A memory.
A party. Gabriel, hiding outside, avoiding his brothers and a manor full of guests.
And Jacinda, bonded witch to Renault Duchanes, kneeling in the dirt in the gardens at Ravenswood. The moonlight shimmered in her hair, and the sight of her—ethereal, beautiful, mysterious, blooming in the darkness like a secret only he would ever know—it damn near stopped his heart, then and now.
Little moonflower…
He closed his eyes and held onto that image, burned it right into his soul.
He recalled her fierce determination, her refusal to break even in the midst of his cruel interrogation.
Recalled her courage in the face of all the shit that’d befallen them since.
Recalled the way she dove in front of that stake to save Charlotte—a woman she’d barely known at the time.
Recalled the way she’d charged into that warehouse to rescue Cole with nothing but her magic and the barest shred of hope.
Recalled her smile, the one that lit him up every time he caught even the barest glimpse of it.
And he recalled, in vivid, excruciating, heartbreaking detail, the taste of her kiss—the first one in his bed the morning after Shimmer, the last one still lingering on his lips.
Gabriel didn’t want to live in a world without her.Couldn’tlive in a world without her.
But he couldn’t allow the world to suffer that fate, either. The worldneededJacinda Colburn. And Gabriel needed to know that she was there, whole and alive, crafting magic and whispering to plants and mixing killer cocktails. Giving hell to anyone who dared cross her. Fighting the fight he sensed was only just beginning.
Gabriel opened his eyes and looked at the demoness. The mother of the woman he’d carve out his own heart—damn his own soul—to protect.
And he knew, in that moment, there was only one thing left to do.
“You say there’s a contract,” he said now, and the woman nodded, her eyes alight with sudden intrigue. Gabriel stepped closer. Held her gaze. Grinned—one that was sure to be his last. “Well. What if I made you a better offer?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Another hot wind. A final surge of magic. A blinding flash of light.
And Jaci stumbled out of the Heart of Flames and into the Hall of Broken Mirrors.
She gave herself a quick once-over—nothing bleeding, nothing broken, everything where it should be.
It was more than she could say for the corridor. The place was decimated, nothing left but a few pieces of white wall jutting up from the earth like broken teeth. Shards of black mirrors lay scattered at her feet. A few souls remained, sifting through the rubble.
Jaci waded through the remnants of the endless hallway, desperately searching for her prince, but aside from the souls, she was alone.
“Gabriel?” she called out. “Gabriel?”
No response.
Panic crawled up her throat. How had she ended up back here without him? Had he been blasted to another realm as well? Did he know how to get back?
“Gabriel!” she cried out.
This time, she got a response.
“Jay-Jay?” came the call, clear and true, so familiar it made her heart ache.
No… It can’t be…
Jaci raced toward the sound.
