SPIRITBORNE | Book 1 of the Spirits' War Trilogy [excerpt]

12: THE RITUAL

Image: Night Sky by Lara-Jane Songbird

Soundtrack: Celestial Temple by BrunuhVille

***

"Where's David?" Lauren demands. She offers me a blanket and I accept it hungrily, shrugging its warmth around my tired shoulders.

"He said he needed to take care of something," I tell her softly.

He must mean our house, our belongings. The Covenant is sure to be cracking down on my uncle; he conned them pretty bad. Maybe there are things he has to retrieve before they get their grubby hands on them.

I should've told him to wait. We could've gone back with the rest of the clan. That way if the Covenant was waiting, they'd have a bunch of angry Lycans to deal with.

"You let him go back there alone?" Lauren's eyes are fiery basins of anger, narrowed into slivers against her pale complexion. "Where are the prisoners?"

As if on cue, Sejka takes a step toward her alpha, placing a hand on Lauren's shoulder. I flinch, waiting for our superior's wrath. To my surprise, Lauren slowly turns towards Sejka, her eyes growing wide as she reads the old woman's expression. A single tear slides down my alpha's cheek and she lowers her eyes.

I gulp. "One of them is alright. But he's—"

Lauren whirls around, seeming to regret her moment of lapsed emotion. Her gaze stings like venom and she shakes her head as if she's about to reprimand a child. I am that child.

"Then where is he?" Her voice is unnaturally calm as she searches my eyes for any giveaway. "Why isn't he here with us? With his kind?"

"He didn't want to come. He said...he was dangerous." Which isn't completely true; Thirteen had said that I 'shouldn't be left alone' with him. And I don't know for sure what he'd meant by that. But the poster on the wall comes back to me: 'CELL 13: TO BE EUTHANIZED...'

The alpha shuts her eyes and sighs deeply, pulling her hair up into a tight ponytail. A strand of light blonde hair escapes her grasp, and the breeze tosses it to and fro. Lauren takes no notice of this. She gives me one last glance – which pierces straight into my heart – and then she stalks back to her tent.

I've never seen her like this before. Well, I've seen her angry a few times, but I've never seen her this angry. But then again, David could be ambushed by the Covenant at any moment. And when you've been with an organization for seven years, someone's bound to know at least what area of the city you call home. But my uncle's decision was just that; it was his decision. Not mine. So Lauren has no right to be angry with me. Sulking, I begin towards my tent. Sejka falls into step beside me.

"Skye, do not mind your leader. She worries too much."

"If there's a revolution and my uncle's instrumental in its course, what happens if..."