Branches of Life

The white-domed building was already packed when we arrived. Seven stories high, the windowless stone structure towered over the surrounding buildings. Council meetings always took place in the expansive atrium. Around the curved walls were tiered seating. The high arched ceiling allowed enough rows to fit all three thousand residents, most of whom were already sitting down or finding seats.

Here in our district, we didn’t have seating arrangements, certain areas dedicated to certain races, or anything of the sort. No tier held more prestige than the others. You weren’t more important than those sitting at the top row—only ten feet from the ceiling—because you were sitting in the row closest to the council.

All the council members stood in a circle in the center of the white marble floor, waiting for everyone to file in and sit down. Our council consisted of a representative from each race. They were the ones in charge of keeping the peace, enforcing the rules of our district, and making sure the rifts were protected.

Even though we lived in a neutral district and followed the council’s rules, we still owed our allegiance to our courts. Our rulers were called different titles depending on what territory you lived in. There were Alphas, Masters, Mistresses, Emperors, Empresses, Kings, and Queens. Spirit animal summoners were separated into clans based on our spirit animals—the race of our animals was genetic. Ari and I belonged to the wolf clan, with Lowell as our Alpha.

Ari spotted our friends surprisingly fast, pointing to where Ander and Reed had saved three seats between them. They were about a third of the way up the tiers, a perfect place, in my opinion. Not too close to the council, and not too high up. I sat beside Ander, with Harmony sitting on my other side. My annoyance at the guys, which had dimmed on the way over here, flared up at the sight of them.

Ander looked me up and down, noting my rumpled appearance, and raised a dark brow. “I can see training went well,” he commented, humor lacing his deep voice and sparkling in his unique eyes. The right eye was an arctic blue, while the left was almost a mint green.

“Fantastic,” I grumbled, cringing while I pulled my tangled and messy hair from its ponytail. How the fuck did a leaf and a twig get tangled in my hair? Throwing them both to the side, I redid my ponytail the best I could.

Ander’s lips twitched into a hint of a smile, making him even more attractive. There was a reason why he never had to worry about running out of women willing to sleep with him. His face was a work of art: bronze skin, shapely eyebrows, straight nose, high cheekbones, full supple lips, and a strong jaw that had a dusting of dark stubble. His dark brown hair seemed to always fall onto his forehead no matter how much he pushed it back. A set of broad shoulders, as well as his muscular build, paired well with his 6′2" height.

I inhaled his familiar scent of incense and blood—his blood. As a blood mage, he almost always smelled of blood. The strength of the scent varied on how recently he had cast. The strong scent of blood meant he’d done so recently.

“Crazy how the vampires got through the rift,” I began in a conversational tone. Harmony pressed her lips together to hold back her smile, knowing where I was heading with this. “Of course, the thing I’m really having a hard time believing is the fact that we weren’t told”—I gestured between the three of us—“and had to find out from the message from Griffith. I checked my messages to see if maybe I missed one while we trained, but there weren’t any. Not a single fucking message.”

“Ah, shame you’re going through a dry spell, Jay.” Reed chuckled, choosing the worst time to make a joke.

An easy-going grin lit up Reed’s deeply tanned face, his dark brown eyes glittering with mirth. Bright red hair, which was the definition of a sexy bedhead, reached the bottom of his ears, the red several shades darker than Harmony’s. He wasn’t as broad or tall as Ander, but he was still huge compared to me.

“I can’t deal with you right now,” I muttered, turning my back to him while Harmony and Ari groaned.

Ander held up his hands in mock surrender, a small smile playing on his lips. “Don’t look at me; Reed was supposed to be the messenger. I was busy helping repair the wards and other damage caused by the attack.”

We collectively turned our focus to Reed, who ran his hand through his hair, messing it up further with a sly grin. “I was going to message you guys, but then Matilda came over,” he trailed off while we groaned and sighed in response.

Before any of us could respond, the crowd hushed as Griffith stepped forward from the circle of councilors. They all appeared to be in their late twenties, but that didn’t mean much since our kind stopped aging at twenty-eight.

“As most of you know by now, our rift was breached by over fifty vampires early this morning. Nine Mythics were injured in the attack, but none fatally.” Griffith’s powerful and booming voice easily filled the atrium as his eyes tracked over the tiers. After scanning our section, he turned around to face another section of the seating. The tiers wrapped around the entire room, with only two gaps, one for the entrance and another that led to a hallway.

Whispers echoed throughout the room. I turned to face Ander, feeling the blood draining from my face at the number of vampires that had made through the rift. Ander shared a look with me, one that said he also had no clue how this happened.

The hushed whispers ceased when Griffith raised his hand. “We managed to capture one, but so far, he has been uncooperative. We’ll continue our interrogations and get to the bottom of this.” He stepped back into the circle of councilors, facing out. Whispers had started up again, asking if the vampire was being kept in the council chambers.

“Okay, I’m betting Councilor Dove is next,” Reed whispered, leaning forward so he could see all of us. A smile tugged at my lips at how he was trying to lighten the heavy mood by starting the game we used to play a couple of years ago.

Ari shook her head and whispered, “Naia.

“You’re both wrong. It’s Kiara,” I shot back. When Kiara stepped forward, Ari and Reed swore under their breaths while I laughed with quiet glee.

“I checked the rift and sensed that demon magic was used to breach the rift. I’m still testing the magic around both sides of the rift, trying to find out what spell they used.” Kiara’s husky voice floated through the room.

She raised a ring-adorned hand when the frantic whispers started up again. I couldn’t blame everyone for being riled up. Vampires attacking our realm was baffling enough, but the fact that they were working with demons was mind-blowing. I’d never heard of the different types of creatures working together. Not since the necromancers vanished.

When the whispers continued, Kiara released a pulse of energy strong enough to get the crowd’s attention. “There weren’t any sightings of demons during the attack. Their involvement could have ended in helping the vampires through the rift. At least now we know we’re dealing with more than just vampires. We’ll let you know more when we find out.”

Kiara made a show of retreating to the circle. Harmony’s shoulders shook with restrained laughter. Was making fun of the council’s flare for the dramatics while they were discussing a serious matter that affected us all a shitty thing to do? Yes. Did that ever stop us? Absolutely not. Sometimes you needed moments of levity to keep the bad shit at bay.

“It’s definitely Dove this time,” Reed murmured.

Harmony scoffed. “No way, everyone knows she’s always the closer.”

I nodded while Ander groaned and dropped his head back. “I can’t take you guys anywhere.”

Naia, the elemental councilor, stepped forward.

“Fuck.”

“Told you.”

The typical smile Naia always wore, making you feel at ease around her, was absent.

As Naia began her speech, movement near the hallway drew my attention. A man and a woman had arrived late to the meeting, but instead of trying to find a seat and risk interrupting Naia, they just stood in the doorway. I tapped into my wolf’s energy, enhancing my eyesight, and my breath caught when I got a good look at the man.

His large, muscular body leaned against the door frame, propped up by his shoulder. Dark jeans clung to his muscular thighs. My mouth practically watered at the sight. Maybe Reed was right; maybe I was going through a dry spell if I was getting this excited by a man’s fucking legs. My eyes trailed up his white t-shirt to his rich brown arms crossed over his chest, showcasing his bulging muscles.

When my gaze landed on his face, the throb that had started between my legs deepened. He was easily the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. Complete with a chiseled jaw and cheekbones, offset by his full and soft-looking lips. My mind conjured up images of what those lips would feel like on my body before I cut off that line of thought. His dark wavy, chin-length hair was tousled, suggesting he’d just run his fingers through it. Unfortunately, from my vantage point, I couldn’t see his eyes.

My attention was jerked away from the gorgeous man when Harmony shook my shoulder, calling my name.

It was then that I noticed the meeting was over, and the council members were no longer there. Everyone around us was moving down the tiers and exiting the atrium. A loud chorus of voices filled the space.

“You weren’t listening,” Ari guessed. “Was it a guy that had you so distracted? Is he hot?” I glanced at the entrance to the hallway, but he wasn’t there. Dammit.

“What did Naia and Dove have to say?” I asked, in hopes it would distract Ari.

A rich laugh came from Reed. “Wow, you really weren’t listening.”

“They basically said that they will be sending teams out on reconnaissance missions,” Harmony answered, taking pity on me. “And that they will be choosing the members of each team.”

“I like our odds of not being picked,” Reed said flippantly, pushing to his feet and stretching his arms over his head.

Reed was right. There were plenty of older and more experienced Mythics living in the Convergence point. The odds of us getting chosen were slim; at least, I thought so.