“You don’t know—”
“Yes, I do. They’ve convinced Gall that he’s king. And Gall is afraid all the time. He’s my mate, Lani. I can’t leave him.”
I wasn’t even pretending to clean her anymore. “Istral,” I said, my voice shaking. “This is a very dangerous place. You can’t—”
“I can’t leave him!” she insisted shrilly, then cast around the room like she was looking for a way out. “I can’t, Lani. He’s mine and I’m his and—”
“It's okay, Izzy. I wasn’t trying to—”
“—you don’t understand. He won’t survive unless I’m with him.”
“I don’t know about that—Gall would be very sad if you left, but he willlive.”
“No, Lani, he won’t. And I won’t live without him, either. We both die if the other… if the other leaves.”
I frowned. She didn’t say the words like they were a metaphor. Istral had always been very literal. My already pounding heart quickened. “Izzy… what are you saying?”
Istral frowned and looked around again. “I don’t know how to say… it’s just…hedid it.”
“Did what, Izzy?” I breathed, terrified. Nothing prepared me for her reply.
“He did that dark magic,” she whispered. “If I leave, Gall’s heart will stop. And if he leaves me, mine will. We have to stay together. Both of us. Forever. Otherwise…”
“Otherwise?” I prompted her, my stomach churning.
“Otherwise, he wins,” she whispered, leaning closer to me, her eyes clear of any attempt at deceit. She was afraidI wouldn’t believe her. “You can’t let him win, Lani.You can’t!”
“Him…” I murmured. “Lucifer?”
“Yes! Who else would I mean?”
I braced myself. “Well, Gall has changed a great deal since—”
Istral began shaking her head, faster and faster, her lips pursing. “No.No,Lani. That’s not Gall.”
“Izzy… I watched him hurt people.”
She kept shaking her head, her eyes shadowing with disapproval. “That’s not my Gall.”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
Her brows pinched down over her nose again and her lips grew thin—the frustrated face she made when she struggled to find the words for what she felt. “He’s not…thatGall. The one you see… he’s notmyGall,” she whispered. “The Gall you brought for me. He’s here, Lani. He’s still my… my sweet Gall.”
I swallowed all the protests that rose in my throat, and took a deep breath. “Izzy… has Gall—the other Gall—has he hurt you?”
Istral drew back like I’d slapped her. “No! No, he would never—”
“You said—”
“He’s notmyGall, but he wouldn’t… he doesn’t… he’s justcold,Lani.”
For now,I thought, though relief washed through me that at least so far, it seemed Gall hadn’t used this new power against her.
I stood before her, head spinning, heart in my throat. Was it possible she’d been deceived about thisspellthat kept them tied to each other? Both she and Gall could be persuaded to believe fearful things. But this was also Lucifer. He appeared entirely capable of placing some kind of power over them.
Of all the things I’d planned for, this hadn’t even occurred to me.
“Izzy—”
