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“You've held it for nearly two thousand years, and you're fine.”

“I am not fine, and the only reason I survive is because it is bonded to me.” He picked up the chair and sat down. “Just promise me you won't try it. Never let down your shields around me.”

“All right.” I held up my hands in surrender. “I promise.”

“You need to leave. I have to stay away from you.” But he didn't get up.

“I can protect myself.”

“If Heartbreak wants you, it will find a way to have you. My instincts were right. The only way to protect you is to stay away from you.”

“And yet you left your gate open.”

His eyes twitched. “A mistake I won't make again.”

“Tristan—”

“I've learned one thing from my past romances,” he cut me off. “Loving me costs too much. You should leave now. I'd show you out, but I can't seem to move.”

“I'm not leaving.”

“I could destroy you, Destiny.” He made a small mirthless laugh. “Destroy Destiny herself. Now that would be a new low for me.”

I could have given him what he wanted—a promise to survive whatever loving him might cost me. It would have been easy, and it would have been a lie, because I didn't know the future. I was an empath, not a psychic.

“Maybe you're right,” I said. “But you told me you couldn't resist the Pull for long. Eventually, you give in.”

“This isn't the Pull.”

“So, you don't think you'll break down and show up at my door?”

Tristan cracked his neck and looked away.

“I think the smarter path forward would be to explore what's happening between us and prepare for the possibilities. If we don't, we'll face them without knowing what we're facing and with no way to defend ourselves.”

“I can't ask you to do that, Destiny.”

“You don't have to. I'm making the decision to stay. You get to decide whether to oppose me or not.”

Tristan opened his mouth, an unguarded expression moving across his face, and I thought he was going to say something that would undo me completely. I held my breath, waiting for it.

My phone rang, Ride of the Valkyries building to its epic horns. It was the museum's ringtone. Wincing, I pulled my phone out of my purse. “I'm sorry. They never call me after hours.” I answered, “Hello?”

A flash bright enough to trigger the motion sensor had gone off in the Objects Lab. I told the security guard I'd come in and check it out. After I hung up, I looked at Tristan.

“I'll drive.”

Chapter Six

The lab was dark when we arrived, the overhead lights humming to life one row at a time as I flipped switches and the glass walls throwing our reflections back at us. The guard said the light had come from the first cabinet in the row of floor-to-ceiling cabinets. It was where I put the reliquary.

After unlocking the cabinet, I searched for char marks, but the cabinet was clean. So, I took out the reliquary and set it on my worktable. The white protective cloth around it looked gray. I opened it to find it covered in soot.

“What the hell?” I whispered.

Tristan leaned in. “It's a little dirty, but it doesn't seem damaged.”

I pulled on some gloves and lifted it from the dirty cloth. Ash fell from it onto the cloth. After gently tapping it to release as much ash as possible, I inspected it. The back was clean, and I brushed away the ash from the front and side easily. Tristan was right; the piece was unharmed.