Bear grunted. “No doubt that was part of it; you would have become a werewolf regardless, but getting swiped by me, that only made you a guardian because it was time. The world needs the Wolf again. He has always been the one to tip the scales in times of dire straits.” A light chill seemed to fill the air as Bear lowered himself to a wooden chair, his movements smooth and filled with barely restrained strength. “The Wolf doesn’t generally have a long life span, a few years at most, usually less than that.”

How was he not surprised? “Yeah, I’ve been told more than once my time is coming.”

“And did you listen? Did you hear the unspoken words of how you will die?” Bear was serious, there was no joking in him.

“I will save her.”

Bear’s eyes were grave and he leaned back in his seat. “Yes, I do believe you will. But I think—”

“Bear, who are you talking to?” Louisa stepped into the room, stalling the conversation between the two guardians. Liam wasn’t sure if he was happy about that or not. The premonitions, prophecies, and readings he’d been getting lately, none of them spoke in his favor. So one more didn’t really bother him. Or at least, that’s what he told himself.

“Louisa, I need to speak to you and the other shamans about the guardians.”

Her dark eyebrows rose and she pursed her lips. “What, no thank you for saving your life?”

“I am grateful, but my life will mean little if I do nothing with it. The shamans and their guardians, I need to speak with all of them.”

Her eyes flicked toward Bear almost imperceptibly. He was sure Bear hadn’t caught the look, but he had. She put her hands on her hips. “That is not your place, Wolf, you need to leave.”

His wolf shot upward, anger flooding him, and he didn’t even realize he’d grabbed her until he had her lifted off the floor. “The guardians are all in danger, and you will call your sister shamans here so we can figure this out.”

“Bear.” Her voice was ice, but her eyes were a mixture of emotions. “You would let him lay his hands on me?”

Bear let out a snort. “He’s not hurting you, and if my brothers are in danger then I want to hear what he has to say.”

Her jaw twitched and the indignant fury leached from her eyes, but there was something else there too. Fear. And Liam wasn’t sure if it was fear of him, or of something else. “Fine. Put me down. Now.”

Liam dropped her to the floor and she stumbled back, straightening her long flowing white nightgown.

Without another word she left the room, stomping all the way. Liam watched her go.

“She hasn’t been sleeping well. It makes her moody.” Bear sat completely relaxed. “The guardians will get here well ahead of the shamans.”

“How many are there?”

“Besides me and Eagle, only two others, Coyote and Hawk.”

Liam thought about what Rylee told him when they’d tried to go through one of the doorways in the castle with Faris.

“What about Spider?”

Bear stiffened in his seat. “How do you know Spider?”

“Rylee.”

The other guardian slowly stood, unfolding himself bit by bit. “There are guardians that help, and there are guardians who hurt. And then there are some like Spider who sit on the fence.”

Liam lifted an eyebrow. “From what Rylee said, Spider wasn’t exactly helpful.”

“Yet they survived her.”

Her. That was interesting. “I thought all guardians were male.” He chose not to mention the water dragon Rylee and he met in Russia during their vacation.

“All but Spider and one water dragon. Spider is rather bitchy, but she keeps to herself, spins her webs and tells her tales. The water dragon hasn’t been heard from in years; so long I can’t even recall her name.” Bear pointed at the kitchen and Liam followed. This was seeming so … mundane. Was this how life would be without Rylee setting things in motion? Quiet. Mellow.

Ordinary.

“How many guardians are there?”

Bear poured and handed him a cup of coffee without asking. Liam took it, but didn’t drink.

“Some for each continent.” Bear didn’t elaborate and the conversation died after that. But Bear was right, it didn’t take long for the other two guardians to show. Hawk walked in without knocking, Coyote right behind him.

They looked as though they could be twins, both with long hooked noses, shorn dark brown hair and deep tans that came from hours and hours in the sun. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder inside Louisa’s home, a few inches shorter than Liam and Bear.

“So, this is our Wolf?” Coyote’s voice sounded as though he barely restrained himself from a bout of laughter.

Liam gave him a nod but said nothing. Coyote let out a howl, his head thrown back. “Always the same, stoic and not much for fun. Good thing you’ll be dead soon.”

A threat was not something his wolf took lightly. Without thinking, he leapt at Coyote, pinning him to the floor. Coyote didn’t seem bothered by it, though, he just winked up at him as he was slammed into the wooden floor. “Ah, see, there it is, your lack of humor shining through like a ray of sunshine.” He reached up and patted Liam’s cheek affectionately. Liam fought not to bite the smaller man’s fingers.

“Stop poking at him,” Bear said. “He has information we need.”

“Like how Eagle died? That Harpy was too busy sobbing to get much information out of her,” Hawk said, his voice cutting and sharp.

Liam got off Coyote, but didn’t offer him a hand to help him up. “Eve was very attached to Eagle. He was her mentor.”

Hawk shrugged. “Doesn’t matter who he was to her. He was a guardian first. What killed him?”

The three guardians looked at him and he nodded. “You don’t want to wait for your shamans?”

“No. Tell us,” Bear said, his voice growing deeper, as though he were close to changing forms.

Even with Bear being on edge, Liam hesitated. How did he explain everything that happened in a condensed form?

“Say what you must say, Wolf,” Hawk snapped.

“Tears in the veil can be closed with guardian blood. That’s what killed Eagle. A group of demons came through, kidnapped some of our people, and used Eagle’s blood to close the tear in the veil behind them so they couldn’t be followed.”