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As Celine sank into exhausted sleep, her thoughts were on what she would do when she was better.

She’d already agreed to join the shifter soldiers for a workout in the mornings before she had to be at work in the kitchen, but she had even more on her mind than just physical training.

She wanted to learn about how soldiers worked together in the field.

She wasn’t sure any of the shifter troops would have the time, or even the patience, to explain things to her, but she had a feeling she knew who might.

Zeke might just be willing to teach her a few things, and it was a really good excuse to spend time with him.

She wasn’t sure what her grandfather might think if Zeke agreed, but then again, her personal time was hers to do with as she pleased.

And what pleased her right now was to spend time with Zeke—if he wanted to do the same.

Once she was feeling better, she’d scrounge up the courage and ask him.

After the way he’d been with her recently, she had a sneaking suspicion that he’d say yes.

That delicious thought in mind, she fell asleep to dream of the tall, handsome, strong soldier who had quite literally saved her life.

*

“Good work out there today.” Captain Haliwell slapped a folder on the conference table as he entered the room where they were going to discuss the morning’s mission to Celine’s house.

Zeke had showered and changed into a clean uniform after leaving Celine in her grandfather’s care, and had reported, as ordered, to discuss the events of the morning.

He had a lot on his mind and really wanted to talk to Lynn about the magical stuff he’d encountered.

She was already sitting at the table, next to Rick.

They’d been talking quietly when Zeke had entered the room a moment ago, and he’d merely nodded to them both before taking his seat.

Now that the captain had arrived, the debrief could get underway.

Zeke was looking forward to it. He wanted to learn all he could about what he’d found when he’d touched that lamp.

He didn’t want to be taken by surprise like that ever again.

“Thank you, sir,” Zeke said in response to Hal’s complimentary greeting as the captain waved him back to his seat.

“Now, how about we go through exactly what happened, step by step?” Hal suggested, a pad and pen in front of him should he wish to take notes.

Zeke walked them through what he’d done and what he’d seen in greater detail than he’d been able to do in the field.

For one thing, he didn’t have to censor his words so as not to hurt Celine by exposing exactly how brutal the attack on her parents had been.

He laid it all out in detail as he’d seen it through the echoes of time that came to him when he’d touched various objects in the place.

Rick was interested in the strength and effect of the touch and the objects, trying to get a better grip on Zeke’s talent.

Lynn was focused on the mage and the magic that might’ve been used in the attack.

Hal was taking a big picture approach, wanting to know the overall landscape of what Zeke could do and how it could benefit the unit in the future, and also how it could help in the ongoing investigation led by the shifters on the island.

Hal, Zeke knew, wanted to prove to the shifters that the human soldiers could contribute and make a difference, even if they didn’t share their souls with an animal spirit.

Apparently, Zeke’s little ability was helping in that direction, which was kind of shocking.

Zeke would’ve thought one of the other guys—with a more obviously beneficial ability—would have been of more assistance to the shifters.

Wil’s ability to control the weather was an obvious thing.

He could direct storms wherever he wanted them to go, which seemed pretty damned useful to Zeke.

But somehow, Zeke’s little parlor trick of being able to read objects, had come in handier.

At least for right now. He was glad to be of service.

He just wished—as he had so many times before—that he had a bigger, badder superpower to contribute.

Shrugging inwardly, Zeke went on with his chronological account of everything he’d encountered on the mainland. He was up to his time spent among the trees and was trying to explain how it felt to read a tree when Lynn made an interesting contribution.

“Granny knows some dryads, I think. I’ll give her a call and see if we can get one of them to speak with us more about trees and how they see the world.

What you’re describing, Zeke, sounds a bit like what they do, only I think you’re connecting with the tree as an object in the landscape, not a living creature of the forest,” Lynn said, making notes on the paper in front of her.

“Dryads? We’re talking about wood nymphs? People who can communicate with trees? I thought they were mythological,” Hal put in.

“As with most myths, there is a kernel of truth in the old stories. After all, selkies are the stuff of Celtic legend, yet we have a number of them living here on this island. Who’s to say that dryads don’t exist in the real world?

I know, for a fact, that they do. As do water sprites, zephyrs, and other elemental powers.

Dryads communicate with growing things. Trees and plants, mostly.

I’ve never spoken with one myself, but Granny has a pretty extensive network and knows they’ve been making a resurgence in recent days.

I’ll ask her to help us get in touch, if possible.

I think it would help define your abilities, Zeke, if we could compare how you read trees and plants with a dryad’s experience of the same kinds of things.

But it’s not an urgent need. Just something to add to the evaluation process as we discover more about your gift,” Lynn concluded.

Zeke went on with his report, explaining the rest of the action until he got to the lamp. That fucking lamp. It had zapped him and beguiled him as well. He’d felt it pull him in, and it had nearly trapped him…somehow.

“There was some kind of magical spell, or something, on the lamp,” Zeke told them, settling his gaze on Lynn. She didn’t disappoint.

“It was a sentinel of some kind,” she said, the word sounding right, though strange to Zeke’s ears.

“Sentinel?” Rick asked, picking up on the word. Lynn turned to him and began to explain.

“It’s a kind of spell some mages can set that turns an inanimate object into a sort of spy device.

How it works and how strong it is depends on the mage who sets the sentinel spell.

We already can surmise that the mage who murdered two adult shifters in their own home has got to be pretty powerful and that she dabbles in blood magic, dark magic, and the like.

To put it succinctly—evil. I think the lamp was a sentinel, set by the mage to alert her if anybody returned to the house,” Lynn concluded.

“It did more than that. Somehow…I connected with her through it. Very briefly, but it was enough to scare the bejeezus out of me,” Zeke told them all.

“Seriously?” Rick was clearly surprised by Zeke’s claim, his eyes wide and tone shocked.

“What do you mean, you connected ?” Hal asked more slowly.

“She saw me,” Zeke replied immediately. “And I saw her.”