Free Darkness Wanes by Susan Illene Page B

let Lucas know how you’re doing.”
    “Thanks.” I gave him a weak smile. “Tell him I’m okay.”
    He nodded. “I will.”
    “Quiet back there!” Dannia yelled at us. She’d just arrived and scowled at the proceedings. It probably drove her crazy to have to release so many prisoners at once.
    I stepped away from the bars and watched the procession of nephilim march down the tunnel. The guards muttered something about taking them to the bathing chamber to get cleaned up. This was a lot more organized than what Lucas had said about his time here. Either the guardians preferred to release their prisoners looking well, or Remiel gave the order. On the rare occasion the archangel came to Purgatory, he seemed to avoid me. I only heard about his instructions after the fact.
    “This is always the most difficult part.” Bartol let out a sigh. “Always watching others go.”
    “Not for long,” I said, hoping it was true.
    He grunted. “We shall see.”
    With only the two of us left, the silence in the tunnel became deafening. I settled onto my pallet and laid my head on the crook of my arm. My chest ached from an emptiness that wanted to eat its way through me. Bartol’s doubts were flooding my senses and making me wonder if they would hold us for longer than expected. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take of this place before losing my mind. Lucas and Emily were waiting for me. I needed to get home soon.

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Eight
     
    Lucas
     
    “Werewolves will always be in human form durin’ the day. They can only shift at night,” Derrick said, a slight southern drawl in his voice.
    The local master and alpha werewolf for Fairbanks stood in front of the classroom, giving a lecture to the nerou. They listened to him with rapt interest. Derrick was the sort of person who could draw attention and respect from those around him. They’d had their differences in the past, but even Lucas admired him for his ability to lead and take care of his people.
    Derrick was a large man with shoulder-length brown hair tied back at his neck. The navy-blue t-shirt he wore fit loosely across his barrel chest and his jeans were worn and faded. His dark leather boots had probably seen better days too—about twenty years ago. Even after ascending to a position of importance, he’d changed very little. It was difficult to say whether that was a good or bad thing. The alpha could be rather stubborn and stuck in his ways.
    Lucas had asked him to come out to the training facility and talk to the nerou about werewolves. They might not have the full range of sensor abilities, but they could detect the different races on their mental radar from a short distance. Experiencing each type of supernatural up close would help them build their mental encyclopedia.
    In a few more months, they’d begin going on field trips. Some of them had already interacted with humans when they first arrived on Earth, but the archangels put a stop to that soon after. They wanted the nerou fully prepared before they were allowed into civilization again.
    “A werewolf bite is more damaging to a vampire than a regular animal bite,” Derrick said, pacing the front of the room in a very wolf-like manner. “Our teeth are especially good at rendin’ flesh, but we still have to tear their heads off or rip out their hearts to kill them.”
    “Who is stronger if they’re the same age—a werewolf or vampire?” Tormod asked.
    His father, Yerik, was the daimoun who’d helped free the nerou from Purgatory. Yerik had already been wanted for killing an archangel, but his need to free his son drove him to step out of hiding and risk capture. They didn’t go easy on him when he was caught, either. His sentence had been banishment to a remote planet with harsh conditions and no intelligent life for the next ten years.
    Tormod’s mother—a sensor—was currently living nearby, but she was only allowed to see her son on Sundays. That was the designated family