Read Online Haven 5: Invincible by Gabrielle Evans - Free Book Online Page B

to join him.
    The Enforcers found seats as well, those with their own mates motioning their men to them. Torren couldn’t have been more pleased when Aslan bounced across the room, climbed right up into his lap, and curled against his chest. “Okay, love, let’s hear it.”
    “Whatever we tell you does not leave this room,” Raith began from where he was leaning against the desk at the front of their group. “Not only is it extremely personal, but it could be very dangerous for Aslan and Torren.”
    Everyone nodded their understanding and gave verbal vows that they’d not do anything to endanger the lives of their friends. Torren was a little shocked to be counted as a friend amongst the Enforcers, but he found it sparked a flame of warmth inside his chest as well.
    Nodding at his brother, Torren gave his silent approval for Raith to begin the story as it had been told to them when they were young.
    “Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away.” Raith stopped and winked at Aslan, sending him into a fit of adorable laughter.
    Torren picked up the square box of tissues on the table beside him and sent it sailing toward his brother’s head. “Stop flirting with my mate and get on with it, asshole.”
    Raith just laughed as he caught the box and placed it on the desk behind him. “Fine, I’ll skip the history lesson and get to the point. In the early fifteen hundreds the Book of the Banished was used to call forth an army of the dead. War ensued. People died. You get the idea.”
    They all nodded, though Torren had to fight the urge to groan.
    Obviously, his brother was not the most skilled storyteller, but at least he was hitting the main points.
    “Well, short story shorter, a circle of thirteen witches was able to cast the souls back into Purgatory where they belonged. Too dangerous in the wrong hands, the book had to be destroyed.”
    “Only, when the circle attempted to destroy it, the curse rebounded,” Torren said, taking over the story. “The legend goes that the thirteen fell to their knees and cried out to the heavens as their souls were ripped in two and one half was lost to the universe.”
    “That’s horrible,” Aslan whispered, looking up at him with wide eyes. “Were those your ancestors?”
    “I’m getting to that part.” He offered his mate a soft smile and pecked his forehead before returning to the story. “Bound in wolf skin and animated by the cursed blood of a vampire, the book sought to bind itself with the closest living soul in a bid for survival.”
    “That’s what happened to Camdin.” Galen nodded thoughtfully while he slapped at Bannon’s wandering hand where it snaked up the inside of his thigh. “Would you knock it off?” It was kind of comical the way Bannon huffed and pouted as he sunk back into the cushions and crossed his arms over his chest. Galen just rolled his eyes.
    “Anyway, so that’s how Camdin essentially became the book, right?”
    “That’s right.” There was a little more to the story about the faerie and his curse, but that part wasn’t for Torren to tell. “Anyway, the circle sealed the book within Camdin so that only one of the thirteen could open it.”
    “So, is it your bloodline?” Cassius asked. “Is that how you’re able to open the book?”
    Here came the tricky part. Luckily for Torren, Raith took up where he’d left off without having to be asked.
    “While Camdin is physically bound to the Book of the Banished, the circle was bound spiritually. They would never die, because the minute one body stopped breathing, another was born.”
    “Like reincarnation?”
    Raith nodded at the Enforcer. “Something like that. Call it whatever you like.”
    “Okay, so what does any of this have to do with Torren and Aslan?” Jory asked from his perch on the arm of Stavion’s chair.
    “The fates smiled upon the circle for their sacrifice and gave homes to the torn pieces of their souls.” Torren looked down at the man in his lap and had