When the only thing that will save lives is Joseph
and Phin working together, the point where magic
and passion ends and where love could begin
becomes impossible to find.

In a world where magic is rare, Joseph Jamieson is
one of the most powerful holders of power.
Orophin Tiwele, or Phin to his friends, is the son
of the Elf King and has magic of his own. The
rules say two supernatural beings with magic
cannot be together and Joseph and Phin have lived
by that rule despite their attraction to each other.

The resistance is growing larger each day, but

traitors threaten everything Joseph has built. He
wants peace, but soon comes to realize the way to
peace, is through war.

When the only thing that will save lives is

Joseph and Phin working together, it becomes
impossible to see where magic and passion end
and where love could begin.

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infringement, including infringement without
monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is
punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a
fine of $250,000.

Please purchase only authorized electronic editions,
and do not participate in or encourage the electronic
piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the
author’s rights is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, and incidents either are products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance
to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.

The Warlock’s Secret

ISBN: 978-1-77111-589-6

Cover art by Angela Waters

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reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in
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without the written permission of the publisher.

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The Warlock’s Secret

Supernatural Bounty Hunters Book 3

RJ Scott

Always for my family.

Chapter One

oseph! No!” Micah’s shout of fear echoed
through the portal Joseph had created. Micah

stood at the other end, safe, with Levi who held
him tight to stop Joseph’s twin from coming back
through. The portal was strong, but Joseph had no
intention of following his brother and the incubus
through to the other side.

The decision was made at a full group meeting.

Connor and Micah had come back from their
fruitless hunt for Connor’s family, and the only
person missing was Phin. It made sense, with the
wolves and their sensitivity to magic, that it would
be him, Micah and Levi who got this job done. The
journal was too important to leave at Glitnir.

“Don’t let Micah back through,” Joseph

ordered.

No one, not even Joseph expected anything like

the magic that was being thrown at them. As soon
as he’d created the portal he knew something was
wrong. Levi moved himself bodily to stop Micah

“J

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from coming back through. Levi was a good man
and he was listening to Joseph.

The banging and crashing on the door to the

library was getting worse. They would be through
any minute, and the decision was made for him. If
he was mid-slide to the space where his twin
stood, then whoever came in the room could
follow them. Micah would have to understand the
sacrifice Joseph was about to make.

There would be other chances for Joseph to get

away where he didn’t put others in danger.

“Joseph…” Micah stopped struggling and, for a

second, the twin bond snapped bright and clear
between them.

Micah, stay safe—

Joseph. Please. Come through—
I can’t. I’ll follow you another way.
With a smile of reassurance he switched off the

bond, then shut the portal and immediately the
whirling silver tunnel disappeared and he was
staring at solid stone wall. That moment was
punctuated as the door finally gave way and a
swarm of Glitnir guards jumped him. He didn’t
resist or panic. There was no point. He needed to
stay and wait for the right moment to create
another portal. A wolf shifter curled claws around
his left arm, a shifted cat had his leg pinned. He
couldn’t move. No one who had a hand, claw or
tail on him were actually hurting him and it

The Warlock’s Secret

appeared his passive non-resistance was paying
off. The group parted a little and he wasn’t at all
surprised by who he saw. Councilor Ludvik
Peitrol of the Fae Alliance. Kappa and dangerous
with it.

“Ludvik,” Joseph said. He inclined his head as

much as he could. Even in the resistance you
showed respect to the fae representative of the
Glitnir High Council. Showed it—didn’t mean you
felt it—but they could just have his neck snapped
if he didn’t. Not even he could mend a broken
neck—especially his own.

“Councilor Peitrol,” Ludvik corrected.
Joseph snorted at this and had the back of his

left knee kicked so hard he buckled and had to
grip another guard to stop his inglorious tumble
to the floor.

Ludvik continued, “Joseph Jamieson, Head of

the Sinclair clan, and brother to a murderer.” He
didn’t reciprocate with any show of respect. Even
though Joseph, as eldest son of the Sinclair clan
and vampire royalty would normally be shown all
courtesy. Guess that is what being leader of a
resistance against the very institution Ludvik was
part of led to.

“It’s

been

while,”

Joseph

said

conversationally. “You’ve changed a lot since the
last time we met. You look old.”

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The wolf dug his claws into Joseph’s arm and

growled low in his throat. Joseph tried not to
wince. Of all the supernaturals in Glitnir it had to
be a damn wolf with his hard uncompromising
grip. Their claws scarred Vamps and Joseph was
quite proud of his up-to-know unblemished skin.

“Steady now,” Ludvik intoned. “I don’t always

have total control over the beings in this room
who know you are a traitor.”

Joseph was not going to rise to that

provocation. It wasn’t him that was the traitor, but
the corrupt top heavy Glitnir system, with its
payoffs, and scandals. Every supernatural being in
this room, guards and soldiers alike, with the
exception of Ludvik himself, were victims of the
Glitnir hierarchy, they just didn’t see it.

Yet.
“Stop the talking and cut to the chase,” Joseph

said in as bored a tone as he could manage.

Ludvik shook his head. “You never stop, do

you?” he offered with a smile. “Take him away.”

Joseph was lighter in that very instant. They

would take him to wherever they took prisoners.
He would wait until there was light guarding
when he was behind the thick iron bars. Then he
would simply portal out of there and get to his
brother one way or another. He stumbled as he
was dragged and came within an inch of Ludvik
who pushed him away.

The Warlock’s Secret

The touch was brief, but it was enough for

Joseph to see inside his enemy. A flash of
something that only another person with magic
could see.

Seems Ludvik had powers. Limited magic, but

enough to send a shiver down Joseph’s spine. He
could sense Ludvik, which meant Ludvik could
sense him. When the Kappa’s dull gray eyes lit
with satisfaction Joseph realized he was in trouble.

That could cause problems.

Joseph screamed as another bolt of fire raced

along his spine and exited his body into the hard
stones below him. He was suspended by his arms
a little above the ground—enough so his arms
wrenched every time Ludvik used the fire. He was
nauseous and time had ceased to have meaning
some time ago. Just him and Ludvik were in this
airless room with the door wide open to the
corridor beyond. There was no need for bars. A
magic stronger than his held him in place as
securely as the iron chains that cut into his skin.
How had he never seen that Ludvik was a magical
being? He’d never heard of a Kappa with any of
the old magic in their veins. Somehow Ludvik had
offered a simple front where no one questioned
him.

“I know you have it, Joseph, use your powers

and you can escape from all of this.” Ludvik

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flicked his fingers and another deep cut split
Joseph’s skin, this time in the center of Joseph’s
chest. The pain was excruciating and whatever
shields to his own powers were keeping him
prisoner in this room were also stopping him from
throwing a barrier to the pain. Didn’t matter. He
wasn’t going to give Ludvik the satisfaction of him
admitting to his powers.

“I don’t have magic,” Joseph lied. Forming

words hurt. His throat, swollen from screaming,
was tight and he tasted the metallic of blood in his
mouth.

“There were three of you in that library. How

did they get away?” Ludvik said again. He
repeated the same thing over and over. The same
sentence.

Joseph knew what was next. Whatever he said

with the next breath would result in pain. Steeling
himself against the burn of agony he simply lifted
his head and stared directly at Ludvik. There was
no emotion in the Kappa’s eyes, but the buildup of
power around him was like a scarlet cloak.

“I was alone…” was all Joseph got out before

the pain started in his head like a vice, then
descended through his body a cell at a time. He
was screaming, but there was no sound, soundless
anguish echoed in his thoughts. He bit his tongue
and his mouth filled with blood.

The Warlock’s Secret

“Liar,” Ludvik shouted at him. Then suddenly

blessed silence before the crash of the iron gates
shutting echoed in the room. He’d been left alone.
The effort to pull any magic at all to help was
impossible. He couldn’t stop the bleeding or free
himself from chains wrapping around his wrists.
Abruptly any energy he had left inside left as he
exhaled and he slipped away.

“Joseph, wake up. We need to get you out of here.”
Joseph lifted his head, the pain inside agonizing as he

moved. Blood dripped from the cuts all over his body.
Micah was here? How did Micah get in here? His twin

released all the chains and helped him down. Then he
held out a hand to help his twin. Joseph reached up, but

Micah moved back.

“Don’t leave me,” Joseph pleaded.

An unseen force pushed Micah away, against the

wall and he was pinned immobile.

“Joseph. Help me,” Micah shouted in terror.

Micah looked about himself with panic—struggling

like an insect with a pin through its abdomen. “No!

No!” he screamed. The first cut went from Micah’s
shoulder to stomach, his shirt tearing, skin tearing

under it, blood gushing from him. The second cut went
down a thigh, the third revealed muscle and bone in his

twin’s right arm. All the while Micah was screaming
and begging for Joseph’s help and at the back of his head
Joseph knew he should summon power to rescue his

brother. Joseph struggled, but couldn’t push himself to
stand and all the while his brother screamed. When

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there was nothing left but an obscene gurgle as blood

choked Micah, Joseph sobbed in despair.

“You should have used magic Joseph,” Micah’s voice

whispered in his ear. “Why didn’t you save me?”

“I can’t show them,” Joseph whimpered and curled

into a ball on the floor.

“There’s no point,” a new voice said. “Joseph won’t

save you. He doesn’t care about anything but his

precious resistance.”

“That’s not true,” Joseph said with some force. He

managed to push against the floor and made to stand.
His legs wouldn’t hold him, but then his brother was

there, at his side, holding him, supporting him.

“It doesn’t matter you couldn’t save me,” Micah

whispered, “I love you anyway.”

“Love,” the other voice scoffed. “What does Joseph

know about love?”

That was Ethan’s voice. His lover, dead, and not as

Joseph remembered. This tone was spitting with hate

and when Joseph focused on the new person in front of
him he couldn’t help the desolation spilling through

him. Ethan, with anger in his expression, and a knife in
his hand. Micah released his hold and Joseph tumbled to
the floor and all he could do was crawl until his back hit

the wall.

“I should kill you,” Ethan said simply. He raised the

knife above himself as if readying himself to stab Joseph.
“You left me with Micah and they cut me apart when I

was still alive. I screamed and no one came. Micah

The Warlock’s Secret

slept. You weren’t even there when they carved letters

in my chest and stomach. Where were you?”

“Ethan, I’m sorry,” Joseph whispered.

Ethan lowered the knife and turned it over in his

hand. “I loved you,” he said. “What’s the point of
staying here when I know that you can never love me

like you should?”

“I tried to keep you safe, Ethan. Please.” Joseph

forced himself forward a few inches. “I tried so hard.”

Ethan shook his head. “You didn’t want me,” he said

sadly. Then he took the sharp blade and in a smooth
movement, ran it deep into skin from inner elbow to

wrist, his eyes closing in pain.

“No!” Joseph shouted. But Ethan didn’t stop. He cut

again and again, then when it seemed there could be no

blood left in him, he opened his eyes and there was blood
trickling from them in tears.

“What have I done? What did you make me do?”

Ethan’s blue eyes filled with tears and his voice

abruptly held horror. “Save me. Please, Joseph, save
me.”

Joseph attempted to stand, but there was nothing left

in him to push him closer to his dying lover. Right
there, with the knife clattering to the floor, Ethan was

dead.

“You don’t know what love is.” A voice came out of

the darkness

Joseph peered into the gloom of his cell and a figure

stepped out of the shadows. Phin? Sneering and with so
much hate in his face that Joseph took a step backwards.

RJ Scott

“I know about love,” Joseph insisted. Phin advanced

toward him and there was someone in the shadows
behind him.

“Who’s there?” Joseph demanded as loud as he

could.

“Someone who showed me love,” Phin dismissed.

The shadow moved forward and the familiar figure of
the blood demon, Asherkan Iblis. What was Asher

doing with Phin? He shouldn’t be outside the Second
Kingdom, it was dangerous for him to be here where he

could be seen. What if Phin’s family knew one of their
precious enforcers was here? Asher put his hands

around Phin from behind and Joseph felt his heart break
when Phin snuggled back into the blood demon’s hold.

“You didn’t even use magic to stop me from having

Asher fuck me. Did you, Joseph? Didn’t matter who I
loved.”

“I couldn’t stop you,” Joseph said desperately. “You

wanted him. I let you decide.” He tried to move from

the wall, but chains at his wrists held him back.
Distracted, he looked down at the bonds. Hadn’t Micah

freed him? What the hell?

In front of Joseph, Phin sunk gracefully to his knees

and opened Asher’s pants. In a smooth movement he

had Asher’s cock in his pouty mouth and all of a sudden
Joseph was watching the one person outside of Micah

that he truly loved servicing a demon. Phin was his.
The elf should never have gone with Asher.

“Stop,” he shouted. He didn’t want to see this. Blood

demons couldn’t stop themselves from tearing skin and

The Warlock’s Secret

sucking blood. One day Asher would kill Phin—didn’t

he know that? Phin glanced at him with laughter in his
eyes and was still smiling when Asher dragged him up

to his mouth and tore a chunk of Phin’s throat to begin
sucking blood.

Joseph pulled on the chains but couldn’t move. On

the floor in front of him Phin writhed in death throes,
his throat torn and blood in pools around him. Asher

was laughing and licking his lips. He kicked at Phin’s
lifeless body.

Joseph screwed his eyes shut tight and refused to

watch. Then someone pried open his lids with their

fingers, pushing deep inside and burning.

“I can see the blood there,” Asher’s voice was clear

and right there in his face. “Right behind your eyes.

You won’t save your brother. You won’t save the man
who loved you. You won’t save the elf who would give

his life for you in an instant. Maybe you’ll save
yourself? Hmm?” Asher moved his fingers and pressed

them to Joseph’s temples, then pressed and pushed and
forced his nails under skin. He leaned in and licked

across Joseph’s lips, then down to his throat. Joseph felt
the scrape of canines and the pressure of them on his
skin before Asher closed his teeth on a mouthful of skin

and pulled hard until it split. The hurt of it had magic
curling at the base of his neck and for a second Asher

moved back. He was grinning and blood stained his face
in vivid vermillion. Had Asher sensed the magic?

Joseph dropped his gaze and blackness threatened his
vision. He was bleeding out. Dying. What was the

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point in saving himself? Micah was dead. Ethan had

gone. Phin was in shreds at his feet.

“Wake up, Joseph,” Ludvik snapped.
Joseph regained consciousness an inch at a

time. He couldn’t feel the floor or his hands and he
knew, without doubt, he was still hanging from
the chains in the middle of the room. With Ludvik
in front of him surrounded by the scarlet of magic
in a haze, Joseph knew everything was a lie

“I d-don’t have m-magic,” Joseph stammered.

Somehow he’d managed to come through the
illusions that Ludvik had created without giving
himself away.

One final flick of Ludvik’s hand and a new slice

was cut across Joseph’s face from above his eyes
and down to his chin. Then Ludvik stared directly
at him and despite the blood trickling into his
eyes, Joseph returned the exchange without
flinching.

“You will show me,” Ludvik said finally. “You

won’t last another day. I will see your magic.” He
left and pulled the gates shut after him.

Joseph waited for the illusions to begin again.

Another round of torture. But there was nothing.
Not a sign of anything. He was dying here. With
no way to get out and no magic inside him that he
dared to use. With a moan of despair, he closed
his eyes again and tried to recall his happy place.
Micah. Ethan. Micah and Connor. His house.

The Warlock’s Secret

Phin.

RJ Scott

Chapter Two

hin watched Micah and Connor from the
cover of the trees for some time. That was,

until Connor sniffed the air and turned his way,
then he knew he had to step out.

“What do you want?” he snapped irritably.

“I’ve had Declan and Levi tracking me to the west
and you two here. I’m not going back to listen to
Joseph’s crap anymore.” He exhaled heavily. Why
he was being so careful not to use his magic to
evade this childish hunting game escaped him. He
should just port out of here and find a place where
the resistance, the hunters, and most of all Joseph,
didn’t get up in his face. It was bad enough he’d
had to explain himself to his father after he’d sent
Asher home near death.

“It’s Joseph,” Micah said. “He’s missing.”
“He’s probably up a mountain communing

with nature,” Phin dismissed. Despite hearing
something off in Micah’s voice, he wasn’t getting

The Warlock’s Secret

involved. Joseph had this way of finding trouble,
then evading it at the last minute. He’d be fine.

“Tell him,” Connor said firmly.
Phin crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t

like Connor’s tone. It suggested Micah was
reluctant to tell him something.

“Tell me what?” he asked suspiciously.
Micah sighed. “We need your help. Joseph used

magic to create a portal to get inside Glitnir.”

Phin dropped his stance of stubbornness and

allowed his shock to come to the forefront. He
stepped closer to Micah who, to his credit, didn’t
move. “What the hell?” Phin shouted. “You know
he shouldn’t…we shouldn’t…” He was lost for
words. There was a reason they didn’t use their
powers near anything to do with Glitnir.
Supernaturals with magic were sought after and
placed in hiding for their own protection. No one
with the kind of skills inside them that he and
Joseph had, would be allowed to be free of Glitnir
interference.

“We were in the old library,” Micah said, “and

he stayed behind and closed the portal.”

“Why would he do that?” Phin demanded.

“Did he want to be trapped? Is he suicidal? Hell
Micah. Why didn’t you stop him?” Very real fear
built inside him. Joseph was inside Glitnir—and
he’d used magic? He wouldn’t wish that
combination on anyone if anyone had found out.

RJ Scott

Why hadn’t Joseph just got out? Where was he?
None of this could be good.

“I couldn’t stop him,” Micah snapped. “We

were discovered. We barricaded the door, he
opened the portal, I went through with Levi, and
he shut the connection down so no one could
follow us.”

“Why did you even let him go there in the first

place?” Phin stood right up in front of Micah and,
despite having to look up at the vampire, he had
Micah backing a step away.

“No one lets Joseph do anything,” Connor

defended. He moved to stand between Phin and
Micah and his tone and body language stopped
Phin’s growing anger in its tracks.

Micah shook his head. “What’s done is done,”

he said. “We need to get him out.”

Phin shook his head. “We can’t. He’s on his

own.” Phin watched as Micah and Connor
exchanged glances. What now? He knew he
should have spent more time wandering the forest
and less time leaving trails for Connor and Declan
to follow. He’d been having fun playing with the
two wolf shifters, but evidently Micah wanted him
to get serious.

“We found something,” Micah started.
“A journal,” Connor interrupted.

The Warlock’s Secret

Micah nodded. “A vampire journal. The one

mentioned in the prophesies that say it will come
to the twins from the royal line of the Sinclairs—”

Connor interrupted. “The prophesy about how

one of them will have magic and that twin will
lead an army for change.”

Phin felt like he was watching Micah and

Joseph when they were together. Connor and
Micah were evidently in synch given they kept
finishing each other’s sentences. He held up a
hand to stop them doing that back and forth in the
explanation.

“Connor, you’d best go and find Declan. I left

him circling a chalk pit last I saw him. Bring him
and Levi here.”

Connor opened his mouth to protest, but a

gentle touch from Micah’s hand on his arm had
him stripping, shifting, and running the direction
Phin indicated. Suddenly tired and needing to sit,
Phin walked to the nearest fallen tree and perched
himself on one end. He crossed his legs, then with
a wave of his hand, indicated Micah should sit
opposite.

Micah didn’t argue and the vampire began to

talk as soon as he sat down. “The Journal Of Days
was what Joseph was looking for at the Vampire
Clan’s Council house. It wasn’t there, but he
tracked it to Glitnir.”

RJ Scott

“Why do you think this journal is so

important?” Phin knew a little about vampire
society, and he’d heard the prophesies, otherwise
he wouldn’t be here alongside Joseph and Micah
in this Underground they’d set up. He just hadn’t
thought the journal mentioned in the prophesy
would ever be found. Just the mention of Joseph
again had fear curling inside him. What the hell
made the idiot think going into Glitnir was a good
thing.

Micah sighed heavily. “When Glitnir was first

created and the vamps, werewolves, and the fae
all held council, no one wanted the vampires to be
part of it.”

“I recall reading that somewhere.”
“What most supernaturals don’t know is that

this journal was a way of the vampires placating
the others. The wolves and fae were concerned
about the vampires creating a whole race of blood
demons tied to them as donors, and about the fact
they killed indiscriminately. The Vampire Clans
Council agreed to have a book that contained, in
detail, the workings of the council. It would
automatically mark every action by a vampire and
be proof in case the fae and the wolves suspected
the vamps were planning to overthrow them and
take Glitnir as theirs.”

“Every vampire action?”

The Warlock’s Secret

Micah sighed. “Anything deemed important.

The journal was spelled and locked and it was
never to be removed from the vault. In fact it
could only be opened by these mythical twins
from the prophesies and only at the time of real
need. Together.”

“You and Joseph?” Phin had long suspected

there was something very special about the
connection between Micah and Joseph. Them
being the twins made sense.

Micah shrugged. “We don’t know for sure, but

the stories do have all this prophesy stuff about
vampire twins and what they can do. Me? I’m
skeptical that there is an all-powerful legacy that I
am part of. Joseph on the other hand with all his
magic and his charm—he’s special.”

Phin wasn’t going to argue that point. Joseph

was way past special in his eyes. The vampire was
infuriating, idiotic, angry, sexy and just…too
much.

Micah continued, “He told me he thought

Cassius removed it.”

“Leader-of-the-Vampire-Council-rich-as-hell-

creepy Cassius?

“The same. Joseph had intelligence that Cassius

was somehow involved with a leader in the Fae
Alliance—”

“Ludvik Peitrol,” Phin supplied the obvious

name. He shuddered. Ludvik was a slimy bastard,

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who somehow managed to have a whole group of
other supernaturals at Glitnir bowing and
scraping at his every word, “It has to be him—I
never liked Kappas, all that fishiness and scaliness
when they shift.” He shuddered. “They’re as
honest as a thief in a golden palace.”

Micah frowned at the analogy. Phin was aware

it was weird, but then he had just thought it up on
the spot. “Yeah,” Micah said doubtfully. Then he
continued. “Joseph tracked the Journal Of Days to
a private Glitnir library but no one had accessed
its secrets. One of which he hoped was who
ordered Ethan killed. He was adamant that he
thought Ludvik had something to do with
Cassius.”

“Why didn’t Joseph ask for my help?” Phin

asked quietly. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know
the answer.

“I don’t know,” Micah lied. Phin could tell

Micah was lying—he wouldn’t look Phin in the
eye. Phin frowned and Micah finally met his gaze.
He flushed red. “Look, I don’t know, but it may
have been because Asher was on this side of the
mountains.”

Phin fought temper. “I didn’t ask my father to

get Asher to come for me again.”

Micah held up a hand. “I’m not getting

involved in the Joseph-Asher-Phin triangle,” he
said quickly.

The Warlock’s Secret

Regret twisted inside Phin. “You forgot Ethan,”

he pointed out. He immediately regretted his
words when grief replaced embarrassment. He
knew Micah and Ethan had been close, he should
have never brought him up. “Sorry,” he said
gently.

Micah ran his fingers through his hair, then

shook his head. “None of that matters. Joseph is
stuck in Glitnir. I should leave him to get himself
out. But the fact he hasn’t yet, or so you believe,
means something is stopping him. If anyone
discovers his magic…” Micah left the sentence
unfinished. Deliberately allowing Phin to fill in the
gaps.

“Okay, so, someone in Glitnir, Ludvik we

assume for want of a better suspect, has
possession of an ancient book holding vampire
secrets.”

Micah nodded.
Phin closed his eyes to process the information

so far and ruthlessly pushed aside the residual
fear of what the hell Joseph had got himself into.
“And Joseph wanted sight of the journal
because?”

“Like I said, he believes evidence in there will

expose who murdered Ethan, and there will be
enough other information that finally the
Underground will have more ammunition than
just a belief that everything is going to hell.”

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“Did Joseph even have a plan when he got

inside?”

“We were doing fine, we found the journal, he

created a stable port, but when Levi and I had
gone through he froze. He wouldn’t follow. I
could see him clearly and his skin was pale, his
eyes dull, he said he could feel magic strong
enough to close the portal.”

Phin sat quietly. He couldn’t let Micah see how

suddenly he was so terrified for Joseph that he
couldn’t think straight. Joseph had sensed magic
strong enough to shut down a stable portal. Phin
couldn’t even create those. He could port himself,
maybe with one other, but transferring others
through a stable portal was something way
beyond his own limited capabilities in the physical
world. His talents lay in much more subtle
directions. Idly he picked at the moss on the trunk
as he thought on what he had been told. Micah
didn’t interrupt his thinking—simply sat there
and waited.

Finally he needed to know one thing. “How

long has he been gone?”

“Three days,” Micah said urgently. “We didn’t

panic until last night and when the first two days
had passed and he didn’t meet us where we had
agreed I knew something had gone horribly
wrong.”

The Warlock’s Secret

“Three,” Phin repeated. He closed his eyes and

tried to force away images of what was happening
to Joseph at this moment if anyone found out what
he could do. Hopefully he was being treated as a
simple Underground leader who needed to go to
trial. If there was anything simple about that
scenario. “We need to get him out,” he said firmly.

“So how do we do that?”
“We need to get into Glitnir so we can assess

where he is.”

“I can help with that,” Levi said from behind

them. “Hey, Phin,” the incubus added.

“You know a good way in?” Phin asked

quickly.

“I know someone we can trust,” Levi offered.

“He’s an incubus guard and his name is Brody
Lennox. He can get us inside Glitnir.”

“Hmph,” Declan snorted. Phin didn’t miss the

angry look that Declan threw Levi. Seems like
Declan was pissed and there was heated temper in
the wolf shifter’s eyes. No doubt because Phin had
given him the runaround. That wouldn’t have
done his Retriever pride an awful lot of good.

“How do we get hold of Brody?” Phin asked

quickly. He didn’t need a showdown with the
wolf when he had to concentrate on getting Joseph
out of Glitnir.

“Obahn,” Levi said. “I can get a message to him

from there. I’ll go with you.”

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“No you won’t,” Declan snapped. He rounded

on Levi and gripped his lover’s shirt with a firm
grip. “You’re not going into Obahn when there’s a
price on your head. The place is crawling with
Glitnir enforcers.”

Levi placed a hand flat over Declan’s. “We all

have a price on our head, Dec,” he said gently.

“I’ll go on my own,” Phin interrupted Declan

and Levi. He certainly didn’t need people slowing
him down, wolf, incubus, whatever, he was the
only one who could go in and get Joseph out.

Micah stepped forward. “I’m going, too,” he

said, “Joseph is my brother.” When Connor
opened his mouth to protest, Phin took things into
his own hands. All he needed was Levi.
Summoning energy from deep inside him, he
created a spark of magic, grabbed Levi, and
ported as close to Obahn as he could get without
landing in the center of town. Levi immediately
dropped to the ground and Phin waited as the
incubus recovered from the move. Poor guy was
probably on sensory overload.

“Wha—” Levi groaned and rolled from his

stomach where he had fallen and on to his back.
Phin crouched down next to the fallen man and
touched his arm. Levi squirmed away from the
touch. “Too much,” he whimpered.

Phin stepped away. “Sorry,” he said. He didn’t

really mean the words, but he expected Levi

The Warlock’s Secret

would probably want to hear them. All he had on
his mind was getting in to Glitnir and getting
Joseph out. Declan was going to kill him. Wolf out
and rip him to shreds when he got back to him.
Well, maybe if Declan could catch Phin that was.

“Dec’ll’kill’ya,” Levi slurred.
“He can try,” Phin said. “Where do you go to

get a message to this Brody guy?”

Levi moved onto all fours, then used the

nearest tree to stand. “Simeon Blue,” he said in
deliberate tones, probably avoiding letting his
voice slur. Shaking off the grass on his hands, he
stretched tall, then turned to Phin with sudden
determination on his face. “He’s Feline Guild, a
mercenary.”

Phin groaned inwardly. “What the hell is a

mercenary cat shifter doing in Glitnir territory?”

“I don’t know his cover story,” Levi had his

balance now and he considered where they were
before turning one eighty and making his way
into the trees. Phin followed. “All I know is that
he’s Underground and that Micah says he is the
person to ask.”

“How does someone from the Second Kingdom

even stay in Obahn unnoticed? A town crawling
with Glitnir guards and Retrievers I might add?”

Levi glanced back at Phin with raised

eyebrows, “Like I know,” he said offhand.

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They made it to the very edge of the wall

surrounding the town. Obahn wasn’t especially
big, but it was close enough to the Glitnir seat of
power that it was an obvious choice for the
overspill of supernaturals looking to spend their
money. From bars to whore houses, and from
theatre to music, Obahn was a one-stop shop for
all things fun.

Phin hated the place. His last attempt at hiding

from his father had been in this damn town.
Living over The Black Bear with Abb as his
landlord had been something akin to torture. Not
living down the hall from Abb—that bit he liked.
No, the issue was that Obahn was a town in
denial. No one questioned the internal power
struggles in Glitnir, no one dared to step outside
what they had. Apart from a few—those who had
aligned themselves to the infant Underground
movement. Few and far between who made the
move to leave the town and join them.

Phin and Levi finally moved into the town

under cover of darkness. Phin dare not use any of
his magic to vanish them to onlookers, but it
seemed Levi had a good line in getting people to
look the other way. Phin could see the incubus
throwing out the yellow haze of confusion and no
one questioned them. With this they managed to
pass guards and Retriever’s alike and finally they
reached an innocuous door marked with the

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number twenty-nine. A single knock and the door
was flung open. Phin stood his ground as a large
hand reached out and dragged Levi through the
door. Phin then strolled in after them.

Turned out Simeon Blue was huge. All big and

gruff with amber eyes and shaggy golden hair and
he had a temper which he directed at Levi. Phin
watched as Simeon’s expression showed temper,
which lessened to anger and then to acceptance—
all emotions that Levi apparently was happy to
take. Finally Phin decided to interrupt.

“Simeon Blue?” he asked casually.
“And you are?” Simeon snapped. His voice was

loud and booming in this small place.

“No one,” Phin said. He wasn’t going to be

using names. Simeon scowled.

Levi stepped forward with his hands out, palms

up. “Brody said I should contact you if I needed to
get a message to him.

Simeon narrowed his gaze, looking from Levi

to Phin and back again. “I don’t know a Brody,”
he finally offered flatly.

“We’re with the Underground,” Levi explained.

“Get a message to Brody, tell him Levi Tiernan
needs to see him.”

Simeon tilted his head and looked thoughtful.

“Do you have a story?”

Levi appeared to consider his next words. Then

he sighed. “He wants me to prove who I am by

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using the hot tub story, doesn’t he?” Simeon
crossed his arms over his broad chest and waited.
Phin could swear the big shifter was smirking.
“This is ridiculous—”

“How else will we know you are who you say

you are? You could be a shape shifter.”

Levi shook his head. “Okay. When I first met

Brody we had these two guys in the hot tub and I
overdosed on lust.” Levi full on blushed with
embarrassment. “We were supposed to just taste,
but I got carried away, and there was four of us…”
he stopped talking and looked over at Phin.
“Don’t tell Declan, I’ll tell him when I’m sure he
won’t wolf out on me.”

Phin nodded.
“So, there were four of us, and it was getting

heated, and I took on too much of one guy’s lust. I
woke up on the floor next to the hot tub, and
Brody has this self-satisfied smirking grin because
he was the one got to fuck the sex fairies.”

Simeon nodded, then extended a hand.

“Welcome to my home,” he said. “Levi and…” he
deliberately trailed away, obviously waiting for
Phin to give his name. Phin’s long hair hid the
pointy ear evidence of his ancestry, but not many
people could fail to recognize him for the elf he
was. Still, Simeon didn’t push him on answering
the question. For that Phin was thankful. The last

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thing he needed was for anyone to know more
than they needed to.

“A friend,” Levi said firmly.
“I can get a message to Brody in the morn—”
“No!” Phin snapped. The thought of Joseph

being inside Glitnir for another hour, let alone a
full night, was more than he could contemplate.
“Just get me to Brody and I’ll take it from there.”

“I can’t—”
“I’m not arguing,” Phin insisted.
Simeon took a couple of steps closer. He was

easily a foot taller than Phin and twice as wide.
Phin suspected he had leonine blood which would
make him part of the Feline Guild that had made
their home in the Red Mountains. Simeon’s tip
tilted eyes burned bright and he had claws
extended.

“I’m not leading you into the bowels of Glitnir

on your say so,” he growled.

Phin huffed his irritation, then in a smooth

movement, placed his hand flat over Simeon’s
heart. Simeon’s eyes rolled back in his head and,
in slow motion, the big man tumbled backwards,
splitting the wooden table behind him in two.

“Phin, what the hell!” Levi shouted. He

dropped to his knees next to Simeon and
immediately felt for a pulse.

“He’s not dead. Just sleeping,” Phin snapped. “I

read him and saw what he knew. I can get into

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where Brody told him Joseph was being kept on
my own.”

“You read him?” Levi sounded confused and

Phin tapped his own temple. Levi stumbled to
stand and so many emotions passed over his face
that Phin lost track.

“I need to make a move.” Fear had gripped him

as soon as he touched Simeon. The cat had seen
inside the jail, knew what kinds of things could be
happening to Joseph.

Levi took a step closer with determination on

his face. “Let’s go then,” he said.

Phin snapped his fingers, and rendered Levi

unconscious in an heap next to Simeon.

“Sorry, guys, but I need to do this alone.”
Phin checked that Levi was comfortable, then

with the images in his head from Simeon of where
he should go, he left the house and shut the door
behind him.

The Warlock’s Secret

Chapter Three

ttempting to lessen the damage being done to
his shoulders and arms, Joseph shifted his

weight a little. He was chained up again. The last
torture session left him near dead, but still he
hadn’t given up his magic. Nothing that Ludvik
could say would make him break. He fought
through the fog in his head. He was dying. He
could feel the magic inside of him, racing to
protect cells that had been destroyed, but the
damage was so bad that he knew nothing could be
done. He was never leaving this place. The
prophesy was wrong—it wasn’t his generation,
not him and Micah, who could destroy a stagnant
regime and bring a new order to the growing
chaos.

Maybe another set of twins held the key to

accessing the Journal Of Days.

Micah would be safe after he died.

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He had to believe that. Micah would go on with

Connor and they would live long lives. Joseph
never expected to get this far or live this long, but
Micah could have a full life. Joseph was resistance,
had magic, and had lost so much. Ethan. Phin.

“Joseph?”
Phin’s voice pierced his dying thoughts. Was it

morning already? Joseph was always allowed time
to heal, but Ludvik had just gone. Why send a
vision of Phin now? He grunted as something
touched him. Strong hands ran down his torso
and he moaned in pain as fingers dipped and
scraped into deep wounds.

“Just kill me,” he ordered brokenly. Then

drawing every last piece of strength in him to the
surface, he forced out four words. He would not
betray his kind or his gifts. “I. Don’t. Have.
Magic.”

“Joseph. Don’t you dare,” Phin said strongly.
“Leave…”
“Let’s get you down. Lean on me…”
“No…” Joseph whimpered. The chains above

him clattered, then he fell. Someone held him, the
warmth of a strong hold did nothing to counteract
the fire that shot through muscles pushed to
extremes. Tears filled his eyes as the agony took
him even closer to death.

“Joseph. Please,” Phin demanded again. “Try.”

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Joseph leaned heavily on the phantom of Phin

and warmth built around him. Phin was here.
Using magic to get him away. They’ll
know…Phin…don’t expose yourself…

A crash in front of them and the heavy iron gate

shattered inwards. Joseph flinched as iron flew
towards them, but as they got closer the pieces
simply dropped to the floor and the silver in the
room blinded him. Only as the room dissolved
around them and he looked out of the room did he
see Ludvik’s face contorted in furious anger. Then
everything slowly faded to black, and even if he
wanted to look at Phin, he couldn’t. He was too far
gone.

Pain was his constant and Joseph knew

somehow that he wasn’t in the cell suspended by
his wrists. Voices sometimes broke through the
pain. Phin. He thought he heard Micah. Knowing
he was out of Glitnir was more than a relief. The
passage of time was lost to him, he had nothing to
judge it by, but every time he attempted to open
his eyes he would hear, or smell, or think
something new.

“I get why you knocked out Simeon, but Levi as

well?” Micah’s voice.

“Micah, calm down.” Connor’s softer tones.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Phin interrupted. “If

I’d taken Levi in he’d have been in danger.”

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“Declan wants to kill you,” Micah snapped. “If

Simeon doesn’t get there first.”

“Declan should be thanking me that I didn’t get

his mate into a dangerous mess he would never
escape. You know I can only port one person.
What did you want me to do?”

“How about telling people what you are going

to do instead of rendering them unconscious?”
Micah asked abruptly. “You can’t do that—”

“Micah, you’re upset,” Connor interrupted.

“Joseph is here now and he’s safe. Let me talk to
Declan, he’s just blowing hot air. And Simeon will
be fine once the hand print vanishes from his
chest.”

“I saved their lives,” Phin shouted. The door

opened and closed and Joseph cracked his eyes
open a little. Micah was by the bed with his
elbows on his knees and his head bowed. Connor
crouched next to him with a hand on his knee.
Clearly it was Phin who had stormed out. Micah
looked terrible, dark circles under his eyes. He
plainly needed an infusion of blood, or at least a
hot meal. Joseph watched as Connor dropped to
his knees and moved closer to Micah, cuddling
close. Micah in turn, rested his head on Connor’s.

“What do I do if he doesn’t make it?” Micah

whispered.

“Don’t think that way,” Connor said gently but

firmly. “I love you, Micah Jamieson.”

The Warlock’s Secret

Joseph moaned low in his throat as a fresh

wave of pain worked its way from neck to the
base of his spine in spasm. Micah immediately
looked up and he and Connor were at the bed
before Joseph could get the pain under control.

“Joseph?” Micah said urgently. “Get Phin,” he

instructed Connor. Joseph closed his eyes to the
pain. “Open your damn eyes,” Micah ordered.

“Can’t,” Joseph managed to force out. “Hurts.”
“I’ll give you hurt, you freaking idiot, what

made you stay behind.”

“Felt ma-magic…” Joseph stuttered. Micah

leaned close and Joseph opened his eyes and
reached a hand to grab at his twin’s clothing. “Evil
in hi—his heart.”

“Joseph, you need to rest.”
Joseph twisted his hand and tugged until Micah

near tumbled onto him. “Twisted…dark…” he
forced out.

Light flooded the room as the door was flung

open and Phin was at his side in an instant.
Placing his hand on Joseph’s chest temporarily
eased some of Joseph’s pain, enough for him to
release Micah a little. He couldn’t take any of his
twin’s strength.

“Welcome back,” Phin muttered. He peered

down at Joseph and from here Joseph could see
the sparks in Phin’s pale silver eyes.

“Used magic…” Joseph protested.

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Phin shook his head. “I get you out of a

maximum security dungeon crawling with guard,
without killing anyone, and all you can do is bitch
at me for using a bit of magic?” Disgusted, Phin
pulled back and Joseph released his hold on Micah
completely, instead reaching for Phin.

“No,” Joseph said firmly. “Not you… Kappa…

per—perversion.”

Exhausted, he screwed his eyes tight again.

Every nerve ending in his body registered pain
and he could taste blood in his mouth. He had to
let them know, it was vital, there was evil in the
core of Glitnir.

“I can’t hear you,” Phin encouraged. “Say

again?”

“Ludvik…” Joseph dug deep for the energy and

ability to form the words. His magic was hidden,
any splinter of power had retreated as his body
began to die. He wasn’t certain it would ever
return. Whatever Phin tried to do, Joseph knew he
was close to death—his spirit fractured.

“Ludvik Peitrol? He has magic?” Micah said

carefully.

“Why did we not know this?” Phin was

evidently skeptical and the tone in his voice only
confirmed it. “There is no magic left in Glitnir.”

“You and Joseph,” Micah said quickly. “You

have powers.”

The Warlock’s Secret

“Throwbacks,” Phin’s derision was clear in the

simple words.

Joseph hated to hear it. He needed to get Phin

to understand it was up to him to remove Ludvik.
Spasms wracked through his body as he coughed
and there was more blood in his mouth. Blackness
in his head threatened to take him under. A pure
white light pushed some of the dark away and
Micah was inside his head. He couldn’t be. He
would see Joseph was dying. Deliberately Joseph
shut the link and finally allowed the pain to take
him under again.

* * * *

Micah reared back like he had been burned and let
out a cry of pure anguish. Phin stumbled away at
the visceral sound and was pushed aside as
Connor ran into the room.

“What happened?” Connor shouted. Micah was

curled into Connor and he looked devastated.
Phin immediately checked Joseph’s pulse. Micah’s
twin wasn’t dead, although Phin couldn’t track
Joseph’s magic—like it was gone, hidden,
destroyed.

“He shut me out,” Micah shouted. “I saw him,

he’s dying. Phin. Please. Save him.” Micah
gripped hard to his arm. “He’s giving up.”

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“I can’t,” Phin said tiredly. “There’s nothing I

can do. I tried, but the wounds won’t heal.” He
ran a finger across the nearest deep knife cut, the
tip of it following the line of the vicious wound. It
closed behind the touch, but immediately opened
again with fresh blood oozing. “See?”

“What did he mean about Ludvik? Was it him

that did this to Joseph? When I was connected just
now I saw Ludvik’s face, a smile. It wasn’t right.”

“Joseph says he has magic,” Phin tried to make

sense of it in his head. “Whether he has or not, I
don’t have anything in me left to give him. If these
cuts were made with magic, the intention was to
maim. Joseph isn’t fighting this. I don’t know if he
can. His magic is literally fractured and I can’t feel
it inside him. I can’t mend this, Micah.”

Grief balled in his chest. He wanted to be the elf

who could bring Joseph back to life. He wanted to
talk to Joseph, shout at him, call him stupid, hit
him, punch him, push him to the floor in temper
and cause him pain for the incredible stupidity of
letting himself get caught. He just wanted…time.

Micah bowed his head. “If I could get back

inside his head. Could I somehow…”

“Somehow what?” Connor said, concerned. He

had a strong grip on Micah and he looked damn
pale for a wolf shifter. He was scared for whatever
was in Micah’s thoughts—any fool could see that.

The Warlock’s Secret

“Could I find the fractured magic? Help him

press it together so he can heal.”

“No,” Phin said tiredly, “you wouldn’t know

what you were doing. There are curses and hells
you couldn’t imagine in that labyrinth inside his
head. Your consciousness would be lost.”

“Micah?” Connor asked. Fear colored his voice.

Phin glanced at the shifter and that wasn’t just
fear—it was terror and love and passion all rolled
into one. “Please think about this.”

“I want to do it. The Underground is nothing

without Joseph, already rumors are spreading that
our leader is dying, all the hard work, years of
sacrifice, all for nothing.” Micah was trying to be
practical, but underneath the words was the subtle
inference of the fact Joseph was his twin.

“You can’t,” Phin said suddenly. “You’d need

me to channel magic and I refuse to put you in
danger.” Connor looked directly at Phin, but there
was no thanks in his amber eyes. If anything, there
was absolute desolation. Connor would fight to
the death for Micah’s right to do what he wanted,
and Phin could see the war inside the shifter at the
thought of Micah being in this nebulous danger
that Connor had no understanding of.

Micah pulled his hand from Connor’s and

gripped Joseph’s instead. “Do it,” he said.

“Micah,” Connor protested.

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Micah closed his eyes and a tear fell from his

left eye. “I love you, Connor. I will always love
you.” Connor cupped Micah’s face and pressed a
kiss to his lips.

“I love you, too,” Connor said softly.
Phin watched the exchange. Connecting Micah

to Joseph was suicide. Joseph was beyond
benefitting from the twins’ connection. There was
only one person who could get inside Joseph’s
head and help him back. He sighed inwardly.
Joseph would not be happy with this. Phin raised
his hand, palm upward, and allowed a little of his
silver magic to form a sphere. In the blink of an
eye it was a solid ball and he handed it to Connor
who hesitated only momentarily before accepting
it with a frown on his face. Micah opened his eyes
and the depths of them were haunted and filled
with grief.

“It’s me he needs, Micah. You know that. I have

to get inside. You’re not enough.” Micah made to
argue, but stopped when Phin indicated the small
sphere of silver. “If this changes to scarlet, it
means I am lost, that Joseph and I are both lost.
Our bodies may have breath, but you take us, you
slit our throats, you burn our bodies and you
scatter our ashes. Understand me?”

“I don’t understand?” Micah asked. “My

brother isn’t dead yet.”

The Warlock’s Secret

Phin hesitated to explain. How could anyone

who didn’t have magic coursing through their
veins understand for one minute the death that
was losing that part of their soul.

“The only one who can pull Joseph out of this is

me. Not you,” he said simply. “One last thing. If
everything goes wrong…will you get a message
out?”

“To your dad,” Micah confirmed.
“No.” Phin snorted a laugh at the thought of his

dad being concerned about Phin’s death. “To
Asherkan Iblis, Asher, he’s a blood demon. In the
Badlands. It’s important. Tell him…” Tell him
what? It’s all well and good having someone to
give a message to, but not being able to know
what to say?

“What?” Micah asked gently.
“That I’m sorry, and that he was right.” Phin

glanced down at Joseph’s unconscious form. “He
was always right.”

Micah nodded. “You’ll come back, you can tell

the demon yourself,” he said carefully.

Phin thought maybe there should be more

fanfare, maybe some tearful farewells, but really
all he wanted to do was get inside Joseph’s mind
and find the damn magic. Then he and Joseph
really needed to talk. Without hesitation he placed
his hand flat over Joseph’s naked chest where the
worst of the cutting was, and where his heart beat

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slowly beneath the touch. Phin had access to
Joseph that not even Joseph would think he had.
Phin had love.

Immediately he connected, he had to fight the

instinct to pull away. Instead, he exhaled, then
climbed on the cot and lay close to Joseph, all the
time not removing the connecting touch. His last
image was of Micah staring with a mixture of
hope and despair and of Connor behind Micah,
holding him tight. Then everything went black.

The Warlock’s Secret

Chapter Four

hin landed lightly on the balls of his feet and
fell to a crouch. This wasn’t the first time he

had dream walked, but it was the first time he was
inside another supernatural’s head where he was
hunting magic. Silently he stayed where he was
for a second and glanced around at the labyrinth
that was the manifestation of Joseph’s thoughts.
At first sight it looked very much like the network
of stone tunnels at Glitnir, and the chambers off
each side had bars as doors. Not a good sign.
Seems as if Joseph was still trapped in the
thoughts of whatever had happened to him at
Ludvik’s hand. Phin stood and looked down at
himself.

He was dressed in tight black leather pants and

a white flowing shirt, his long hair loose around
his face. The one thing that always amused him
was how the people he visited in their dreams
dressed him. A great indication of how they saw

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Phin in real life. Clearly Joseph saw Phin as some
kind of flamboyant pirate figure. Interesting.

Turning three sixty, Phin contemplated where

to go first. Any exit was as good as each other and
he closed his eyes. Throwing out tendrils of
perception, he attempted to see any focus of
power. Anything. Finally a faint flicker of white
had him turning again and deciding which
corridor to take. Using a little magic, he cast a
mark on the dark walls to indicate where he’d
stood. When it immediately disappeared into the
wall with a sucking sound Phin knew he had a
battle on his hands. Seems as if Joseph’s psyche
wasn’t going to be helping him.

Oh well. He’d been in worse situations.

Although he couldn’t recall any of them at the
moment. There was the faint smell of sage—a
smell he associated with Joseph. Finally confident
of the direction, he started down the corridor.
There was more of the same—prison cells with
bars. Every cell was empty apart from blood on
the floor of each one. If he thought about it, then
each empty blood soaked cell was probably some
kind of indicator of the tortures Joseph had
endured. Finally he reached a break in the path.

To the right was darkness, to the left the light.

He took a single step left, then hesitated. The first
thing he was taught as a child, after being told he
couldn’t just jump inside anyone’s thoughts, was

The Warlock’s Secret

that sometimes the psyche could put up barriers.
Including using misdirection. Joseph would have
hidden his powers so deep to avoid detection that
to walk left and find whatever he needed would
be way too easy.

Decision made, he turned right and called a

little light so that he could see the way. When the
corridor ended abruptly into an open space, Phin
conjured more light and threw it away from him.
The sparks of it rose higher and higher until they
hit some point far above. The glow they threw off
displayed a huge cavern of a room. Phin couldn’t
see the sides of it, or the ceiling, and what he could
see of the floor was that it was a tessellated pattern
of octagons. In a fair point of the floor, a figure sat
cross-legged, head bowed, with a hundred chains
wrapped around him.

Joseph.
Phin cautiously made his way into the space

and the flickering lights followed him until
Joseph’s form was fully illuminated. Phin
crouched down in front of him. Joseph was
covered in blood and his face a grotesque mask of
cuts and swollen skin. No material covered any of
his skin.

“Hey, Joseph,” Phin said gently.
Joseph lifted his head a little and opened his

eyes. His left eye was red and the pupil fixed.

“Go’ways’Phin,” Joseph slurred.

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“Only if you come, too.” Phin wasn’t beating

about the bush. He was adamant Joseph would
stand and throw off these chains. They could
locate the magic, then get the hell out of this stone
maze.

Joseph half smiled, and cracks in his lips oozed

fresh blood. Rattling the chain that crossed over
his hands, he tilted his head in what was
amusement. “Gon’help’me’out?” he forced out.

“It’s all an illusion,” Phin said. He gently lifted

a chain from where it lay on Joseph’s ankle. As
soon as it left Joseph’s body, it vanished. “I can
take all the chains.”

“Ludvik…” Joseph said tiredly. “No point.” He

bowed his head again and the chain that had
disappeared reformed across his ankle and he
winced in pain as the iron wrapped tight.

Great.

Phin’s

fight

against

Joseph’s

consciousness wasn’t starting well. Carefully he
removed the same chain, and before it could
reappear, he moved onto the next.

“Micah misses you,” he said conversationally.

Maybe pulling mention of Joseph’s twin into this
would help Joseph see a way out.

“Twin,” Joseph muttered.
“Uh huh, a really angry twin, you are so deep

in trouble when we get home. Turns out he isn’t
that impressed you closed the tunnel out of Glitnir

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and put yourself in danger. He is one pissed
vampire.”

“Huh,” Joseph snorted. Was that tone stronger?

Or was Phin imagining it? The chains were at least
staying off. That was a good sign, right?

“You can huh all you like, Joseph Jamieson, but

I am telling you, Connor will hold Micah’s jacket
while your brother pummels you to the ground.
He’s out there now, cursing you for being the
damned here.”

“Not a hero,” Joseph said softly. “As far from

hero as you can imagine.”

Phin looked up in shock. That sounded like an

entire sentence with no slurring. He peered at
Joseph’s face and the blown pupil looked smaller,
not fixed and dilated, and the red was lessening.
Without hesitating, he pulled off more chains and
kept talking.

“I met Simeon. Huge guy, think he might be a

freaking big cat.”

“He’s working for Glitnir undercover for us,”

Joseph offered. “Big guy, yeah, he is. Strong and
very loyal.”

“I knocked him out.”
“You did?”
Phin chuckled as he pulled the last remaining

chain from around Joseph’s legs. As they left the
skin, where they had laid took on a pink hue and

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the cuts began to knit. This was a good sign. “He
was getting all hero on me.”

“You don’t like heroes?” Joseph asked. This

time when Phin looked up, Joseph had a familiar
smile on his face.

“Heroes have their place. But all that sacrificing

stuff for each other could make our little resistance
get smaller all the time.”

“Without sacrifice our success won’t mean

anything.”

“You can tell yourself that,” Phin tugged at a

chain around Joseph’s neck. It had buried itself
into the skin and the sound of it wrenching away
was sickening. Joseph let out a mewl of pain and
the chain embedded deeper. Fuck. What could he
talk about next? “So what do you think of me
being all heroic and shit, coming inside here and
getting you out?”

Joseph’s eyes widened and he glanced around

him as if he was seeing his surroundings for the
first time. “You came in here to get me?”

“Micah wanted to.” Phin eased a finger under

the neck chain and swallowed the bile as skin split
around it when he moved it. At least this time
Joseph didn’t make a sound of pain. “I told him he
couldn’t.”

“Bet he didn’t like that.” Joseph chuckled.

“Always stubborn.”

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“Stubborn, opinionated, and very much in love

with Connor.”

Joseph nodded. “His wolf. I love that he is

happy. He sacrificed his happiness to protect
Ethan.”

Phin swore as the neck chain perceptibly

tightened—trapping his finger between it and the
bones of Joseph’s neck. Fuck. Get him off the
subject of Ethan. And for God’s sake don’t
mention Asher.

“Yeah, well I walked in on them a week back,”

Phin lied. He’d actually been wondering the forest
like a freaking idiot just then. “All hands and
mouths and naked skin.”

“What did you do?” Joseph sounded intrigued.
“Way I saw it I had two choices,” Phin thought

on his feet. “I could either back out quietly, or I
could make a noise to let them know I was here
and embarrass them utterly and completely.”

Joseph smiled and the chain eased enough to

release Phin’s finger and finally Phin could get it
up and over Joseph’s head. “What did you decide
to do?”

“What do you think I did?”
“You? Phin-who-doesn’t-give-a-shit? You made

a noise.”

Phin tried to ignore the slight twinge of hurt at

his personality being summed up so abruptly. He
had to remember this was a story to take Joseph’s

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mind off the self-imposed chains and not actually
real.

“Damn right I did,” he said firmly.
“What did they do?”
“I’ve never seen a vampire go so red, and wolf-

boy growled at me. I ran.” He checked all the
chains were free, then stood, and leaned over with
his hands under Joseph’s arms. “Now let’s get you
stood up.”

“My leg is broken,” Joseph said gently. “I can’t

stand up.”

It isn’t broken. This isn’t you physically. Phin

thought. This is just your head fucking with you. He
didn’t say that. Instead he said, “It’s okay, I used
magic on it, it’s all healed.”

Joseph looked at him in disbelief. His

expression wary.

“Trust me, Jo,” Phin said gently. “Just trust

me.”

Joseph blinked as he evidently needed to

consider whether he could trust Phin. Then he
grabbed hold of Phin’s shoulder and allowed Phin
to help him stand. Until finally, he was upright
and testing the weight of himself on what Phin
assumed was the leg Joseph had decided was
broken. When Joseph grinned at him, a small part
of the stone around Phin’s heart chipped away.
What was it about Joseph and his damned smile?

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Enough to get Phin to melt in a freaking puddle at
his feet.

“Let’s go,” Phin encouraged. He guided Joseph

to the door, grunting at the weight of the other
man’s weak stumble. This was a freaking
manifestation—couldn’t Joseph think himself
lighter?

“Where are the guards?”
“I dealt with them,” Phin said firmly. Joseph

had no idea he was inside his own thoughts.

“And Ludvik?”
Phin didn’t hesitate with an answer. “Dead,” he

lied.

Joseph was quiet for a little while and they

stumbled along the corridor back to the Y where
Phin could still see the light. That was where
Joseph’s magic had been hidden. If they could just
get there, then Phin could reunite them and Joseph
would be able to heal himself and Phin could
break the connection and go back to waking up.

“He had a perversion of magic,” Joseph

mumbled. He was less and less depending on
Phin and more able to walk himself. “I saw it
when he touched me. All dark and boiling inside
him. How had he managed to hide it so well from
Glitnir?”

“I have no idea, but we can find out when we

get out of here.” They turned towards the light
and now Joseph was upright and there was a good

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foot of space between him and Phin. Was it wrong
of him to miss the fact Joseph was leaning on him?
On waste-of-space-breaker-of-hearts Orophin
Tiwele? Now was not the time to get himself in
that headspace. What had happened was set in
stone, nothing could change it now.

“What is this place?” The room they reached

was blinding white and along the walls a trail of
silver hissed and spit.

“If you touch the wall you can see.”
“I’m not touching the wall,” Joseph declared.

His hand went to his throat where the pink scars
of healing circled his neck. When he pulled his
hand away, Phin could see blood. Damn it.

“Touch the wall, Joseph,” Phin said softly. “It

will make you feel better.” Something fell on his
shirt and he glanced down. A bloom of blood
stained the white of his shirt and he felt another
drip. He didn’t look up. He didn’t know what was
bleeding on him. It wasn’t even real blood. It was
all an illusion.

“It’s electric,” Joseph peered closely, “or

something.”

“It sparks a little, then you get to go home.

Don’t be a baby, Jo.”

Joseph looked doubtful. Then he turned to face

Phin directly. “You always used to call me Jo,” he
said softly. “Before, when we fell in love and we
thought we had tomorrows.”

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“I did,” Phin replied. What the hell? Just touch

the damn wall already. “You hated me calling you
Jo.”

“I only pretended to hate it,” Joseph grinned.

The light in his blue eyes was teasing. “I loved you
so much it didn’t matter what you called me.”

“I loved you, too,” Phin said in instant

response. Where that had come from he didn’t
know. Maybe it was being inside Joseph’s head
and feeling safe? He had no idea. They couldn’t be
together, but that didn’t mean he had left behind
the sensation of love that was buried deep inside
his heart.

“You loved me?” Joseph sounded hurt. “I still

love you.” He stepped into Phin’s space and
pressed a gentle kiss to Phin’s lips. The action took
Phin by surprise and he didn’t have time to stop
his traitorous body from reacting. Letting out a
strangled moan he cupped Joseph’s face with his
hands and deepened the kiss. They were fire
together. Perfect. They couldn’t have this outside
in the real world, but in here, where nothing made
sense, Phin could taste and touch and have
enough of Joseph to last a century. Joseph’s grip
tightened on Phin’s arms and he lifted Phin up.
They had always struggled with the fact Joseph
was this tall vampire and Phin was a head shorter.
Joseph’s way of handling the problem was to lift
Phin. The motion was familiar and right and,

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abruptly Phin realized what was happening. He
struggled free and moved back a step.

“We can’t,” he snapped quickly.
“You want to, I want to.”
“And what about all the rules about the two of

us with magic not being together? You want to
unleash an apocalypse or something”

“Phin, that rubbish is part of the control system

that Glitnir has in place—”

“So you say, but what if they are right?” Phin

didn’t believe anything Glitnir shoved down his
throat, or his own kingdom where cross species
love was frowned upon.

“You’re just using that as an excuse, Phin.”
“You chose Ethan, I chose Asher.”
“I loved Ethan, but he wasn’t you, Phin.”

Joseph appeared sad.

Phin gestured to the wall. “Touch the silver,

Jo,” Phin said. He wasn’t ready to delve into
complicated matters of the heart in the middle of a
dream walk. The use of the name Jo had Joseph
tilting his head in that curious way he did when
he was thinking.

“Okay,” he finally said. “If it makes your smile

come back.”

Joseph took a step closer and placed his palm

flat against the wall. The silver sparked and Phin
heard a familiar tone, a chanting from the magic,

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and sudden excruciating pain dragged him away
from Joseph and threw him out of the dream walk.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Micah and

Connor standing by the bed.

“How long?” Phin asked.
“Two hours, maybe more, did it work?” Micah

asked hurriedly.

Phin blinked at the question. How was he

supposed to know? He was dazed and confused.
Then clarity washed over him. He should be able
to see. Moving away from where he was close to
Joseph, he ran his finger over one of the deep cuts
on Joseph’s chest and the wound sealed.
Consciously holding his breath Phin waited for
the skin to split again. Nothing. The cut closed and
pinkened and Phin rested his forehead on Joseph’s
chest, finally able to breathe normally.

“He’s going to be alright.”
“Anything,” Micah said with choked emotion.

“I owe you. Anything you want. Everything.”

Phin couldn’t lift his head to answer. He was

beyond exhausted and his eyes stung. Closing his
eyes, he snuggled in close to Joseph. It wouldn’t
hurt to have his magic in skin contact to Joseph. Of
course when Joseph woke up he’d be furious at
some of the garbage Phin had talked inside his
head.

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Phin wasn’t moving. He’d give anything to

have Joseph be angry with him again. And not just
in his head, but for real. Anger he could deal with.

The Warlock’s Secret

Chapter Five

oseph surfaced from sleep a little at a time.
First, he saw daylight and it didn’t hurt his

eyes. He blinked and attempted to remember
where he was and why. He was warm and
comfortable and the hold that someone had on
him was firm and secure. He snuggled down into
the hold and sighed. That had been some
nightmare. His magic gone, and his whole form
wrapped in chains, he had been caught in a web
with a spider crawling ever closer and leaving
blood in a trail behind.

He should think of something good. Like a

person, or a place, or try and recall a dream that
didn’t make him shudder in remembrance of it.

Second, he inhaled the scent of the forest. Sharp

and clean it was home and he was warm and he
was safe. Safe? Why is it important I am safe? He
moved a hand and winced at the ache in it. He
must have slept on his wrist in an odd position.

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Yawning, he stretched back against the man who
held him. Definitely a man if the touch of his
fingers to hard muscles could be trusted.

“Joseph?”
Micah sat on a chair just out of view and Joseph

moved his head to be able to look at his brother.
Micah was in the room with him? Even though
Joseph had a lover in his bed?

“What?” he asked curiously. Micah looked ill.

Pale, actually way past vampire-pale, and his eyes
had bags that smudged purple under each eye.

Micah reached over and held his sore hand.

Joseph stopped himself from wincing again. He
didn’t want Micah going all concerned brother on
him because of an aching wrist.

“How do you feel?” Micah whispered.
“Tired,” Joseph answered truthfully. Micah

nodded. He looked uncomfortable. Like he had
something to say, but didn’t know how to. Joseph
reached out with his twin connection, but when he
heard nothing and felt little except a dull ache
behind the eyes, he gave up. He was just too damn
exhausted. That was why everything ached and
his magic was hiding somewhere. “Spit it out,” he
said.

Micah pulled his lower lip between his teeth

and worried the skin for a while. “Do you
remember what happened?”

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“Did I drink a bad batch of synth?” That was

the only thing he could think of that would cause
him to have what appeared to be a hangover from
hell. “Hell,” he said quickly. “Who did I fuck?” He
couldn’t bring himself to look. If Micah was
looking so destroyed, then Joseph had to have
done something pretty awful.

“No one,” Micah said softly. “You shut the

portal in Glitnir. You were trapped. Phin rescued
you.” The summary was obviously difficult for
Micah. He looked devastated.

“Phin?” Joseph said gently. He moved his other

arm to turn and look at the man behind him,
suddenly very aware of who it could be. When his
arm caught on something, Micah attempted to
help. A quick glance up confirmed to Joseph he
was hooked up to a drip of full blood. Shit. He had
to have been bad for them to have him on the real
stuff. No wonder his veins tingled—he hadn’t
touched real blood since he was a child. Finally
Micah had him extricated and helped him to sit
up. Joseph deliberately didn’t look at Phin until he
sat upright and the head rush had gone. Then
with a determination not to feel anything out of
the ordinary, he turned his gaze to the sleeping elf.

When Micah moved, Phin had released his hold

of him in sleep. Falling to his back, he lay flat on
the bed and appeared dead to the world. Joseph
scanned him for injury but there was nothing. He

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was dressed in loose pants and a shirt and Joseph
blinked. Phin should be wearing a flowing white
shirt and tight black pants. Where had that
thought built from? A memory?

Phin was gorgeous. Sleeping in a stream of light

coming through the half open slatted wooden
blinds he was like a god. His white blond hair,
messy and tangled, was in disarray around his
face and Joseph could see the point of one ear
poking through. Every time he met the annoying
elf, Joseph was blown away by the softness of his
skin, of the slim form with defined muscles, at the
beautiful silver eyes. Phin looked exhausted but
well. What the hell happened? Why was Phin
here? Why couldn’t Joseph remember a thing?

Phin moved in his sleep and he reached out as

if to find the person who lay next to him. When
his hand met cold space, his eyes flickered open
and his gaze focused on Joseph. He frowned.

“You need to sleep,” he said. His voice was

rough and low and, irritation ran through it.

“I’m not tired,” Joseph said. Then ruined the

confidence in his voice by yawning again.

Phin sighed. “Lie down,” he ordered. Joseph

decided he wasn’t going to move, but with Micah
helping him it suddenly seemed that all his body
wanted to do was be horizontal. Then Phin
mumbled something under his breath which
sounded suspiciously like the words idiot and

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stupid. He touched his finger to Joseph’s chest and
Joseph experience the cool trickle of magic sliding
through his system. He attempted to call his own
power to stop the effects of what was happening
to him. But he couldn’t summon anything and
gave into the sleep that Phin forced onto him.

* * * *

Phin looked over at Micah. “Was he awake long?”

“No.” Micah sat back in his chair. He looked

concerned and Phin waited for the questions.
“Why doesn’t he remember, Phin? What did you
do?”

“I took his memories so he could sleep. He

needs to sleep.”

“But if you have them, how can you sleep?”
“They’re not my memories,” Phin explained.

“It’s easy.” He was lying. The pain he was able to
see Joseph experiencing was evil and he couldn’t
ignore it, but he was managing to shield most of it
so he could sleep. He pushed himself up off the
bed and stood for a second while he centered
himself. He didn’t want any more questions. He
made to leave the room, but Micah scrambled to
his feet and stopped his exit with a firm grip to his
arm. Phin attempted to tug it free.

“Wait,” Micah said firmly.
“What?”

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“Thank you. For bringing Joseph back, for

finding him, for everything.”

“It’s fine.” Finally he shrugged free and

sidestepped Joseph’s twin with a forced smile. His
senses were in overload, his skin felt tight, and the
last thing he needed was to have Micah’s anxiety
added to the horrors already spinning around in
his head.

“I’ll make sure he knows what you did,” Micah

called after him.

Phin stopped for a second on the threshold to

the room. Did he want that? Was he even
interested in Joseph thinking good of him after all
this time?

“He’ll remember when he’s fully healed. I can’t

hold most of the memories forever and they’ll
reform slowly.” All except the memory where
they exchanged I love yous. Phin wasn’t letting that
one go.

Micah nodded his understanding, then retook

his seat in vigil for his brother. When Phin stepped
outside, the sun high in the sky implied it was
near to midday as was possible, but midday of
what particular day was something Phin couldn’t
recall. Rolling his shoulders, he wandered around
the small town. Typically the first person he
walked into was a very pissed Simeon Blue.

The shifter was a long way from home—as an

ambassador from the Second Kingdom to Glitnir,

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he was Phin’s only connection to home. The Feline
Guild had long been loyal to the Elf King. As heir
to that throne Phin could ask for Simeon to be on
his knees swearing loyalty. If he cared, that was.
Simeon certainly didn’t fall to his knees, or show
the respect Phin’s birth status earned him
normally. Instead, the shifter narrowed his gaze
and crossed his arms over his broad chest.

Phin held up his hands to proclaim innocence

and to defend what he had done in order to get
Joseph out of Glitnir. “I can only port one person,”
he began. “I needed everything to get Joseph out.”

“I know,” Simeon said carefully. He raised a

single eyebrow. He had a good foot on Phin and
probably a hundred pounds of muscle. Phin
considered that Simeon was probably going to hit
him, or sit on him, or something. Instead, the cat
shifter relaxed his stance, then in a quick move
pulled his shirt over his head. “Look,” he said
firmly.

Phin was looking. At acres of bronze skin with

a smattering of gold blond hair. Simeon Blue was
gorgeous. Phin rolled his tongue back in his
mouth. Simeon Blue may well be gorgeous, but he
wasn’t Joseph. Then Phin realized what Simeon
meant. Right over Simeon’s heart was a perfectly
formed handprint. Phin’s handprint. Phin peered
as close as he dared—just out of arm’s reach as
self-preservation kicked in.

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“Sorry,” Phin finally said. “I’ve never used the

whole knocking unconscious thing on a feline
shifter before,” he offered carefully.

“Am I stuck with it?” Simeon didn’t sound

pissed. In fact, he was intrigued. He ran a finger
over the mark and it ended at his nipple.
Deliberately, he dragged his nail across the
cinnamon disk and the nub hardened. Phin didn’t
need to have powers to see inside people’s
thoughts to see Simeon coming on to him. Phin
stepped back. Was Simeon really going there?

“It should fade,” Phin said. He went to walk

around, but Simeon held his arm as he moved
past. Phin sighed inwardly—people needed to
stop hanging on to him, he might be small, but he
could zap things in an instant if he wanted to.

Simeon leaned closer and Phin swore he could

hear a soft purr. “Maybe what I need is skin to
skin contact with a cute sexy elf to make it all
better,” Simeon said with a smirk.

Phin opened his mouth to respond. Then shut it

again. Joseph was front and center in his mind—
no room for anyone else. So what did he say to
that blatant come on? “I’m in a…I’m…thank
you…but…no.”

Simeon released his hold with a chuckle and

Phin moved away at speed. As he turned the
corner, he glanced back. Simeon stood there,
staring with a feral grin pasted on his face, then

The Warlock’s Secret

with a wave he turned and walked in the opposite
direction.

The town of Winterhill wasn’t big, maybe a

thousand souls, a mix of fae and human that co-
existed peacefully. Far enough away from Glitnir
to remain left alone, but close enough so that the
Underground had access to the city, the town was
quiet and a comfortable place to stay.

None of the residents would see Phin—well

they could, but Phin had dealt with that. They
would see nothing more than someone they
thought they knew, but couldn’t remember why.
Magic was his skill and one he was happy to use.
No one in their small group wanted the town in
peril—which is what it would be if anyone found
out they were there.

Phin managed to avoid meeting up with any of

the rest of the group and he was grateful for that.
He knew Connor was around—the wolf was
never far from Micah. Levi was here somewhere
as well. Levi. He was going to be angry with Phin
for knocking him unconscious and leaving him
behind. Hell, at least when they met, Levi would
be just angry and not spend his time making
advances towards Phin, like Simeon had. Levi was
holed up somewhere with Declan. That just left
Joseph.

He didn’t want to think about Joseph. No two

supernaturals with magic can ever be together.

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Paranormal 101 and taught to every child whether
Glitnir or Second Kingdom. Same accepted
understanding as the old rule of werewolves not
ending up being physical with vampires. Come to
think of it, weren’t incubi supposed to keep their
sex lives in species as well? Of course he and
Joseph had never really made it past the whole
attraction stage. Both hiding from the world the
fact they had magic. They may well have fallen
hard and fast with a need so strong it knocked
Phin backwards, but the ingrained rules made
them stop. Then of course, there was Ethan. That
had ended things between Joseph and Phin before
they could even start.

Didn’t stop the fascination Phin had for Joseph

or the need to love the sexy vampire.

Finally he made it to the small place that he was

using as his home. Why he bothered having a
space to call his own he didn’t know but Joseph
had insisted that each member of the team had a
place with the town. Team…Joseph thought Phin
was loyal to his vision of a new future, with the
corruption

washed

away,

where

each

supernatural or human lived in peace—a Utopia
that Phin doubted could ever happen.

Phin wasn’t Underground in the true sense of

the word. He was a son escaping a destiny he
didn’t want. He hated sitting on his hands and he
wanted in on the action, but at the same time he

The Warlock’s Secret

tired of all the plotting and planning and the
complicated politics of this anti-Glitnir revolution.
He left all that stuff to Joseph. Phin was happy
playing the part of the awkward one who didn’t
listen to orders.

Anyway, why would he, Orophin Tiwele, listen

to anyone? He was heir to the entire Second
Kingdom. Elves, the Feline Guild, an army of
blood demons, an entire country to rule. He was
just here because…

And that was the problem. After keeping

Asher’s secrets and seeing what his own father did
to those who dared to confront his iron grip on his
kingdom he’d become disillusioned with his own
home.

He’d run away from his destiny to make a new

one, met Joseph and believed that was it. The
place he needed to be. Then with his own father
sending blood demons after him to bring Phin
home and putting a price on his head? Was he
only here because he had to be to stay away from
the place he was born. Or was he here because he
wanted to be?

Angrily he paced his small home. His headache

was worse and the oppressive feeling that he had
fucked up again had him clenching his teeth in
frustration. Simeon didn’t seem to be furious that
Phin had knocked him out. That was one down,
but he’d yet to talk to Levi. All this talk of teams,

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but Phin didn’t do teamwork. He didn’t need it.
He was more powerful than any one of the
Underground, or any of the overpaid underused
Glitnir representatives. He was stronger than his
father, and the entire race of elves that had turned
their backs on Phin because he had run.

He shut the wooden blinds and the lessening of

sunlight in his eyes was a welcome relief. Bands of
tension circled his head and his shoulders were
tight. All the memories he had temporarily taken
from Joseph spun in his thoughts and he couldn’t
understand how Joseph had survived any of what
Phin could see. So much pain and anguish, and
seeing Joseph watch the torturous images pushed
at him was more than he could cope with. The
worst image was of him and Asher, ending with
Phin’s throat being ripped out. The throat ripping
wasn’t the bad part. Seeing a vision of him and
Asher together made him feel ill. Joseph must
have those thoughts in his head for Ludvik to be
able to manipulate the image to create the hell he
had thrown Joseph into.

Joseph. He hadn’t been lying to the vampire

when he had been inside the labyrinth of a dying
Joseph’s mind. He did love the infuriating
vampire, he had done so from the first time they
met each other, but Joseph had chosen Ethan. Phin
wasn’t going to fight a dead man’s ghost.

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Then there was Asher. Phin had let Joseph

think things that weren’t true, just to save face.
One mistake. He’d blown everything. And now
Joseph was leading this little revolution of theirs—
expanding the number of supernaturals involved,
using his powers in a limited way and doing what
was right. Becoming a damn hero and moving
further away from Phin with each day.

And what was Phin doing? Sitting in the

darkened room tossing a ball of fire in the air with
the casual air of someone who didn’t know how
dangerous it was to be using magic in public.

He wasn’t responsible. He was fun, and happy,

and focused…and on the run…and tired.

There was a knock on the door and Levi’s voice

accompanied the noise. “Phin? You in there?”

“No,” he called. He wasn’t technically lying,

when he then made sure he wasn’t in the room.
He focused on the one person he wanted to see
and felt the familiar tug at the pit of his stomach as
he left Winterhill and ported into the Badlands,
right into the one place he felt calm. Asher’s home.

The door to the bathroom was shut, the shower

running, and Phin knocked on the door. “Asher?
Are you in there?” He shouted so Asher could
hear him over the noise of the water.

“Gods, Orophin,” Asher’s voice was strangled

and tense. “Go away, I’m in the shower.”

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“You getting off?” Phin said quickly. Sure

sounded like Asher was doing something if his
growly sex voice was any indication.

“I’m busy.”
“You’re in there alone, it can’t be much fun,”

Phin deadpanned. “What are you doing?”

“What do you think I’m doing?” This time

Asher’s tone had changed to include irritation.

“I need to talk to you.”
“Fuck you, Phin,” Asher snarled.
Phin heard cursing and the noises of Asher

turning off the water and climbing out of the
shower. Moving away from the door, he made
himself comfortable on the bed. Asher was going
to be as mad as a poked sleeping bear when he
exited that bathroom. Even worse because he had
been mid-wank and probably had blue balls now.

This couldn’t wait. Asher was the only person

he could trust with all the confusion swirling in
Phin’s head at the moment. Closing his eyes, Phin
concentrated on the pain in his head as much as he
could, then nudged it to one side. Opening a
mental box, he slid in all of Joseph’s memories and
the things that made Phin’s skin tight with
emotion, then shut the lid.

“You look like shit,” Asher snapped.
Phin opened his eyes, then smiled. Asher didn’t

look like temper had driven him from the

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bathroom, if anything, the harsh words were
softened by his concerned expression.

“I dream walked,” Phin explained. “Was a hero

and all that kind of thing.”

Asher pulled the towel away from his waist,

then slid on pants. Pulling a scarlet shirt over his
head, he used the towel to scrub at his short dark
hair.

“That shirt brings out the red in your eyes,”

Phin teased.

“Fuck you Phin,” Asher said without heat.

Asher crossed to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle
of green liquid and two glasses. Pouring a little of
the liquid into each, he passed one to Phin, then
sat in the chair at the end of the bed with his own.
Sipping his own drink, Asher sat patiently. He
was an expert in saying nothing and waiting for
Phin to talk.

“How’s your wound?” Phin asked first. The last

time he’d seen Asher, he’d sent him home with
death only a few steps away.

Asher inclined his head. “Healed. Although I’m

not sure the King was that impressed by having to
deal with it.”

“Then he shouldn’t have sent you to find me,”

Phin said tiredly. He moved the glass and
watched the green liquid move in smooth circles
before settling again. He’d never liked this stuff, a
combination of pure alcohol, sage and leaf, but to

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blood demons, it was nectar. He took a small sip
and breathed through the burn as it traveled down
his throat.

“You couldn’t help what happened,” Asher

said gently.

“I told Levi and Declan to stay at the bottom of

the peak, but they didn’t.” Phin sighed. “I should
have knocked them unconscious.” Although how
he would have explained that was another matter.
“Are you okay?”

Asher ignored the question. Instead he focused

on Phin and turned the question back at him. “Are
you okay? I had to make it look good you know,
that I was really trying to retrieve you, in case I
was seen.”

Phin waved the words away. “I just wish you

didn’t have to pretend,” Phin replied. He was safe
here with the wards he’d placed around Asher’s
home many years before. No one in the Second
Kingdom could clear what Phin had created. No
one was strong enough. In this small house in the
middle of the capital city, they were safe.

“Are we doing this again?” Asher asked softly.

“This is the way it has to be until your father
passes. Then when you are King—”

“Stop Asher,” Phin interrupted. “I don’t want

to be King. I’m not the oldest.”

Gods, this argument was an old one. Phin may

not be the oldest of the King’s two sons, but he

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was the only pure blood elf. The other brother? A
bastard born out of wedlock and no more
accepted as the King’s son than a total stranger.

Asher shrugged. He clearly wasn’t ready to

debate this again. “Why are you here, Phin?” he
asked instead.

“Joseph,” he blurted out.
“Color me surprised,” Asher said dryly. “You

only ever visit when it’s about Joseph.”

“That’s not true,” Phin began. “I visited

when…” he stopped. Attempting to recall the
times he’d visited Asher like this, he actually
couldn’t remember once when he’d come without
having just left Joseph for one reason or another.
Shame had his hanging his head. Asher didn’t
deserve this. Phin should come and see him just
because he could. He felt the bed dip as Asher sat
down next to him and leaned back against the
headboard.

“I’m teasing you, Phin,” Asher said gently.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Phin shook his head. “He was dying, and he’d

done what I would do, he’d hidden his magic, and
he couldn’t heal. So I dream walked and I saw…”
He shuddered, then placed the drink on the
cabinet by the bed. Emotion built inside him and,
when Asher put his arm around Phin’s shoulder,
Phin leaned into the welcome hug. “Chains. All

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these chains, cutting into him, and I told him
things. I said I loved him. He said he loved me.”

“Ahh,” Asher said with his infuriating all-

knowing voice. “So finally the two of you admit
what you have been keeping inside for years.
What did he say when he woke up?” Phin
groaned and turned his face so he could hide in
Asher’s shirt. “Phin?” Asher prompted. “What did
he say?”

“I took the memory,” Phin admitted. “I took all

the memories of what he’d been through so he
could heal.”

“Gods, Phin, you can’t do that. You need to

give them back.”

“He mentioned love in a dream Ash, he didn’t

mean it.”

“Go back to him, give him the memory back

and see where it goes. Isn’t it finally time for the
two of you to stop the dance and give in to each
other.”

Phin groaned again. If only it was that easy.

“He chose Ethan over me,” Phin said tiredly.

“He had his reasons, Phin, you have to know

that. Ethan was a human, he needed protection
and the Underground needed his skill with
language.”

“I know that,” Phin snapped. “I get he was this

fragile human who Joseph had affection for and
wanted to protect, I get Ethan was this gorgeous

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sexy brilliant man who could help translate with
Micah. I get all that. But it went further for Joseph.
He chose Ethan and told me he had made his
choice.”

“Ethan died,” Asher said gently. “Joseph tried

to keep him safe is all. You’re both free men. Give
him back his memory of what you both said and
begin to make a life for yourself.”

“Thing is…” Gods, this was hard. “I lied to him.

That day when he told me he was putting Ethan
ahead of us. I lied and said I was with someone
anyway, and that I didn’t care.”

“He would have seen you were lying, wouldn’t

he? You told me Joseph has incredible perception,
as well as a body built for sex, gorgeous eyes, a
tight ass…I can go on.” Asher laughed as he
spoke.

“No he wouldn’t have,” Phin said miserably.

“See, I lied to him, but I used someone I loved
anyway and he wouldn’t have known the
difference.”

Silence. Asher said nothing. He was evidently

mulling over what Phin had just said.

Finally Asher spoke, his voice soft, “What did

you do, Phin?”

Phin swallowed and hoped he would make it

through the next few minutes alive. “I told him I
was with you. It was the easiest option. I love you
and it was the only thing I could think of on the

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spur of the moment. He hates blood demons so it
was perfect.” Phin tensed. He hadn’t exactly
meant to add that last bit. Vampires and blood
demons were actually connected a thousand
generations before. Vampires had created the
blood demons as walking doners. Then while
vampires chose to assimilate, blood demons
reveled in their need for blood. Well, all except
Asher that was.

“Let me get this straight,” Asher said

deceptively calm. “You told the man you love, a
vampire, that you were in love with me, a blood
demon, so that you could do what?”

“Make it look like I didn’t care,” Phin said

gently. When I cared so much. When it broke my
heart into a million pieces for Joseph to offer
protection to Ethan.

“Phin, look at me.” Asher was insistent. Phin

finally pulled away from his face hiding position
and stared into Asher’s clear green eyes. “You
need to tell him who I am, so he understands,
make him see.”

“I’ve lied for so long now,” Phin said

helplessly.

“You want to save face?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.”
“You love Joseph. You want to have something

with him? As much of a future as you can have in
the middle of planning a revolution?”

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“I’m not planning a revolution,” Phin answered

quickly. Asher quirked a brow, then frowned.
Phin sighed. Asher knew Phin was lying to
himself. Phin was as much a part of the
Underground as Joseph, or Micah, or Simeon.
“Okay, so maybe I am part of it all.”

“Tell him. Just say…Joseph, you know I told

you I was sleeping with Asher, well actually I’m
not. I lied to you to save face. Because you see,
Asher is my half-brother and even though I love
him because he is great, it’s a brother bond and
not a fucking bond that we have. Only don’t tell
anyone because only he and I know and if the
King knew there was another claim on the Second
Kingdom throne, then he would remove Asher’s
head from his neck.”

Phin couldn’t take his eyes off Asher’s face as

he spoke. Although his brother was laughing as he
spoke, Phin could see the passion in his eyes.

“He’ll kill me,” Phin said.
Asher held out a hand and Phin took it in a firm

grip, lacing their fingers. When he was five, he’d
known he had a connection to Asher. The demon
was part of the royal guard, a young trainee, and
Phin could tell they were brothers even then. His
best friend and, between them, they had a secret
that both would take to their graves. Phin was
pureblood elf, Asher a mix of elf and blood
demon, although the elf side of him was

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mercifully hidden. The Second Kingdom didn’t
tolerate the royal line being diluted.

“Call me if you need me,” Asher said simply.
Phin nodded. “I will.”

The Warlock’s Secret

Chapter Six

oseph turned over in bed and, the other half of
the sheets were icy cold. Huffing in

disappointment that Phin wasn’t still here, he
heard a chuckle and turned back to face a smiling
Micah. Obviously having Phin next to him,
touching him, had been some kind of dream.

“You wake up and you instantly reach for

Phin,” he said.

Joseph scowled, “I was not.”
“Whatever gets you through the day,” Micah

said with a shrug and a smile.

“What happened?” Joseph changed the subject.

Micah was far too perceptive for his own good
and his twin knew exactly what to say to get a rise
out of him.

Micah considered him thoughtfully. “How

much do you remember?”

Joseph frowned and thought hard. His

memories were confused. He focused in on the

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last thing he remembered. “I closed the portal. I
could see you and Levi at the other end safe, but I
felt magic at my back and I knew if I didn’t close
the portal down whoever was behind us could
have followed us through.”

“Apart from me railing at you for doing that,

what else do you recall?”

“Nothing,” Joseph offered. He lifted a hand and

examined the faint crisscross tracing of marks on
his skin. A darker band circled his wrist. He had
nothing. How did he get the marks? “Tell me what
happened?”

“You were captured and tortured,” Micah

summarized. Joseph narrowed his gaze and
focused on his brother’s expression. Micah was
attempting to keep his emotions in check, but
Joseph could see something. An imperceptible
tightening of Micah’s lips, a barely there flash of
pain in his eyes.

“How long?”
“Three days, four. Turns out Ludvik Peitrol has

magic and he wanted you to expose your own
skills.”

“Why can’t I remember?” Joseph linked all the

things together that meant he was suffering
memory loss, but there were no shadows of the
memories in his head. Something, or someone,
had scrubbed his head clean. Then the ghost of

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Phin from his dream made sense. “What did Phin
do?”

“Dream walked, reunited your inner self with

your magic so you could get better, took memories
that meant you weren’t healing.”

Anger and frustration mixed with gratitude and

the combination wasn’t a good one.

“He shouldn’t have done that,” Joseph

snapped.

“What did you want me to do? Leave you to

die?”

Micah swiveled to face Phin and Joseph turned

his head slower. Phin was a sight for sore eyes.
Smaller than Joseph, but feisty, his elf was
stunning. His long blond hair fell past his
shoulders and his eyes held a determination
Joseph hadn’t seen in Phin before.

“Yes,” Joseph said immediately. “You don’t put

your powers in jeopardy for me. The
Underground needs you whole and alive.”

“The Underground needs me?” Phin said

incredulously. “What the hell is that supposed to
mean?”

Micah stood. He’d been looking from Phin to

Joseph and back again and obviously saw this
wasn’t going to go well. “I’ll leave you alone.”

“You don’t have to go,” Joseph said

immediately.

“Yes he does,” Phin snapped.

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“I’m gone.” Micah pulled the door shut behind

him and suddenly Joseph was alone with the one
person he attempted to avoid if at all possible.

“So, carry on with how you think I shouldn’t

have used everything at my disposal to get the
leader of this Underground group out of harm’s
way? How are you supposed to fix everything if
you are dead?”

Joseph listened to the words coming out of

Phin’s mouth, but none of them made a lot of
sense. There was an imperative here that Phin was
just not seeing.

“Well you tell me how the heir to the Second

Kingdom, and the only hope we have of finally
bringing them and Glitnir together, was stupid
enough to put himself in harm’s way?”

“I won’t bother again,” Phin snapped. “I’ll just

leave your blood sucking vamp ass chained to a
ceiling and bleeding to death, while a Kappa rips
your magic out through each tear in your soul,
then laugh when you disappear into nothing.”
Temper colored every word, then Phin turned on
his heel to leave.

“Give me my memories back,” Joseph

demanded before Phin could leave.

“You want them?” Phin spun on his heel and

crossed to the bed before slapping his hand flat on
Joseph’s chest.

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Joseph arched off the bed as pain and agony

coursed through him. Every single thing that
Ludvik had done, from the visions to the torture,
every slice and cut and threat tumbled back into
place in sensory overload all in one go. He heard
himself scream and writhe to get away from
Phin’s touch.

“No,” Phin’s voice cut through, “No, I’m sorry,

no…”

Then nothing.

“Joseph? Can you hear me?” Phin’s worried

tone was inside his head and his arms were
wrapped around Joseph firmly. “Gods, I’m sorry.
That was stupid. You made me angry, I’m sorry.
Come back now. Before Micah kills me.”

“Mmph,” Joseph muttered. The actual pain had

left his body, but the sense memory still swum in
his fractured thoughts. Tears forced their way
through his tightly shut eyes.

“Don’t, please,” Phin begged. The elf tightened

his hold, then Joseph could swear he felt a kiss on
top of his head.

“Freaking Dwarf,” he managed to force out. He

felt Phin’s chuckle as it rumbled in his chest. His
senses were back on the level and suddenly Phin’s
hold was less support and more close touch.

“I’m an elf,” Phin returned quickly. “Ass hole.”

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The familiar response had Joseph feeling more

grounded. He turned a little in Phin’s hold and
buried his face into the elf’s chest.

Phin continued, “I’m sorry. Genuinely. That

was awful to dump everything back in there.”

“All in one go,” Joseph mumbled. “Done now.”
The scent of Phin was overwhelming, fresh air,

sage, a hint of alcohol. All Joseph wanted to do
was taste the warm skin, then fall asleep next to
the sexy elf.

“I have another one,” Phin murmured softly.
“Another memory?”
“Just one. I kept it back.”
“Why?” Joseph was getting sleepy. Seems like

all he wanted was to sleep. He had things to do.
He needed to talk to Simeon about the Feline
Guild, he needed to get the wolf shifter, Nicholas
Tarrant, to get him to commit himself to the cause.
But he was so tired.

“I’ll give it back to you tomorrow.”

* * * *

Phin cuddled Joseph close and wasn’t surprised
when the door opened and Micah slipped in.

“I heard him scream,” he said without

explanation.

“I gave him back his memories,” Phin

explained.

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“Is he okay?” Micah crossed and pressed a

hand to Joseph’s forehead.

“Sleep and he’ll be back in it tomorrow, saving

the world one kingdom at a time.” Phin was tired
and his usual sarcasm filter had slipped.

Micah frowned. “Why do you do that?”
“What? What did I do now?” Phin was sure it

was going to be some awful failing that yet
someone else had seen.

“You risked your life for the Underground, you

went and retrieved Joseph, you nearly died, why
do you pretend this resistance movement means
nothing to you?”

“I didn’t do it for the Underground. I did it for

Joseph.”

“You should tell him that,” Micah said softly.

“He’s not whole without you.”

“Stow that touchy feely crap, vampire,” Phin

said with a snarl. “We all made our choices.”

“If you mean Ethan—”
“Gods, leave it alone.”
“If you mean Ethan, then there was a lot you

couldn’t know there. Ethan had a gift and he
needed protection. Yes, Joseph loved him, but not
like he loved you. You broke his heart when you
chose Asher over him.”

Phin reined in the sharp retort that burned on

his tongue. He was tired of all the lies and people
telling him what he should or shouldn’t be doing.

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When Joseph woke up, he was going to be honest
with the vamp and give him back that one
memory Phin had withheld. The time was now to
commit to one thing or the other, and to see if
maybe Joseph wanted the same thing.

“You don’t know a thing about me and Asher,”

Phin said tiredly.

“We would if you actually talked about him,”

Micah pointed out. “When Joseph wakes—if he is
well enough—he and I need to try opening the
Journal Of Days.”

“You think you and Joseph actually are the

vampire twins from the prophesies?” Phin wasn’t
actually asking a question, not really. He was
convinced that Joseph was meant for great things.

“I hope so, then I hope not. The fate of Glitnir

and the Second Kingdom on our shoulders?”
Micah shook his head slowly and closed his eyes,
“I’m not sure I’m ready to be that person.”

Phin glanced down at a sleeping Joseph, who

was snuggled in so close that there was no space
between them. An overwhelming despair filtered
through him. Phin knew the prophesies well,
force-fed them by an overzealous teacher when he
was a child. The twins. The sacrifices. The new
world order. He wasn’t completely sure he was
ready to be part of that either. Not unless he had
Joseph by his side. Then everything seemed
possible.

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“I’ll find you when he wakes up,” Phin said

After I give him back the one memory that could
mean everything, or nothing. The I love yous.

“Thank you.” And with that, Micah left the

room.

Suddenly it was just him and Joseph again.

Joseph shifted in his sleep until he was literally
half on top of Phin with his leg laid across Phin’s.
Having the man he loved this close to him was
torture, especially when he knew that Joseph
would be horrified to know what he was doing.
He didn’t want Joseph’s hate or mistrust. Asher
was right. Now was the time to tell Joseph the
truth and see what Joseph wanted.

Phin closed his eyes. Unexpectedly he couldn’t

wait for Joseph to wake up.

“Another memory you said,” Joseph snapped at

him. Phin woke with a start. “You kept a memory,
after deciding to dump everything into me all in
one go just because you were pissed at me.”

For a second Phin had to remember where he

was and why Joseph was looming over him with
an expression of distrust and anger on his face.

“I said I was sorry,” Phin murmured in quick

defense. “I need the bathroom.” He slid out from
under Joseph and crossed to the small half bath.
He pushed the door shut to create the barrier he
needed. Joseph had certainly woken up recalling a

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lot of things he was angry about. Phin guessed
that was just about par for the course. He brushed
his teeth and smiled wryly at the lube in the
cabinet. If only he had a use for that. Joseph and
he had never actually…

“You going to be all day?” Joseph called

through the door.

Phin grimaced at his reflection and opened the

door. Joseph stalked in and relieved his bladder
and Phin slipped back out into the room. He was
still dressed and the last few days were a blur of
time. He had no idea when he had last showered.
A quick wave of his hand and he felt magic trickle
through him and he felt better, cleaner, fresher. He
hovered by the bed and was so lost in thought he
was surprised by Joseph grabbing his arm and
turning him. Evidently he, too, had taken
advantage of the fact that he had enough magic in
him to stop the need for a shower when all he
wanted to do was talk. His dark hair was neat and
flat in the usual style, his blue eyes full of
questions.

“Give it back to me,” he demanded. Phin didn’t

even pretend to not know what Joseph was talking
about.

“Before I do,” Phin started, “you have to know

that this was inside your head, when I was trying
to reunite you with your powers. It could mean
nothing.” Or everything, he added silently.

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Joseph held out a hand, palm upwards, and

tilted his head in expectation. Phin placed his own
palm to Joseph’s, then, with conscious effort, he
released the scene where he had been his most
honest with Joseph.

At first Joseph blinked in surprise as he

searched for it in amongst everything else. Then
his eyes widened. Phin shared the memory at the
same time. He heard Joseph’s voice as the memory
began.

I loved you so much it didn’t matter what you called

me.

I loved you, too.

I still love you.
You can’t. You chose Ethan, I chose Asher. We

couldn’t be together.

I loved Ethan, but he wasn’t you, Phin.
Joseph stepped back and broke the connection.

“That’s nothing new,” he dismissed. Phin could
see the confusion on Joseph’s face even though his
words were so final. “And like you said, it isn’t
real.”

Phin snapped. One second he was feeling sorry

for himself and blaming himself for everything
wrong with this, when suddenly Joseph’s words
made him furious. Forget the fact that dire
warning existed if two people with magic fucked.
He wanted something. Now.

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He shoved Joseph and caught him off guard.

Joseph broke the stumble by reaching for the wall.
Another shove and Joseph was flat against the
wall. Phin kicked Joseph’s feet apart and, on the
same level at last, Phin cradled Joseph’s face and
kissed him. Not the careful gentle kiss he had
imagined in his fantasies where they loved each
other and were together. No, this kiss was hard
and brutal, and he recognized he’d drawn blood.
His tongue smoothed and licked inside Joseph’s
mouth, finding the taste of the vampire, running it
over the descended canines and reveling in the
struggle of Joseph against him. When the tussle
and push became consent and Joseph began
kissing Phin back it was a match to kindling.

Joseph got with the plan quicker than light. In

seconds it was Phin pressed against the wall, and
Phin struggling for dominance. Their kisses had
always been incendiary, but this was combustion
off the scale. Joseph scooped him up and Phin
wrapped his legs around the vamp’s waist. The
feel of Joseph harder than iron against Phin’s ass
made Phin mewl with excitement. They’d never
gone further than kissing, but this…this was
different. Joseph wanted him, not Ethan, he
wanted to kiss and taste and steal every breath
from Phin.

They reached the bed and Phin clambered

down, but refused to let go of Joseph. There was

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no way he was going to let Joseph think about
what he was doing. That would stop them. As
quickly as he could with one hand, he pushed at
his pants and Joseph climbed onto the bed and
imprisoned him in a cage of his arms and body.
The weight of Joseph intoxicated him, and the rub
of their hard cocks against each other was enough
to have Phin desperate for more. A snap of his
finger and the lube from the cabinet was in his
hand. He pressed it into Joseph’s grip and when
Joseph reared back, Phin shook his head.

“In me,” he demanded, “Gods, Jo, please.” The

added entreaty was enough to push through
Joseph’s shock and in seconds they were naked
and against each other. They kissed and rutted
and everything was explosive and now, no gentle
touches or whispered words. Joseph’s expression
was intense and focused and he kissed his way
down Phin’s body until without ceremony he had
swallowed Phin’s hard cock down his throat. Phin
arched up into the hold and flailed to bury his
fingers in Joseph’s hair. With a firm grip, he could
feel the vamp moving on him and the scrape of
teeth along the length of his cock pushed him
dangerously close to coming in seconds.

Joseph slicked his fingers and pressed them

inside. Not one, but as many as he needed, and
quick, he twisted them inside and pushed deeper
until he could stroke Phin inside. Everything was

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too much, sensation, lust, need, that final moment
when he was on the edge when Joseph removed
the sucking grip he had on Phin and instead
buried his fangs into Phin’s inner thigh.

Phin yelled in pain and his orgasm retreated.

Fire rushed to the bite and Joseph sucked at the
blood there. Pain turned to a burning lust. Joseph
sucking him hard, the flow of blood pumping
hard. Another finger, but Phin couldn’t move, he
was pinned, between being impaled on Joseph’s
fingers and held still by fangs into his skin he was
stone still. Joseph stopped sucking and lifted his
head briefly and Phin could see blood darkening
Joseph’s lips an obscene scarlet. Joseph licked the
blood away, then he shuffled so he was up on his
knees, bent at an awkward angle with his fingers
still inside Phin’s ass. With his free hand, he
coated himself in slick and, eyes darkened in lust,
he pulled his fingers out and pushed his cock
inside in one quick move.

Phin pressed a fist to his mouth. He wanted to

scream, to yell his lust for everyone to hear. This
was nothing like any experience he had ever had.
Joseph set up a quick rhythm and Phin pushed
back as much as he was able. If anything, he was
literally along for the ride. Phin circled his cock
and held it firm allowing the motion of Joseph
fucking him to push him into the hold. His orgasm
roared through him and he leaned up at the peak.

The Warlock’s Secret

He wanted to kiss Joseph, but Joseph pulled back
a little and his neck muscles corded as he came
deep inside Phin. They stayed that way for a few
seconds before Joseph pulled out gently. That was
the only gentle part of the whole thing.

“I knew it would be good,” Joseph said firmly.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”

“Me, too,” Phin answered. He allowed affection

to drip from his words, but evidently Joseph
wasn’t ready for that. In a hurried move, Joseph
got up off the bed and dressed.

“I have to go find Micah,” he said in

explanation. Then he left the room.

With come cool on his belly and the trickle of

Joseph’s come out of his ass, Phin lay absolutely
still. He thought they had connected. That
something special had happened. Joseph had
walked out like nothing mattered.

Phin closed his eyes shut. It was all his fault. He

shouldn’t have lost him temper. Yet again he’d
fucked up. He wished Asher was here.

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Chapter Seven

oseph stumbled away from the room and
blindly made his way down the stairs. He felt

sick. All he could see in his head was Phin having
his throat ripped out, Micah being carved into
pieces, and all the other things that Ludvik had
pushed into his head.

What had he done? He’d tasted Phin’s blood.

Hot and sweet it was like nectar to him. Coursing
through his veins and he was overloading big
time. He’d had synth since he was a child, this was
too much. Then to see Phin sprawled on the bed.
Alive and fucked out. All he’d wanted was to lay
next to the elf and love him again. With tender
touches and all the love he felt inside. But he felt
guilt. All he felt was nasty vicious remorse that
ripped at the inside of him. He sensed Micah was
close. He’d deliberately blocked his twin when he
was fucking Phin and he wasn’t sure he was ready
to lower the block so Micah could find him hiding

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in the alley behind the apartment. He needed
peace. Quiet. Some hole where he could a grip.

He owed Phin an apology. The damn elf was

under his skin, annoying and poking, and
insistent that Joseph feel something. Feeling
helped no one. Feeling got Ethan killed. Joseph
had a job to do. His destiny, if the prophesies were
to be believed. Finally having a handle of the bile
rising inside him, and with his mask to the world
in place, he walked out and found Micah. They
hugged in welcome.

“Good to see you up and awake,” Micah said.

“Although you look like shit still.” Joseph
punched his brother on the arm. He was used to
the teasing. Micah leaned in to him and frowned.
“Did you get blood?”

Fuck. He’d forgotten that. “Phin,” he said

quickly. “Donated,” he lied.

Micah nodded. He wasn’t arguing or

questioning that. He quickly changed the subject.

“We have the journal and we probably need to

see if we can open the damn thing.”

Joseph rolled his shoulders. “So we can see if

we are the all-powerful vampire twins set to
reunite the two broken kingdoms,” he
deadpanned.

“Yeah,” Micah smirked, “something like that.”
They walked to the library and Levi, Declan,

and Connor were already there, standing in a

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huddle in front of a locked iron box. Simeon stood
apart from them with his arms crossed over his
chest. He looked wary, but that was probably the
whole cat/wolf shifter issue. The box was small
and therefore the journal couldn’t be that big. Yet
it held the entire history of days since it was
begun, of the vampires, the struggles, the early
days of Glitnir becoming a separate kingdom. And
hopefully, proof that Ethan’s death was part of a
much bigger conspiracy.

One by one the others shook Joseph’s hand and

gave him their good wishes. Connor, he pulled
into a hug—he really liked his twin’s lover—and
they slapped backs. Then it was time to see if he
and Micah could open the journal. No one had
ever opened it. It was spelled shut, with every
day’s entry magically inserted inside. Early Glitnir
had no trust for the vampires and this was how
Glitnir dealt with it. Evidence of everything in one
place, only to be opened in the direst of times.

“Is that now?” Micah asked doubtfully. Joseph

realized he must have spoken out loud. Micah was
right to question this. Was it right that they open
the book if they could? The direst of times? Was
this personal? Did Joseph just want to find out
who had ordered Ethan dead, and which vampire
had carried it out?

“Glitnir is corrupt,” Joseph said simply. “If we

are the twins of prophesy, then our Underground

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movement is just about to get one hell of a lot
bigger.”

“The Second Kingdom is ready for this.”
Joseph turned to see Phin sauntering down the

nearest aisle. He was showing no side effects of
being freshly fucked and used by a vampire with a
grudge. In fact he had a familiar mask over his
emotions. Joseph didn’t have time to wonder why
that fact caused him anxiety and sadness.

“If we get this open, and it proves the leader of

the Vampire Council, Cassius, is in conspiracy
with Ludvik to take control of Glitnir, what do we
do next?” This question was from Levi who had a
hard grip on Declan’s hand.

“I wish I could say that I know,” Joseph said

quietly. “We fight. We stop this. We get the
Second Kingdom and Glitnir back as one, the
Feline Guild, the elves…” he paused and glanced
over at Phin who had a look of determination on
his face. “I don’t know,” he finished helplessly.

“Well, guys, none of this means anything if

Micah and Joseph aren’t our guys,” Phin said with
a shake of his head. “Come on. Do your stuff.”

Micah opened the box and lifted out the

contents. A small slim leather bound journal,
scarlet in color and with no embossed description,
slipped free from a nest of silk. He looked at it
closely. “There’s no lock,” he said, disappointed.
He opened it and flicked through pages. Every

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single one was empty. With a shrug, he passed it
to Joseph who copied the same action.

“Maybe it needs blood?” Declan said.
The wolf could have a point. Maybe if he and

Micah cut themselves and proved the blood to the
journal, then the damn thing would open and
writing would magically appear on it. He frowned
and Micah reached for the book at the same
moment as he moved his hand and, when their
skin touched, it was like a sigh echoed in the
room. The journal was hot and Micah released his
hold at the same time as Joseph.

The journal tumbled to the floor and cautiously

Joseph leaned to pick it up. Cool to the touch, he
gripped it and, with anticipation, flicked through
the pages. Nothing. No writing, no pictures, no
magic that he could sense. He looked at Phin with
a questioning look. When Phin shook his head to
indicate he couldn’t feel anything either, Joseph
closed his eyes.

“Thank the Gods,” a new voice had everyone

spinning to face the dark corners of the old library.
A slim form moved from the shadows dressed
from head to toe in black and rubbing the back of
his head. “Eight hundred years, give or take a
day,” he said. Then he coughed as if talking was
difficult.

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Joseph immediately put himself between the

rest of them and this new guy. Quickly he had
magic balled into his hands.

“Who are you?” he asked.
“Who are you?” the man repeated as his reply.
“Tell me who you are,” Joseph insisted. He held

up his hands with the silver of magic ready to
defend his friends.

“You tell me who you are first,” the man said

evenly, “apart from the obvious twins from the
future thing.” He said the last with a small hint of
sarcasm and Joseph bristled. “Two wolves, a cat,
two vampires and what do we have here, an
incubus? Interesting group.”

Joseph sensed Phin moving to stand next to

him.

“Oh,” the man said, “I didn’t see you there, Elf.

So small.”

“Tell us who the hell you are before I kill you,”

Joseph said quietly.

“Well I can’t very well tell you after,” he said

with a grin. “Because then I would be dead.”

Joseph stepped forward and the air around

them crackled. “Now,” he said.

“Okay, okay.” The man held up his hands in

mock defeat. “Reuben McGregor, vampire, your
great great great something or other grandfather,
twice removed and married into another clan. I
was in the book. That was me. In the book, well

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100

not in the book as such, more I am the book. Was
the book. I know it sounds odd.”

“In the book,” Joseph repeated uselessly.
Reuben shook his arms at his side and clenched

his fists. Cricking his neck, he rubbed his stomach.
“Do you have blood?” he asked. He examined his
nails. “I kind of need it pretty urgently. Before
I…” he didn’t say anything else. In a fluid motion,
he dropped to the floor unconscious. The group
stood in silence.

“What the hell?” Micah said finally.
“He says he is the book,” Levi said. “He was

covered in gold and yellow, love, confusion, no
deceit. I genuinely think he is who he says and
that somehow he was spelled into the book.”

“Centuries ago?”
“Seems that way,” Levi said. He shrugged.

“Seriously I have no other explanation.”

Connor stepped forward. “Should we give him

blood?” He rolled up his sleeve, but Micah
stopped him.

“You can’t give him your blood,” he said

urgently.

“I have spare,” Connor quipped.
“What if he kills you?” Micah snapped.
“Gods, I’ll do it,” Phin said quickly. Spinning a

knife over in his hand, he sliced across his arm
and blood speckled the surface immediately. He
crouched down over Reuben and wiped the blood

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101

on the vampire’s lips, then he moved a little and
encouraged Reuben’s instincts to kick in.

“Don’t let him take too much,” Joseph said

urgently.

“I won’t,” Phin said. For a few minutes they all

waited and Joseph wondered what was going to
happen. This was all above his understanding.
The journal was words, not a damn person.

“Seems like we are the saviors of the kingdom,”

Micah deadpanned. He used air quotes around
saviors. “Wonder if we get a special name for
that.”

Joseph couldn’t even bring himself to laugh.

Phin was feeding this unknown vampire who
claimed all kinds of magical things and Joseph
was jealous. To the point that he wanted to rip
Phin away. No one should taste the sweetness of
the elf, except him. The call of the fated mate spun
inside him. He’d chosen for so long to ignore it,
yet here he was, allowing the call to twist around
his thoughts until it was all he could do to stop
himself from dragging Phin from the vamp’s side.
He waited for a few more agonizing minutes, then
crossed to Phin and tugged at him. Phin stood as
Reuben’s eyes opened. They were the clearest
jade, stunning really.

“You okay?” Joseph asked Phin.
Phin ran a finger over the open wound in his

arm and the split skin healed behind the touch.

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102

“Fine,” he said. At their feet, Reuben stirred,

then in a fluid motion, stood upright and looked a
lot healthier than he had a few minutes earlier. He
licked his lips and patted his stomach.

“Just what I needed,” he said. “Right. Take me

to your army.”

Joseph frowned at him. “What army?”
Reuben sighed. “The army ready to reunite the

kingdoms, and stop the rot at Glitnir,” he said
patiently. “That army.”

Joseph considered the couple hundred

supernaturals spread through the Second
Kingdom and Glitnir. Scholars, teachers, normal
people who wanted to do more. Certainly not an
army. Then he glanced sideways. Declan and
Connor both had claws extended in readiness to
fight. Even Simeon was standing next to them
with his claws out. Micah had his blades in his
hands and Levi was focused intently on Reuben
like he could kill him by just looking at him. As for
Phin, he was ignoring Reuben altogether and
instead staring directly at Joseph—obviously
waiting for Joseph to talk.

“This is it,” Joseph finally said. He gestured at

his friends. “This is the army.”

Reuben scanned the group, then tilted his head

to one side. “Okay, I was expecting more,” he said
evenly, “but I’ve worked with less.” Stretching his
hands over his head, he stood on tiptoes and

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103

yawned. “So, food, not blood, bacon, I want bacon,
and bread, and beer, then we can talk strategy.”

With this, scratching his stomach and walking

slowly, he began to leave the library.

“Where are you going?” Joseph asked.
Reuben stopped dead and turned. “You’re the

leader, you tell me.”

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104

Chapter Eight

he council of war wasn’t going well. Simeon
had long since left to go back to Obahn where

he said, in his own words, that he’d do more good
there. Somehow Rueben managed to alienate
everyone with his quick wit. All except Joseph.
That was when he wasn’t stuffing his face with
bread or swallowing back beer. Phin couldn’t
settle around the vampire and spent a long time
finding excuse after excuse to not even be in the
room with him. On the other hand, Joseph was
quite happy to fawn all over the new addition to
their small group. Phin wasn’t jealous he was just
concerned that none of them knew anything about
Reuben. That was all.

Reuben needed more blood at some point. He’d

turned up his nose at the synth and when
everyone in the group turned to Phin, he’d shaken
his head. He wasn’t doing it again. Let Declan do

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105

his bit, or Connor, or hell, Levi even. Part of him
wished he’d left with Simeon.

“It’s vital that we get someone inside the

Second Kingdom,” Reuben mused. “I’ve been
watching and if we have any hope in rebuilding
what we should have, then we need the elves, the
cats, behind us and not sitting their side of the
mountain happy as blood demons in scat. Talking
of blood demons, we have to get them under
control.”

Phin bristled. Dismissing an entire race in such

dismissive tones, especially given the fact that his
brother was half demon, really cut to the core of
him. “I don’t know what it was like at the dawn of
time,” he snapped. “But the blood demons have
their own resistance and want independence and
equality just as much as the next supernatural.”

Every single person turned to face him at the

heated statement. The only reaction he forced
himself to see was Joseph who narrowed his gaze,
then quickly looked away. His lips were pressed
in a thin line and he looked angry. Phin sighed
inwardly. Asher would always come between
them unless Phin was honest. And Phin had
sworn a blood oath to never reveal his brother’s
existence. If someone outside the two of them
knew, then Asher would be on a hit list. A blood
demon with elf blood on the throne of the Second
Kingdom was not going to happen.

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106

“You do know that blood demons were

originally created by vampires as walking blood
banks,” Reuben said carefully. “They are
nothing.”

“A millennia is a long time,” Phin said. “You

come out of your box to wage a war that we were
managing fine with on our own, and you have no
idea…Gods, is no one else seeing how wrong this
is?” Phin looked very deliberately at Joseph. “I
didn’t sign up for war, I want the rot to be cut out,
but Book-ghost here is talking about battles and
death and what, controlling an entire race of
supernaturals with families, and lives, and hopes
and dreams of their own?” Joseph refused to meet
his gaze still, but he could see the others nodding
in agreement. Their unspoken support was
enough for him to forge forward.

“No one has out and out war anymore,” he

continued. “We have what we hope is a fair
government in Glitnir, the Vampire Clans Council,
the Werewolf Coalition and the Fae Alliance.
Answering to the people. There are parts of it that
need cleaning, cutting away. The factions, the pay
offs, bonding the wolf shifters to be Retrievers, do
you want me to keep going?”

By this time his voice had changed from calm

and controlled to spitting and angry. He couldn’t
help it. He just wasn’t sure if it was Reuben’s
innocent expression or Joseph not wanting to look

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107

at him, but suddenly temper was dripping from
every thought he had.

“We would have an entire army if we could tie

the blood demons to us,” Joseph said thoughtfully.
Reuben nodded his approval. “Then we could just
cut the rot out in an instant.” Was it just Phin or
did Joseph sound relieved?

“And the wolf shifters, and the cats,” Reuben’s

voice was enthusiastic. “They make good foot
soldiers.”

“Joseph, no,” Micah said softly. He looked at

his twin. “We didn’t start this to fight battles
where thousands die, we were going to be
different.”

Joseph clenched his fist. “How can you know

what we should do,” he said angrily. “You’re not
the one with the magic and the responsibility for
all these souls. The one everyone wants answers
from.”

Micah stepped back at the venom in Joseph’s

voice. Connor gripped Micah’s hand and Phin
swore he heard the wolf shifter growl low in his
throat.

“He doesn’t mean it, Micah,” Phin said evenly.

“He’s just wants to use the rest of us as some kind
of revenge for Ethan.” He was talking to Micah,
but staring straight at Joseph. He wanted to see
the anger in the vampire’s eyes and know that he
was right. The blast to his chest took him by

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108

surprise. He didn’t have a chance to stop it and he
flew back and hit the wall. Crumpling to the
ground, he was up on his feet in an instant with all
his shields in place. Joseph’s hands still glittered
with the magic he had thrown at Phin.

Stalking towards Joseph, he had the satisfaction

of seeing the vamp have confusion on his features.
It was time for this to stop. Their Underground
was nothing more than hopes and dreams unless
Joseph actually got his act together and became
the leader that was needed. Phin didn’t doubt that
it was Joseph who was the one. Not Reuben. Not
him. Joseph.

Phin didn’t stop and it was only when he was

within touching distance that realization hit
Joseph. He tried to step back, throw up a defense,
but as soon as Phin placed his fingers on Joseph’s
sleeve, he had them porting out of the room to
who knew where. Phin only had one thing in his
memory, Asher.

He landed lightly on his feet, but Joseph wasn’t

so graceful and ended up in a heap, sliding on the
floor until hitting the wall.

“Phin. What did you do?” Asher snapped. He

had wet hair. Seemed like Phin always managed
to get his brother either in or after a shower. He
shook his head and gestured at Joseph who
scrambled to stand.

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109

“There’s a ghost in the book, or a vamp trapped

in there with a spell, or whatever. His name is
Reuben, he is tied to the twins, Micah and Joseph,
and he’s come out of the book and wants us to go
to war, and Joseph is too narrow viewed because
he thinks less of blood demons than he does of his
own precious race.” Everything spilled out in a
rush.

“That’s not true,” Joseph defended quickly. “I

never said that.”

“Then he shouted at Micah,” Phin continued.

“Some scat about all his responsibilities.

“What did you want me to do?” Joseph

shouted. “Everyone looks to me for a decision.”

“Not war, Joseph.”
“You think they would stop killing us first if

they could?” Joseph stepped closer and silver
sparked on his hands. He was agitated and Phin
had seen this before.

“Who? Joseph, we don’t even know who we’re

fighting.”

“Corruption,” Joseph snapped.
“We need to surgically remove the ones at the

center of this. We always said that was the way.
But a few lines from a vamp who is stuck in the
past and all of a sudden you are sacrificing blood
demons, wolf and cat shifters. What is wrong with
you?”

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110

Joseph lifted his palms and Phin winced. At

least he had shields in place and Asher was
behind him so they’d be fine. Nothing Joseph
could throw at him was enough to take him out
completely. What was wrong with Joseph—where
had everything gone so wrong?

Unexpectedly the fight left Joseph and he

visibly slumped, then slid down the wall. Finally
he buried his head in his hands and was utterly
silent.

“What the hell?” Asher asked bemused. Then

he looked from Joseph to Phin and back again.
“You need to talk,” he said. “And I need a
uhmm…a…” he looked around the room
helplessly. “A shower.” With that he went into the
bathroom and shut the door, leaving Joseph and
Phin alone. Phin considered what to do. Asher
was right, they did need to talk. Phin decided to
join Joseph on the ground and sat cross-legged
with his back against the bed opposite Joseph.

“Jo?”
“If I’d left Ethan alone, he would never have

been murdered.”

“You didn’t know,” Phin said evenly. “He came

to you with what he’d seen at Glitnir. He knew
what he was doing. You thought you’d kept him
safe leaving him with Micah and under the
marriage bond protection.”

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111

“You make it sound so simple,” Joseph

mumbled into his sleeve.

“That part of this has always been the easiest to

file away. I talked to Ethan the day before he
died.”

Joseph lifted his head. “You did?” he sounded

surprised.

“It was an accident really. I was checking in on

Micah at a distance, like you asked, and Ethan
spotted me.”

“He had skills of his own,” Joseph said

proudly. “Not much could get past him. What did
you say to him? What did he say to you?”

Phin smiled as he recalled the feisty human

pushing him up against a wall and demanding to
know why the fuck Phin was following them.

“He wanted to know who I was, why I was

there. I told him that I didn’t know what he was
talking about. He didn’t believe me so I was
honest with him, said you had sent me to check in
on Micah. Then I wiped his entire memory of
meeting me.”

Joseph worried at his lower lip with his fang.

“Did he seem…” he swallowed. “Was he happy?”

“From what I saw inside his head he was. And

determined. He’d been working with Micah on the
translations, he loved you.”

“You saw all that?” Joseph asked quietly. “I

should never have got him involved.”

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112

“You didn’t do that, Jo. He had magic, hidden

deep, but he had a spirit that was bound to a
human form that…I don’t know… I recognized…I
can’t explain it…an old soul.”

“What do I do, Phin?” Joseph’s voice was

cracking with emotion. “If the prophesies are right
I’m supposed to be leading this huge army to level
the playing ground and start again.”

Phin considered carefully what to say. Joseph

was looking to him for answers. “So you’re one of
the twins, I get that, and you happen to be the one
with the magic, that is supposed to guide us to
some kind of fresh start. I don’t remember the
prophesies mentioning what kind of army. An
army can be anything. An army of faith maybe.”

Joseph shook his head. “I have too much in my

head. Who do I listen to? Reuben? You? Some
writings made centuries ago that mean nothing
now?”

Phin sighed. Then he shuffled sideways and sat

next to Joseph. He wriggled a little to make
himself comfortable, then held out a hand. Joseph
gripped it and static sparked as they laced fingers
together. “You. Listen to yourself.”

Joseph nodded. They sat there quietly for a

while. The door to the bathroom opened and
Asher hovered at the threshold.

“Is it safe to come out now?” he asked.

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113

Phin smiled and squeezed Joseph’s hand.

“Yeah. We need to go home.”

“Before you go, we should tell him,” Asher said

quickly. Phin couldn’t believe what Asher was
saying. No one knew. If Joseph was to have the
knowledge of who Asher was to Phin, then that
was another way for Asher’s life to be put in
danger.

“No,” Phin said finally. He released his grip of

Joseph’s hand and scrambled to stand quickly.

“You don’t love him then?” Asher asked. He

half smiled and Phin wanted to smack the smirk
off Asher’s face. Behind him Joseph copied Phin
and stood.

“Tell me what?” Joseph said. His voice held

despondency. He evidently thought he already
knew what Asher was going to say.

“Do you love him?” Asher ignored Joseph and

spoke directly to Phin.

“You know I do,” Phin snapped.
“Then tell him, or I will.” Asher crossed his

arms over his chest and waited. Phin could just
imagine Asher blurting it all out.

“Someone tell me something,” Joseph blurted.
Phin turned to face the only person he had ever

really loved, outside of Asher. Joseph looked paler
than normal, and uncertain, and his eyes looked
bright.

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114

“I love you,” Phin began. He glanced back at

Asher who shook his head in warning. “Gods,”
Phin snapped. “I couldn’t tell you otherwise
Asher’s life would be in danger.” He shrugged.
There was no really good way to tell Joseph this.
“Asher is my brother, my half-brother.”

Joseph glanced at Asher and his eyes widened.

“A blood demon, vampire, hybrid,” he stated
simply. Joseph sounded intrigued.

“His name is Asher,” Phin snapped. “He is not

a hybrid.”

Asher placed a hand on Phin’s arm. “Go home.

Take Joseph and stop being so defensive. He
knows now. Maybe you can fix all of this.”

Phin turned and pulled Asher into a hug. “Be

safe,” he said quickly. Then before he could
change his mind, he grabbed Joseph and ported
them back to Winterhill and directly to the room
they had slept in. This time Joseph landed a lot
more gracefully and he immediately rounded on
Phin.

“What the hell happened back there?” he said,

bemused.

He wasn’t really asking the question, but Phin

needed to break the abrupt silence. He shrugged.
“You decided to follow your heart with what to do
next, to listen to yourself. You also found out I
have a brother who you originally thought was
my lover.”

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115

“And you said you loved me.”
“I’ve said that to you before.”
“I didn’t believe you. All I could see was too

many secrets.”

“Well I do. We’re good together, Joseph

Jamieson. And we all have secrets. And regrets.”
He added the regrets part before Joseph could say
the very same thing. Tension built in the room and
pressed into him. He ached to just have Joseph in
his arms. To kiss him, be inside him, around him,
anyway he could. Properly. Not in anger or pain,
but blanketed in love. He took a step towards
Joseph, but stopped when Joseph’s expression
tightened and he held up a hand then touched a
finger to his temple.

“It’s Micah,” he explained. “He says Simeon is

hurt,” he said. Then he quickly left the room and
Phin followed at the same run. They met the rest
on the street and Phin could hear Simeon’s voice
above the rest.

“It’s nothing,” the cat shifter was saying calmly.
“You’re bleeding out,” Declan snapped. A

quick overview had Phin seeing the running blood
from an evil looking head wound that covered
Simeon and Declan. Slipping past Connor and
Micah, he ran a finger from one end of it to
another. The scar closed and the skin held a pink
glow.

“Talk to us,” Joseph said quickly.

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116

“Four, maybe five, at my best guess. Someone

in the middle being beaten on, shouts of traitor.
Retrievers I scented, fae, a group from Glitnir, and
I thought maybe Brody. But there was too much
blood. Best I can see they were determined and
focused on Winterhill. We need to stop them and
see if it was Brody.”

“How far behind you?” Joseph said quickly.
Simeon considered quickly. “Twenty minutes if

that.”

“We take this out of Winterhill,” Joseph said

decisively. “Into the forest.”

Reuben interrupted, “Our best strategy would

be to stay in the town—”

“There are innocents in this town. I don’t know

how whoever they are tracked us here, but we
take it into the forest.”

Reuben didn’t argue, although Phin could see

he wanted to. Apparently he was giving way to
the one person he saw as the leader.

“Connor, Declan, we need you to run this,

Simeon, if you’re okay go with them.”

Connor and Declan shifted and loped away in

the direction Simeon had obviously come in from.
Simeon shook his head as if to test his wound,
then shifted. The big mountain lion shifter
followed the wolves.

“Levi, you’re our six.”

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117

Levi nodded and had his knives in his hands in

an instant. He was just as dangerous as the
shifters, but in a different way. He was the silent
killer amongst the group.

“Micah, you’re with me,” Joseph continued.

“Phin, I need you…” his voice tailed off. “If
anything happens to me…”

“I’ll be right behind you where I should be,”

Phin said simply. He wasn’t going to be sidelined
into being some kind of leadership back up. If
Joseph thought for one minute that he didn’t
know and understand his role here, then he was
sadly mistaken.

“What about me?” Reuben asked quickly.
Joseph hesitated, then made a decision he was

evidently happy with. “With Micah and I. Stay
behind us and no killing anyone,” he said. Reuben
frowned and opened his mouth to talk, but one
sharp look from Joseph had Reuben subsiding into
silence.

In seconds the three vamps had run into the

forest and abruptly Phin was the last one left. A
few curious people hovered close by. This was
Phin’s job. The town had no idea what the group
had been doing and it was only because Phin had
manipulated their observations. He cast magic
wide enough to suggest that they were looking at
nothing and that they should all stay away from
the forest. Jogging to the edge of the forest where

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he could already hear the sounds of battle in the
gloom, he closed his eyes and cast the sight out to
check where everyone was.

Joseph trusted him to keep this contained and

that is what he would do.

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Chapter Nine

ne by one Phin located the band of Glitnir
loyal supernaturals. He sensed wolf shifter, a

Retriever no doubt, a vampire, two fae, and
another presence that had him stop in his steps.
He could be wrong, but he thought Simeon had
been right about what he’d sensed. There was an
incubus in amongst the scattered group running
from Joseph and the rest.

Declan and Connor had the vampire cornered

and Phin slid to a halt next to them. In seconds he
had altered memory and perception and the vamp
left at a lope to go home. This was what Joseph
wanted him to do, alter minds and keep everyone
alive until they could get everyone to leave
peaceably. They would go back with reports of
nothing and that suited Phin. He circled to get a
fix on where he should be next, then dispatched
the vamp and one of the fae in quick succession

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120

encouraging them to run home. That just left one
more fae and the incubus.

He stumbled over a form on the floor and felt

for a pulse. Both the incubus and the pulse were
strong despite the lessening in colors around the
prone figure. Something was messing with the
incubus’s mind. The sounds of cursing and
shouting drew his attention away. He cast a net
over the victim. Some imperative told him that
this incubus was the fae that was being beaten on
by the other four. The one Simeon called Brody
and the one he was supposed to have met in
Glitnir when he was going in to get Joseph.
Leaving Brody protected by a shield, he found the
source of all the noise and quickly assessed the
battle. Reuben had a struggling Retriever up
against a tree with his hands flat on the shoulders
and his fangs an inch from the exposed throat.

“Stop!” Phin shouted. He spun magic and

threw it at the two of them, satisfied when the
force of it pushed Reuben to the floor and knocked
the Retriever unconscious. Micah and Joseph
appeared in the clearing and in seconds, a
struggling Reuben was held in a strong grip.

“I said no killing,” Joseph snapped.
“Didn’t you see what he was doing to the

incubus?” Reuben shouted.

Phin glanced at the Retriever awake and

crawling to stand. In seconds he had the large man

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121

thinking he was out for an afternoon stroll and
had encouraged him home.

“We don’t kill,” Joseph shouted back. “You

want to get an entire Glitnir army down on our
heads and put the whole of Winterhill to death?”

“Of course I don’t—”
“Then do what I say,” Joseph finished.
He dropped his hold on Reuben’s arm as did

Micah. Phin tensed as he debated taking Reuben
out of the equation. The vampire may well be
ancient and all, but he was quite capable of being
removed from a thousand mile radius of Joseph if
he was going to hurt the man Phin loved. Which is
why it was all the more surprising when Reuben
slid to his knees and bowed his head.

“What are you doing?” Joseph asked bemused.
“Yours to punish,” Reuben said simply.
“Get up, Reuben.” Joseph was uncomfortable.

“No one is punishing anyone.” He turned and
strode out of the clearing with a quiet Reuben
scrambling to stand and follow him at a respectful
distance.

“What was that all about?” Phin asked quickly.
Micah shrugged. “Reuben says Joseph is this

great army general. Think it freaks Joseph out.”

Phin turned to retrace his footsteps back to

where the incubus was laid. The guy was at least
conscious and had managed to drag himself to the
nearest tree. He was dazed and there was one hell

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122

of a lot of blood. Still, Phin could see he was
getting his colors back. Mostly the scarlet of
temper.

“Who are you?” Phin asked carefully. “And

why was a contingent from Glitnir trying to kill
you?”

The incubus said nothing. He simply stared at

Phin. Behind him, the group assembled.

“Brody,” Levi gasped.
Okay. So this was the Brody Lennox that Phin

was supposed to have tracked down at Obahn.
Brody’s whole demeanor changed as soon as Levi
spoke. He relaxed and stepped forward into a
close hug with Levi.

“You trust this man?” Joseph asked Levi

quickly. “Because we really need to get away from
Winterhill and there’s no time for debate.”

Levi turned to face them all. “With my life,” he

said firmly.

Phin heard a low growly noise and identified it

as coming from Declan. Phin was amused at this
little show of jealousy again, wolves were so raw
in how they expressed their emotions—everything
so close to the surface.

“Then let’s go to Winterhill. Let’s pick up

anything we need, we leave at dawn.”

They moved as one towards the town and

grouped at the place Joseph called home. Brody

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123

was the center of attention and Phin wasn’t the
only one who wanted to hear his story.

“Last I saw, you were working from the

inside,” Levi noted.

“It’s all gone to hell. I don’t know why, but

Ludvik is finally showing his true colors. He was
found ranting about magic and vampires and he
literally lost it. He initiated a purge against magic
and the Underground. I don’t know how, but he
saw inside me and next thing I know I am sent out
to accompany a retrieval and as soon as the group
gets outside city limits they turn on me.” He
hesitated, then gestured at Simeon. “Their
intention was to kill. I saw your cat shifter—saw
you get hurt. That was the last thing I remember.”

“Ludvik is a warlock,” Phin said simply. “He’s

using a magic that even I don’t understand.”
Warlocks were something more than Joseph and
Phin. They had magic, but it was perverted by
ambition—as evil as Phin could imagine.
Centuries ago, when magic was more common, a
set of spoken covenants, none written down but
accepted by all, kept the kingdoms in balance.
Any infant in school learned the history of magic
and its final disappearance. They learned the
covenants that were agreed when Glitnir was
formed and the rout of magical beings had
happened.

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124

“A covenant breaker,” Joseph said. “Using dark

magic, older magic than I have ever seen. He’s
pure evil.”

“But his magic is waning,” Phin said suddenly.

Where the thought had come from he didn’t
know, but suddenly everything made sense.
“When I pulled Joseph from him I could see black,
a dying magic, and his shifted water form was a
blur.”

“Which could explain why he wanted Joseph as

the eldest vampire twin,” Brody said. “He’s basing
his entire future on getting magic from
somewhere else.”

“Hang on,” Reuben interrupted. “Are we

talking about a Kappa?” Reuben asked. “Short,
gray, scaly, reptilian yellow skin big on the
council, has to spend time in water to recharge his
life force?”

Phin frowned at the detailed question—he’d

never seen a Kappa in natural form so he couldn’t
comment on the skin color. But it seemed as if
Reuben knew something he needed to share with
the class.

“How do you know that?” Joseph asked.
“He’s from…” Reuben stopped and closed his

eyes. “A Kappa tied me to the journal.”

“It couldn’t be Ludvik, that would make him

centuries old,” Joseph said doubtfully. “Kappas
don’t live that long.”

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125

“Leklan. That is what he was called then. I felt

him as soon as I stepped out,” Reuben said. “I just
couldn’t believe…look…he was the reason Glitnir
banned magic…he was banished, but not before
he was involved in creating the journal to track the
actions of the vampires. He was evil—a liar and
the worst kind of fae. He would lure others to him
with clever words, then destroy people at the drop
of a sword.”

“And somehow he is still alive?” Declan

sounded doubtful.

“Using dark magic to live,” Joseph said gently.

“He needs more magic, that is the only thing this
could be.” Phin took a step closer to Joseph. No
one was taking Joseph’s magic if he had anything
to do with it. Joseph sensed the movement and
glanced at Phin with a soft smile.

“So what now?” Micah asked. Everyone looked

to Joseph for the next step.

“I have no idea,” Joseph said firmly. “But I do

know we need to get out of Winterhill and move
this group on. Find a safe house. Regroup. We
leave at dawn.”

Phin was grateful when he could shut the door

against the world. For a few seconds he
considered visiting Asher to tell him what he had
learned. He dismissed the thought when he
considered that his brother would likely kill him if

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126

he interrupted one more of Asher’s showers. The
thought of doing that anyway made Phin smile.
He needed the smile. There was black magic from
an oath breaker, a warlock with so many secrets
that Phin needed time to get his head around it.
The adrenalin from today coursed through him
and he felt good. Useful.

The knock on the door wasn’t a surprise. The

looks he exchanged with Joseph had been heated.
They needed to clear the air and finally get to the
point where they had some kind of
understanding. He opened the door and stood to
one side to allow Joseph in.

Joseph launched into talking. “Do you think

that the bit about two supernaturals with magic
not being together was a lie perpetuated by
Ludvik, or Leklan or whatever he was called, to
stop any defense Glitnir would have against him,”
Joseph blurted out in a run on sentence. He stood
just inside the room absolutely still. He was
waiting for an answer.

“We already did it once. The world survived.

So, yes.”

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127

Chapter Ten

oseph moved forward until he was as close to
Phin as he could be without touching. Phin

didn’t back away from him.

“I loved Ethan,” Joseph said gently. “Not in the

same way as I love you. I protected him, looked
out for him.”

“I know,” Phin replied. He smiled and tucked

his long hair behind one ear. Joseph had never
seen anything as sexy as that simple movement.

“We’ve waited a long time,” Joseph whispered

and held out a hand.

Phin sighed and reached for Joseph. “Too

long.”

Their kiss was different from any others before.

Soft, slow, filled with the passion and love that
Joseph could feel buzzing between them. His
fangs descended as he inhaled the scent of the elf
he loved.

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128

Phin backed away, laughing. “You want to

taste?” he teased.

This was the Phin that Joseph loved. The one

with the smile who made Joseph laugh. Phin
continued back until he reached the bed, then
proceeded to remove his clothes until he stood
naked in front of Joseph.

Joseph had never seen anything so beautiful

and, in seconds, he had pulled off his own clothes
and tumbled Phin back on the bed. They kissed for
a long time and Joseph satisfied himself with
touching every part of the sexy elf and relearning
his body. They rolled until Phin lay on top and
Joseph arranged him so that he was sprawled and
they had their hard cocks next to each other.

“I’ve wanted it this way forever,” Phin

murmured. “All lazy and sexy and touching every
part of you.” They kissed and Joseph buried his
fingers in Phin’s hair, twisting it around and
holding his lover still. He had something to say
and it was important. They broke the kiss.

“I always loved you,” Joseph whispered.

“Always.”

Phin smiled down at him and stole another kiss

before he spoke. “Me, too,” he said simply.

Joseph moved them so he was covering Phin.

This time and with focus, he began to kiss south
from lips to pulse. He spent a long time pressing
the tip of his tongue against Phin’s carotid artery.

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129

The warmth of blood pulsing just below the
surface was enough for him to attune himself to
Phin’s heartbeat and he lazily rubbed himself
against Phin before kissing a short path to one
nipple. He scratched at it with his fang and loved
that Phin gasped and arched up under him.
Licking and kissing his way from that nipple to
the other, he repeated the touch and Phin cursed.
Joseph chuckled.

He kissed lower and it was Phin’s turn to bury

his fingers in Joseph’s hair to guide his movement.
Joseph scraped his fang over the small scar on
Phin’s inner thigh and, for a second, Joseph was
thrown.

“You didn’t heal it?” he asked bemused.

Rearing back, he examined the mark he had left
when they had fucked before. There had been
anger in that bite, a need to control, and shame
washed over Joseph. He’d taken every ounce of
frustration out on the one person he should never
hurt.

“I liked it,” Phin answered truthfully.
Joseph wriggled a little so he could look Phin in

the eye. “What do you mean? It was awful.”

“The bite hurt,” Phin admitted, “but when you

sucked the blood, then I saw it on your lips, and
you had tasted me. Fuck, Joseph, do you know
how hot that was?”

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130

“Promise me you’re not lying.” Quickly it was

vital that Joseph knew this.

“I promise,” Phin tilted his neck and exposed

his throat. “Taste me here.”

Joseph nearly lost it there and then at the

demand. He wasn’t going to last ten seconds if he
allowed Phin’s blood to coat his tongue. Groaning
at the memory of the taste, he moved away from
the tempting thought. Phin mewled in protest, but
stopped when Joseph pressed a finger to Phin’s
lips.

“Do you have anything?”
Phin reached a hand to the cabinet next to the

bed, but wasn’t quite close enough. Joseph
grinned as he snapped his fingers and the lube
was in his hand. “There has to be some benefit in
this magic,” he said dryly.

They laughed and cuddled close. Joseph

needed this connection, something beyond sex,
something that was forever. He traveled down
Phin’s gorgeous form with lips and fingers and
nuzzled the base of his cock. The texture of the
hair against his lips and the scent of his lover was
intoxicating. He could lay with Phin all day. Phin
wriggled to get his cock closer to Joseph’s mouth
and Joseph wasn’t going to argue. He’d wanted
another taste of Phin. He wasn’t disappointed. The
weight of his lover, and the first touch of his

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131

tongue to the tip of Phin’s cock had his own cock
hard and wanting release.

He wanted to take his time, but Phin begged for

faster, and this time Joseph could get behind this.
He swallowed Phin down and spent time setting
up a rhythm before coating his fingers with lube
and pressing against Phin’s hole. He worked in
the first finger and heard Phin’s groan. For a little
while he concentrated on the sucking and pushing
in rhythm and a second finger. Then a third and
finally he took his fingers away and pressed his
cock inside the elf that was the other half of him.
When he was fully seated, he stopped and stared
down at Phin. His pale silver eyes were full of
emotion and he’d twisted his fingers into his hair.
Beautiful.

“Now, Joseph.”
Joseph started to move, angling the push until

he finally managed to find the sweet spot that
caused Phin to close his eyes and open his mouth
wordlessly. The pushes grew stronger as Phin
pressed back against the force and Joseph was
overwhelmed with love for Phin. His orgasm
chased up his spine and he was so close. If Phin’s
sexy pleas were anything to go by, he was close as
well and when he tightened around Joseph and
shouted as he came it was enough to push Joseph
over the edge.

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132

Light blinded him momentarily then curled in

and around the lovers. Joseph collapsed against
Phin who simply wrapped his arms around
Joseph and held him tight. Together they allowed
the maelstrom of sparking magic to connect and
swirl around them until finally only the trace of
mist was between them.

“Gods,” Phin murmured. Joseph moved to

nuzzle at Phin’s neck and his tongue unerringly
located the pulse. “Taste me,” Phin said firmly.

Joseph didn’t argue. He broke the skin with his

fangs and tasted perfection. Phin curled his hands
and dug nails into Joseph’s back. Pulling back,
Joseph licked the blood from his neck, then pulled
out before laying on his back on the bed.

“What now?” Phin asked breathlessly.
“More of that,” Joseph said firmly. “Lots more

of that.”

“Not that I am arguing here, but what about

out there.” Phin waved at the window.

“Seems like we finally have a focus for what we

are trying to do here,” Joseph said. He rolled on
his side to look at Phin and saw the faint pink
mark where Joseph had drunk Phin’s blood. The
mark was fading even as Joseph watched. He
wished it would stay like the scar on Phin’s inner
thigh, but it couldn’t. Phin had to heal and the fact
he kept Joseph’s first bite on his skin was more
than enough to know that Phin was his.

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133

And he was Phin’s.
“Ludvik needs to be stopped. He is the rot at

the core of Glitnir,” Phin summarized.

“Yes. And you need to consider what you are

doing next.”

“Next? I’m staying with you to fight Ludvik.”
“I meant with your own legacy. Mine is tied to

the prophesy, but you know you are heir to an
entire kingdom.”

“I’m the second son and until Asher is safe to

acknowledge his own heritage I am not going
home.”

“I get that,” Joseph said. He didn’t add a but.

There was no provision for anything else. He
wanted Phin by his side and Phin didn’t want to
leave. They had old magic to fight and it was best
they did it together.

“So what first?” Phin asked. He turned his head

to look directly at Joseph.

“Either we pull Ludvik out of Glitnir, or we go

in there and face him inside.”

“I’m not liking the odds of either option,” Phin

grimaced.

Joseph leaned over and kissed away the

expression. “Together, nothing can beat us.”

“I like the sound of that,” Phin admitted.
“Want to get dressed and call a meeting?”

Joseph asked with laughter in his voice.

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134

“No,” Phin replied seriously. “Want to make

love again instead?”

Joseph pinned Phin under him and kissed his

elf. Love filled him and finally he was with the
person he was meant to have.

“Love you,” he said against Phin’s lips.
“Love you,” Phin replied. “Need you.”
Whatever came next, battles, defeats, wins, an

entire movement of supernaturals wanting a fairer
society, Joseph had Phin at his side.

He could do anything now.

About the Author

I am a writer of male/male novels and short
stories.

From cowboys to bodyguards, and firemen to

billionaires I write dramatic and romantic stories
of love and passion between men. My first real
love will always be the world of romance and my
goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a
troubled road to reach happiness, and more than a
hint of happily ever after.

I am the author of the award winning books,

The Christmas Throwaway and Oracle. I am
known for both my Texas series charting the lives
of Riley and Jack, and also my Sanctuary series
following the work of the Sanctuary Foundation
and the people it protects.

Document Outline

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
About the Author

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