does he have to do with this?”
“When a young female tells me she willingly pursued a man who de-winged her scouts and smacked her into a shield, I have to wonder if her mating needs are being met. It’s not safe for you to go without, Kara. It can cause unpredictability and unwise choices.”
Tyre snickered. “Of course, my lord, a properly sexed female isn’t much better. If I hadn’t healed, I’d have the scars to prove it.”
Aiden let out a deep breath and pinned Tyre with an irritated gaze before turning his attention back to Kara. She looked at the men, not liking that she knew exactly what Aiden was talking about. If she wasn’t getting better at keeping herself in check, she could imagine taking any one of them this very moment. Her cheeks warmed at the thought. “It wasn’t that I couldn’t control myself, it was Julian . He’s back. He regenerated!”
“It’s not possible, Kara.” Aiden closed his eyes as he ran a hand over his flaxen spikes. “I saw his body.”
She blinked in bewilderment and shook her head. “What? When?”
“After the last time you visited, when we told you that Julian’s energy had run dry, Gavin and I dug up the coffin. We had to see it with our own eyes to believe it. His body was nothing but a rotting corpse.”
Kara sucked in a breath. “No.”
His eyes looked truly hopeless. “He never came back.”
She sat heavily on the edge of the bed. “Something might be wrong with Julian, but it was him.” She knew her voice sounded desperate, as if she were trying to convince them the sky wasn’t blue, but she couldn’t imagine any other possibility than Julian coming to her tonight in the flesh. “It was him.”
Aiden fisted his hand on the end of the bed. “Do you know what you’re saying? You’re talking about a Shadow Rising. They don’t exist except in stories from the ancient scrolls. No one has ever witnessed one.”
Kara’s head perked up. “A Shadow Rising?”
Tyre folded his arms, looking more like a cocky lord than a man who scoured brains for a living. “The ancient scrolls speak of the Sons of the Sky clawing up from their graves with the powers of their fathers. But Lord Aiden is correct. In all the millennia that a Shadow Rising has been attempted, it has never once succeeded. It’s well known to be a fanciful tale.” He laughed. “The man who foretold it went to meet the Maker centuries ago. His silver wings are nothing but garden soil now.”
Kara’s nostrils flared, and it took all her strength not to bare her teeth at these men. “Fuck you all.” She swept past Aiden and his men and jogged down the hall.
“Kara!” Aiden called after her, but she didn’t stop.
A pained squeak escaped her lungs as she trotted past Julian’s bedroom and made her way down the stairs. She fled the house and ran through the grass as fast as her booted feet could carry her. The bright sun beat down on her head and made her eyes water. At home, the night was dark and bleak, with beloved warriors probably being bandaged and carried away at this very moment, but here, it was another perfect day. The tropical beauty clashed with the misery in her soul.
Her lungs burned with the effort as she scaled the side of a densely covered mountain. Through a break in the trees, she saw the glint of sunlight on silver and heard the whoosh of wings. “Leave me alone!” she called to the sky.
In the distance, she saw the tree. Tall and regal, it lorded over the clearing, fanning out over Julian’s final resting place. She forged ahead, not stopping until the headstone was before her. She dropped to her knees in the grass over Julian’s plot.
The grass?
“No,” she moaned, hearing the displacement of air behind her as her pursuers touched down.
The grass was more than a foot tall, and the soil clearly hadn’t been disturbed since Gavin and Aiden’s last excavation. There was no way anything had risen from the earth here.
She’d lost Julian in twelve
“When a young female tells me she willingly pursued a man who de-winged her scouts and smacked her into a shield, I have to wonder if her mating needs are being met. It’s not safe for you to go without, Kara. It can cause unpredictability and unwise choices.”
Tyre snickered. “Of course, my lord, a properly sexed female isn’t much better. If I hadn’t healed, I’d have the scars to prove it.”
Aiden let out a deep breath and pinned Tyre with an irritated gaze before turning his attention back to Kara. She looked at the men, not liking that she knew exactly what Aiden was talking about. If she wasn’t getting better at keeping herself in check, she could imagine taking any one of them this very moment. Her cheeks warmed at the thought. “It wasn’t that I couldn’t control myself, it was Julian . He’s back. He regenerated!”
“It’s not possible, Kara.” Aiden closed his eyes as he ran a hand over his flaxen spikes. “I saw his body.”
She blinked in bewilderment and shook her head. “What? When?”
“After the last time you visited, when we told you that Julian’s energy had run dry, Gavin and I dug up the coffin. We had to see it with our own eyes to believe it. His body was nothing but a rotting corpse.”
Kara sucked in a breath. “No.”
His eyes looked truly hopeless. “He never came back.”
She sat heavily on the edge of the bed. “Something might be wrong with Julian, but it was him.” She knew her voice sounded desperate, as if she were trying to convince them the sky wasn’t blue, but she couldn’t imagine any other possibility than Julian coming to her tonight in the flesh. “It was him.”
Aiden fisted his hand on the end of the bed. “Do you know what you’re saying? You’re talking about a Shadow Rising. They don’t exist except in stories from the ancient scrolls. No one has ever witnessed one.”
Kara’s head perked up. “A Shadow Rising?”
Tyre folded his arms, looking more like a cocky lord than a man who scoured brains for a living. “The ancient scrolls speak of the Sons of the Sky clawing up from their graves with the powers of their fathers. But Lord Aiden is correct. In all the millennia that a Shadow Rising has been attempted, it has never once succeeded. It’s well known to be a fanciful tale.” He laughed. “The man who foretold it went to meet the Maker centuries ago. His silver wings are nothing but garden soil now.”
Kara’s nostrils flared, and it took all her strength not to bare her teeth at these men. “Fuck you all.” She swept past Aiden and his men and jogged down the hall.
“Kara!” Aiden called after her, but she didn’t stop.
A pained squeak escaped her lungs as she trotted past Julian’s bedroom and made her way down the stairs. She fled the house and ran through the grass as fast as her booted feet could carry her. The bright sun beat down on her head and made her eyes water. At home, the night was dark and bleak, with beloved warriors probably being bandaged and carried away at this very moment, but here, it was another perfect day. The tropical beauty clashed with the misery in her soul.
Her lungs burned with the effort as she scaled the side of a densely covered mountain. Through a break in the trees, she saw the glint of sunlight on silver and heard the whoosh of wings. “Leave me alone!” she called to the sky.
In the distance, she saw the tree. Tall and regal, it lorded over the clearing, fanning out over Julian’s final resting place. She forged ahead, not stopping until the headstone was before her. She dropped to her knees in the grass over Julian’s plot.
The grass?
“No,” she moaned, hearing the displacement of air behind her as her pursuers touched down.
The grass was more than a foot tall, and the soil clearly hadn’t been disturbed since Gavin and Aiden’s last excavation. There was no way anything had risen from the earth here.
She’d lost Julian in twelve
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