When she finally wrenched her lips away with a gasp, Gage’s eyes glowed wolf bright with desire and triumph. They had done it. She was stronger. Katy knew the feeling was probably only temporary, but it was amazing. She touched her unblemished throat in awe, then threw her arms around him. “It worked! I feel like myself again instead of some puny waif.”
Gage cupped her face as though she were infinitely precious. “It won’t last forever,” he warned her. “You’ll have to drink from me when you begin to weaken again.”
Her brow went up. “And you’re saying that like it’s a bad thing because…” Then a thought hit her. “Was it not good for you?” Her skin flushed. “Because it was amazing to me. Granted, it’s not like I have any experience in the physical sense when it comes to being with a man intimately. So I would totally understand if you weren’t into it. I mean, we don’thaveto do it again.”
Suddenly, he growled at her, cupping her face in his large hands. He claimed her mouth fiercely then. Moments later, when he surfaced for air, he met her stare. “You are mine now, bound forevermore. And I am absolutely yours. And what just happened between us is the most incredible thing I have ever felt. If it were up to me, we’d never leave this bed. We’d exchangeblood like a couple of horny vampires and live only off each other.”
Katy burst into laughter at his description. “Horny vampires? Does anyone else see this side of you, or am I the only lucky one?”
“I’ll deny ever saying that.” Gage pressed his lips to first her right cheek and then her left. “No one would believe you anyway.”
He wasn’t wrong. Even though she’d only known Gage a short time, it was very clear that the only version of him the rest of the world saw was the serious, broody, grumpy-pants Gage.
“So now what?” Katy sat up and reached her arms over her head, stretching, feeling every vertebra in her spine popping. Her muscles seemed to awaken after a long slumber, and it was nice to feel whole, instead of like a shadow of herself.
“Now we get some much-needed sleep.” He stroked her hair, and she practically purred under his attention. The last thing she wanted to do was sleep. But Katy also knew she wasn’t quite ready to go further in their relationship, no matter how hot her mate was. So sleep it was.
Gage chuckled. “We have a lifetime for that, Little Wolf,” he told her, having picked up on her amorous emotions.
“I’m going to have to get that shit under control because that is embarrassing,” Katy muttered as she laid her head on his chest and soaked in his warmth. “Night, GPG.”
“GPG?”
She yawned. “Grumpy-pants Gage.”
This brought another laugh, and Katy wanted to be the cause of his laughter and smiles. She hoped she alone would always be the one who put a spark of joy in his eyes.
Gage knew he was dreaming. He stood beneath a towering oak, its branches spreading wide to shade the still glade. He recognized this place, though he hadn’t been here in half a decade. At one time, he had wandered here often over the long, lonely centuries. Now, a sense of peace wrapped around him like the forest’s gentle silence.
“Welcome, my son.”
The rich voice resonated through Gage’s very soul. He turned slowly, reverence rising within him.
A being of light stood amidst the trees, rays of dawn radiating from his form. Gage kept his eyes lowered, unworthy of looking directly upon infinite grace.
“Visata.” He breathed out, dropping to one knee. “I await your guidance.”
A warm touch on his shoulder bid him rise. As Gage stood, the Creator spoke again in an enveloping tone.
“You have done well, following the whisperings of your spirit. But your mate’s trial is not yet passed.” Compassion filled Visata’s voice. “Her generous heart still cries out for those in need.”
Gage’s shoulders bowed beneath the remembered helplessness. “She believes her life must be forfeit to save two strangers. I cannot dissuade her from that righteous path.” Anguish roughened his words.
“You speak truth. Her compassion would drive her even to sacrifice for strangers.” A gentle hand cupped Gage’s jaw, guiding his eyes up to meet the Creator’s radiant form. “But she walks alone no longer.”
Gage shuddered out a breath. “I will give all that I am to protect her. But how can I stand against her conscience?”
“By helping redeem another’s.” Visata’s touch filled Gage with courage. “The time has come. The snake queen lingers in darkness, her hope smothered by cruelty. Seek her out andoffer mercy without judgment.” His piercing eyes held Gage transfixed. “Show her that light still dwells within her heart despite the shadows.”
Staggering beneath this revelation, Gage grasped the Creator’s words like a lifeline. “We will find the queen and help her walk in your ways again.” He hesitated. “But the Council…” Gage didn’t need to say that he wasn’t sure if he should trust all the shaman, not when they still weren’t sure which kingdoms were in league with Azure.
“Trust in me over any other voice.” Visata’s gaze bore into him. “Keep your task hidden for now. Seek only truth.”
The vision faded even as Gage cried out, desperate for more time, for more clarity. But the Creator’s parting words echoed through his soul.
“Lead my lost daughter home from the chaos she’s found herself in, Gage. For only one well acquainted with darkness can show her the way back to light.”
Gage woke with a gasp, his heart racing. Certainty filled him along with hope. They would seek out Zeena as Visata bid, and, perhaps through her, find the path that would spare Katy.
