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Absolutely.
Then let’s do it.
He accessed the fire-gift and felt sudden heat jump from his skin and start to work on the ropes. Ten seconds later, he was free. Without waiting, he launched at Margetta, catching her in the air and dragging her into the canal below.
She became a wild, fighting thing, but he held onto her as long as he could, releasing the fire even below the surface, at the places where he held her.
She screamed, then dragged in a lung-full of water.
The next moment, she simply disappeared. Gone.
Jude surfaced fast, rising into the air as he breached the canal, heading back to Hannah. She had flames shooting from her palms, spreading them in an arc to hold back five wraith-pairs determined to get to her.
Jude came at them from behind, adding his own fire and scorched them, one after the other, until they were screaming and throwing themselves into the canal.
He took his place next to Hannah, holding her close, because right now his Guardsman and Shifter Brigade as well as Malik’s forces converged and began battling wraith-pairs.
The night sky had never been full of so many blue and red flashes.
“Jude, look, off to the northeast.”
He glanced in the direction of her raised arm and watched as one by one wraith-pairs started vanishing mid-fight.
“She’s saving as many as she can. Should we go after her?”
He shook his head. “The level of her power is still unknown, which means I have no intention of putting you in harm’s way. Right now, you’re my priority.”
~ ~ ~
Hannah’s heart beat so hard in her chest that she had a difficult time catching her breath. She’d gone from just enjoying her day-to-day, and all her friends and customers who came to her bar, to watching two armies battling on the ground and in the sky.
More than one wraith-pair tried to reach Jude, but shifters and vampires alike headed them off.
A lot of death followed, but that couldn’t be helped.
This was war.
And to the degree that she was a blood rose and now bonded to a powerful Mastyr Vampire, this was her war as well. Yet somehow it fit, as though all her experience at the Gold Rush, growing up there and having a father who embraced the Nine Realms, had prepared her for exactly this day, or rather night.
She no longer saw the worlds as separate, but moving fluidly back and forth, something that would increase as the decades moved along. They were different species yet shared enough DNA to build lives together and to create families.
As the last of the distant wraith-pairs vanished because of Margetta’s continued, though hidden presence, and one of Malik’s Guardsmen defeated the sole remaining wraith-pair on the bridge, Hannah could finally breathe.
Jude had already called in for medical teams. The policy in the Nine Realms had changed since Samantha had become bonded to Mastyr Ethan of Bergisson Realm. She had the power to dissolve the hated bond between wraith and realm-mate. Any surviving wraith-pairs would be turned over to Ethan for long-term rehabilitation.
When Malik dropped down to join them, Hannah tensed up immediately, concerned that she would have the same overpowering desire toward him that she’d experienced before.
But nothing happened. Only a sudden vibration deep within that spoke of the bond she shared with Jude, now inviolable, permanent, and powerful.
And the question she’d been asking for months, as in how many babies Jude wanted, didn’t seem so absurd anymore. It made sense, and a new kind of desire rose within her filled with purpose and love. She wanted to have a family with Jude. That’s how far around the globe she’d traveled in two brief nights.
Jude, maybe sensing the direction of her thoughts, hugged her tighter about the waist. I’m feeling something beautiful from you right now, and it’s making me want to take you to bed.
She leaned up and kissed him, then stared into dark gray eyes. And that’s exactly where I want to be with you.
He turned to Malik. “I want to get Hannah home. Will you see to our troops?”
Malik clasped Jude on the shoulder. Hannah thought he looked incredibly sad as he smiled. “Of course I will.”
