“Jael, there isnoroom for error on this,” Emilio said firmly. “No room for petty squabbles, judgments, or old vendettas. This is Gray’ssoul. Should it fall into the wrong hands, even in your realm…”
The wolf trailed off, turning his face toward the moonlight, casting the new worry lines around his eyes into sharp relief.
I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t know which vendettas he referred to, but I didn’t need specifics. The Seelie queen was a notoriously conniving woman; she never formed an alliance unless there was something in it for her, and like most bargains struck at an hour of desperation, her allegiance never came without cost.
I suspected she was one of the reasons—if notthereason—Jael and Kallayna had left their realm and made a new home in the Bay in the first place. Now Jael wanted to bring Gray’s soul back there? Under the protection of the woman who—if the centuries-old rumors held even a whiff of truth—had once burned an entire village of humans and their livestock on the meresuspicionthat they’d been harboring a runaway fae child?
“I have given you myword.” Jael’s yellow eyes glowed fiercely, his brow drawn tight. “Never mind that Gray has become important to me as a leader, a warrior, as well as a friend. Her soul will be well-protected. I shall give my life to that end, if it comes to it.”
“You’ve been more than loyal, prince,” Liam said.
“It’s not his loyalty we’re worried about,” Asher said. “It’s that whole ‘if it comes to it’ part.”
“Itwon’tcome to it,” Jael insisted, but I wasn’t convinced. None of us were, and in the uncertain silence that followed, the fae prince finally exploded.
“Gentlemen,” he began, his voice full of fire, “I have risked my sister’s life and my own to bring you intelligence from the Bay. I have fought by your sides in battles I could just as well have left behind, narrowly escaping an army of hybrids intent on burning me alive and nearly succeeding. I have risked eternal banishment from all the realms by calling upon forbidden moon magic, all in service to the woman I’ve come to call a close friend. I did not take such actions only to betray her at the very last.”
“Jael,” I began, but he would not relent, his entire body tense but for his hands, in which he held the moonglass as gently as a soap bubble.
“I would not take her within agalaxyof my realm if I believed for one moment my family would bring her harm.” Jael’s voice shook with defiance. “I understand your concern for her, but I beseech you to take an accurate accounting of my proven fidelity before accusing meormy family of future treasons.”
Emilio lifted his palms in a gesture of peace, but Ronan and Asher were still wound up.
That Jael believed he could protect her was obvious. But could we really trust Queen Sheyah, regardless of Jael’s noble intentions? And what of her royal guard, her servants, her subjects? When had Jael last communicated with his family? How could he be certain he’d even find welcome in his realm, let alone protection for the soul of a human witch-turned-vampire he’d just risked his own eternal existence to save?
I closed my eyes and pulled Gray tight against my chest, my blood humming in recognition at the blood now flowing through her veins. We were beyond connected, beyond bound, beyond mated.
We were one.
Trust him…
The message was faint but clear, imprinted from one vampire mind to another. The realization nearly made me weep.
She truly was assimilating.
Unconscious as her body was, Gray’s mind was right here with us—right here with me. She trusted Jael. And as much as I hated the idea of letting her soul out of our sight, I knew what Gray had known from the very moment she’d made the decision to turn:
There were no other options.
Opening my eyes, I looked from Ronan to Emilio to Asher to Liam, nodding at each before my gaze finally came to rest on Jael’s still-smoldering yellow eyes.
“Gray entrusted you with the extraction and guidance of her soul,” I said, granting him the same small bow he’d offered me earlier. “We entrust you now to protect it in whatever way you deem best.”
Ronan blew out a tense breath, but no one said a word to contradict me. We’d all come together to support Gray in her decision to change, and that—like so many things we’d done and shared together on this journey, whether I could remember the particulars or not—bonded us once again as brothers.
Jael wasted no more time.
“We must move quickly,” he said, “while night still holds. I need to draw upon the moon’s power once more, if she’ll allow it, and weave a portal spell to open a doorway back to my realm.”
“How long will it take?” I asked, eyeing the expanse above the snowy treetops. The sky was still inky black, but soon enough the sun would begin her ascent. I’d very much prefer Gray and I were back at basecamp with time to spare before the first rays touched the earth.
“Can you guarantee me complete silence and zero interruptions?” He headed off to find a clear spot beyond the headstones. He knelt upon the snow, nestling the moonglass into a downy drift at his side. “If so, it shouldn’t take more than—”
The rest of his words cut off abruptly as a blinding pain split my skull.
It unfolded like a car crash—time slowing for an eternity before zooming forward, leaving my mind in a frenzied blur, uncertain where one moment ended and another began.
The agony and confusion brought me to my knees.
