He hadn’t tried.
And I understood why.
“You’re afraid he won’t reply,” I said, reaching for his hand and squeezing it. “You once told me familiars are tied to our lives, that they only die if we do, and you didn’t die, Kols. Shade held on to your life strand long enough for me to give it roots.”
Which meant Night was still here.
He had to be.
Because Kols was very much alive.
“Try calling for him,” I encouraged, my voice low yet underlined in confidence. “Bring Night back to you.”
My Elite Blood mate remained quiet for another moment, making me wonder if I’d been wrong, if this had all been a trick, but that pulse inside me throbbed with knowledge.Earth mate. Midnight Fae mate. My Kolstov. My prince.
Kols wasn’t known for his hesitation. He thought through his options and acted.
But this was a surreal situation.
He’d almost died.
He’d felt his familiar’s death.
It was on him to trust his own soul.
My eyes widened. “That’s it,” I breathed. “Trust.”
“What?”
“You need to call for Night.” Because it would prove he trusted in himself… because I trusted in him. “You need totrusthim to find you.” I pressed my palm to his chest, my opposite hand still holding his. “He’s here. I know he’s here. Call for him so he can help us find our way out of here.”
I felt the rightness of this path to my very soul.
Kols had said this was about trusting my instincts and trusting my mates.
And now I just needed my Elite Blood mate to trust me.
The full circle.
A complete trial.
With only one path forward.
It was Kols’s turn to choose.
The ascension trialswere never straightforward. They tested more than just the source heir; they tested everyonelinkedto the heir as well.
Which made Aflora’s statement true.
I needed to trust Night to find me. I needed to trust that he’d survived. And I needed to trust that what Aflora and the others had done was enough to bring not only me back from death, but my familiar, too.
Her dark hair framed her beautiful face and fierce expression as she waited for my agreement. She knew this was the right path, and I needed totrusther instincts.
These trials were devised to trick us all. Only the strongest were meant to survive. I’d been more than strong enough, but I’d been tricked by the Elders—my own grandfather—and betrayed by my Council.
I would seek vengeance in my own way, starting by helping my mate ascend.
Constantine Nacht wanted Aflora to fail, to make a mockery of her ascension.
