Fane’s head tilted as Adam saw his alpha’s eyes begin to glow; his wolf’s interest must have been piqued.

  “Our magic doesn’t just connect us with that single chord that we can see through our mind's eye,” he continued. “It wraps itself around, through, and deep into every part of them. It’s completely set apart from the wolf magic that binds true mates, and it can’t be turned off. But, if it’s never revealed, it can be hidden. The fae has to want for their mate to feel it.”

  Decebel frowned. “Why would a mate hide it?” His voice was filled with indignation at Adam’s words.

  Elle spoke before Adam could answer. “Because it’s not like the wolf bond where you can shut down parts of it. Once we allow that magic to reveal itself, there is no closing it.” Sorin stepped closer to her, and she leaned into him. “The wolf mate can block it, but we”—she motioned to herself and Adam—“we will forever remain laid bare before our mate. Past, present, future. Shame, joy, pain, love, passion, hate, all of it for our mates to see.”

  The room was quiet, except for the groan of pain that came from where Lucian sat.

  Fane looked at Adam. “First, what does that bond have to do with why Crina and Elle seem to think Peri is still alive? And second, why aren’t you in agreement with them, considering you are a fae who knows what they do?”

  “After Lucian left Peri’s house, Crina demanded we follow him,” he replied.

  “Of course she did,” Decebel mumbled.

  “When we caught up with Lucian, he was on the ground.” Adam’s eyes met Elle’s as he continued. “He was covered in blue fire.”

  Adam watched as dawning realization lit Elle’s face and then fear quickly replaced it.

  “What?” Fane growled. “What does the blue fire mean?”

  “Blue fire, which is actually called cold fire, is something only a high fae can produce. The only thing I can compare it to is something similar to what a djinn can do, though not quite on that scale.” Adam’s chest tightened as he forced out the words. He didn’t want to say them out loud because it would make the possibility of what happened true. If it was true, the consequences would reverberate through the supernatural community and possibly cause serious division. “There’s no control over what the power destroys. The devastation is absolute, and like any magic, there is a price for its use.”

  “The price?” Fane asked.

  Adam swallowed as he took the hope that he knew his mate so desperately wanted. “Her life.”

  * * *

  Elle didn’t want to hear the words Adam spoke. She didn’t want to think that Peri would make such a rash decision, but then Peri had not been in her right mind since the alpha pair died. In her twisted, broken psyche, she probably thought she’d been doing the right thing.

  “Why the hell would she do that?” Decebel growled. “You’re saying that she not only killed members of the Order in that compound, but everyone. Even those like Tenia and her son, who weren’t there out of loyalty? She killed innocent people?”

  “Peri also sacrificed herself,” Elle snapped. “Do not make her out to be a villain.”

  “She made herself judge, jury, and executioner of people who didn’t deserve death. What should I call her?” Decebel asked.

  Elle laughed, the sound full of the derision she felt. “And tell me, wolf, how many have you killed that didn’t deserve it? How many in your long life have you decided the fate of?”

  Her words hung in the air like a streetlight illuminating the darkness that lived inside all of them.

  “She weighed the collateral damage,” Fane said, breaking the silence. His eyes appeared unfocused as he thought. “I imagine, in her mind, the death of a few, the sacrifice of some, was acceptable compared to the loss that would happen if the Order gained control if we were unable to defeat them.”

  “The cold fire,” Elle continued, needing to finish it, to get it all out there so she could get away and breathe. “Although we now know that a true bond can be broken, Lucian and Peri’s was not because—”

  “But he’s alive,” Decebel interrupted.

  “He’s alive because she never severed that bond,” Wadim said as he walked into the room, his mate Zara in tow.

  “That doesn’t make any sense.” Decebel rubbed at his forehead.

  “You’ve found something?” Fane asked the Romanian historian.

  * * *

  Wadim nodded. He looked at Elle, tilting his head forward. “Do you want to explain it?”

  Elle shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t understand it fully myself. Sorin and I … well … like the true mate bond, the fae bond is private. All I can really say is that there is more to it than what we’ve known.”

  “There is no real knowledge, obviously, on what the true mate bond is like between different species,” Wadim agreed. “So, I started digging into the bonds of other species. Though they’re not as common as with Canis lupus, that doesn’t mean they don’t happen. This cold fire you all were talking about; it doesn’t just destroy. It also protects.”

  Elle looked at Adam who looked as confused as she felt. This was something they’d never learned in regard to the deadly magic.

  Wadim continued. “But as with any magic, there are limitations and rules. From what I’ve found digging extensively into the fae history, when high faes mated, their magic basically knit them together.”

  “We got that part,” Decebel said, motioning with his hand for Wadim to move on.

  “This connection gave them abilities with their power toward one another that they don’t have with others. For instance, the cold fire. The high fae cannot control its intentions.

  “It is a last resort measure for the supernatural police, aka Fae, to use, and its purpose is to cleanse, like burning a forest to the ground in order to make it fertile again. The fire takes everything, the dead trees and the live ones. If the fae’s mate was in the vicinity of that destruction, they could be protected by the bond between them.”

  “But Lucian wasn’t anywhere near her,” Adam pointed out. “So, he should have died if their mate bond was still intact.”

  “Correct, and also no. At this point, I’m making an educated guess. The fae bond that Lucian and Peri shared, it superseded the true mate bond. And, therefore, Peri was literally able to protect him from the true mate bond that ties our lives to our mates. The cold fire, the magic that destroys with a ferocity that we have now seen, also protects just as fiercely the one who’s basically a part of the wielder.”

  “Is that why he was covered in flames?” Elle asked. “It was her magic manifesting in him?”

  “Based on the information I’ve found, then yes.” Wadim nodded and looked at the cell where Lucian sat. “What she used to wipe out the Order, she also used to protect her mate, by severing the mate bond before she died and could take him with her.”

  “So that’s it,” Crina asked, tears streaming down her face. “She’s really gone even though Lucian is alive?”

  Elle watched with disbelief filling her own mind. Adam pulled her into his arms, and she buried her face in his neck, her shoulders shaking as the reality finally hit.

  “I really want to tell you no,” Wadim said gently.

  “That’s not all,” Zara said quickly. She glanced at her mate who looked at her with pursed lips and narrowed eyes. She simply shrugged at him. “They should know everything. I don’t care that you said it was like a 0.0001 percent chance.”

  “Z, when there’s that many zeros, that’s not really a chance.” Wadim blew out a breath, causing his cheeks to puff out. Then he made a defeated motion with his hand as if to say, ‘go on, you will anyway.’

  “The other educated guess—” Zara began.

  “Educated is pushing it. This is more like a very, very weak hypothesis,” Wadim corrected.

  Zara rolled her eyes and kept going. “If the fae bond is able to save a true mate that’s still bonded, then could the same be true of a Canis lupus bond toward their fae mate?”

  Everyone in the room turned and looked at the small female. She didn’t seem intimidated in the least, which Elle found impressive considering all that she’d been through. She’d not lost her fight, and now she stood here, willing to fight for someone else she considered as pack.

  Elle glanced back at the cell and saw that Lucian’s head had lifted just enough that she could see his glowing eyes. His wolf’s attention homed in on Wadim’s mate with an almost scary intensity.

  “You think that Lucian’s wolf magic, which creates the bond between mates, could have saved Peri?” Fane asked.

  Zara walked toward the cell as she answered him. “I think, after everything I’ve seen and experienced, that anything is possible.” Elle watched as Zara wrapped her hands around the bars of the cell. Wadim moved to stand behind her, but he didn’t attempt to pull her away. “Who’s to say that the true mate bond didn’t protect Peri from her own magic?” Zara asked.

  “If she was still alive, I would know.” Lucian’s broken voice spoke for the first time since they’d brought him to the cell. “I would feel something, the fae bond or the true mate bond. I would feel it.” He shook his head. “I feel nothing.”

  “Try harder,” Zara said softly. “You’re afraid that if you try, then you won’t find her. If you don’t try, then you can keep on hoping that she somehow survived. Hope isn’t a state of being, Lucian. Hope is active. It’s moving forward while things are unsure. It’s realizing that sometimes what we want won’t turn out, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something better coming. None of us can decide for you. You have to be the one willing to move.”

  Elle felt tears running down her cheeks as she stared at the male, the only one who might be able to tell them if Peri was still with them. She wanted to shake him and force him to search inside of himself for the bond. Even if it was a frail, tiny strip, that would be something.

  Lucian shook his head. “Your hope is in vain, little wolf,” he said gently.

  Elle strode forward and slammed her hand against the bars of the cell. “You aren’t even willing to fight for her, for you both?”

  * * *

  Lucian stared up at the two passionate females looking down at him. Zara’s eyes filled with so much compassion that it hurt simply to look at her. And Elle, one of Peri’s oldest friends, looked as if she was ready to shoot him. He’d welcome death. At least then the burden of the act would be lifted from himself and placed upon his nephew to carry out.

  After several minutes, he dropped his eyes back down and closed them. He tuned out all the voices around him and focused on the voice that was the only thing that brought him any peace. Her voice. He was imagining it, he knew it. He knew he was going mad, but he didn’t care. Lucian wanted one thing: his female.

  “Don’t let the darkness win,” the imaginary voice of his mate pleaded.

  Tears rolled down his cheeks as he clenched his teeth. “Too late.”

  * * *

  Fane realized they weren’t going to get through to his uncle, at least not while his grief was strong. All rational thought was gone. Standing there attempting to force him to contact his may-or-may-not-be-dead mate wasn’t going to accomplish anything. But there was something they could do that would hopefully get them close to bringing Kara, a different packmate, home.

  He motioned everyone in the room to follow him and didn’t wait to see if they would comply. When they reached the main hall, he stopped and spoke to Andora. “Will you please be sure he is fed? You won’t be able to force him to eat. But maybe somewhere inside of him is the will to live, if for no other reason than to really know for sure if she’s gone.”

  “We will take care of him,” Andora promised.

  Fane nodded his thanks and then headed for the group of warriors—wolves, fae, elves, and a few sprites—that stood in a group. When he reached them, they all turned to face him. “We have many battles to fight, but for now, our main focus is getting Kara back.” Rumbles of agreement surrounded him. “As far as I’m concerned, there will be no mercy.” Fane’s wolf rose to the surface. “We will search until Nick’s mate is safely at his side and the Order is completely snuffed out.” He looked at each warrior before him; each of them dropped their eyes. When he reached Nick, Fane nodded his head in respect at the male. “The hunt begins now.”

  Epilogue

  “Life begins with a cry. It begins with pain. And it begins with blood. And even with these things that seem negative, life still begins with hope. Who’s to say that death is any different? It ends with a cry, possibly with pain and blood. But there is still hope.” ~Perizada

  * * *

  “Is this a dream?”

  Titus looked up from his coloring book at the sound of a boy's voice. He set down his green crayon and turned so that he faced the newcomer.

  “I’m asleep,” Titus told him. “But I don’t know if it’s your dream or my dream.” He tapped his chin. “It could be both our dreams, and we’ve somehow combined them together in another dimension where dreams are woven and shared.”

  The boy’s brow rose, and his eyes widened. “Is that really a thing? Dreams in another dimension?”

  Titus shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. My aunt Jen said my dreams are creepy and can’t possibly be from this realm. She also said that she thinks I’m an alien sent to drive her insane while my alien buddies look down on us and laugh from outer space.”

  The boy folded his arms around himself and glanced around the room. “Your aunt Jen sounds crazy.”

  “Oh, she’s nuts.” Titus nodded. “But she has a good soul.” He stood and walked over to the boy and held out his hand. “I’m Titus. What’s your name?”

  The boy hesitantly reached out and took the offered hand, giving it a quick shake. “I’m Torion.”

  Titus grinned. “Oh, snap, you have a T name. Aunt Jen is going to butcher it. She has some weird need to call me every T name she can think of, except my actual name.”

  “I don’t think I want to meet your aunt.” Torion took a small step back.

  “Not many people do. The key is learning what things drive her crazy and then doing those things over and over again.” Titus watched as Torion shifted on his feet, seeming unsure of whether he should take Titus seriously. Titus looked around and realized they were in Titus’s room, which, he assumed, meant this must be his dream. “Where are you from, Torion?”

  “I was with the Order,” he answered. “Do you know who they are?”

  Titus nodded. “They get talked about a lot here. They’re bad, bad people.”

  “They are.”

  “So, you aren’t with them anymore?” Titus asked.

  Torion shook his head. “The fae I drew destroyed them.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I was there,” Torion said, and to Titus’s surprise, the boy’s bottom lip began to shake, and his eyes filled with tears. “My mom went to try and stop her. She told me to stay with Skender, but then an angel told me I had something important I needed to do.” Torion shook his head as his words came out faster. “She gave me these stones and told me I needed to give them to the fae named Perizada.”

  Titus stepped close at the sound of the high fae’s name. “Where was Peri?”

  “She was at the compound. I drew her. Her power, it was so strong, too strong. I told the angel that I couldn’t help, that I’m just a kid, and I’ve only just begun to learn about my powers.”

  “What did the angel say to that?” Titus asked, but then he felt the warmth of the angel just before she appeared before them.

  “I told Torion that none of my children are too young or too old to be my hands and feet. It is often the young who are able to step out on faith and move mountains because they haven’t been sullied by the cynicism of life. They’re simply curious about how they can help.”

  “But I didn’t help.” Tears rolled down Torion’s face. “I told her what you said. I tried to give her the stones, but she didn’t stop. And my mom—” He choked on his sobs, and the boy's grief was so strong that Titus wanted to weep with Torion. “My mom was there. I heard her. And then there was blue fire everywhere. Perizada, the fae, wrapped me in her arms, and I squeezed my eyes shut because I was afraid. When I opened them again, I was here.”

  The angel sat down on the floor, her flowing white robe laying perfectly around her. She motioned for Titus to join her and then held out her hand to Torion. He must have felt the same peace and safety that Titus always felt when the angel visited because Torion ran to her and threw his arms around her. He buried his face in her neck, and his body shook with sobs. Titus understood that kind of pain. He’d spent many lonely days and nights dealing with the terror of what had happened to him and with the fear of what would become of him.

  He reached over and patted his new friend, hoping the boy knew he wasn’t alone. He was no longer surrounded by the blue fire. He was safe in the arms of the angel.

  “Precious, Torion,” the angel said, her voice full of love. “You did not fail. You did exactly as I asked. The rest is up to me.”

  “But my mom,” he cried. “She’s gone. She’s gone, and I’m all alone.”

  “Not alone, child. You are never alone. I am with you always. But I have also given you a protector, a friend, and a father.”

  Torion sniffled and pulled his head back from her shoulder. He swiped his hand across his eyes. “Skender?” he whispered.

  The angel nodded. “And now you have Titus as well. He is a fierce friend and a loyal champion. You will be brothers, not in blood, but as kindred spirits. And through you both, I will do great things.”

  Titus watched as two tears ran down her face. She let them fall into her palm and then closed her fingers around them. When she opened her hand, two crystals laid in her palm, each attached to a black cord. “You both have endured much darkness. But I have been with you. And every tear you’ve cried, I have wept more because I love you both.