She jolted. “Luna?”
“Hmm.” Something like a chuckle rumbled from his chest. “Yes. Luna, the fierce little moon. Not frightened of me in the least.”
Oh. That’s… Oh.
Heart speeding up, she spared a glance back at Magnus, raising her voice just a little. “It’ll take more than this to send me screaming.”
Brand pressed his brow to hers, careful not to catch her with his horns. “Trust me”—his gaze flicked down to her lips beforemeeting hers again—“this will not be the form I take when I finally make you scream.”
“Oh… my…” Lunara blinked rapidly.
“Aye, about that.” Magnus cleared his throat. “Did I forget to mention that he goes a bit feral like this? Now you know. Sisters be with you.”
Brand slapped a hand to the ground with a growl, magic snaking out. The earth lurched in a wave and slammed into Magnus, sending him flying for a few feet before he crashed down.
Lunara’s smirk was wicked, even as her thoughts tangled.
Maybe… if Brand could be trusted…
Maybe even the Council would hesitate.
“Alright,” Magnus grumbled as he stood and brushed himself off. “Go ahead and get it in while you can. I’ll be waiting when you shrink back, you wee shite.”
Brand huffed and rose to his full height. “May I pick you up, little moon? I would keep you safe, but the choice is yours.”
He… remembers?
Sisters above. All the madness around them, the threat to their lives, and all she could think was that she wanted to keep him.
Dangerous. So dangerous.
When she nodded, he bent and scooped her into his arms with a hum of satisfaction, adjusting her until she was settled in the crook of one elbow.
“Hedda will not wake up without me willing it,” she said. “A good thing, for now, but… if the worst should happen, find Cordelia the Firebane. She’ll know what to do.”
Magnus’s hands balled into fists. “Come back, and I won’t have to.” His voice was tight, a shade of itself. “Please. Be careful.”
Brand stared at his brother for a long moment before walking them to the edge of the chasm. He stopped just shy of the drop and reached out. A flat section of earth rumbled forth, then another, and another, forming a series of platform steps along the cliffside until they disappeared into the darkness.
He hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to him, eyes boring into hers. “Ready?”
The way he looked at her, almost worshipful. It was… everything, she realized.
Everything the Council had stolen from her all those years ago when they’d chosen a monster over her parents. Power, over the safety of Nachthelliae. All of the potential in that look—the unspoken promises, the glimpse of a future—just out of her reach.
Because of them.
Lunara stole a precious, fleeting moment to memorize the perfection and pretend she could have it forever—and then she tucked it away, knowing it could never be anything more than a dream.
Especially if the Veil awaited them. Their end.
“I’m ready.”
She laid her hands to his bare chest and a kaleidoscope of radiant light flowed, spreading out and over their bodies. The shadows closest to them cringed away from the shield, recoiling and hiss?—
A faraway scream echoed up from the deep.
Male. Pained.
