Page 40 of Grave Beginnings

“I’m not here officially,” I said. “I just wanted to check on my brother.”

Voices passed us in the hall, my mother’s briefly as she was ushered past the door, but I couldn’t see beyond the man to know if they were cops, a unit of SED, or someone else. Ivan cowered behind me, pressing himself to my back.

“It’s rare to have variant siblings. Especially cross variant.”

“I’ve been told I’m all kinds of rare,” I said. Who was thisguy? “I don’t even know why the cops are here. Ivan’s tiny in his shifted form. Harmless.”

“Is that so?” The man asked. He raised a silver brow, and Ivan latched his tiny teeth into the back of my arm, making me grunt. “Harmless?”

Ivan growled, and I wanted to scoop him up and comfort him.

“Look, Mr…” I said, not even knowing where to start with this guy.

“Call me Xavier,” he said. “I run a rescue, if you will.” He pulled a card out of his pocket and held it out to me. “A variant rescue. Shifters, for the most part.”

“You can’t have him,” I said, refusing the card. “My folks kicked me out decades ago, and they don’t want him now? Why? ‘Cause he’s variant? I’ll take him home with me. Keep him safe.”

“Can you, though?” Xavier asked. He tucked the card away.

Was that a challenge?

“What do you know about shifters?” he asked. “A necromancer is not the best place for a shifter to find refuge.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Ivan is my brother. I’ll figure it out.”

“And what if he needs to be kept safe from you?”

I leapt to my feet, rage making me stupid as I faced him and realized he towered a foot over me, but I wasn’t going to back down. “Everyone says shifters hate necromancers. I didn’t pick this, and I don’t think he did either. I don’t know what happened in the past between shifters and us, or about whatever the other people with my power did. I don’t even know what the fuck my power is. But I will take care of Ivan.”Like no one was willing to take care of me, I finished without actually saying the words.

Xavier sighed and held the card out again. “Take it,” he commanded.

I growled—though it sounded even less threatening than tiny Ivan’s little growls—and snapped the card out of his hand, stuffing it into my pocket.

“They won’t let him out of here without an escort,” Xaviersaid. He put his hand to his chest. “I will take the two of you home.” He stood up straight and took a step back, to ease out of the doorway.

I stared at him a moment longer, only catching a momentary blur as Ivan launched himself at the man, leaping off the ground and propelling himself with an added boost off my shoulder toward the man’s face. Xavier caught him, holding him by the scruff of his neck. Ivan hissed and swiped, lashing out but unable to strike.

“Yes, kitten,” Xavier said. “I hear your woes. You have two choices. Go with your brother, or me. That’s it.”

Ivan stilled, huge eyes glaring at Xavier.

“My, what sharp claws you have.” He stared at Ivan, expression neutral as the cat caught a claw in his forearm and left a bloody trail. He sighed, and Ivan licked the blood, then stilled. Xavier nodded slightly and held Ivan toward me. I opened my arms, expecting to receive a flailing cat with snarling claws. But Ivan dropped into my arms and crawled up to wrap himself around my neck, nose tucked beneath my chin, breathing hard and shivering. What the fuck was this guy?

Xavier turned toward the hall. Two men stood near the opposite door, a large suitcase at their feet. The pair could have been twins from some Chinese Danmei, one with white-blond hair, the other with blood-red hair, long but clipped up away from their faces. Both were dressed much the same as Xavier, high-end neutral.

“We packed everything we could find that we thought would be useful,” the blond said.

“Can he change back and pack for himself?”

“High emotions in the young impede the change. He will likely be this way for hours. If you can’t handle it…” Xavier began, holding out a hand to take Ivan back.

“It’s fine,” I said, reaching for the suitcase. “I’ll buy him whatever he might need.”

The redhead snatched the bag from me. “I’ll bring it down.”

Who were these people?

Xavier headed to the top of the stairs. “There are still police downstairs. I’ll escort you out.”