Free Fire's Embrace [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 6] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) by Scarlet Hyacinth Page B

to jump his mate any moment now. As Karein growled under his breath, Rachen moved in front of Alwyn in a strange echo of his twin’s motion. The two draechen glared at each other. “Back off, Karein,” Rachen said, his voice so low it seemed to come from the grave. “You have no idea what you’re doing.”
    “Oh, I’m quite aware,” Karein replied. “Are you?”
    They looked moments away from lunging at each other, and suddenly, Alwyn felt very tired. He didn’t want his mate to be at odds with his family because of him. “Stop,” he said. “Please, stop.” Going around Karein, he glanced at Sari once more. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have said that. You’re entitled to be angry with me. You’re right to doubt me. I submit to whatever you decide. Just don’t take it out on Rachen.”
    Sari seemed torn. He looked from Alwyn to Rachen and shook his head. “I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to separate you two. I know Rachen loves you. But even if you didn’t mean to do what you did, you’re still not safe to be around.”
    “Sari…” Rachen started to say, a warning tone in his voice.
    The sound of a cleared throat stopped Rachen from continuing. “If I may,” Caelyn said from the doorway, “I think I’d like to give my input in this matter.”
    For some reason, Alwyn’s heart started to race. “You know something?”
    Caelyn vacillated for a few seconds, then nodded. “I can’t be absolutely certain right now. I’ve only just arrived, and I haven’t spent enough time with you to be sure. This is why I didn’t approach anyone with the information. But given the situation…maybe you should know.”
    He stopped and looked straight into Alwyn’s eyes. Alwyn couldn’t help a small, hopeful smile. Perhaps Caelyn could give him some insight. Maybe it wasn’t too late to fix this. If Caelyn could only nudge him in the right direction, Alwyn might be able to figure out how his abilities worked and give the High Priestess her powers back. Then, he could mate Rachen and everything would be all right. Yes, they could do that. Alwyn couldn’t wait.
    Caelyn winced and glanced away. His mate joined him and wrapped his arm around Caelyn’s waist, as if providing silent comfort. Just like that, Alwyn’s hopes dissipated. Whatever the sprite intended to say wasn’t in any way positive for him.
    “Just…say it,” he prodded.
    Caelyn took a deep breath and met Alwyn’s gaze once again. “You must understand, this will sound very strange,” he said. “It could even be irresponsible of me to reveal it now when I’m not sure.”
    “We understand,” Alwyn rushed him along.
    “Very well,” the sprite answered. “You might be aware that when shifters or magical creatures find their mates, they grow more powerful. It happened to me, too. After mating Graham, my magic developed even more. A side effect of this is that I can see past even the most elaborate of illusions. And well…When I look at you…there’s nothing there.”
    “You’re not making any sense, Caelyn,” Karein said. “Do you mean you can’t see past the illusion after all?”
    “I mean what I said,” Caelyn insisted. “There’s nothing there. No, I misspeak. Not nothing, no one.”
    “Lyni, Alwyn is standing right there,” Sari pointed out. “He’s a person. He might have strange powers we don’t understand just yet, but that doesn’t change this undeniable fact.”
    “I know it sounds odd, but truly, that’s how it feels,” Caelyn answered. “Normally, if you were someone else with an illusion cast on you, I’d be able to see your real face, your real identity. But when I look beyond the illusion, there’s nothing palpable there. Just…energy.”
    Caelyn looked so apologetic that Alwyn knew the sprite was telling the truth. Or perhaps something in his heart was confirming it. Either way, Alwyn couldn’t speak to address it. The implications of what Caelyn was saying were too horrible, too