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No. How could I be? There was so much on the line right now, and the pressure to somehow fix it was all consuming. I just want to get through tonight. And then I really want things to settle down. Do you think that there will ever be a time when some evil force isn’t trying to kill us?
I can’t tell the future, but I hope so. And I think having a plan for something fun will help, so let’s make a plan. What do you think—brick? Stucco? Craftsman?
I’m not sure what a craftsman house is. We should definitely watch some more home shows.
He laughed as he tugged on my hand. Sounds like a date.
It wasn’t long before I could see the break beyond the trees. Dastien had bought a giant plot of land, including a pond. The clearing was massive and completely hidden by the surrounding woods, which is why he bought it. We could run as humans or wolves without any neighbors peeking over a fence. I was going to figure out some wards to keep any intruders away. Not the horrible feeling ones like the compound used to have, but something gentler.
It’s going to be amazing once we can live here. This is pretty much the perfect spot.
Dastien grinned down at me. “I’m glad you think so. I was nervous when I first brought you here, but I guess I shouldn’t have been.”
“Nah. We pretty much agree on most things.” We got about halfway to the pond and then I stopped. “If this goes bad—”
“Nope,” he said before I could even finish the thought. “In it together all the way.”
I knew that we did everything together—especially now—but I wasn’t sure what would happen if I somehow pissed off an archon. Eli seemed pretty okay, but I’d had exactly two conversations with him, and the second one was in the middle of a battle. “I just—”
“That’s also a no. You don’t get to sacrifice yourself for me. We’re mates. Our souls are joined. Where you go, I follow.”
“Right. Fine. But the same goes for you.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Before I could ask the question, Dastien nodded. “Go ahead. I’m ready as I’ll ever be.”
I blew out a breath, giving myself a second to let his words settle me and give me a little boost in confidence. If I was going to do make a deal with an archon, then at least I wasn’t alone.
I closed my eyes and took four steady breaths in and out. When I felt calmer and at peace, I called out to him in my mind.
Eli, I’m ready to make a deal.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
I spun to find him standing right behind me. He was wearing a white button-down shirt, a pair of dark jeans, and no shoes. His shoulder-length white-blond hair was neatly tucked behind his ears. His blue eyes glittered with laughter. Although I couldn’t imagine why he found this situation funny. Even though he wasn’t hovering in the air, he was at least a foot taller than me.
And holy shit. I couldn’t believe it’d worked. Eli was here. “Why didn’t you come all the other times?”
“Other times? In your visions?”
“Yeah.”
“Because those weren’t real.” He tapped a finger on my nose, as if I were some cute toddler who had asked a super dumb qu
estion. “They were possibilities. I wasn’t going to waste my time until you’d found the right path.”
Well, at least I was on the right path. Finally. Now I just needed to ask Eli my favor. “I’m hoping that means—”
“I know what you’re going to ask. The answer is yes. I will be happy to back your spell with my power and seal the realm—”
A too-enthusiastic “Thank God” slipped free before I slapped my hand over my mouth.
“But there’ll be a price.”
“There’s always a price.” This I was prepared for. Sort of.
“The question becomes, what are you willing to give for my help?”
Before Dastien and I left my parents’ house, we’d decided that the most important thing was to find out what Eli wanted from me exactly and define clear limits. But he was putting me on the spot. I didn’t know much—or anything really—about what Eli would want from me. It’d be straight up stupid to just start offering up terms. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to be more specific. What do you want from me?”
