“Not a scratch, Fane. I didn’t mate you simply because you’re my true mate. You’re also pretty to look at,” his mate said into his mind. He knew she was attempting to distract him and take some of the pain that was leaching into his heart because he had to take a life.

  Fane used their bond to caress her face. “No worries, Luna. I wouldn’t dare allow them to damage your favorite eye candy.” He felt her love and took comfort in knowing that she was his. He wasn’t facing each of these wolves with only his pack’s moral support, but also the support of his true mate. His stomach turned as he realized that if any of these opponents were mated, and he killed them, he also had the blood of their mates on his hands. He didn’t let himself dwell on that sickening realization. Fane didn’t have time to because the wolf had crossed the boundary. It threw back its head in a howl of challenge.

  So be it. Fane phased again.

  Chapter

  Six

  “There’s something to be said for not knowing what you’re missing. You might think that you want something, but then when that desire is at your fingertips, just out of your reach... It’s then you realize that you’d have been better off not even knowing it existed.” ~Tenia

  * * *

  “I’m sick of crazy-ass humans.” Myanin grumbled as they stood outside yet another prison. “They seem to get crazier by being stuck inside a building filled with other crazy-ass humans. And I say that in the least judgmental way that I can. I mean, we both know that supernatural beings can go crazy, too.”

  Tenia shot her friend a look. “Yes, we do.”

  Myanin snorted. “Your sarcasm is not lost on me.”

  “Good,” Tenia said. “That means you’re making progress. You’re transforming from an oblivious djinn to a worldly one.”

  Myanin frowned. “I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”

  Tenia shrugged. “Nope, but I’m too tired to think of a compliment.” It had only been fifteen hours since they’d flashed from the Order compound with their last batch of crazy-ass humans, as Myanin called them. Though it wasn’t physically an issue, it was mentally exhausting.

  “But really,” Myanin continued. “Maybe they should consider some other form of treatment for their prisoners.”

  “What treatment would you recommend for these criminals?” Tenia asked. She knew this small talk was only their vain attempt to put off the inevitable. They needed to go in, gather twenty or so humans, and take them back. They figured out if they took too many at once it became harder to keep up the whole “fake virus thing” that Alston had planted into the minds of the human leadership. As it was, some of the humans were beginning to question if it was indeed a virus that was making inmates disappear. Specifically, family members of those inmates. Alston had claimed to be taking the prisoners mostly from outside of the United States, but from what she and Tenia had experienced, almost all of their future fodder had been from US prisons.

  The two fae standing on either side of them shifted restlessly, but both women ignored them.

  “Are you going to answer my question or just keep glowering at the building?” Tenia asked.

  “Something a little more permanent and definitely more effective,” Myanin offered.

  The male fae, whose name was Trigger—yes, the name was ridiculous, and Myanin had told him so even before Tenia could form the words to tell her not to—turned to look at the djinn. “Do you know of such a treatment?”

  Myanin nodded. Tenia grinned because she knew what her friend was about to say. “It’s called stabization. It’s not new. It’s actually been around for centuries.”

  Trigger frowned. “I’ve never heard of it.”

  “For the love of fae flowers,” Tenia muttered and rolled her eyes.

  “I could show you right n—” Myanin began but Tenia cut her off.

  “We’ve got prisoners to deliver.”

  “You are the sport of spoils.” Myanin huffed.

  Tenia laughed. “It’s called spoilsport, and yes, I am.” One thing she could say for Myanin was that she kept Tenia’s mind busy and mostly off of her own inner turmoil. The djinn, though repentant of her past and truly embracing the path she’d chosen, was still just as crass and abrasive as when Tenia had first met her. But Tenia understood the djinn a little better now. She understood that Myanin’s rough exterior was a defense mechanism, the way the djinn dealt with her emotions. Tenia wasn’t sure how she dealt with her own emotions, other than simply ignoring them until they grew so large they overwhelmed her.

  “Shall we?” Trigger motioned toward the building, sounding more like they were going in for a meal and not to round up violent criminals, who would then be turned to even more violent criminals. Her gut clenched at the thought of what they were helping the Order build. It wasn’t as though she had a choice, but she wished there was a choice. Wasn’t there always supposed to be a choice? No, not this time. The only choice was whether her son would live or die, and that was no choice at all. If she had to make an army of bloodsuckers out of every prisoner in North America to save Torion, then that’s exactly what she would do.

  “Are you all right?” Skender’s voice suddenly filled her mind, and she could feel his worry coming through the bond. It was disturbing to feel someone else’s emotions inside of her. They seemed to magnify her own. “Tenia?” he asked when she didn’t answer after a few moments.

  “I’m fine.” Her tone was short even in her own mind, but her nerves were just too raw when it came to him. “How is Torion?”

  “He’s good,” Skender responded immediately. “He’s playing a game of chess with Zaire and winning spectacularly.”

  Tenia bit the inside of her cheek to keep the emotions from rising inside of her. Anger simmered at the knowledge she, his own mother, was not there to play games with her child. The anger mingled with sadness, knowing her son was held prisoner, essentially stuck in a cage that was the Order compound. Next came worry that something would happen to him while she was gone. Finally, and maybe most powerfully of all, fear that her son was growing too fond of the wolf who was supposed to be her mate. How would Torion feel when Skender was gone? Because she knew that was the only way this would end.

  Her heart pounded too hard in her chest, and her lungs were tight as she tried to draw in oxygen. “You’re sure we can trust Zaire and Owan?” she asked. They’d been his guards before Skender had taken over, and they always were very kind to Torion but, kindness didn’t equate to loyalty.

  “I’ve told them you are my true mate. Wolves are protective and possessive of their mates,” he said, obviously having picked up on her thoughts. “Better they know how serious I am in keeping you and Torion safe than do something that me or my wolf perceives as a threat. We would kill them without hesitation.”

  She’d been shocked that he’d told them. But not angry. To her surprise, it had made her feel that she and Torion finally had someone on their side, someone willing to sacrifice for them. How could she be angry about that? Once Skender shared this information with Zaire and Owan, they’d told him about the others who were allies with them within the Order that were being blackmailed the same as her, but she still found it hard to trust anyone. The thought that her son could be playing chess with one of Alston’s puppets threatened to shatter the thin protective barrier she’d been holding in place, the barrier that was required to put aside her anxieties about Torion while she did what was necessary to keep him safe.

  “Calm, female.” Skender’s soothing voice was like a warm blanket, wrapping around her and chasing away the cold. “Focus on your task. I promised you I would not let anything happen to him. I will kill anyone who attempts to harm him. And remind you of that fact as often as you need to hear it. You will be with him soon, and then he can beat you at chess.”

  “Tenia?”

  She blinked and turned her head to look up at Myanin.

  “You good?” There was a knowing look in the djinn’s eyes. Myanin knew that Skender was Tenia’s mate; she also was well aware that true mates in the Canis lupus race could speak through their thoughts because of the mate bond. The concerned look on her friend's face made it clear that Myanin knew or at least guessed that Skender had been speaking to Tenia.

  “I’m fine. I’m fine.” Tenia said the words out loud and sent them through the bond at the same time. She forced herself to push away her stifling anxiety. Then she did something she never thought she would be able to do after first meeting Skender—she took comfort in him and what he was promising her. Perhaps that was a foolish thing to do, but she was holding it together by a thread. If she had to lean on Skender’s strength for now to get her through what she had to do, then so be it.

  And what happens later? When he’s gone? Perhaps Torion isn’t the only one growing too fond of the wolf. She growled inwardly and pushed away the thought. Then she turned her attention outward to Myanin. The two male fae were looking at her as if she’d grown a second head. “Sorry,” she said. “Headache.”

  Nalor, the other male fae that had joined them narrowed his eyes on her. “We don’t get headaches.”

  “Really?” Myanin asked. “Because I’ve been around you for less than a day, and already I want to chop my own head off. Actually being you must be quite agonizing.”

  Tenia snorted and shook her head at her friend. The djinn had appointed herself Tenia’s protector, despite the fact that the djinn possessed no magic whatsoever. “Let’s just get this done.” Tenia grabbed Myanin’s hand and flashed them inside the building. Thanks to a set of blueprints in the Order’s possession, the internet, and some other computer imaging that she did not understand, she knew exactly where they needed to appear. It made things much quicker, though it did mean she and Myanin didn’t get to handpick the prisoners like they’d been doing before. At this point, her only thought was to get the job done so she could go back to her son. And Skender. The small voice in her mind spoke again. To her dismay, the voice sounded entirely too much like her own. Because it was her own. Because, apparently, she was an idiot.

  “You got your brain in the game?” Myanin bumped Tenia’s shoulder.

  “It’s ‘head in the game,’” Tenia told her. “And yes. I’m fully ready to rumble.”

  Myanin’s brow furrowed. “Why would you want to rumble? Do true mates to wolves take on their characteristics? Are you able to make your chest do that rumbling sound that wolves can do?”

  Tenia pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Thankfully, Trigger and Nalor had flashed to another part of the prison. “It’s a human saying, Mya.”

  “Mya?”

  “Myanin is too long. I’ve only got so much time in the day and using an additional second to say three syllables takes up too much of it.” Tenia glanced down the corridor. A couple of guards were walking back and forth across their assigned areas. Tenia was using a cloaking spell so the humans wouldn’t see them. It was taking more concentration than it should have.

  “So you shortened it to two syllables?” Myanin asked. “That doesn’t seem like much of an improvement in the use of your time. Why not one syllable?”

  “Want me to call you My?”

  Myanin’s face pinched up. “No, that just makes it sound like you’re a youngling that hasn’t learned how to speak properly.”

  “Nin?” Tenia said, trying to keep a straight face.

  “That sounds like some sort of bug.”

  “If the shoe fits,” Tenia sang.

  “What does a bug have to do with the size of my shoes?” Myanin followed Tenia as they walked toward the cells.

  The fae was trying hard not to laugh, but the djinn was so clueless it was hard not to. “How about Ann?” Tenia suggested. “That’s a human name. And it works since it’s literally within your own name: My-ann-in.”

  “It’s so plain,” Myanin muttered.

  Tenia glanced at the djinn from the corner of her eye. “And you need a fancy name because…” she asked, drawing out the last word.

  Myanin raised her brow. “I would think that’s obvious.” She motioned up and down her tall form. “I am not plain. I am…” She paused, apparently considering what she was going to say and then finally said, “…me. I am me.”

  Tenia tilted her head, fully giving her attention to her comrade. “You’re right. You do need a fancy name because there’s not a damn thing plain about you. And because I think so highly of you, I will give up my need to save two seconds of my time and say your full name.”

  Myanin bowed her head at Tenia. “Thank you.”

  “But I’m still going to make fun of you for your cotton candy addiction,” Tenia added.

  “Fair enough. I’m sure I’ll find something to make fun of you about.”

  They walked up to the first cell in a long row and looked at the two males laying on the bunk beds within. They were wearing prison-issued uniforms, a dull, green color that made their skin look pale and sickly. The man on the top bunk was reading a magazine with the picture of a car engine on the front. Sweat beaded on his bald head, and his eyes appeared vacant even as they ran over the pages of the magazine.

  The male on the bottom bunk was laying on his back with one of his arms flung over his face covering his eyes. His other hand was resting beside him on the bed, and his fingers were tapping restlessly against the brown blanket beneath him.

  “I’ve only been here a week, and I’m already going out of my mind,” the male on the bottom bunk said, breaking the silence of their cell.

  “Pretty sure you’re here because you were out of your mind before,” the man on the top bunk replied.

  “I didn’t do it,” the bottom-bunk man said.

  The bald man barked out a laugh. “That’s what we all say. And do you know why?” He continued before the bottom-bunk man could respond. “There’s no way we did what we’ve been accused of doing because there’s no way we can see ourselves rotting in this place year after year.”

  Tenia’s lips drew downward. “Hmm,” she said quietly, though the males wouldn’t hear her if she had spoken normally. “That’s oddly insightful for a prison inmate.”

  “And true.” Myanin’s voice was full of regret and understanding. Tenia glanced up at the djinn. Pain filled her eyes as she stared at the men.

  “Thank goodness for grace.” Tenia reached over and patted Myanin’s arm.

  “What about them?” Myanin motioned toward the cell. “Where’s their grace?”

  “That’s between them and their Creator.”

  Myanin didn’t respond right away. After several minutes, she simply nodded. “Let’s get this done. I’m tired.”

  Tenia took her hand and flashed them into the cell. She released the djinn and then placed a hand on both males. Myanin laid a hand on Tenia’s back, and then she flashed them again, this time taking the two prisoners with them. When they reappeared, the four of them were standing in a fenced yard outside the Order’s Arizona compound.

  “What took so long?” Trigger asked. He and Nalor were standing there with ten other prisoners.

  “I had to use the facilities,” Myanin snapped. “Is that okay, or do you need to take notes for Alston of every little move we make? If so, then you can add this move to your journal.” Myanin lifted her middle finger at the male, a human gesture that Tenia had learned the djinn liked way too much.

  “And on that note…” Tenia grabbed Myanin’s raised hand. “We’ll let you guys handle this group and go get some more. Peace out.” She flashed them away from the pissed-off glare of Trigger.

  “Peace out?” Myanin asked when they reappeared back in front of the same prison.

  “Heard it on a television show,” Tenia admitted.

  The djinn tapped her chin and narrowed her eyes. “I like it, but you need to add the word bitch to the end. ‘Peace out, bitch.’ It sounds much tougher.”

  Tenia laughed and shook her head. “I’ll remember that the next time I have the opportunity to use it.”

  “I’ll make fun of you if you don’t.”

  “I would expect nothing less.” Tenia held out her arm. “Let’s get a couple dozen more and then call it a day. Alston can bitch if he wants. I’m tired, and I want to see my son.”

  “Stabization would work on him, too, you know,” Myanin pointed out.

  “It’s tempting,” Tenia acknowledged.

  “No.” Myanin shook her head. “It’s inevitable. And it will be my blade that stops his evil heart.”

  Chapter

  Seven

  “How the hell did I wind up here? It’s a question I’ve asked myself over and over again. On the outside I am calm, collected, and focused, but inside I'm screaming. I am raging over my own choices. I want to go back. I want to make better choices. I want to undo all the pain I’ve caused. I want to be worthy … worthy of her. But I’m not. I’m not sure that I ever was, but now I know that I never will be.” ~Skender

  * * *

  Skender felt her before he saw her. His breath rushed out of him knowing that she was back, that she was safe. The minute Tenia rounded the corner of the corridor, he drank her in. She had her light blonde hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail, though wisps of it had escaped and framed her face. Her green eyes were dull, and the dark circles beneath them punctuated the exhaustion that seemed to hang on her like a dirty shawl. Though her small shoulders were pulled back in a gesture of defiance, to Skender it looked as though they carried the weight of the world. Her petite frame was not meant to bear such burdens. As her mate, he was supposed to be the one to help her, or take them from her when he could. Instead, he was merely doing his best not to add to her burdens.

  She stopped several feet away from him, just out of arm's reach but close enough that Skender could breathe in her scent. His wolf sighed in contentment and relief. There was no smell of blood or death on her. “You are well?” he asked. Though he could see she was physically fine, he hoped she might give him some sense of what was going on inside. His need to take care of her was overwhelming and only growing stronger. Her eyes were downcast now, and he didn’t like being unable to see them.