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

<p>/"I still don't understand how any of that is possible,/" I muttered.</p>

<p>/"Think of toilet tissue. You have a top layer and a bottom layer. They are the world of the living and the world of the dead. But all those ply pieces in-between, all those thin sheets that you can't see, but are there, adding thickness and a wholesome wipe, imagine those being the places that exist between the living and the dead. They touch, and in places, the barriers can tear; the twins' mother used her magick to create tears to allow her beasties through. But it took too much energy. Too much power. The creatures would sleep after. It's why there was so much time between Ember being attacked, and then again for the both of them a few days back. They needed to recharge. So did she./"</p>

Chapter110