“Can we talk about my mate bond later and stay on topic?” I say, rubbing the bridge of my nose, and I look to Amir. “If you destroy the Glen, you’re going to kill all of those witches and warlocks. Why?”
Amir’s grin disappears. His face goes flat and unmoving. “There is nothing we can do to help them. They have been exposed to dark magic for too long.”
“Eric is in there,” I remind.
The words are out of my mouth before I’ve decided to say them, and I fall quiet, not sure why I’m so bothered by this. He’s not a good man. But he’s still—a thread I haven’t finished pulling.
I look to my mother. She meets my eyes, and the sadness in them tells me she’s already wrestled with this and lost. “I can’t let you do this,” I say.
Amir’s grin returns. “Really? We should talk about it, then.”
I stare at him, and it clicks. This isn’t careless. Amir doesn’t do anything without a reason, and threatening to destroy the Glen is his way of forcing my hand. He knows exactly what he’s doing, and he knows exactly where I’ll land when he’s done.
And then the time-slip flashes through my mind. The Glen pulsing with golden light, the door swinging open, warlocks stepping out into air they haven’t breathed in years. Maybe that’s why my magic pulled me there—to show me what happens if I don’t act first.
I’m going to have to open the Glen. Soon. Very soon.
“When are you planning to do this?” I ask, keeping my voice level.
“As soon as possible,” Amir responds. “Before it reopens on its own.”
“And when is that supposed to happen?”
My mother’s expression darkens. “If they’ve already figured out how to reach outside of the Glen, that means the seal is already failing.”
“What about Tiana, Kiara, and Samara?” I say, my voice rising. “What about the witches and warlocks who left the Glen and assimilated into the community lands? They have family in there too.”
Amir straightens. “As king, I must make difficult decisions for the betterment of Wintermoon.”
I look to my mother, but she’s quiet, her arms hanging at her sides, and she won’t meet my eyes.
Kade rubs the back of her neck. “Not to ruin the moment, but I’m not sure how to present this information to my Leah. Her sister is in there, remember? Not that I’m fond of Ellie and all, just saying.”
Amir looks to Kade, his expression cool. “You break the news gently to her.”
Kade flashes her fangs at him in a hiss. He grins back.
“It has been decided,” Amir says.
“No the fuck it hasn’t.” The words rip out of me, and I stare at him in disbelief. “I don’t understand. You drop a bomb like this on me and just—“ I throw my hands up in mocking exasperation, shaking my head. “Oh well?”
I look to my mother, desperate for her to fight this.
“Just go, Amir,” she says quietly. “I’ll handle Aaron.”
I stare at her. “Handle me?” But Kade and Damon are already flashing out of the room with their vampire speed, gone before the words finish leaving my mouth. Amir bows his head to my mother.
“I’ll find you later,” he says, and teleports away in a blink, leaving us alone.
“What is happening?” I ask, my voice raw. “They’re going to die. All of them.”
My mother shrugs, and the casualness of it surprises me. “I don’t want this either, baby. But I can’t keep protecting them if they refuse to change. They’re just withering away in there, looking for ways to regain access to dark magic. Your sperm donor included.”
Her words surprise me. She’s never minced them when it comes to Eric.
“They don’t want out of the Glen to change,” she continues, giving me a somber look. “They want out so they can go back to the way things were before.”
She squeezes my shoulder once and lets go. “I have Seth. I can’t keep babysitting a group of supernaturals that refuse to change.”
