Page 5 of Dark Night of the Soul

I nodded. “If you trust him, that’s good enough for me.”

Chapter 3 | Kincade

The door closed behind Silas.

The house settled.

I didn’t.

Visible. That’s what he said. That meant they were willing to use Anna as leverage. To get me to do whatever it was they wanted.

Wouldn’t happen. Not again.

She hovered on the edge of the room, still holding her cup. Her mind was loud enough to tell me she was worried.

And angry.

I had to be ready. Silas understood what was at stake, but he couldn’t protect her the way I could.

I walked out of the parlor. I expected her to follow with questions. She didn’t. She remained.

She knew when to push and when not to.

That restraint was one of the things that terrified me most.

She trusted me to make the right call. Trusted me not to disappear into the violence that had defined most of my existence. My hands curled at my sides as I stepped into the hall, tendons pulling tight, every instinct screaming to lock the house down, to put her somewhere no one could reach her.

There was no such place anymore.

I left the manor. Walked the perimeter. Checked the old wards Edward Walker left behind. They were still intact. Designed for demons.

Edward had built these wards for a different war. A simpler one. Back when threats announced themselves with claws and fire instead of strategy and leverage. I rested my palm against the stone, feeling the faint hum of old magic beneath my skin.

It wasn’t failing.

It was obsolete.

They wouldn’t work against a threat like the Brotherhood.

There was a long history between me and Sebastian Crane. He’d been the one to send me after her in the first place. Before she knew who and what she was. When I crossed every line and broke every oath to stand with her. When I chose to fight beside her against the dark.

Our fates had been tied together for centuries.

Sebastian knew that better than anyone. He knew I’d burn down the world to keep her out of his hands. He knew I’d never willingly come back.

So, his threat was real. Silas knew it. I knew it.

Even Anna knew it.

When I rounded the corner to the front of the manor, Silas was returning, carrying two black duffels. A taxi was driving back toward the gate.

One for his personal things.

One for his weapons.

Silas was the only man I knew who carried an entire arsenal in a black duffel.

He dropped one of the bags at my feet, knelt, and unzipped it. He pushed it open, showing me the contents.