As head of the Border Patrol’s Paranormal Operations Unit, Clay Chiles has found a place where he can function and a surrogate family to replace the one he never truly had. He keeps hidden a lot of secrets, and both fears and longs for the day he may be able to take that one long step out of solitude and darkness into love and light.<br><br>Before he can do that, however, he has to face some surprising facts about himself and deal with some horrific enemies. Although not a weak man, he’ll never have the strength alone to confront all those demons. But who can help him there?<br><br>Arondel Wanderer is a son of the ancient Elven royal clan, but far enough from the throne to be expendable. He obeys his queen’s orders to visit Earth and find what is going wrong there. One task he faces is to contact and recruit a human keystone in the desperate effort to stop an invasion of ancient evil that could corrupt the elves’ original home beyond redemption. Aron, a loner and solitary emissary from Elvenheim, never expected to find his soul-mate on this mission, but surprises, both good and bad, have always been part of his long and adventurous life. He’ll take anything good he is given, and once he sights the partner he’s always wanted, the most extreme danger is not enough to deter him.

Runes of Revelation

“It lasts for the traditional year and a day, but for Elves that’s much longer than for humans. It is like the old custom of hand-fasting, but there is no erasing or undoing it without a very powerful rite of severing. No one of honor will trespass on such a bond while it holds. But that does not mean we enforce it as an exclusive or ownership kind of connection, just the matching of spirits. Still, for me and for now, it is binding, permanent and given with my whole heart.”


Clay’s breath leaked out in a slow, long sigh. “I think I’ve always wanted, needed, even longed for such a bond, but I never dared. I couldn’t bring myself to admit and accept…It isn’t wrong; I know in my heart it isn’t, but for so long I could not ignore all I’d been taught and told.”


“Love is neverwrong,” Aron said, fierce vehemence clear in his tone.. “How could it be? Love is the one true thing. It’s as close to the Universal One as we can get while we live, the All-Mother’s most sacred gift.”


Chapter 18