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The three men stare at me. “Where do you think you’re going?” North asks.
“I’m going after Roanac, where do you think I’m going?” I snap. I’m not angry at them, but I’m furious at Roanac. And at Donovan.
That shady asshole is the one who took me to Roanac after he realized what I was. If I hadn’t cut my finger on the Immortal Key, making him smell and taste my blood, then none of this would’ve happened. I can’t exactly get mad over a split-second accident, but I can sure as fuck be angry at the man for chasing me down with bounty hunters, for turning us in to Roanac, and for betraying us so that our plan failed.
I want both of them dead.
“You’re not going anywhere,” North growls. If he was able to shift, I feel like he would be doing that right now, the wolf in him emerging as he walks over to me. “You’re in no state to be fighting anyone.”
I finish putting my clothes on and glare at North. “You’re not getting in my way.”
“Are you insane?” North demands. “You just had an attack of some kind, you were writhing in pain on the bed, and now you want to go after one of the most powerful magical people on the planet? You really think that you can pull something like that off in your state?”
“Are you calling me weak?” I snap.
To my surprise, instead of snapping back, North quiets. “Kiara. Nobody’s saying that. But you can’t kill yourself going after him.”
“Of course I can!” I’m so angry, and I feel so helpless, and I might cry which I really do not appreciate, thanks. “And you can’t fucking stop me! Someone has to get to him before he destroys the entire magical world as we know it. If he kills the fae, then those lives are onmyhands!”
“You can’t possibly think that.”
“It’s my blood, North. My blood. My power. He took it and he’s using it! If I hadn’t been with him, if he hadn’t known about me or gotten it from me, then we would be fine!”
“And he would’ve found someone else to use instead!” North points out. “Kiara, I understand. I do. But you’re not going to win if you go after him now. We get one chance at this and you need your rest.”
I look at Cain. Surely he of all people will understand my desire for vengeance. For blood. For fuck’s sake, he nearly killed Donovan the other day.
Cain looks back and forth between North and me, apparently torn. Then he sighs. “This isn’t your fault, Kiara. I get it. And I want to go after him too. And nobody’s saying that wewon’t. North is just pointing out that you’ll die now if you try it.”
“I don’t care if I die.” I don’t. So long as I succeed.
“If you die because you failed, I have a feeling you’ll be pretty upset,” Cain points out, his tone sarcastic. “You want to do this right, don’t you?”
“You think that we have time for me to get back to full strength?” I shoot back. “We only have a small window of time before Roanac finishes whatever he’s doing and becomes powerful enough to start attacking. He might already have his plans in place which will give us even less time if he’s just got an army of shades waiting for his signal. This is the calm before the storm and we have to strike now! Before we lose our chance!”
And this storm will be devastating.
“Hey, hey.” Cain comes up and takes my shoulders. “We get it. Trust me. We don’t want Roanac to win any more than you do. And we don’t want anyone to die, either.”
Tears start sliding down my face, and I hate it. I hate that I’m so emotional about this. I hate that I can’t just be strong and stoic about this. I hate that I don’t have a plan and that Roanac’s gotten the best of me yet again. I haven’t felt so helpless since my parents died and it’s the worst.
Cain pulls me in and kisses me, his arms wrapping around me. “We get it, Kiara. It’s okay.”
I bury my face in his neck and breathe him in as Cain strokes my hair. If I’m squeezing him too tightly, he doesn’t complain about it. He just squeezes me right back.
“We’re with you,” Cain promises me. “Always. We’re going to be by your side no matter what. But we want to succeed in this. There’s no point in killing ourselves if we fail. We need to attack him in our full strength. Together. Okay?”
I nod against his skin and Cain rubs my back. I’m being comforted without question, validated, made to feel safe. They really are my family now.
“We’ll do this,” North promises me. “But the right way.”
I remember my vision, and how it terrified me to think that it might mean my mates would die. I’m still terrified of that, actually. I’m not the only one who’s allowed to be worried for the people I love. I’m not the only one who has a right to worry and want to do this in a way that gets all of us out of here alive.
I nod.Okay, then.
CHAPTER7
Raven fixes me up something to eat and adds some strengthening potions to it so that I’ll be in better health while Cain and North get us the supplies that we need. This safe house is a backup one and so it doesn’t really have a lot in the way of potions and such on hand.
