The Summoning (Custodes Noctis) by Muffy Morrigan Read Free Book Online Page A

stairs,” he said to Rob. “And you two leave my car the hell alone.”
    “ Who, us?” Dera said, cocking his head to the side. “You’re helping today, the car is off limits.”
    “Yeah, well it fucking well better be.” Flash headed downstairs.
    “ I didn’t say anything else was,” Dera said, dropping off the shelf and flying down the stairs.
    “I’m going to see if I can track this down a little more, Galen, you can go downstairs.”
    His brother gave him a searching look. A crash sounded from below. “It wasn’t anything important!” Flash called.
    “Okay, I’ll be right back. Dor’s going to keep an eye on you.”
    The raven nodded. Rob waited until Galen was gone before opening the book again. It was early to start in on the ancient text, sometimes it was harder to get his brain to switch on and read the older languages. It usually happened when he was tired. He grabbed the Latin translation of the work and looked at the passage, there was a word he was sure was wrong, so he dragged the modern work over as well, Barry had used the Latin and had the same word, Satan , and that wasn’t right. Rob turned back to the original and stared at the vellum, carefully going through the entire page.
    “ Come to me.” The page began to blur, the words becoming the oily black shimmering path. He tried to shake it off, but the harder he concentrated, the clearer the path became. Somewhere far away, he thought he heard the concerned call of a raven. The path bid him to follow, the landscape rolling towards a great cliff, he could see it clearly now. It was huge, dark against the rest of the surrounding hills, the scent of the land filled his senses. “Come to me.” There was no denying the summons. Rob could only answer.
    Pain suddenly cascaded through his body, jarring him, pulling him away from that dark land. Rob tried to struggle up through the pain, he could hear Galen shouting his name, but his brother’s voice seemed to be coming from a distance. Something was running over his face, soft droplets of warmth. The harsh call of the ravens was there as well, and he could hear Flash’s panicked swearing in the background.
    “Rob, what the hell?” Galen said from beside him.
    “Galen?” Rob asked, confused. He had no idea where he was, all he knew was pain, everywhere, there were sharp pains and a dull, throbbing ache. There was a small warmth of the healing easing through him, enough to stop what he thought might be the beginning of shock, but he could sense Galen was having trouble.
    “I’m going to put you out before I move you.”
    “Move me? What happened?”
    “You went out the window, Rob.” Galen’s voice was completely calm. Warmth and the sound of a heartbeat filled Rob and he was carried away into a silent, soft darkness.

Five
     
    Galen
     
     
    Galen hadn’t seen it coming, had never suspected the attack to come in broad daylight. He felt a tiny something, he would never be sure what it was, but something buzzed through the bond, and he was moving towards the back of the shop at a full run before the sound of breaking glass shattered the silence of the Apothecary, cursing himself the whole time for leaving his brother at all.
     
    * * * *
     
    He’d been sure it was safe, he’d made sure Rob was settled with his books, and headed down the stairs. The curtain that led into the front of the shop was partially open and Galen could see Flash bend over, sweeping something into a dustpan. Dera was sitting on a stool just inside the door, watching intently. He gave Galen a little shrug, then turned back to his observation of Flash. Sometimes Galen wondered how his friend managed to break something every time he was in the store, but he did, without fail. Of course he always paid for it, and it was usually nothing important, in fact, Flash had an uncanny ability to break replaceable items, which was a relief.
    He was glad he’d called Flash, and not just because he knew the Apothecary was