Silver at Midnight: A Paranormal Romance Urban Fantasy (The Keepers of Knowledge Series Book 5) by Bridgette O'Hare (best large ereader .TXT) 📕

Tau Sato was Keeper for the mimic race. He died while on a retrieval task. His death was sudden, unexpected and a complete accident by all accounts. He was fairly young, and his father and mother had passed before him. Tau was an only child, and he had not mated or produced an heir. So, upon his death, The High Council was tasked with the daunting order of finding his next of kin.

However, because of their uniqueness and the how they were made, The High Counsel wanted to be certain they were represented on their own.

After several weeks, it was determined that all close relatives of Tau’s had passed on, what few there had been. And it seemed that even Tau’s extended family was intimately close with tragedy. But, finally, they located a fifth cousin—a young woman in her early twenties named Rowan Laforge.

Naming Rowan as Tau’s replacement, The Keepers knew she would have to be trained, should she even accept her seat as a Keeper.

This occurrence pushed forward a decision on something that had been a debate for a number of decades—Should there be more than one Keeper for each race? It would not only ensure that no Keeper position would end up vulnerable and vacant again but also that more beings could gather and work on the Knowledge Base.

Putting an order to vote, The High Council decreed that each race would have two Keepers. Since Rowan would need to be taught and trained, it was the perfect time to bring the others in. And after much deliberation, one additional candidate was selected from every supernatural race and issued an official invitation to this prestigious council.

After weighing their attributes and availability, The High Council chose the following candidates:

Elandra Wells, Vampire, apprentice to Camdyn Pryce.

Declan Reece, Mimic, apprentice to Rowan Laforge.

Tamsin Grey, Witch, apprentice to North Delarosa.

Indigo Rain, Merfolk, apprentice to Bay Finley.

Zack Mason, Gargoyle, apprentice to Baz Nowicki.

Akila Levesque, Sphynx, apprentice to Seth Gamal.

Katherine King, Werewolf, apprentice to Shiloh Bennet.

Roisin Sheehan, Banshee, apprentice to Mia Harris.

Aisling O’Cléirigh, Fae, apprentice to Lachlan Fraser.

Dex Long, Shifter, apprentice to Ethan Braum.

Rowan Laforge had become a high pressure topic within the Keepers of Knowledge and The High Council. She was already causing quite a stir considering some original Keepers and some High Council members were not handling the situation well. It was enough that they had to train someone new without a direct teacher, but the announcement of the new Keepers added fuel to the fire.

And with that in mind, each new Keeper that accepted their role was tasked with more than just moving to Pyreshore and accepting.

Nonetheless, all change comes with struggle.

“Enough!” Aeden Cirrus, Fae High Council member, stood. “We’ve argued over this long enough. We need two Keepers per race. We all see what it’s going to be like to bring Rowan Laforge into the position and train her without Tau’s expertise. Sure, they’re all supposed to know the histories of every race, but none of them know a race like their own. We can’t afford to lose precious historical elements again.”

“But we can’t just hand the resources we afford to the Keepers and grant access to the priceless elements to just anyone.” Sierra, High Council member representing Banshees leaned back in her seat, folding her arms over her chest.

Aeden pulled a file folder from his briefcase. “You are not wrong. That’s why I transcribed an invitation letter for review that includes stipulations.”

“Leave it to the Fae to know how to word a carefully written clause,” Rory Lennox, Werewolf High Council member, chuckled.

Aeden smirked as he handed out the pages.

Pausing before handing the last drafted page over, he looked at the woman before him. “Nira, your people are known for keeping information for your race and those you’re involved with. It’s fitting that you be there to greet the new Keepers and be the bridge between the new and the old.”

She yanked the page from Aeden’s hand. “You want me to be a babysitter? Seriously?” The Sphinx glared at him.

“No. I want you to be a bridge,” he corrected her.

Gargoyle Council member, Stewart Cable, put a hand on Nira’s arm. “It’s actually poetic, if you think about it.”

Rory coughed, “Fae logic.”

“Knock it off, Rory.” Lee McKinnon, the mimic member, shook his head. He turned to Nira. “I will be around. I want to do what I can to help Rowan if she accepts.”

“Thank you.” Nira looked down at the piece of paper in her hands.

Everyone joined her in reading over the proposed letter.

Dear Keeper Initiate,

As you may already have learned, there has been a slight change to our Keeper of Knowledge hierarchy. It has been declared that there shall be two members of each supernatural race in place to not only ensure the fair keeping of every race’s histories but also more hands on deck to test, authenticate, catalog and record. This means that one more being from every race must step up into this role.

After careful consideration, you have been selected by The High Council of the Supernatural to train to become a Keeper of Knowledge. Training will take place in Pyreshore. You are to leave in a week. Details are as follows:

You will live in Pyreshore, New Hampshire, United States of America. You will be assigned a home there and provided all things necessary that you do not have for your home or cannot bring. You will be generously compensated for your time and work with us, even while in training. You are welcome to bring any spouse and children you may have.

As you know, the Keeper position is passed down through the bloodlines. If your bloodline is not an option, for any reason, a successor must be formally inducted by an agreed upon time. Heirs and successors will train as well as it will be their duties to take over the position in due time.

You will have one month from the time of arrival in Pyreshore to begin your