Darkness Wanes Read Online Free Page B

Emily’s hopes, though. “I’m rather certain the guards in Purgatory are counting down the days until Melena leaves as much as she is.”
    He turned off the highway, pulling onto a narrow dirt road. A warning buzzed in his head, and soft whispers urged him to go back. Lesser supernaturals would have difficulty ignoring them. Emily scratched at her arm and scowled at the “keep away” spell. Her abilities told her it was only magic. She could sense it and possibly feel discomfort, but due to her immunity, it couldn’t truly affect her.
    Trees towered on either side of the road and branches brushed against the SUV. After they came around a bend, Lucas saw two fallen logs blocking the path. He ignored the illusion and drove right through them. It was another one of the precautions they’d put in place to discourage humans from coming near the nerou training area.
    He followed the road for another two miles before coming to a fork. If he went to the right, which appeared to be the most navigable, he’d reach a river after a few hundred feet. Lucas went left. This was his least favorite part of the journey. The vegetation—mostly an illusion—was so thick some of the branches and leaves appeared inside the passenger compartment of the vehicle as he passed through them.
    Emily swiped at an intangible twig. “Don’t you ever get tired of this?”
    “I usually only drive when I have you with me.” Her immunity to magic prevented him from flashing her into the compound as he would have preferred. On his own, he could reach the compound in a matter of seconds no matter where he was in Alaska.
    “Oh, right.” She frowned.
    They stopped at a ten-foot tall wrought-iron security gate. Emily grabbed the remote from the visor and pressed the button. With a slight rattle, the gate slowly opened for them. After they had driven to the other side, she pushed the button for it to close. He didn’t continue farther until the gate fully shut.
    It took another quarter-mile before the trees broke and the training area appeared up ahead. They’d had to remove a lot of vegetation and build on the land during the coldest month of the year—February. Both supernaturals and angels assisted in the project, using their magic to finish it in less than two weeks.
    Two red brick dormitories stood on the far side of the clearing, each of them with central heating and running water. Between them, there was a small dining facility with a large kitchen where they cooked their meals—after some training on how to use the appliances. Solar panels and generators powered everything, rather than connecting the compound to the electrical grid. Water came from a nearby river.
    Across a small parking area, there were two large corrugated steel buildings. One served as a lecture hall with six classrooms inside and the other as a gym with exercise equipment and training mats. The nerou had everything they needed to acclimate to human civilization as well as prepare them for their future jobs.
    “Is that smoke?” Emily asked, pointing toward the east.
    Lucas scowled at the gray plumes rising into the sky. “It appears the forest fires are getting closer.”
    Her expression reflected worry. “They’re worse than usual this year.”
    “Yes, they are.” He parked next to the lecture hall. “But we’ll fight them off.”
    They got out of the car and ran into Micah before reaching the building entrance. His twin brother looked the worse for wear. His shoulder-length blond hair was soaked with sweat and soot, and his jeans and t-shirt were covered in ash.
    “We have to do something about this fire. It’s getting out of control,” Micah said, his voice raw.
    “How close is it?”
    “About five miles away, heading northwest, but it could turn toward us at any time.” Micah shifted on his feet and gave a troubled look at the sky. He rarely showed apprehension, but the expression on his face said he was concerned now.
    “Take care not to get too