Kira held her tongue, fighting off the urge to scream, as the seer's fingers brushed her necklace. For nearly and hour she examined it silently and Kira grew impatient. But if Emma taught her one thing, it was to respect her elders, and a woman with hair of salt and liver spots folded with wrinkles was every bit an elder.

Her eyes had lost all pigment, leaving her blind, yet she stared at the necklace as intently as the rest of the tribe had. Addrick had paraded Kira through the tribe, announcing she was a Guardian, like a prize he'd won at a fair. Bodies parted to make way for them before they followed the pair to the seer's wagon. Whispers hung in the air, gaining in strength as they became one. The seer's apprentice took them into the wagon where they'd stayed ever since. What irritated Kira the most was the silence from the woman. Sometimes she'd give an "hmm" or an "ah" but nothing of any detail.

Addrick, meanwhile, flirted with the apprentice as if nobody else was in the wagon. Neither he, nor the bubbly girl, seemed to care the old women endlessly fingered Kira's necklace. Kira's brow furrowed as her eyes drifted to watch Addrick twirl the girl's dark red hair between his fingers. The apprentice traced his Guardian tattoo as she laughed at anything he said.

"He's as bad as Ry," Kira thought. "It's disgusting. That girl can't be more than fourteen."

"She is sixteen," the seer said. Kira jumped, warmth rushed to her cheeks. Addrick continued with his banter. "You're right, Addrick. The necklace is of Guardian origin. Mind your place, Astrid. Remember who he is before you cart around like a cat in heat."

Kira had a hard time understanding the old ladies words through her thickened accent. Her r's sounded hard while the 'th' of 'the' was replaced with a z. Astrid released her touch on Addrick's tattoo. A blush colored her dark cheeks as she bowed away from him and joined the seer's side. The seer waddled to one side of the narrow wagon, her hands hovered over the shelves of a small book shelf. A whistle slipped through her lips as she handed vials and a chalice to Astrid. Roots hanging from the beams holding the wagon canvas in place swayed with every step of the seer.

"The question now . . . " The old woman looked over her shoulder and stared at Kira. "Does it belong to the girl or not."

"Of course it belongs to me! It was my mothers."

"So you say. Yet I could steal a turd from a cow patty and claim it as my own, but it wouldn't be true. Come, we shall see what the medallion holds."

Kira crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. Her mouth opened to shout at the old woman, but the seer raised one liver spotted hand and moved toward the door. She climbed out of the back of the wagon, Astrid following like a dutiful pet, and vanished into the daylight. Addrick looked at Kira. He'd removed his shirt when they returned to the tribe and hadn't put it back on. It was as if he wanted to show off his tattoo as he made Kira show off her necklace. She couldn't tuck it back under her shirt once they left the lake. Addrick said the tribe needed to see it and she no longer needed to hide who she was. It didn't matter to him Kira had no clue what the necklace had meant.

Kira's eyes moved from his arm to the tattoos on his chest. The claw wasn't large in size yet even at the distance spanning between them she saw the details of each hairy spot surrounding the padding. Fake skin folded away from the claw and she admired the depth of the tattoo. If she hadn't known it was a tattoo, she would've thought it was his inner leopard scratching itself free.

"Ye like what ye see? I can have them draw a picture of me."

Kira blushed and looked at his face instead. He smiled at her, gray eyes twinkling in the sunlight seeping through slits in the wagon canvas.

"I was wondering if any of those other tattoos mean anything," she said, cursing the color refusing to leave her cheeks.

"Right." He pushed away from his lean and stepped closer. Kira backed away, stumbling into a hammock hanging in the wagon. She shrieked as she fell into the twine. Addrick didn't stop his encroach. He leaned into her, pushing his hands against the hammock. It shifted with his weight, bringing her closer to him. "Yer boyfriend won't be pleased yer blushing at another man."

"And your jealousy of Ry reeks. He'll find it amusing."

"Jealousy is a fleeting emotion for the weak. I don't get jealous. Nor do I form attachments that require me to become jealous."

"And again you prove you have no heart."

"I have plenty of heart, Kira Winstiel. It's simply not a heart I shall give to ye with such little effort."

"Good, because I don't want it. I was looking at the tattoos."

Addrick laughed. "Fine. If ye must know," he said, releasing the hammock. His hand touched the leopard claw. "This is the mark of the beast inside me. We shifters are branded with an emblem of our animal and this is mine. The clover is for me family. Each petal is our souls together as one. Ma, da, sister, and me. They forever rest in peace, but remain a part of me until me final breath when I shall join them in the kingdoms of the Gods."

"And the dragon?" He turned away as she spoke, showing her the dragon riding his spine.

"That's because it looks cool. I also have a rose on me arse. That was a drunken dare with friends. They said I wouldn't have balls enough to get a delicate flower, I don't back down from a dare. Care to see?" His fingers clasped at the belt binding his pants. They slipped the brown leather out of the buckle. Kira pushed off the hammock, falling , and stumbled past him.

"No, that's fine. You're fine . . . I mean, I'm fine. We should go . . ."

Cool air greeted Kira as she stumbled down the three steps leading out of the wagons back. The steps creaked as Addrick followed her. She didn't wait for him as she joined the seer at the center of the tribe's camp. Astrid knelt and waved her hands over the ground. A stone altar erected from the earth in front of her. The seer set the chalice and her vials on top of the gray surface. Addrick grabbed Kira's arm when she tried to join the women working around the altar.

"When they're ready, they'll call upon us," he said.

"How can she see when she's—"

"Blind?" Addrick grinned as Kira nodded. "Ye seers are born with two sights."

"I'm not a seer."

"If ye say so. As I was saying before yer interruption yer born with two sights. Ye have the one given with yer eyes and the one given with magic. If ye use yer magic sight too much or too long, ye can lose yer real vision."

"And the magic takes over?"

"Aye. To those around ye, yer blind as can be. But to ye, ye can see the auras of people and objects. They guide ye as clear as yer normal eyes."

"You're not listening to me about not being a seer, are you?"

Addrick shrugged but didn't respond.

"You're a seer, Kira Winstiel. Though you continue to fight your gift thus it can only come out when it's truly a strong vision," the seer said. "When you're ready to embrace your Wilder side, we can better teach you to control your gifts."

"She has bat hearing!"

"Nay, she doesn't. Ye just weren't talking soft enough."

The Wilder tribe gathered around them. Kira suddenly felt trapped in a glass box. Gone were the accepting eyes of the tribe, replaced by curiosity and awe. Many gossiped, pointing at her as they whispered to their companions. All conversations were about Kira. Astrid stood in front of Kira, red paint cupped in the palm of her hand. Kira wondered where the paint had come from when Astrid tried to paint on Kira's forehead.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kira pulled away. Addrick held her tightly, keeping her from going too far. She jerked her arm, trying to free herself from his iron grip.

"Let her do what she needs to do, Kira. It's part of the ceremony to test yer powers."

"Why do I have to prove anything to anyone?"

Addrick sighed. "Because others have claimed they're the blood of the Guardians. They carry emblems or have tattoos as we do. Yet they were not Guardians. They used the symbol join the remaining Guardians and feed information to Rodyn whenever they were to leave New Calandria. Spies, Kira. Because of them I thought I was last of the Guardians aside from Rodyn."

"And then you come along," Astrid said. "Immediately you worm your way into the graces of our Guardian. You seduce him—"

"I didn't worm my way into anything, and I sure as hell didn't seduce him." Kira's voice rose at Astrid's insinuation. "I never asked him to follow me after his tribe was attacked. In fact, he said he was sent to find me from other seer's. So how am I the suspicious one?"

"You could have planted the seed in their heads with magic. Don't . . ."

"Enough!" Addrick shouted.

His voice boomed as the ground rattled beneath Kira's feet. The grip on her arm burned, causing her to wince. Addrick gasped and released his hand. Her skin blistered and reddened in the shape of his hand, curving around her arm. His fingers stroked the burnt flesh in small circles. Kira's heart fluttered as a spark of energy trickled from his touch into the blisters. It curled around each bump, tingling with the sensation of needles pressing into her skin.

"Yer not the only one who needs to control their temper," he said as the angry skin faded to normal. His eyes turned to Astrid. "She's a Guardian. This ceremony is a formality for ye and the others, but I have seen and felt her magic. Now Kira, stop being a pain, let Astrid do what she must. She's going to paint the symbol on yer forehead that will allow us to connect through the seer's eyes. Ye'll see what has been and she'll see what's in yer heart."

Kira sighed. "Fine. Your girlfriend can touch me."

Addrick grinned. "What every young man wants to hear. Yer Rylanne would be jealous."

"You're both disgusting."

Astrid giggled when Addrick winked at her. Kira rolled her eyes. Astrid dipped her fingers in the paint again. She reached for Kira's forehead. This time she didn't pull away and allowed the symbols to be drawn on. Astrid drew a V on her forehead with the point ending between the eyes. Her hand moved to press a thumb on either of Kira's temples before Astrid drew the same on Addrick. When she finished, she stepped back to the altar and poured the remaining paint into the chalice. Addrick grabbed Kira's hand and led her to the stone. Wilders dropped to their knees, continuing to stare at them from the circle they'd formed, but their constant whispers silenced.

Addrick inhaled before speaking. "When the Wilders lived in Calandria, a realm opposite of this one, the Guardians were what humans call Kings and Queens. We were the peacekeepers between the light and the dark, good and evil, the most powerful of all the Wilders. To become a Guardian, ye must be born a Guardian from a Guardian. Ye could be from a single Guardian parent, but Guardian blood ye must have. For millennia we lived in peace. There was no fear of good or evil; neither was stronger than the other, not with the Guardians watching. No need to involve humans in our affairs, no need to show humans we existed, we stayed in our realm and they in theirs."

He placed Kira's right arm so the inside faced up and made her left arm so the inside faced the stone facade of the altar. His left arm slid on top of her right, hands at the crooks of each other's elbows. His right arm did the same with her left. Between both arms stood the chalice filled to the brim with the paint and whatever was in the vials. Kira stared at the liquid. The seer's hands waved over their connected arms. White wisps of energy extended from her palms as they moved. The light coiled around the chalice, making the liquid bubble. Kira thought for a moment she saw an image form within the liquid, but it faded before she could be certain.

"The chalice will collect your thoughts, your memories. It will allow me to see them as if I joined with you. Where you and Addrick go, I cannot," the seer said.

"We must keep our arms connected and ye must open yer magic to me. Send it to my arms as I will send mine to yers. Keep yer head straight with yer eyes on mine. This will link the symbols along with our minds. Understand?"

"Will it hurt?"

Addrick winked. "Only if ye want me to bite."

"By the God's, I don't think I can handle two Ry's in my life."

"I can assure ye I'm no Rylanne. Ready?"

"No."

"Good."

He took a deep breath and released it slowly. The veins in his neck bulged as his eyes shifted to the yellow of the leopards. Kira's gasped as his energy flowed up her arms, spreading through her body before joining with her heart, causing it to stutter. The sound of her pulsing blood filled her ears. It whirled loud as if it were a wind sweeping through the land. She discovered a second heartbeat joining with hers until both hearts beat as one. Addrick's heart. She resisted the urge to note the proof he had one. Or perhaps she simply couldn't speak. Kira wasn't sure if she had control over anything anymore. Her body no longer responded to her.

Her eyes tried to move, to look around, but they stayed frozen in place. Locked on Addrick's as if sealed with a key. From the corner of her eyes the world shimmered. Wilder merged with Wilder until they were a wall of red. Kira brushed Addrick's arms with her fingers. Her fingernails scratched the crook of his elbow. A growl rumbled deep in his throat. His fingers twitched against her arms. Both breathed together. One breath, one heart, one mind.

When the red faded, Kira and Addrick stood at the base of stone statues surrounded by large trees towering above them. Kira had never seen tree trunks as large as the ones standing before her. The statues seemed as mere flecks against the reddened wood. The way trees suddenly stopped at the backs of the statues made it appear as though they somehow warded them, hiding them away. Two moons hung in the sky above the clearing created by the statues, one was full and the second was a crescent. They illuminated the fog drifting over the ground, swallowing green ferns and the entangled roots of the trees. Wisps slithered around rocks and statue bases, snaring them in their grasp. Kira jumped at a shadow cutting through the moonlight. She looked up in time to see a beast with large wings get swallowed by the tree line as it cut through the sky.

Addrick pulled away from Kira.

"I thought you said not to let go?"

"We are in each other's minds. It's safe to move freely."