Jacque placed a hand over her mother’s hand where it rested on the bed next to her. She squeezed, hoping to reassure Lilly that she wasn’t as weak as she looked.

  “I’m feeling all sorts of emotions coming from you, Luna.” Fane’s voice filled her mind. Jacque was surprised it had taken him so long to contact her. She’d attempted to tamp down the bond, but she didn’t have the strength it took to keep him out. “Peri was there?” He no doubt picked the image of the high fae from her memories. “She’s alive?”

  “Briefly and apparently so,” Jacque answered. “She was here long enough to show us she is alive and give us an obscure riddle. We’re working through that right now.” She explained to him about the fae stones and what was about to happen. A moment later, he stood next to her with Adam at his side. From the corner of her eye, Jacque noticed several people startle and a few more cuss under their breath. She didn’t think any of them would ever get used to people just popping in and out unannounced.

  “Nissa,” Fane said, his eyes on Jacque. “Is this going to work?”

  “I don’t know."

  “That’s pretty much the going answer for any question asked,” Heather offered.

  “But it’s worth a try,” Nissa said.

  “What’s the worst that could happen?” Anna asked.

  “That’s a question we never ask,” Jen told her. “It’s like poking a bear while it hibernates, thinking it won’t wake up.”

  “Noted,” Anna said.

  One by one, the healers laid their hands on Jacque. The healer sprites had entered the room while Fane had been getting an answer, or non-answer as it were, and each laid a hand on the healers gathered around Jacque’s bed, Cindy included. Nissa also walked over and placed her hand on Jacque’s head.

  “Wait,” Nissa said quickly then flashed. A minute later, she returned with Rachel.

  “Good call.” Jen nodded.

  Rachel joined the group as Sally quickly filled her in on what was taking place. Rachel pursed her lips and took and released a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”

  Sally began speaking in the language that Jacque had heard many times when her friend had used her healing magic. One by one, the other healers joined in, and soon the room was filled with the sound of their chanting. Warmth flowed over Jacque’s head and began to move down her body. It felt like warm liquid, though not water. This was something thicker. It flowed downward, filling her chest, which had been chilled to the bone, with a soothing warmth. Her stomach felt as if she’d drank hot chocolate, then her legs felt as if a warm blanket had been laid over her. All the way to the bottom of her feet, Jacque felt cocooned in the warmth. She started to relax for the first time in two weeks.

  Jacque let out a contented sigh. She wanted to stay wrapped in the coziness, but just as she had the thought, the warmth began to increase in temperature. Slowly, steadily, she became hotter and hotter until the sensation was no longer pleasant. In a matter of several breaths, her body began to feel as if a fire had been lit inside her veins, and she was burning from the inside out. She tried to scream, but nothing would come out of her throat. Her body tensed, and then she felt her back arch.

  “What the hell is happening?” Jacque heard Jen’s voice bark.

  “I have no idea,” Nissa answered.

  “Take your hands off of her,” Lilly said, her voice frantic.

  “I can’t,” Sally cried.

  “I can’t either,” Stella said. The other healers made sounds of agreement.

  “Luna!” Fane’s voice reached out to her through their bond, but it sounded far away. Why was he so far away?

  This is why they never asked what's the worst that could happen. Apparently, the worst that could happen was Jacque burning to ash internally.

  Chapter

  Five

  “She’s alive. She’s alive. The words were a mantra in my mind as my wolf howled inside of me. She’s alive, and come hell or high water, I will have her back at my side no matter what she thinks she wants. She needs me every bit as much as I need her.” ~Lucian

  * * *

  “Where are we?” Lucian asked Disir as he glanced around the forest surrounding them. The beauty of their environment was a stark contrast to the Dark Forest where Lucian had been mentally sequestering himself. This one was full of life and light. He heard the sounds of birds chirping and wind rustling through the leaves of the trees. Light from the sun filtered down through the branches, illuminating the place where they stood.

  The high fae stepped toward two large trees that stood several feet apart. About ten feet from the ground, leafy vines grew together, bridging the trees and forming an archway. “The veil to the draheim realm,” Disir answered. He lifted his hand and held it up to the space between the two trees. The air rippled as if still water had been disturbed. “I can feel her power,” Disir said, “but it’s weak.”

  Lucian stepped closer to the veil, and for a brief second, he felt her. His wolf instinctively reached for her through the bond, but there was nothing attached to the end of it. The cord that had once attached them was cut and frayed at the end. It felt the same as earlier when he’d been in the sprite stronghold. He’d sensed her presence enough that he’d known she’d been there, but the feeling had only lasted long enough for him to make his way to the room where the group had been gathered. By the time he'd arrived, she was gone, along with her magic. “She’s in the draheim realm?”

  “Looks that way,” Disir said.

  “Why?” Lucian couldn't imagine a reason his mate might have traveled to the realm of the great beasts. If she’d been able to come to the sprite realm, then she wasn’t the draheim’s prisoner. They would have kept her from flashing. She must be hiding in the realm, and they hadn't been alerted to her presence. A second, more disturbing, thought occurred to Lucian. Perhaps the beasts knew of Peri's presence and were tolerating her for some reason. He fought back a shudder.

  “It’s not the first time the draheim realm has been used for a fugitive to hide,” Disir pointed out. “Not only that, but at least two of the draheim worked with Volcan.”

  Lucian thought back to Volcan, the high fae turned traitor, and how he had hidden in this very realm to keep from being found by the Romanian pack and its allies. Peri wasn’t a traitor. Why would she hide?

  Lucian lifted his hand and pressed against the invisible veil. He snarled and jumped back when his hand was stung with unfamiliar power. He glared at Disir. “Why didn’t it zap you?”

  The high fae appeared as baffled as Lucian felt. “It always surprises me when other supernaturals think that we high fae know the answer to every question.”

  “Gee, I wonder if that's because the high fae always act like the biggest know-it-alls on the planet. Hiding yourselves away in your realm as if you’re too good to join the rest of us trying to deal with the evil of the world?” Lucian clenched his smarting hand and glanced down when he opened it. There was a dark, charred spot in the middle of his palm.

  “We should have gotten involved sooner,” Disir replied, surprising Lucian. “I can admit that it was wrong to expect the other supernaturals of the world to have to fight against enemies that, had they won, would have affected all of us.”

  Lucian supposed he should have said thank you for the man’s admission, but his hand was burning, his mate was just out of his reach, and graciousness was not an emotion he was able to muster at the moment. “Can you get through?” He motioned to the veil.

  Disir didn’t answer. Instead, he pushed his hand against the space between the trees, but his hand didn’t disappear through the veil. “Doesn’t appear so.”

  Lucian cursed under his breath. He walked over to a tree and pressed his back against it, then slid down until he sat on the warm ground. The smell of the air filled his lungs, and Lucian was reminded again just how different this place was from the Dark Forest. The air in his former prison was not refreshing or cleansing. It seemed to fuel the darkness inside of him. Only hours ago, he had wanted to stay in that darkness forever. A split second could change everything. Instead of sitting in the Dark Forest hoping for his mate to return to him, he sat by the draheim veil and hoped for the same thing.

  “You’re just going to sit there?” Disir asked.

  Lucian’s wolf growled in his mind. “You got a better idea?”

  Disir took a seat across from him, sighing and resting his head against the trunk of his own tree. “I feel like my answer should be yes, but honestly, the magic of the draheim is a mystery that few know the secret to. Getting into their realm is one of those mysteries.”

  Lucian ran through ideas in his mind, dismissing each one until something finally piqued his wolf’s interest. “What about the djinn?” The race was even more elusive than the fae, though as of late they’d stepped out of their own realm and began to involve themselves in what was happening in the human world. And they were powerful.

  Disir pulled his legs up until his feet rested on the ground and then draped his arms across them. His head tilted to the side as his eyes roamed around the forest. He seemed to be considering Lucian’s suggestion. After several minutes, the fae shrugged. “No harm in asking I guess. If anyone could help, it would more than likely be them.”

  “You go,” Lucian said. “I’m staying here. My wolf isn’t going to let me leave this spot even if I wanted to. We’re too close to her. Closer than we’ve been in a long time.”

  Disir nodded. Without a word, he flashed from the forest.

  Lucian’s eyes moved from where the high fae had just been and then stopped on the spot between the trees. To a human, the trees would simply appear as if the foliage of the forest had grown into a unique bow of trees and vines. They’d probably stand beneath it and take their picture—a selfie, Lucian had learned it was called—and be completely oblivious to the fact that the spot was a gateway to a world filled with dragons.

  His gaze bore into the space as if he would be able to see into the other side if he stared hard enough. Of course, he wasn’t able to. His jaw clenched, and Lucian tried to keep the tiny flame of hope burning inside of him. He thought it had been extinguished, but all it took was a second of feeling his mate’s power, and the spark reignited.

  “Why?” he asked through clenched teeth. He could feel emotion closing his throat and his eyes glazing over with moisture. “Why won’t you come back to me? Why won’t you choose me?”

  “He looks really sad,” Torion said.

  Peri glanced down at the fae child and then back at Lucian who sat just on the other side of the veil to the draheim realm. She’d felt her mate the instant he’d arrived. It had been instinctual to go to him, but she’d stopped herself just in front of the veil, not crossing over into the human realm. The fae boy had been pulling on her robe at the same time she’d flashed, and so he’d traveled with her.

  “Do you know him?”

  Peri sighed. “Why do you ask so many questions, child?”

  “Why do you refuse to call me by my name? I’ve told it to you like—"

  “A hundred times.” Peri wasn’t exaggerating.

  Torion huffed and stepped closer to the veil. “Do you know his name? And why can we see him but not hear him? Who was the other man? I mean, he’s obviously a fae, but I don’t know who he is. Do they work for the Order? Are they—”

  “Do you want me to answer any of your questions, or do you plan to just keep going until I get so annoyed with you that I freeze your vocal cords?” Peri was only half-joking. Okay, so she wasn’t joking at all. She would totally freeze the runt's vocal cords.

  “You haven't answered any of my questions yet. So, I figured it’s pointless to wait to see if you answer. Plus, if I keep going, you might get annoyed enough that you will finally answer one just to get me to shut up.” He turned to look up at her, a mischievous grin on his small face.

  “You remind me of another annoying boy I know,” Peri told him and then looked back at Lucian. He sat motionless; his eyes locked onto the veil. She knew he couldn’t see her, but it still felt as if he was looking straight at her, peering into her soul.

  “Titus?” Torion asked.

  Peri's eyes snapped back to him. “How do you know Titus?”

  “The angel took me to see him,” he answered as if the practice of the Great Luna whisking supernatural children around the world for playdates was a common occurrence. Then again, it did seem that the goddess held a special place in her heart for children.

  “Of course she did,” Peri muttered. She narrowed her eyes on Torion. “When did this happen?”

  “While I was asleep. Before I woke up and saw you in the cave.”

  “Did the angel say anything to you?” she asked.

  Torion nodded.

  “You’re not going to tell me what it was?”

  He shook his head.

  Peri sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why?”

  “I think it was just for me and Titus to know.” He looked proud of himself for keeping the secret.

  “Why do you think that?” Peri was getting tired of playing twenty questions, although it was a welcome change for her to be the one doing the interrogating.

  Torion rolled his eyes at her. “Because if she wanted you to know, she would have brought you with us.”

  It annoyed her when children made sense.

  “Does it have anything to do with that necklace around your neck?” Peri asked, motioning to the pendent.

  He shrugged. “Are we going to talk to him?” Torion pointed at Lucian.

  “No,” Peri said quickly.

  “You look at him the way my mom looked at Skender.” Torion's voice was soft as if the words were painful for him to admit.

  “And how is that?” she asked, her eyes still on her mate.

  “Like you love him.”

  Peri snorted, the sound full of derision. “What do you know about love, kid?”

  “Not a lot. But I know that it seems like grown-ups have a very hard time talking about it. And then when that person they love is gone, they regret they didn’t tell them. My mom told me all the time that she loved me.”

  “She never told Skender?”

  “I’m not sure. I never heard it.”

  Peri wasn’t about to tell the kid that the reason his mom probably hadn’t told Skender was because she might have found out about his checkered past. Not that she was judging. Okay, she was totally judging. Apparently, it made her feel a teeny bit better about her own shit choices.

  “But I think if they’d known what was going to happen to them, they would have said it a lot more,” Torion continued. “Now, all he can do is tell her and hope she hears him.” His voice softened as his shoulders fell forward. “All I can do is hope that she hears me, too.”

  Peri closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think about the last words she’d said to her mate. She didn’t want to remember the cruelty in them. Unable to look at Lucian any longer, she took Torion’s hand and flashed them back to the cliffside cave where they’d taken refuge in the draheim realm.

  Torion immediately hurried over to his mother’s side. Skender sat on the other side of Tenia, ever her sentinel, only leaving her if he had to. He reached across and placed a hand on Torion’s head. “Where did you go?”

  “To stare at a man Peri loves,” Torion said. “But she won’t tell him. She’s afraid.”

  Skender glanced at Peri and a world of understanding filled his eyes. “Love is a scary thing, Torion.”

  The boy looked at Skender, his jaw set. “It’s also rare. This kind of love.” He pointed to his mom and then to Skender. “I may be young, but even I know that this isn’t the kind of love you should fear. My mom told me when you love someone, you hold on tightly like she holds onto me.”

  Peri watched as Torion placed a small hand on her cheek and then pressed his forehead to hers. “I love you, Mom. I’m holding on tight, and so is Skender.”

  Peri looked at Skender and then the unconscious woman. There’d been no change in her condition since they’d been brought to the realm. Tenia remained still as stone, except for a slight rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. And Torion spoke the truth—he and Skender had been holding on tight.

  Peri turned away from the emotional scene and walked to the mouth of the cave. She sat down, her feet dangling off the edge and her eyes roaming over the landscape. This had been their refuge since Peri had set part of the world on fire. She watched as several draheim flew in the clear blue sky. Some merely glided, while others dived toward a huge lake where she knew they liked to bathe and hunt for food. They seemed so carefree. No worries, no heartache, no regrets weighing them down. Peri couldn’t remember a time in her long life that she felt that way. In fact, in all of her time alive, this was the worst she’d ever felt. Experiencing the great purge, the werewolf wars, Desdemona, Reyaz, her sister, Volcan… None of it compared to what she endured now. Perhaps obliterating the Order compound had been about more than just defeating their enemy.

  As she sat there opening the mental box she’d shoved her emotions into, she couldn’t deny the fact that there had been a sliver of peace that had taken root in her from knowing that her time on earth would be over. Over three thousand years of life. She’d watched the rise and fall of nations. The birth of new civilizations. Armies conquering others in the name of religion, greed, and overinflated egos. Peri had seen the earth endure the chaos of nature and all the awesome power the human Creator had given it. She had experienced some joy—moments of fleeting happiness that were gone in the blink of an eye. But the pain she’d experienced over the past months completely obliterated every ounce of happiness she’d ever felt.

  A tear rolled down her cheek, and she didn’t bother to wipe it away. She was tired of not allowing herself to grieve. It was time to give in to her desolation. Peri was so weary of being strong—if that’s what she could call her recent actions. She felt as if she’d been holding her breath since she’d watched Alina’s heart being ripped from her chest. “Shit.” Peri gasped as the images that would never leave her mind played again like a movie, one she’d wished she’d never watched. Alina’s determined stare, her set jaw, the sheer defiance written across her face as she met her attacker’s gaze and held it. There’d been no fear, only resolve.