The Summoning (Custodes Noctis) Read Online Free Page B

really couldn’t blame him. Flash wasn’t really made for sitting and talking to plants, and his idea of taking care of a yard involved a power lawnmower that was capable of mowing down everything including small trees and probably small cars if they got in the way. Still, Flash had hovered over Galen while he was getting the garden ready in early Spring.
    Everyone had hovered, reaction to the accident, no doubt. It had taken Galen months to get his brother and friends to allow him time alone. He was fine, he’d healed. Rob should know better, but, then again, Galen was still haunted by injuries Rob had suffered and he knew, objectively at least, that his brother was fine. The subjective mind wasn’t so sure.
    He’d retreated to the garden to think, the space offered more than something to do. The area was Bolted, nothing supernatural could enter or even gaze in without his permission. The ravens could come and go as they pleased, and he was usually surprised by some small gift they’d found and left among the plants. Today he’d discovered a piece of what looked like brightly colored beads tucked in the gray lamb’s ears. They were adding their own magic to the garden, at least he hoped that’s what it was. He did know there was a peace here that was nowhere else, a quiet in his heart and mind that let him think.
    There was a lot to think about. Something was going on, he’d noticed his brother’s odd sleeping habits were even more erratic than usual, and judging by the hyper-organizing of the shop, Rob was on edge. The fact his brother had called Billy Hernandez was a little worrying. Galen was trying not to let it bother him that Rob had called Billy rather than talk with him, but he knew Rob and the shaman had worked together when Galen was “dead” and it was a natural reaction. Even if it stung. He was trying to trust Rob to let him know what was going on, but there was a nagging sense of foreboding that Galen knew was more than just misplaced worry.
    He knew they had Gifts that were different than many other Custodes Noctis; actually according to Rob, they had the Gifts that the Keepers once had, but had been put aside for various reasons ranging from the fact they were viewed as “dangerous” to “just not needed” in the modern world. The Scientific Revolution had affected the Custodes Noctis , and even though they knew Darkness still walked the earth, many families had cast aside many of the Traditions, keeping only those that seemed to fit in a world ruled by science. For some reason, Galen and Rob still had those lost Gifts. Some of them were obvious, Rob had a small Gift of healing—or had before his encounter with the feorhbealu, and Galen had a tiny bit of the Sight. Nothing like his brother’s Gift, but enough to help boost his healing and enough to see the dark shadow lurking behind his brother for the last few days.
    Galen wished he had something to compare that shadow with, but when he looked directly at it, the thing disappeared. If he brushed a hand into it, there was nothing there, so whatever it was, it was not physically there. At least not in the world they were in. It could be just behind the Veil, hiding behind the curtain that divide the worlds, but Galen still should be able to touch it. Sighing, he leaned against the bench, carefully transplanting several small sweet cicely plants that had started under the comfrey. Maybe he was imaging the whole thing.
    “ There is something wrong,” Dera’s deep voice said as the raven landed on the bench, nudging Galen’s cheek almost like a cat.
    “What do you mean?” Galen replied, stroking the bird’s silky feathers.
    “ We do not fear darkness, we have flown in the Between World, but something wakes that frightens many things. The Riders fear what is coming.”
    “The Riders? You mean the Hunt? You’ve been out to the Hunt?”
    “ Gaius sent a message: ‘Tell the King and his Champion that something rises, tell them it comes