“Wait — why are you helping us?” I ask, my voice sharper than I intend.
She looks at me one last time, something raw and aching in her eyes.
“Because I want to be free.” And she vanishes — just like that. Swallowed by smoke.
We stand there in stunned silence, staring at the space she left behind, until Sin finally speaks.
“She’s lying,” he mutters. “She has to be. This is some kind of angle. She’s the witch’s daughter, for fuck’s sake. I bet Shadow Fire would work on a hellhound.”
“I was going to mark Draven anyway, if we couldn’t find anything else,” I say quietly, my voice hollow. “Maybe she’s lying. But maybe she’s not. And what she said made sense.” Horrifying sense.
Sin lets out a long sigh, rubbing a hand down his face. “Let’s try Shadow Fire first. Just once. If that fails, we’ll try your suicidal hug-of-death-and-devotion plan.”
“We won’t get two tries,” I say, shaking my head. “The witch already knows we’re not going to just roll over and die. She’ll expect us to sneak in at the marking ceremony.”
“At least if we die, it will be in the arms of our mate,” Neris chimes in. “Silver lining?”
I almost chuckle. Even now, she hasn’t lost her spunk.
I look up at Sin, eyes narrowed with purpose.
“We’re not sneaking in.”
I roll my shoulders back, heart racing. “We’re blowing the damn doors off.”
Chapter 16
Kassira
“It’s time,” I tell Sin, locking eyes with him, pretending I’m braver than I feel. The lie tastes bitter.
“This is going to be such a disaster,”Neris mutters, ever the cheerful voice of doom.
I ignore her. She’s been stuck in a dramatic spiral ofthe-end-is-nighall week, and honestly? Same. But one of us has to fake composure, and apparently, that job falls to me.
“Shield us. I don’t want them feeling us coming until we’re already burning the place down,” I say, straightening my shoulders.
Sin raises a hand, his shield humming softly around us. “Your wish is my command, Luna Queen,” he drawls with a half-hearted grin, but I see the strain tightening around his eyes. The grief hiding behind that false ease.
He hasn’t said a word about her — his mate — but he carries the weight in his heart every moment of every day. Unfortunately, there is no time to think about that now. I didn’thave time to truly process the danger that my own mate is in, either. We just have to save them first. Survive. And then we’ll see what remains.
I draw in a slow breath. “You remember the plan?”
He rolls his eyes, probably exasperated by the fact that this is the hundredth time today alone that I’ve asked. “There is no real plan, Kass. We go in. I blow shit up. Clear a path for you straight to Draven. We pray they’re in the Northern Forest for the ceremony. Otherwise? We’re cooked.”
“It will be there,” I say, a little too quickly. “It’s always been there. Every Luna coronation, every royal bond, it’s tradition.”
Sin snorts but doesn’t argue. “I sure hope so,” he mumbles and starts walking. “Come on. Clock’s ticking. And we don’t have any more of Draven’s blood to use for teleportation.”
We move through the forest in silence. The closer we get to the edge, the heavier my chest feels. By this time tomorrow, we could be rotting in the ground or celebrating our survival.
Gods, I should have told him. I should have told Draven that I love him. That every second with him mattered. I can see the look on his face if I had — those wild stormy eyes lighting up, that crooked, devastating smile taking over his entire face. He’d have scooped me into the sky and demanded I say it again just to hear it through the clouds. I hope it’s not too late. I hope I’ll still be able to tell him. Back then, it didn’t feel like we were living on borrowed time. Not really. Not until he was suddenly gone. Please, let it not be too late.
At least that bitch isn’t kissing him anymore. I haven’t felt that kind of betrayal through the bond again. But what is she doing to him? He’s alone, with her, completely defenseless, and the thought is driving me insane.
Sin suddenly throws his arm in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. His eyes narrow, finger pressed to his lips. I nod, pulse spiking. He heard something. I stretch my senses, but his Alpha hearing is sharper than mine.
A gray wolf steps out of the trees. Black-tipped ears.
