Shifters And Glyphs

Chapter 1-2

I wince. That wasn’t my best argument. Shaking my head, I keep going. My next bit will be absolutely stunning.

“And yes,” I continue, “we’ve had different life experiences from most kids. I was almost force-married to a mummy-zombie king last summer. You spent most of your life hunting down Denarii, but the other kids won’t care. And the whole parent thing? It definitely won’t hurt like hell to see everyone else with a mom and dad all the time. Only in the beginning.” By the time I finish my speech, my eyes are prickling with tears.

“Is that it?” asks Knox softly.

“Not one of my best talks, huh?”

Knox sits up and slides me onto his lap. His six-foot tall frame and heavy arms wrap around my shoulders. “Remember what Azizi always says about relatives?”

“Sure.” My voice comes out all dull and lifeless. “There’s your family of chance and your family of choice.”

“That’s right. And I choose you. We’re mates. That’s forever.” He rubs my arm up and down in a soothing motion. Closing my eyes, I lean into our embrace. Knox’s scent of sandalwood and musk surrounds me. Hugging Knox always makes the world feel all things safe and comforting.

I blink back my tears. “Most people never find the other half of their soul. We’re lucky.” Looking up, I scan the familiar features of Knox’s face. Loose black hair. Scar on his brow and chin. Sharp bone structure. Ice-blue eyes.

My mate.

“We’re a team.” Knox’s full mouth quirks with a grin. “Don’t forget, Elle and Alec care about you, too. Alec’s parents are putting a computer workstation into West Lake Prep for you. They even found you some new papyri. That way, you can keep translating, only now it won’t just be a hobby. You’ll get class credit.”

“That’s really nice of them.”

Which is true. Setting me up with a workstation is a cool thing for Lydia and Nixon Le Charme to do. Even so, just thinking about Alec’s parents makes me fidget. They are too smart, too beautiful, and too totally obsessed with me translating the papyri that make up the Book of Isis. In fact, Alec’s parents remind me a little of the Denarii. Those zombie mummies were all killer instinct wrapped in 1950’s style perfection and odd obsessions.

“But …” prompts Knox. He can always tell when I’m holding back.

“Don’t get me wrong,” I say. “It’s really nice of Alec’s parents and all. But they must have their reasons.”

Knox sighs. “True.”

I don’t need to say anything more; Knox knows what I mean. While Knox is the warden of magic for shifters, Alec is the warden for witches and warlocks. Wardens have a responsibility to find and guard the fountain of all magic, which has been hidden for thousands of years. No one knows why. If the wardens don’t find the fountain, then they can’t marry without magic killing their spouse. It’s the system’s way of keeping them focused on what’s important: the fountain.

Talk about a motivating factor.

Closing his eyes, Knox tilts his head. I’ve seen that move before. My mate is having an inner conversation with his own wolf. I take Knox’s hand in mine. “Your wolf is talking to you, isn’t he?”

Knox opens his eyes. Lines of worry tighten across his face. “More like howling. He’s hurting. Says he feels like he’s on fire.” He scrubs his hands over his face. “My wolf is always unpredictable this time of year, but not like this.”

“Why would this time of year affect him?” Knox and I have only been dating for a few months. Before that I was locked up by my aunties. Long story short, I’m constantly learning new stuff about shifter culture.

“The fall equinox is coming up,” explains Knox. “It’s always rough on wardens. No one knows why, though. Not even Az.”

“Autumnal equinox.” The words rattle around my brain. I rise and pace a line by the couch, my mind churning at double speed.

Knox has seen this routine from me before. “You getting something, Bry?” And by something, Knox means an idea on my papyri translations.

Here’s what’s going on. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had dreams of ancient Egypt and papyri. Wardens like Knox and Alec can’t get married until the fountain of magic is found. And the location of that mysterious fountain? It’s listed in the Book of Isis, which is currently just a bunch of papyrus scraps. For some reason, I’m the only one who’s had any real luck assembling them. And now, the words autumnal equinox are making me picture my old translations in a new way.

“I just translated something about this.” Turning on my heel, I speed over to my workroom. It used to be one of Knox’s extra bedrooms. That is, until he fixed up for me with a mega-computer, monitor and cloud storage. I can get at my papyri scans from anywhere. After rushing into the room, I fire up the system, grab my mouse, and start sifting through old translations. Knox moves to stand behind me, resting his hand on my shoulder.

All the staring at screens makes my inner animal turn restless. “We hates computers.” For the record, when my wolf gets grumpy, she starts talking like Gollum.

“It’ll only be a minute,” I reply in my mind.

“But you always say that and it’s a lie.”

“Not this time.” I tap the screen with my pointer finger and look over my shoulder to Knox. “Here’s the section I was looking for.”

Knox leans over my shoulder. He and Alec have translated their share of papyri over the years, so it’s no problem for my mate to translate these glyphs.

Once every five thousand years,

the fountain shall rise.

Knox frowns. “But you translated that a week ago. Where’s the equinox part?”

“Here.” I tap on a new section. “It says here …”

Look to the crossing of the sun and earth.

“The next part is all smudged out,” I continue. “However, the next glyphs clearly say something about twice a year. I bet they’re talking about the fall and spring equinoxes.”

“I think you’re onto something.” Knox keeps reading.

The fountain shall be born at one crossing,

and then shall begin to give its bounty at the second.

Knox winces. “Born? That’s an odd way to put it. It takes eons for fountains to form.”

“Not always. Sometimes geysers erupt out of nowhere.” Over the years, I’ve become a self-taught expert on fountains. Personally, I believe that the fountain of magic is actually a geyser. Those erupt on a schedule, and the fountain of magic only ‘gives its bounty’ once every five thousand years.

Definitely a geyser.

“Makes sense.” Now it’s Knox’s turn to tap the screen. “Next, it lists a number of numbers.” Knox squints at the screen. “Those are dates.”

“Yes, that’s when the first pyramids in Egypt were designed.”

“Or,” Knox says slowly. “Those dates could refer to the equinox stuff.”

I lean back in my chair. Knox’s words rattle around my head. “You’re right. Those dates could say that the fountain first went off five thousand years ago.” The chill on my neck creeps down my spine. Something about all this sets off my sense of danger.

“And it says the fountain activates once every five thousand years. In that case, it’s due to off again, Bry. In five days, no less. That must be why my wolf is hurting.”

My insides twist with worry. Knox is supposed to be guarding that fountain. What will happen to him if we don’t find it?

“We could be wrong, you know.” I glance at Knox over my shoulder. “What about Alec? Are things worse for him this year, too?”

“Good question.” Knox pulls his cell out of his pocket and dials. “Hey, it’s me. Have your spells gone nuts with this equinox?”

In case you’re wondering, most of Knox’s calls to Alec begin with hey it’s me followed by some kind of demand.

A pause follows before Knox speaks again. “Look, man. I know all magic is weird lately, but your spells always go to extra crap around the fall equinox. What I want to know is this—is it any worse this year compared to last year?” Another pause. “So, worse. And are you in any pain?” Knox rolls his eyes. “Nice.” He hangs up.

“What did Alec say?”

“He says his spells are definitely worse this year compared to last year. But he’s not in any pain. And I should stop worrying about him because I’m not his nana.”

I can’t help but smile. “That’s so Alec.” My moment of happiness soon evaporates as I think through our new discoveries. “I don’t like this.”

“What part? The papyri or Alec’s big mouth?”

“You know what I mean. Being a warden with the fountain about to go off.” I twist around in the roller chair so I can face Knox directly. “We should talk to Az.”

“Yeah. I promised to stop by after school tomorrow. We’ll head over together.”

I rub my forehead, thinking all this through. If only we knew all the secrets from the Book of Isis. All of a sudden, the pressure to translate that book presses in around me, tight as a vice. I slump forward in my chair. When I speak again, my voice is a hoarse whisper. “What if I can’t do it? What if I don’t translate the Book of Isis and … everything goes to hell?”

Knox kneels before me. His ice-blue gaze turns intense. “I’m not worried about that, Bry. In thousands of years, no one came close to translating the Book of Isis. Until you. No question in my mind. You will do this.”

The power of his faith in me makes my body feel boneless. Good thing I’m still sitting on a chair. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say nothing. Just be you.”

Little by little, Knox leans in to give me a kiss. His warm breath cascades over my lips. Our mouths are about to meet when the moment is shattered.

A police siren ringtone blares from Knox’s cell phone. There’s only one person who causes that particular ring: Knox’s ex-girlfriend, Ty. Pronounced Tea—like the drink—and spelled Ty. She’s a real piece of work.

“Damn,” Knox growls. “Alec just put another blocking spell on this thing to keep her away. How’d she break through?”

Ty is not only Knox’s ex, she’s also a powerful sorceress. For years, Alec’s spells blocked her. But now? No matter what Alec casts, Ty can eventually get her call through. It’s not just Ty, though. Word is that everyone’s magic has been going haywire lately.

“Let’s go find this Ty,” grumbles my inner wolf. “Then we bite her face off.”

“We don’t bite faces.”

“But this is for our mate.”

“Knox wants us to stay out of it. We need to respect that.”

My wolf says something that sounds like grumble-grumble-mate-grumble-grumble-bite-grumble-grumble-Ty. Point taken.

For the record, my wolf and I had our differences over the summer, mostly because she was just released from a super-long sleeping curse. Since then, I’ve learned how to give her some structure through my inner magic. Mostly, the process involves calming her down with my shifter powers and—in case of true emergency—putting her in a stasis. That’s like sleep, only my wolf won’t dream or anything. Again, that’s super-rare. Most times, my wolf and I get along pretty well.

Knox pushes some buttons on his phone, but the siren’s wail doesn’t end. “I have to take this, Bry. It won’t stop otherwise.”

“That’s fine. I get it.”

I twist back around in my swivel chair; Knox goes to stand by the door. “What, Ty?” A short pause follows before Knox speaks again. “I don’t care what magical junk you found this time. It’s over between us. You get that? Over.” Knox chucks his phone against the wall. It shatters into a hundred pieces. That would be over, all right.

When Knox turns to face me, his eyes glow with golden light. “I need a run.”

And in this case, run doesn’t mean through Central Park. Knox wants to ride his Harley, reach his land in the Adirondacks, shift into wolf form, and race through the night.

Knox rakes his hands through his loose black hair. “Want to join me?”

Inside my soul, my inner wolf lets out a yawn. “We ran this morning,” she says in my head. “Let’s go back to our den and rest.” And by den, she means our apartment, which happens to be in this same building as Knox’s, only two floors down from here.

“Are you sure?” I ask in my mind. “You’re always up for a run.”

“We’ll see many fae in the morning. I need my strength so I can play with them.”

My heart sinks. Unfortunately, my wolf sees fairies as fast-moving chew toys, which is totally dangerous. The fae are crazy. Ugh. Between my wolf and the fairies, I’ll have my work cut out for me tomorrow.

“Thanks for the offer,” I say. “But it’s a school night. I should get some sleep.” Or try to, anyway.

A shiver of dread rolls across my shoulders. Fast as a heartbeat, Knox kneels before me. “What’s wrong? I can scent your fear.”

“I don’t know.” My voice comes out high-pitched and wispy. “Something about sleep … Dreams.”

“Have you been getting night visions about papyri again?”

“No, it’s not that.” Closing my eyes, I try to focus on my latest night visions. Fear ricochets through my system, making me clutch my elbows. It’s those terrible nightmares. I know it. I grasp for the memories, but they stay just out of reach. What have I been seeing?

“Think hard, Bry. I know you can do it.”

“There’s something about shadows and …” The memory vanishes entirely. Searing bright flashes of white appear in my mind’s eye. An odd chill crawls over my skin. Is magic is at work and erasing my memories … Or am I just stressed out about school? Why can’t I remember my dreams?

“This isn’t good.” Knox scowls. “You’re frightened and you don’t know why. I’m not going for a run. Come to think of it, you should stay here at my place tonight.”

Which I definitely could do, considering how Knox has a ton of bedrooms. Still, we’ve only been dating a few months. There’s no way I’m ready for the whole sleepover thing.

“It’s fine. I’ll stay tonight at my place.”

“Then I’m inviting myself over to sleep on your couch.”

I shake my head. “Go run. That’s an all-night activity and we both know it.” Knox sneaks a look at the door. His ex-girlfriend always gets his wolf up.

“You know you need to go,” I add.

Knox shakes his head. “I won’t leave you like this.” The muscle along his jaw is positively jumping with anxiety.

I pull my cell out of my pocket. “Take this. I’ll call you from Elle’s phone if anything goes wrong.” We’ve done this before. As long as Knox stays within a few miles of the phone, his wolf hearing can make out the ringtones just fine. I press the cell into his hands. “Run.” When I speak again, I make sure to use a playful tone. “I can protect myself, remember? In fact, I saved your handsome butt from Jules.”

All of which is true.

Knox stares at the phone for a long moment before slipping it into his pocket. That means one thing: he’s going for a run. I exhale.

“You’ll call me if anything bad happens, yeah?”

“I swear it.”

“In that case, I’ll go.” Knox brushes a gentle kiss across my lips. The press of his mouth makes my stomach do flip-flops.

Hmm. Maybe staying here isn’t a bad idea.

I push against his shoulder. “Get ready before I change my mind.”

“As my mate demands.” Knox steps around his apartment, gathering up his bike helmet, wallet, and other stuff. He’ll also change his outfit to be more road compatible. The good news is that Knox’s jaw isn’t twitching anymore, which is a good sign. In fact, now that he’s heading out for a run, Knox seems far more relaxed in general. Meanwhile, my nervous system goes haywire. The reason? What I said before.

I swear it.

When I make a promise, I do everything I can to keep it. Something tells that this time? That just may not be possible.