As head of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Paranormal Operations Unit, Clay Chiles has found a place where he can serve with honor and a surrogate family to replace the one he never truly enjoyed. When he meets Elven warrior Arondel and begins to build the partnership he had never hoped to find, life seems good. Still for two life-long loners to merge their lives, hearts and minds, an occasional conflict is bound to arise.<br><br>Clay’s discovery he has not only a father but a half-brother on Arondel’s home world of Elvenheim creates new and different challenges -- can he accept and trust relatives so different from all he has known? Can they accept him? Finally, faced with incredible tasks and dangers, Clay and Aron are torn asunder. Will the strength of their still- fragile bond be enough to bring them through hell and back to one another’s arms?

Runes of Redemption

The tunnel into the ice ran in a twisting spiral, turning like a labyrinth, but without fork or divide, leading always deeper into the mound. Dim light filtered through the frozen heap, for the ice seemed to be translucent. A faint blue tint might reflect the distant sky, although when they had arrived the day before, all had been gray, both earth and sky.


It might have been after sunset yesterday, though, Clay thought. Time seemed to move strangely here.


Rounding a final bend, they emerged into a vast chamber, which, like in some of the Shags’ dwellings and structures, seemed far too large to exist within the space seen when viewed from outside. A central pillar rose to the lofty ceiling, several meters overhead. Whatever light filtered in seemed to be captured by this faceted mass, only to be amplified and reflected in hundreds of glowing beams that, in turn, bounced back from the icy walls. The cavern was alive with light


Chapter 13