argument. They are both scared of Mildred, and my homework is far less terrifying than the huge task they just dropped in my lap.