“Is that important?” he asked.

  “Maybe, yes. I can’t say that if I was out hunting for a werewolf mate that I would be like, ‘Hey, who’s the weakest of the bunch? Yeah, I want you.’”

  Kara chuckled and shook her head as she remembered the way he’d laughed. She’d been unable to take her eyes off him. He was beautiful. He’d taken her breath away. The memory of that same day continued, and she had no power to stop it, not that she wanted to.

  “If I kiss you, I won’t be able to let you go. My wolf is already attached, as am I. But if you let me get even a small taste of you, my mate, I will follow you to the ends of the earth and attack any male who comes near you.”

  Kara waited, holding his eyes with her own.

  He let out a growl. “I’m going to hell.” His hand slid through her hair, tugging gently, forcing her head back as his lips crashed down onto hers.

  Kneeling on the floor in the cage that was her room in Ludcarab’s castle, she reached up and ran her fingers across her lips. She could practically feel that first kiss they’d shared. He was supposed to have been the last male she’d ever kiss. He’d made that perfectly clear. “There will be none after me.” The words reverberated so hard in her mind that she felt it in her soul. Her lips had touched another’s and would again.

  “Shit.” She gasped and fell forward, barely catching herself before she face-planted. While the memories were a blessing, they also felt like a curse. Nick might not have been her first kiss, but he was supposed to be her first everything else. Ludcarab had stolen that from her. She slammed her hand against the floor so hard it rattled her bones up her arm and into her jaw. The pain felt so good she did it again and again. When Kara was sure she’d gotten herself under control, she pushed herself back up into a kneeling position and then stood. When she raised her head and opened her eyes, setting aside the precious memories that she never wanted to lose again, she looked at Ember. The fae female took a step back, and her eyes narrowed.

  “You still have Volcan’s power in you,” she said, her voice steady, but everything else about her spoke of fear. “The bracelets must have been suppressing that part of you as well.”

  “Volcan?” Dyna asked. The tone of her voice made it clear she knew exactly who Ember was speaking about.

  Ember nodded. “Volcan managed to get his hands on the new healers in Peri’s charge. He made them witches.”

  “But I don’t feel any evil on her,” Coya said. Instead of taking a step away from Kara, she moved closer. The elf studied her, as if she’d be able to see the magic on Kara that made her something more than just a healer.

  “I’m not evil,” Kara said. “Peri helped us change the magic that Volcan used. We have some of the powers that witches had, but not dark magic.”

  Ember shook her head. “Everyone has the potential to have dark magic, Kara, especially when it has been passed on from someone like Volcan.”

  Kara considered the last couple of months that she’d spent as Ludcarab’s captive. She thought about all that he’d taken from her. And then she looked at Ember. “Perhaps you’re right. After what Ludcarab has done, what he’s taken from me, I will do anything to destroy him. Even if that means using dark magic.”

  “You won’t need it.” Ember held the blade out, handle first. “This will kill him. Like any being, he cannot live without a heartbeat.”

  Kara took the dagger. It seemed small and insignificant considering what task lay ahead of her.

  “Use the blade to cut your hand. The blade will use your blood to bind itself to you. You cannot carry the weapon with you … for obvious reasons. But when it becomes linked to you, all you will need to do is mentally call it, and the blade will come to you. It will also strike true when you wield it, even if you have to throw it. Once it is bound to you, it will carry out any intention you have,” Ember explained.

  Kara didn’t hesitate. She ran the blade across her palm, and it sliced through her skin as easily as a knife across warm butter. She expected more pain, but she only felt a slight sting. A few seconds later, the wound closed completely.

  “Fae blades hold a lot of power,” Ember said. “Now, you must drink this.”

  Kara looked up to see the fae holding out a small vial of silver liquid. She reached out and took it. Kara tilted the vial this way and that, watching the thick poison coat the bottle. “How long will the effects last?”

  “The poison will stay in your body until it has carried out its purpose,” Ember answered.

  Kara pulled the cork out of the bottle. Without considering all the ways the plan could go to hell, she poured the liquid into her mouth and swallowed. She waited to see if she felt anything, but other than a slight warm flushing of her skin, which dissipated in a matter of seconds, she felt fine.

  * * *

  “It’s done.” Ember looked at each of the elf females. “Once Ludcarab dies, I will remove the bracelets from your arms.”

  Kara frowned. “Why can’t you do it now?”

  Dyna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “If for some reason you fail—”

  “I won’t,” Kara bit out.

  The elf pressed her lips tightly together and then continued. “But if you do. We can’t look as if we had anything to do with it. Our bracelets do not do the same thing yours did. He would know if they were no longer imbued with his power.”

  “There was a time when I loved supernatural books and movies,” Kara said, thinking back to a period before she’d known of the world she was now a part of. “I thought magic was so cool. To have the power to fight off those who would hurt you.” She shook her head. “But now”—she huffed out a laugh that had no humor—“I think it sucks.”

  “Any power can be abused,” Ember said. “But power can also be used for good. That is what we must remind ourselves when we are tempted to abuse the power the Great Luna has given us.”

  Kara handed the empty bottle back to the fae and then took the blade over to her bed and placed it under her pillow. She suddenly felt very tired. The adrenaline from all that had just happened seemed to have seeped from her body, and now she was just weary.

  “I think we should let Kara get some sleep,” Dyna said.

  Kara looked over at her and tried to smile, but she could tell by the sorrow in the elf’s eyes that the attempt hadn’t been convincing. “Thank you. All of you.”

  “Be strong,” Ember said. “Your eyes are haunted for one so young. I will leave you this, and I hope it encourages you. Your name has many meanings in different tongues. But my favorite, and the one that I think rings truest for you, is ‘beloved.’ For that is what you are. To have a true mate is to be beloved. That alone is reason enough to fight, even when you just want to give up and escape the horrors you are facing. But tonight, you are more than just beloved. You have become a warrior, preparing to enter battle. I so name you, Kara Luisa, beloved, renowned warrior. For if you kill the elf king, you will indeed be renowned in every realm by every race.” Ember bowed to Kara, the fae’s eyes never leaving hers. “Until I see you again.” Then she flashed.

  Dyna, Reena, and Coya each bowed to her as well. Without a word, they filed out of the room.

  “No pressure, Kara Luisa,” she muttered to herself. The weariness that had come over her settled even further into her bones, and she found herself lying on her side, her legs pulled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. Her thoughts immediately jumped to Nick: her true mate, the other half of her soul. She acknowledged the deep longing inside, and she wished for all the world to be back at Peri’s home again, sitting with him, talking to him, seeing the adoration in his eyes as he looked at her. “Nick.” She whispered his name like a prayer.

  “KARA!” His voice filled her mind like a boom of thunder, so powerful she actually flinched.

  “Nick?” she asked, her own voice trembling. She wasn’t sure if this was another escapist fantasy, but Kara hoped it wasn’t. She wanted this to be real, needed it to be real—Nick speaking to her through their bond. Kara felt a flood of love straight into her heart and soul. Like nourishment for a starved body, she allowed him to invade every cell.

  “My Kara, my heart,” he said, his voice full of reverence that she could feel through their bond. “I’m losing my mind. Please tell me this is real. Tell me where you are. I have to find you.”

  “I can feel you,” she told him. “I remember you. I remember who you are to me.”

  “Thank the Great Luna.” He breathed out and his relief enveloped her. “Where are you? I can feel you, but I can’t locate you. Something is still blocking part of the bond. Do you know where they’re keeping you?”

  Kara started to tell him, but then bit her tongue. She quickly threw up a mental wall to the thoughts that Nick didn’t need to know. Not yet. He couldn’t come for her yet. She had to complete her mission. She had to kill Ludcarab.

  “Sweetheart,” he said, using the endearment that he knew she loved. “Do you know?”

  “I can’t tell you yet.” Kara could have told Nick she didn’t know where she was, but she didn’t want to lie to him. There were going to be many painful truths that she would have to share with him soon. Confessing that she lied to him would not be one of them. “There’s something I must do first. I have to do this. The plan is already in place, and I cannot veer from my path.” She didn’t allow him to see the details of that plan. Perhaps now she was a hypocrite, because a lie of omission was still a lie. But she knew if Nick found out she was going to attempt to kill the elf king, he would likely go crazy.

  “You do not have to do anything without me by your side,” he told her, his voice so full of anguish that she almost gave in. Because she knew Nick wouldn’t hesitate to kill Ludcarab. And if she was being honest with herself, Kara was terrified she might hesitate for half a second too long and lose the chance to kill her tormentor. “Let me protect you. I failed you once. I will not do it again.”

  “You didn’t fail me, Nick. Don’t ever think that. You gave me something I have never had before, somewhere I belonged. You gave me a family.” Tears streamed down her face. She tucked her knees closer to her chest and buried her face in them. Kara felt as if she might shatter from the inside out. The ache of needing her mate, being separated from him for so long, and feeling all of his pain from their separation was something she never wanted to go through again. Just five minutes more. She reminded herself of Jewel’s persistent chant. And she knew she would say it all night long, throughout the next day, and up until the moment when she would plunge the dagger into Ludcarab’s black heart.

  “I love you, Nick. One more day, then we will be together, and I will never leave your side again. Even if you ask me to wait a decade to complete the bond. I will happily do it, as long as you never let me go.”

  “Ka—”

  She didn’t let him finish the words before doing the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life. Kara closed the bond between them, cutting off the first contact they’d had in months, knowing it might push her mate over the edge. She had to trust that those who loved him, their pack, would take care of him until he could be with her again. In her gut, she knew this was what she had to do. The Great Luna had told her when she’d arrived that it wasn’t time to fight back, but now Kara knew with complete certainty that it was.

  “I am with you, beloved, renowned warrior.” The Great Luna’s voice filled not only her mind but the surrounding room. “I will steady your hand, I will shore up your weaknesses, and I will be your strength when you think you cannot finish the task before you. Now rest, Kara. For tomorrow your arm will deliver my wrath.”

  Chapter

  Fourteen

  “I never thought I would be thankful for foolish gypsy healers, determined to run headlong into situations that will most likely end in their deaths. But I am. And that’s the first step to repairing a part of my life I’ve completely and utterly destroyed. A reality filled with self-destructive healers is familiar and oddly comforting, as silly as that might sound. I will have to thank Kara for carrying on the longstanding gypsy tradition of ‘watch me get my ass handed to me.’” ~Peri

  * * *

  “Are you just going to let him throw another piece of furniture out the window?”

  Nick heard Fane’s voice but not Drayden’s reply, and he didn’t really care what it was. Nick had felt her. He’d spoken to her. For a few brief moments, his beloved was within his reach. Now she was gone. The beta picked up the next closest thing to him: a massive television.

  “I could stop him without injuring the wolf,” Adam said.

  Nick roared, and the TV went flying, crashing through a window. The shattering sound of the glass satisfied him for… perhaps a second. Would there be consequences for the damage he was causing to their pack home? His wolf didn’t care. The beast raged at their inability to find their mate. The restoration of the mate bond had made things worse, not better. Before, he only knew mentally that his Kara was held captive somewhere, hurting and alone. Now, he felt it with every fiber of his being. And worst of all, after having been reconnected with her for such a short time, she’d shut him out. This time, she’d chosen to close the bond.

  “WHY?” He reached for a lamp he knew would shatter into a thousand pieces, a fitting symbol for what had happened to his soul when Kara re-closed the bond.

  “Not the lamp, Nick,” Drayden growled, forcing a bit of his alpha power into the command.

  Nick turned and looked at Drayden.

  “You were okay with him throwing out a television worth thousands of dollars, but you’re worried about a lamp?” Adam asked.

  “I like that lamp.” Drayden shrugged his large shoulders. He met Nick’s eyes, and they began to glow. “Put it down. And talk to me.” It was a full-fledged alpha command. Surprisingly, Nick was able to fight off the command for nearly a minute as his wolf grappled against the need to submit to their alpha and the need to find their mate. Finally, Nick set the lamp down and rolled his shoulders. His teeth, which had phased into his wolf’s canines without him realizing it, bit into his bottom lip.

  “The bond is back,” Nick finally said after he leashed his wolf. “I spoke to her. I felt her.” Just saying the words out loud made the gnawing need inside of him grow tenfold.

  “Did she tell you where she is?” Drayden asked and took a step toward him.

  “Based on his current behavior,” Dillon, the Colorado pack alpha, said, “I’m going to go out on a limb and say no.”

  Nick’s wolf pushed forward, and he couldn’t hold the beast. It was the wolf who responded to their alpha. “My mate refused to tell me. She claims she has something she must do before we can be together. And then she closed down the bond. Tight.” He snarled the last word. Nick wanted to throw something again, and Drayden must have seen it in his eyes.

  “Destroy nothing else,” his alpha commanded. “Think of the positive things. You know she’s alive. The bond is back. And you will be with her again. These things should quiet your wolf.”

  “Her task is dangerous, Alpha,” Nick said. “I could practically smell her fear. She will not let me come to her.”

  “That’s because she’s a gypsy healer,” Crina said. “We’ve learned over the past few years that the healers have some kind of weird hero complex. They’re not actually seeking glory. The girls are trying to be selfless. The healers truly think they are saving those they love and that they’re the only ones who can do it. Unfortunately, it rarely works out how they planned. ”

  Nick’s fists clenched at his sides, and he felt claws sink into his palms.

  “Judging by the blood dripping onto the beautiful hardwood floor, I don’t think that’s helping, babe,” Adam said to his mate.

  “My bad.” Crina took a seat on the arm of the only remaining couch in the living room.

  “Are you sure you detected nothing in her thoughts that might give you a clue as to where she is or what she is doing?” Fane stood against the wall directly beside one of the shattered windows. The alpha hadn’t even flinched when an end table had sailed past him through the window, causing glass to rain over his body. He’d simply brushed it away and then resumed his relaxed stance.

  Nick tried to think through the haze of fury and grief that clouded his mind. He tried to remember anything that his wolf might have picked up on in her thoughts that the man might have missed while he’d been speaking to her. For a split second, he saw the face of a female. Her ears were pointed, much more than that of a fae. “A female elf,” he said quickly. “She thought briefly of a female elf.”

  “Does that mean she’s in the elf realm?” Crina looked at Thalion. He and his mate, Cyn, stood off in a corner of the room, watching. Neither of them ever said much, but they had offered any help they could in rescuing Nick’s mate. Nick looked at them now, hoping they knew the answer to the she-wolf’s question.

  “Not necessarily,” Thalion said. “Supernaturals from all races work with the Order. Many different types of supernaturals were at the compound in Arizona,” he reminded them. “Is there anything else? Anything about her location, maybe? The walls, the lighting? Anything that might give us a hint as to the type of structure. It could help us rule out a realm.”

  Nick concentrated but found nothing. He shook his head. “Then we search every damn realm!” Nick bellowed as his wolf snapped, grabbing the lamp he’d previously set down. He launched it across the room. Decebel ducked, and the lamp whizzed by, shattering against the wall where the beta’s head had just been.

  Decebel’s eyes glowed as he looked behind him at the mess on the floor and then back at Nick. “I’ve been where you are,” he said, his thick accent making his words sound menacing. “In fact, all the men in this room who have true mates have been in this situation. We understand your control is slipping. But we must wait until we have more information. Running off without a plan is not the answer.” Decebel took a step toward Nick while rolling his neck and cracking his knuckles.