The Orphan Keeper Novels & Stories

Chapter 3: Nikolai’s POV – The Watcher The stables smelled faintly of hay and horse sweat, the scent lingering long after the lanterns had been extinguished. Nikolai stood in the doorway, arms crossed, silent, watching. The boy—Arlo—was frozen in the aftermath, cheeks flushed, hands trembling slightly. He had looked so small, so delicate, yet something about the way he had stiffened under Nikolai’s gaze had stirred a sensation he couldn’t name.

In front of both of them, I dialed a number. "There's trash here. Send someone to clean it up." I had just sent one set of trash away. Then the doorbell rang again. When I opened it, Joe stood there with a smile. He set a parcel on the table—supplements good for a succubus, meant to ease the agony of my heat. They were rare and precious; he'd thought to bring them. "Have you decided?" he asked gently. "Want to consider a new master? I'll take responsibility."

I kicked off my high heels and turned to look at Clayton. The cold light swept across his high, prominent brow, settling on his angular features. He didn't move, his gaze fixed on the discarded collar on the floor. I picked it up. "This is Salem's." Salem was the service beastkin my parents gave me to compensate me for losing me for 18 years. My parents lost me at five and were only reunited with me when I was 23. Upon my return, I discovered that my parents had long ago adopted a little girl from the orphanage. Her name was Lisa Manfred. My parents had adopted her since infancy, and she was now 17.

… Epilogue. After the light took me, I refused to move on. The woman in charge of the afterlife did not know what to do with me, so she asked her supervisor for special permission to let me watch over my family. Dad quit his job and found one closer to home. Mom stopped working to stay with Danny full-time. Danny stopped getting into trouble. He became quiet and obedient, just like I used to be. The house settled into a strange kind of peace, as if I had left but also stayed.

“I’ve recently been authorized to add another caregiver to the orphanage. The position comes with room and board as you will be responsible for the younger children and their needs round the clock.” “Really?” I shrieked in excitement. Barb had just told me I wasn’t going to be homeless and on the streets in a month. “Hannah,” Barb cautioned. “I wouldn’t offer this position to any of the others. Your circumstances are unique.” Barb was right. Before coming to the orphanage, I had belonged to a pack. The rest of the orphans that had come through here in my time had all been human. The only other wolf in the entire place was Barb herself. She was offering me the position not just so that I woul

The Dreamer chuckled. "You were always my most stubborn creation." The Keeper looked mildly offended. "I preserved all existence." "You argued with me for three thousand years." "Those are unrelated matters." The gathering laughed. The Dreamer smiled warmly. "Thank you." The Keeper froze. The simple gratitude seemed to affect it more than anything else. After a long moment, it bowed its head. "And thank you." The Dreamer nodded. A quiet understanding passing between them. Then came Orion. Then the First Queen. Then Elias.

"I assume you have news, Fox? This is my second-in-command, Jackdaw, and one of my researchers, May." Fox nodded, interlacing his pudgy fingers. "Rumors are true. The valorians have a new keeper - a dragon keeper." I sucked in a sharp breath. A dragon keeper? They were impossibly rare. Hunter's eyes narrowed. "Go on." "A young woman, half aldorian. Her father was banished years back for radical ideas." Fox lowered his voice. "If she officially bonds with the dragon, well...you know the old laws." Hunter muttered a curse under his breath. My own mind was spinning wildly. Dragon keepers always married the fort commanders as part of the bonding ritual. Which meant...

“Because she made it that way. I do not really understand how the spell works, but it is tied to this house. As long as the house stands, I will live.” “Okay. Not trying to offend you or anything, but why does Nana Brooke want you to live for so long?” “I am your greatgrandmother’s last gift to you. She ensured I live solely because of you. Someone with knowledge of what the keeper’s role entails has to be around to guide you. We never expected it would take you so long.” ‘You understand that I’m nineteen, right?” ‘Yes, I do. Ordinarily, the next keeper should have been Elin, but then she despised her mother and everything she stood for.”

I claw at the bark, static shrieking. Eden's voice softens. *The Seed needs a guardian. Someone who can outlast the storm.* The oak stills. The Hunter is gone. --- **The Keeper's Burden** The static rages, untethered. I scream, lightning reducing nearby trees to glass. The storm isn't mine anymore-it's the Seed's, fed by the Hunter's sacrifice. A figure approaches, wading through the ash. The leader of the Forgotten, her pincers retracted, her eyes clear.