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I reached over to Dastien. No. Not negotiable. Where I went, Dastien was going. Being apart was for the fucking birds.
“You definitely think highly of yourself,” Eli said. “I was actually thinking Christopher could help me.”
Everyone at the table turned to Chris, who sat frozen in place. His eyes were wide and mouth in a shocked oh. After a second, he cleared his throat. “Me?” He pointed to himself. “You think I could help you?”
“Wait. No. The deal was with me.” I wasn’t about to let Chris get roped into any shenanigans with the archon.
“That’s right, but I need Chris. And if he’s willing, that’s between him and me.”
Chris opened and closed his mouth a few times, before nodding. “I don’t have anything planned right now. I can help you if you need me.”
“Perfect.” Before anything else was said, Eli and Chris disappeared.
I had a second to process that before I jumped up from my chair. “Eli! You asshole! You can’t take one of my friends! That wasn’t part of our deal!” I screamed at the ceiling. There hadn’t even been a negotiation. Chris had just blindly accepted. That wasn’t good.
I didn’t know if Eli could hear me, but I sent all of my will at him. “Get the fuck back here! Eli!” I screamed so loudly my throat burned.
“Calm down,” Eli said from behind me and I spun to face the jerk. “I’ll bring him back. Eventually.” And then he was gone again.
“What the Hell.” I couldn’t think. Worry for one of my best friends set me on edge. “Eli!” I screamed again.
Dastien grabbed my hand and squeezed, cutting me off. He looked over to Cosette. “How worried should we be?”
She shared a long look with Van. “I don’t know, but let’s stay calm. Eli is…” She sighed. “He’s a lot of things, but evil or cruel isn’t one of them. He won’t let Chris die after everything he did to get this new bond established, but I don’t like it. There are too many things Eli could be up to.” She grabbed Van’s hand. “I’ll do some digging and let you know what I find. Until then, just try not to worry. I’m reasonably certain Chris is okay.”
“Like how certain?” I’d love a percentage or odds or some kind of ballpark figure so I knew how hard I should fight to get Chris back.
“I don’t know,” Cosette said. “Don’t do anything. I’ll be back as soon as I know more.” She nodded to Van and they disappeared.
I sat down hard in my chair. “Damn it. It’s always something.”
Blaze laughed. “That’s life. There will always be fires to put out, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy the victory.” He pushed a carton of ice cream at me. “You’ve done well. So relax.”
“I…” I didn’t know if I could. Not without Chris.
“He’ll be okay,” Adrian said. “Chris is stronger than he thinks.”
I hoped so. I really, truly hoped so. “Well, I guess that’s it for tonight.” I grabbed a spoon and the ice cream carton from the table. If I was going to celebrate the victory, then I had something special in mind. “I have a date in bed with some ice cream and shitty home improvement shows.”
Dastien grinned at me, dimples winking. “Yes. We do have a date.”
“See you guys in the morning,” I said.
Dastien wrapped an arm around me as we walked for the door. He’s right. You’ve done an amazing job. This new thing? It’s everything. You’re changing our world and making it better.
I looked up at him. You’re biased. You’re my mate. You have to think I’m awesome.
You don’t have to believe me. Look at them. He motioned behind us with his chin.
I glanced over my shoulder. Our friends were watching us go. Blaze raised his hand in a wave. I wasn’t sure if what we’d done was right or meant to be, but it’d worked. And that was all that mattered.
We’d lived. Today I’d celebrate, and tomorrow? I’d deal with whatever new fire came my way. Because Dastien was right about one thing.
Just one thing?
I elbowed him. Shut it. But you know what I mean, right? We did good tonight. This was good.
He pulled me to a stop. Good? No, chérie. We did amazing. Groundbreaking. Epic. This was epic. And it wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for you.
