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“It’s a Soultracker,” Harlan whispers. “I’ve seen one before. Only in passing, but the person it was after didn’t survive.”

“What do you mean?” Xander beats me to the question.

My entire body tenses, and suddenly nothing else matters beyond the walls of this house. Even the cats perk up as Harlan pulls together his response. Behind biting his lip and fidgeting with the hem of his black shirt, he responds. “It was summoned. By a witch. Someone had a bounty on their head, and a king bought a witch to conjure it to this dimension.” He swallows, clearly uncomfortable, but continues, “The Soultracker covered half of Europe before it found its target. There was nothing that could be done to stop it.”

My heart sinks. Nothing could be done.

“But there’s been a premonition. Tyler Lane from the coven has seen Noah’s death. Does that make a difference?” Xander’s fingers press into my knotted muscles as he fights against my growing unease.

Harlan’s eyes snap upwards, and they shine with hope. “Yes! A lot, actually.”

“Spit it out,” Ambrose grumbles from the couch. “We don’t have all day.”

“We just have eternity,” Cassius supplies while crossing his shoulder over his thick chest and leaning against the counter.

“If a witch has seen you die in their vision, then it means someone very close to you is directly linked to the Soultracker,” Harlan explains. “Souls act like magnets. Not just to these creatures but to other souls. Is there anyone close to you who might want you dead?”

My mind stumbles to keep up with Harlan, who manages to speak at a million miles an hour and has zero filter. I’ve never met someone so… open, like him before.

I feel my skin heat as eyes land on me, and I bite the inside of my cheek. But as I comb through everyone I've ever met, no one stands out. My family wants nothing to do with me. I have no friends thanks to Richard pushing them away, and even he has no way of ever finding me. At least not when I’m in Moonfell.

Wait.

“Could it be Richard?” I look up at Xander.

His brows furrow, and he looks more perplexed than before. “I doubt it.” He turns to Harlan. “You said a king paid a witch to conjure the Soultracker. Could it still be done today?”

Harlan nods. “It’s unusual because it's so illegal, but it's not a particularly hard spell from what I've learned over the years. However, you said Tyler saw Noah, so it’s probably best we get him to create some wards around this house with that vision in mind. Who knows how strong this thing is if it manages to get inside.”

A shiver scrapes down my spine and Nyx pops her head up, her red eyes dancing across the room and her ears twitching violently. She lets out a quaint sigh before turning back to Pumpkin and gives him a few kisses.

“Is Nyx stronger than the… Soultracker?” I can barely get my mouth around the creature's name. The creature that's destined to kill me.

A few moments pass, but Xander is the one to reply, “She’s from hell. I believe the monsters she faces down there are far worse.”

I can’t help but smile towards where Nyx sits comfortably with Pumpkin. Besides her large size, red gaze, and ability to walk through walls, she’s just a normal cat. Despite her strengths and abilities to travel to literal hell, I can't put her up against the creature. She might have saved Xander’s life once, but I'm not ready to watch that luck run out on someone like me. A simple, slightly boring human.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Xander crowds me in a protective air, his lungs filling as he scents me. His wide chest blocks out the rest of the house, and‌ my body fills with warmth.

“It’s just…” I bite at my lip. “You called your colony to come here to help me? No one has ever done something like this for me before. And I can't repay you. I don’t have friends or people to rely on.”

“You have us now,” Cassius replies from behind me. “You are Xander’s mate, and will one day become a part of this colony. We protect those whom we love.”

My cheeks heat and I fall into Xander’s chest, hiding away from Cassius’s kind words.

Vibrations roll through Xander as he speaks, his hand stroking the back of my head. “Never think for a second you’re alone in this, Noah. You will always have someone who cares about you.”

Chapter Thirteen

Noah

The hours seem to fly as I slowly get to know each of the members in Xander’s colony. Of course, Harlan stays close by, always cracking jokes as his energy never seems to fade.

After a few attempts at breaking the ice, Ambrose manages to piece together longer sentences with far less snark, and I can see, beneath that sturdy, sharp exterior, he’s rather kind and selfless.

Xander and Cassius catch up on the back patio, watching the forest as they speak, and I realize with their inside jokes and fond memories of one another that Cassius is the exact same best friend who turned Xander all those years ago.

“So you’re telling me,” I bounce on Xander’s lap, “you were a vampire for hundreds of years before you even met Xander? How did you two become so close?”