Adres gestured for Henry to precede him out of the front door, just in case those insane pups were lying in wait. Thankfully, the courtyard was mostly empty except for Farica and her friends walking. They must have babysitting duties.

“Wow. Look at that.” Henry pointed towards the sky, a wistful smile gracing his soft features. “Have you ever seen anything more majestic?”

Adres sucked his teeth. “Well, actually—”

“That was rhetorical, my Lord,” Henry snapped, cutting his eyes towards him.

Adres pfft’d. He was supposed to be looking for Belleron, but for some reason he found himself enjoying Henry’s company and his annoying way of finding the beauty in everything. Even him. There was something so unique about him to be a vampire. He was nurturing to the pack, comforting, and sweet. Like a human.

“I think as vampires, we take the miraculousness of the night for granted. We believe it is ours, and therefore we ignore all that it has to offer, all that it gives to us. The shadows and darkness that we seek comfort in, that we use to protect and shield ourselves, disappear while we slumber. And reappear only when we wake. Have we ever once stopped to say thank you?”

Adres supposed not.

“That is what shifters do. They are the most grateful creatures on the earth. They roam during the day in the brilliance of the sun that causes their fields to grow and produce food. And they constantly give thanks.” A wolf howled long and slow in the distance. “And every twenty-nine and a half days, they give a special thanks to the night. In the most glorious way. I mean, just listen, my Lord, as they become one with the elements.”

Adres was getting lost in Henry’s words.

“And everything about them is amplified tonight. Their voice, their scent…” Henry was unable to conceal his trembling when he added, “Their touch.”

Adres allowed the distant noise to filter to his mind, and he could hear the shifters running and howling far off at a perfect pitch, sounding like a song. He listened for his young wolf, but he only heard pack members. Where are you?

Henry glanced back at him, a faint blush creeping up his high cheekbones, and that was when Adres heard the rutting and moaning. So much that he quickly blocked those noises out as it was not going to help his predicament.

“I think we’ve experienced enough now, don’t you, Henry?” Adres declared.

“You are quite the enigma, Adres Cavalerie. I know you’re blocking some of your scent but you are just as enamored by the new moon as the rest of us, nightwalker.” Henry nudged his arm as he walked past.

Adres would not admit or deny either way— He stopped and turned towards the towering mountains. He frowned as a buzzing began under his skin. A feeling he hadn’t felt since he’d allowed Macauley inside him. Something was wrong.

“What is it, my Lord?” Henry stopped when he did.

“There’s someone attempting to break through one of the guardian wards I have around the perimeter,” Adres mumbled, straining to reach that far with his hearing.

“An intruder? Are you sure?”

“A spider knows when its web has been disturbed.” Adres released a sharp whistle, and Război appeared beside him, shaking his wild black mane. His war companion could feel it too.

“What would you have me do, Lord?” Henry asked as Adres leapt onto his horse’s back and settled into the saddle.

“Go find Justice and Wick immediately. Tell them whoever is at the border, I’m bringing back with me.” Adres shoved his boots into the stirrups and lowered his hood. “Dead or alive.”

“My gods.”

Henry flashed away, and Adres took off into the woods and up the steep mountain. Whoever was trying to enter from that point was someone powerful. Adres’s heart pounded rapidly as he thought of not only protecting his beloved, but all of the shifters who were oblivious and vulnerable right now.

Adres used his speed, and by the time he reached the perimeter, he could barely feel the presence of the intruder anymore, which meant they had a shield. Adres pulled his sword from concealed within his armor and extended the blade. He didn’t want to kill. But he would for his cherished… without mercy.

Adres tore down just enough of the barrier for he and Război to run through. It was eerily quiet on the other side of the border—too quiet. Adres didn’t hear a single coyote, racoon, not even a bark beetle.

Adres harnessed his light as the air began to heat around him. “Show yourself now,” he called out. “That is not a warning!”

Adres heard footsteps running towards him, but he didn’t see anyone. A voice carried to him, almost startling him off his horse. “Horseman, it is me. Let me in—hurry!”

Adres held Război’s reins secure in his left hand as he stomped at the ground. “What is it, Boi? Where are they?”

“I am here,” the male called out again, more panicked.

“Show yourself!” Adres boomed, stabbing his blade into the ground, causing it to quake. He got off his horse in case he needed to battle.

Seconds ticked by before Adres narrowed his eyes at the tall naked figure running directly towards him. He had shoulder-length, milky white hair that caught on the wind, and his scent made it to Adres before he did. A smell that could only be described as divine caused his fangs to throb under his gums, but they didn’t descend. The gods. The man coming at him was not human, nor was he a shifter or a vampire.

The ethereal-looking being was a few yards away when he gritted out, “I am being chased.” He practically collapsed into Adres’s arms, his eyelids barely open, a speck of his lavender irises showing. “Take me to the AZ.”

“Who are you?” Adres held the man securely in his arms, seeing he was far too beautiful to be a demon or a threat.

“It’s me… Orion. You do not recognize me?” The man sighed. “The curse still plagues your mind.”

“How do—?”

“You saved me when I was a boy and took me to a safe place after my land was raided and my parents’ slaughtered by a coven.”

Adres stared into violet eyes as flashes of him with a toddler under his cloak fleeing from a pack of wolves and rogue vampires appeared before him.

“I could feel the curse on you then, but my powers weren’t developed enough for me to help you.” He reached beneath Adres’s hood and touched his rough cheek, gazing up into his eyes as if he could see him through the hood. “I could not heal you then. But I can now.”

Adres’s eyes widened as he became light-headed, and the earth began to tilt under his feet. What kind of sorcery is this?

“You do not remember parts of yourself.” The man, Orion, splayed his long, narrow fingers along the scar that ran down his skull. “Those memories are not gone, horseman. You are half Titan; they were only locked away.”

Adres grunted as a sharp pain jerked his head back, but the disorientation didn’t last but a moment. Adres could feel that his light was brighter, sharper than before, and his mind was clear. Crystal. He remembered exactly who and what he was. And he was far more than just a horseman, and a lot older.

“I was brought from the fairy lands and the journey was difficult” the man whispered, his silky voice trailing off as if he was falling asleep. “I am the prophesy. The end.”

Holy goddess.

It was then Adres heard the sound of paws charging towards him.

“It is my scent, horseman. They won’t stop until they get to me and…” Orion clutched onto Adres’s cloak. “Get me to my mate, now. Hurry.”

“The AZ can’t be your—” Oh, fuck it. Adres didn’t have time to debate or figure out what was happening. All he knew was he had someone very rare and special in his arms, and he was calling himself Orion the prophesy. What Adres needed to do was not ask another question and get him to Justice now.

But, yes, his scent was a problem. There were hundreds of unmated betas and alphas in this area, which was what he assumed was coming towards him now. The man in his arms smelled ripe for sex, his pheromones pulling hard even on Adres’s senses, and he was partially mated. He’d fed from his cherished. He should not be so affected if at all by another’s lust.

This was dangerous.

Adres hefted Orion in his arms and climbed back onto his horse, cradling him as if he was holding a precious artifact. He mouthed a spell and threw his cloak over the man’s body. Just as he had two hundred years ago. “Hold on to me,” he murmured and urged Război to run faster than he ever had before.