“You want me to come?”
“Hell, what do I know about children? You’ve been raising him. Why should that stop just because some magic decided to bit me on the butt?”
“You sound like you anticipate an extended stay. How long do you expect us to be there?”
“I’m not sure. I need to find out who Alec’s enemies are.” Not to mention someone willing to take him off my hands. “How much do you know about Vampyres and Halcyon?”
“More than you think. I used to be a Vampyre Scholar.”
Caleb could hear the capital letters in the title. It had been years since he last met a Vampyre Scholar. Always human, Vampyre Scholars, usually called VS’s, tended to be humans that had nothing but time on their hands. Usually they were second or third sons of wealthy families. Samuel, as a shepherd, didn’t fit the usual mold. “A VS? I bet that’s an interesting story.”
“True, but this is not about me. Alec is the one we should be concerned with.”
“I don’t want to leave. Pal is here. The sheep are here. Papa, they can’t find me. Father made sure of that.” Alec sniffed, holding back tears. They wouldn’t really make me leave, would they?
“Alec,” Caleb said, “the magic that protected this place, protected you, changed when we bonded. Whoever or whatever was chasing your father can find you. I have to take you to a safer place.”
Alec shook his head in denial. “No! I can’t leave Father. He wouldn’t want me to.” Alec leapt up and darted out the door.
Confused, Caleb pushed away from the wall propping him up. He reached for the boy, missed and stuck his head out the door before he remembered the sun. He squeezed his eyes shut, yanked his head back in, slammed the door, and turned around to leaned against it. He stood still for a minute, willing his racing heart to slow down. Goddess bless, that was close. I almost burned.
“Aren’t you going to go after Alec?” Samuel looked at Caleb. He saw the clenched hands, the tightly closed eyes and the grimace on the vampyre’s face. “Isn’t the sun down yet?” He glanced at the time candle by the fireplace. It had burned into the first hour of Saluna.
“No the sun hasn’t set.” Caleb growled.
“Open your eyes and look at the candle. The sun went down fifteen minutes ago.”
“No it didn’t. The light is still there.”
“Light?” Samuel pried Caleb off the door so he could pull it open. A hand flashed past his nose and slammed it closed.
“Are you trying to kill me?” Caleb was angry. “I don’t know why I woke early, but I’m sure the sun would still fry me if I went out into it.”
“Caleb, the sun is down. The light you saw was the grove. The spirits there haven’t been the same since the night I found Alec on my doorstep.”
“The grove?”
“That light won’t hurt you. You should go after Alec.” Samuel felt anger bubble up in him. “What kind of Guardian are you anyway? Alec could be in danger and here you are whining about maybe being burned by a light that’s harmless to you. Get out of my house. Make sure that boy is safe.” Samuel threw open the door and pointed toward the grove. “Move it.”
Embarrassed and resentful, Caleb missed the reference to him being a Guardian and slunk out the door. He heard the door slam behind him, but didn’t bother looking back. He had to find Alec.
Tangled Fury Page 6