Free Chosen by Sable Grace

before nodding a greeting to the goddesses.
    â€œMerchant.” Kyana smiled. “The uniform suits you. Glad to see you accepted it.”
    â€œTen years rusty, but yeah, Shanna seems to like it.”
    â€œThe fort,” Ryker interrupted. “Details?”
    â€œRight. Sorry.” Zach’s face immediately recontorted into a back-to-business expression. “Morning patrol discovered that the Huguenot Cemetery had been violated and tracers were sent out to locate the ones responsible. I posted guards at each of the nearby cemeteries. When they returned to the Castillo, it was under attack. We lost a dozen sentinels and a handful of Mystics who were tending some of the Chosen brought in last night.”
    Ryker’s chest gave a painful squeeze. “The Chosen? They all right?”
    Zach nodded. “All brought Below. They’re being held at Spirits until we’re given clearance to take them to their respective gods.”
    Ryker exhaled. Good. More of the replacements were found, safe, and soon to be ready for a power exchange. That was a plus. But none of that eased the knots in his neck and shoulders. He might trust Zach to protect the humans, along with their stronghold Above, but he hated relying on others to do a job he was used to doing himself. More than that, he hated waiting on others to provide information he’d always been able to obtain firsthand.
    â€œYour men didn’t say anything to me about the cemetery. Anything I need to worry about?”
    â€œAll the graves there have been desecrated, just like Huguenot’s. The mark of Cronos was found on several of the grave markers.”
    Ryker tried to keep his temper in check, but it was becoming harder by the second. “How the hell did we go from six weeks of peace to a damned nightmare in one day?”
    â€œTold you this treaty thing was a bad idea,” Kyana muttered.
    â€œOne rogue group doesn’t make all Dark Breed bad,” he pointed out. He still believed in the treaty he and Geoffrey had come up with. The Dark Breeds who signed it were allowed to remain free of Tartarus unless they broke the law—and since they signed the treaty with their blood, tracers would be able to immediately locate them and bring them in.
    Those who didn’t sign were considered enemies of the Order and brought in regardless of their actions. Once the world settled back into a routine, it would be a sound plan. But right now, nothing was going as it should, and Ryker wasn’t in the mood for another round of pros and cons with Kyana.
    â€œWere the tracers able to find anything that will tell us who is responsible for digging up the graves?” he asked Zach.
    â€œAres has a group of Witches working on that now,” Zach replied. “But it doesn’t look promising.”
    â€œWe knew Cronos was raising an army, and Geoffrey already said some of his souls were missing,” Artemis said. “It’s not a surprise that cemeteries are going to be ravaged. He can’t raise the dead without their bones for talismans.”
    â€œI’ll question the Oracles.” Ryker cast his gaze up the mountain behind his temple where the Oracles resided. “Maybe they can see where Cronos will strike next—keep a watch on known offenders’ graves.”
    He turned to Zach and held out his hand. “Appreciate you coming so quickly. Send a guard with a list of the Chosen brought in and I’ll send word to the gods they’ll need to meet.”
    Zach took the dismissal with a nod of compliance and a quick shake of Ryker’s hand. “As you wish.”
    When Zach vanished down the path toward the gate, Ryker spun on his heel and glared at Kyana. “If you say I told you so, I swear I’ll forbid your exit off Olympus and won’t let you help figure this out.”
    She blinked. “About what?”
    â€œThe fucking treaty.”
    â€œI wouldn’t dream of