Silence fell upon us.

  “Kingston said he killed him,” I argued, weak though it was.

  “And you’re willing to take his word for it because he was such an honest guy?”

  “What about Drake?” I argued. “He said the same. That Reinhardt is dead.”

  “Drake is many things,” Knox said, stepping toward Kat, “but he is no liar.”

  “You sure about that?” Kat asked, not faltering under the alpha’s approach. “Because you didn’t exactly interrogate him that night, if I recall correctly—which I do.” Knox’s expression hardened. “Next time you see that sketchy fuck, maybe you should try asking him, pointedly, if Reinhardt is dead. Put that annoying lie detector trait of yours to good use.” She walked past him, slapping him on the shoulder in a seemingly friendly gesture. But there was nothing friendly about it. “And if he doesn’t talk, maybe you should just break his legs and twist them like you did mine. I might not have caved under that tactic, but men are weaker than women. I think you’ll find he sings like a canary.” She continued on, not bothering to look back and see the shock on our faces as she left the room.

  I turned to find Knox standing there, his body coiled with anger.

  “Knox?” I called softly.

  “She’s right,” he said. It was then that I knew he was angry with himself, not Kat. She’d pointed out a shortcoming in his leadership, and it had stung. “We talk to Drake. Now.” He looked down at me, eyes glowing gold. “I need you to get him over here, Piper. Do whatever you have to—just make it happen. One way or another, this is getting sorted tonight.”

  I swallowed hard and pulled out my phone. With shaky fingers, I texted him a message to meet me in the woods right away, that I had information for him regarding the fey king’s minion. It was a stretch, but one I knew would make him come at the drop of a hat. Though I did trust Drake, Kat’s concern couldn’t go uninvestigated. Too much was riding on it to ignore the possibility that my father was out there somewhere, and whatever reason Drake had to keep me from him couldn’t override my need for him.

  To help destroy the fey king’s weapon.

  To fill the lifelong void in my heart.

  Chapter Nine

  With the moon still high in the sky, Knox, Grizz, Kat, Foust, Jagger, and Brunton ventured out into the yard with me, following as I made my way to the woods. It wasn’t long before we came upon Drake, standing next to the rickety bridge that he seemed to love so much. When he turned to find me with a small army in tow, his expression tightened and his brow furrowed.

  “What news do you have?” he asked, stepping forward to meet our group. “And why have they come?”

  “Because you and I need to talk,” Knox said, moving through the crowd to stand at my side.

  “Do we?” Drake countered, holding his ground.

  “We do.”

  “About?”

  “Piper. Mainly about her being the warlock lord.”

  Drake’s eyebrow quirked with curiosity.

  “Is there a question in there somewhere?”

  “Is she the warlock lord?”

  A pause.

  “No. I am.”

  I let his reply wash over me. “But that would mean…” My voice trailed off with my thoughts.

  “That I am his blood,” Drake said, finishing for me.

  “Brothers,” Knox said, realization in his tone. Looked like the warlocks were as secretive about their family trees as the vampires.

  “Though Piper would be next in line, she has not yet been called upon to fill my role.” He looked at me, his eyes softening around the edges. “Hopefully you’re not contemplating my death at the moment so that you can earn that honor.”

  I choked on a laugh.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked him, moving to wrap my arms around his waist.

  “I didn’t know how you would take the news. I thought perhaps it would be best that you didn’t learn that detail for now; that I didn’t open up your family-related wounds again.”

  “Thanks for that, but I think I’d rather have known than not.”

  “I’m sorry for withholding from you, Piper.”

  I looked back at Knox, whose expression remained the same. Apparently Drake was telling the truth.

  “So your brother is dead,” Kat said, her weight shifting behind me.

  Drake lifted his eyes to her, training them on her sour expression.

  “My brother died trying to keep the warlocks together—trying to keep us from severing into two different factions—and he failed. It is now up to me to do what he could not.”

  “I’ll help you,” I said softly, pulling away from him. “I’ll help you reunite the warlocks.”

  He smiled down at me, pride in his eyes. “Of that I have no doubt. Now, do you have something to share about your assassin, or was that just an elaborate ploy to draw me out and interrogate me?” He sounded annoyed, but I could see the tiny curl at the corner of his mouth growing. “Which was well played, I must add.”

  We quickly filled him in on the attack, the portal, and Mack’s potential involvement. Drake listened carefully, his body still. When we finished, he stood silent for a while, contemplating the information.

  “It’s worse than I thought,” he finally said. “And far more dangerous.”

  “Do you think there’s any chance that getting the warlocks to work together could help? I mean, they did against us in Alaska. Maybe we could put that ability to good use.”

  Drake looked thoughtful. “It’s possible. But I need to speak to you about that first.” He looked at the group, then back at me. “Privately.”

  To my surprise, there was no argument from anyone.

  “I’ll see you inside,” Knox said, then followed the others back through the trees until they disappeared from sight. Only Grizz remained behind, not that I’d expected anything else from him.

  “What’s with the secrecy?” I asked, returning my gaze to Drake.

  “The other matter—the one we talked about yesterday. Were you wearing the amulet tonight?”

  Oh yeah. That.

  “I was.”

  His face turned grim.

  “It’s not safe for you to be hunting this being until we know more about what is going on.”

  “I can’t let them go out there without me, Drake. You haven’t seen this thing. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I was barely able to catch it. They’ll die without me.”

  “And you might die trying to protect them.” The heat in his tone as he volleyed his response at me was undeniable.

  “Then you and I need to figure this out,” I said, softening my tone, “because I have no choice. I can’t leave them to do this alone.”

  Drake exhaled, then looked at Grizz, still in his furry form.

  “Stay close to her,” he ordered. “Perhaps your connection to her will help recharge her magic.” The bear nodded. “Now, Piper, go get some rest. I will do what I can tonight with the warlocks, but I should warn you, bringing them together again will be no easy task. If you are hanging your hopes on their rescue, you may be disappointed.”

  “Okay,” I said, doing my best not to sound exactly that.

  “I will see you in the morning.”

  He gave me a nod, then headed off over the bridge. Halfway across it, he disappeared.

  “Shall we head back, big guy?”

  Grizz nodded in reply.

  I did my best to not let all the unknowns of the evening stress me as we walked back to the house, but it was an impossible task. There was no shaking the undercurrent of terror I felt every time I pictured the fey king’s assassin. The image of his shadowy profile was seared into my memory, just like the words that had echoed through the night as he disappeared. I’ll see you soon… I needed something to wipe it all away.

  Maybe Merc hijacking my dreams would be the perfect solution.

  Chapter Ten

  The morning came with no visit from Merc—in person or in my dreams.

  I jumped out of bed, the sun still tucked far behind the horizon, and ran to his room. I knocked on the door with a tad too much enthusiasm but got no response. Grizz, in his furry form, emerged from our shared room to look at me like I’d lost my mind.

  “I need to find Merc,” I told him. He lifted his muzzle to the air, then lumbered toward me, stopping at Merc’s room before continuing. I followed as he made his way down the stairs to the foyer. For a second, his head whipped around like he’d lost the scent; then he looked at the basement door below the staircase. He sniffed wildly as he made his way there, inhaling all around the door. When he seemed satisfied with his tracking, he stood up on his hind legs and pushed the handle down, opening the door.

  I could hear sounds from down the stairwell. Sounds of fighting. Before I realized I’d moved, I was halfway down the first flight of stairs. I prayed that it wasn’t a showdown between the wolves and the vamps. It seemed unlikely in some ways, but not in others. The tension between the groups was growing. And the disdain between their two leaders wasn’t exactly improving either.

  Above the basement level with the infirmary was a floor designated for training new enforcer recruits. To my knowledge, they’d stopped training young vampires since the night Kingston and his friends had bonfired me in the middle of Central Park and the treaty had gone to shit. That fact made me even more anxious as Grizz and I approached, the sounds of a battle growing with every step.

  I threw open the door to find something other than what I’d feared. The room was full of faces I didn’t recognize, squaring off against one another. Around the perimeter of the room were several enforcers, all of whom were staring at me like I’d lost my damn mind. In fairness, I had barged in like a wild animal.

  “Hi…” I said weakly, forcing a sheepish smile.

  “Piper?” Dean called out, looking through the crowd from the far side of the room. “Everything okay?”

  “Yep! Shipshape. I just… um… I was looking for Merc.”

  “He’s not here,” Jase said, walking toward me.

  “Oh. Well then… carry on.” I slinked back out the door and closed it, leaning against it for support. Letting out a breath to steady my nerves, I rested my head against the door and closed my eyes. “Grizz, I think I’m losing it.”

  “I would prefer that particular affliction not touch you,” a dark voice said from the floor below. It drifted up toward me like a song on the wind, announcing Merc’s presence. Moments later, he rounded the flight of stairs to stand before me.

  Wanting to fluff over what I’d just said, I focused on why I’d gone looking for him in the first place.

  “You said you’d see me tonight. I woke up worried that something had happened to you.”

  “Something did, but nothing like the story you’ve concocted in your head,” he said, stepping closer. Grizz edged nearer, his fur brushing up against my arm where it hung at my side. “Getting you alone is proving more and more difficult these days.” He stared down at the bear, who didn’t buckle under the weight of it. If anything, Grizz pressed harder against me.

  “Well we are rather overrun with extra bodies at the moment.”

  “Yes,” he replied, drawing the word out. “Perhaps a solution to that particular problem will avail itself soon.”

  I felt the pressure behind those words, subtle though it was. Not so much pressure for me to choose him, although he clearly wanted that outcome. It was more about choosing to go back to normal. Choosing to be rid of the wolves. I couldn’t tell if it was my heart or my chest that ached at the thought.

  Seeing the emotional battle being waged in my expression, he directed my attention back to the issue I’d raised.

  “I’m sorry that I have been unable to see you tonight like I promised. It has been brought to my attention that we may need to resume training enforcer recruits, so I arranged that. I had hoped I could reach you before you awoke, but it seems I’ve missed that window.”

  “Well… you could just come talk to me now.”

  “I am talking to you now.”

  “Well yeah, but I meant in private.”

  “You mean without the bear?”

  He quirked a brow at me and I felt my cheeks flush.

  “Yes, without the bear, but I do mean talk.”

  The eyebrow rose further.

  “What a shame…”

  Grizz let out a groan of dissatisfaction, then turned to march up the stairs.

  “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about tonight—what happened in the alley.”

  “Was something left out?”

  “No, not really. But your reaction when we returned,” I said, taking a breath. “You were so angry.”

  “Because you were out there without me and two in your party died before your eyes. That was not something I enjoyed hearing, Piper.”

  “I know, but you said you couldn’t go, that you had to be elsewhere. What should I have done? Let everyone go without me? If I hadn’t been there, God only knows how many more corpses would have been brought back—if anyone had returned at all.”

  “I think you’re exaggerating a touch, don’t you?”

  “No, I’m not. You weren’t there. You didn’t see how quickly he took those two wolves down. I did. I was able to freeze him, but he still got away.”

  “With the help of the fey king or someone under his charge.”

  “Yes.”

  “Will you fight the fey king next, then? Perhaps storm Faerie and wage war against him as well?”

  “No…”

  “Because having one royal fey after you is more than enough, Piper. To court the wrath of two would be suicide.”

  “I have no intention of thumbing my nose at the fey king. I’ve got no beef with him directly. But if he’s going to keep sending his butchering lackey after the pack, then he and I are going to have a situation.”

  His lips pulled taut as he assessed just how serious I was.

  “I think perhaps you need to spend less time around Kat. She’s clearly rubbing off on you.”

  “Merc,” I said, drawing out his name with every ounce of irritation I felt.

  “Piper,” he replied, taking my face gently in his hands. “All I am saying is that you are not in need of more enemies. Please do not go out looking to make them.”

  “I can’t just sit back and let the boys die.” My voice was soft and low and laden with the grief I felt at the losses Knox’s pack had already sustained. “Please don’t ask me to.”

  He stared at me, silent, his dark eyes piercing mine. I couldn’t tell what was going on inside that head of his, but I knew it couldn’t be good.

  “I told you once that I would never make you choose between Knox and me, but I never promised not to ask you to you choose between his pack and yourself. I cannot let this go, Piper. Surely you understand why.”

  “I do, Merc, but for all your talk of being proud of how I survived—became stronger in your absence—you’re quick to want to go back to the time when you tucked me away and kept me safe. Either you think I’m capable or you don’t. I thought I knew which it was before. But now? Now I’m not so certain.”

  We stood there awkwardly for a moment until the door at my back bumped into me, knocking me forward into Merc. A very apologetic recruit retreated back into the training room, leaving me standing in Merc’s arms. He looked down at me and swept the stray hairs in my face away, tucking them behind my ear as he so often had before.

  “I still love you, Piper.” His words were so low that, for a moment, I questioned whether I’d actually heard them at all. But then he bent down and kissed me, his lips light and gentle and loving against mine. “Losing you will always be my greatest fear and my greatest weakness.”

  With that, he pulled away and disappeared back down the stairs the way he’d come. I stepped aside to let the recruits escape before the sun came up, watching them rush out of the room and up the stairs. Jase and Dean were the last to leave. They each cast me a look of concern, but I waved them off. Knowing they didn’t really have all day to stand there and interrogate me, they left, although grudgingly. I knew I’d have questions to field when they returned.

  And they’d be sorely disappointed by my lack of answers.

  Chapter Eleven

  Since it was early, I thought that maybe I’d pull one of Knox’s favorite moves and go outside to watch the sunrise. I would have asked him to go with me, but he still wasn’t quite himself since returning from the attack. I thought it might be best to give him a little space.

  So, without even Grizz, I sneaked outside and around the back of the mansion to the sprawling patio and flopped down onto one of the cushioned chairs. I folded my legs up under me to keep the chill of the morning air at bay. With my head full of thoughts that I’d rather ignore, I stared off past the trees and waited for the sun to show her smiling face.

  Instead, Drake’s pensive face blocked my view.

  “Feeling any better?” he asked, cutting right to the chase. He reached toward where the collar of the flannel I’d stolen from Dean a year ago gaped open, and I smacked his hand away.

  “Excuse me?” I sat up a little straighter, pulling my shirt closed. He dropped his arms to his sides, staring at me like he didn’t have time for my shenanigans.

  “Your chest? Your magic? Are they better since you’ve slept? Has it healed?”

  In truth, I hadn’t had a lot of time to think about it.

  “I’m not sure,” I replied. “I was able to stop the assassin last night, but I couldn’t keep him from getting away…” The way I let my words trail off piqued his interest. Without invitation, he sat down in the chair next to me, turning it to face me.

  “I’m just glad you returned unscathed, though I still don’t understand why you would go after such a beast when you know your powers are not reliable.”

  “So I could try out your amulet theory?”

  He did not look impressed by my suggestion.

  “Piper…”

  “Please don’t lecture me!” I said, jumping up from my seat. My chest started to seize up at the memory of my quasi-argument with Merc, and I tried to walk it off, rubbing my sternum as I did. “Someone else already did. I’m not sitting through another.”