In the silvery waterfall of moonlight, Jonathan Aztec, my second in command, holding rank as Beta of the Northridge pack, was something to behold. His powerful shoulders seemed to carry the waning gibbous, and the shadows that devoured the vast grounds of Battleridge manor granted him a wide berth.
He was a superior specimen. He was a male worthy of the ranking he'd been bestowed. But like all creatures, he wasn't born perfect, and his character flaw was a fault that bled out into the night like a severed artery: Concern.
It charged the air between us, a thick blanket that settled against the lungs like a boa-constrictor's loving embrace.
"What did you find?" I asked. The perverse silence that had entombed the dilapidated courtyard, screaming so loud it rang through my ears like a twisted lullaby, was shattered upon his approach. His boots smacked against the waterlogged ground, echoing in a way that spoke of his failures before he'd even opened his mouth. 
"Nothing,"
.......
"Until I can figure out what's going on, nobody finds out about the boy. Understand?"
"Understood."
"You're not going to ..." The pause that followed dragged out. "He's just a baby, Sterling."
"You're dismissed."

The Littlest Light

The Wise One had gone, and with her, so had the crumbling interior of her cottage, replaced by a prison of a room that lay bare to the foundations. Without a shred of carpeting on the floor, and walls that seemed to bleed maroon, it came without window nor door.

And in place of the Wise One, another headache resided. Wild flames for hair and hellfire for eyes, the leather-clad figure that loitered against the junction where two walls met offered me a harsh look.

/"Now I know I'm dreaming,/" I muttered, squeezing my eyes shut in hopes that it would all be gone when I reopened them. Sadly, Kenai remained, looking just as unamused as he had before the peek-a-boo routine. /"Or insane. Either way, when you and that crazy old bitch are the voices in my head, you know there ain't much hope for my sanity./"

Chapter109