Azure shook his head slowly as he slipped his hands into his pockets. “ThenI would kill you. Because you’d leave me no other option.” He narrowed his eyes on them and used hissuperior senses to taste the air, suck in the scents, and listen to their heartbeats and the blood flowing through their veins. Their hearts were beating slower than he liked, but they were fine in every way. The remaining piece of the puzzle was to capture the girl, Katy, so Marissa could refine the spell.
He turned and left the room without another word. Something was off inside of him. He was restless and agitated. As he walked back down the stairs, he stumbled.How ridiculous. He pulled himself upright and stood still for a moment, trying to get his bearings. Azure took slow breaths and searched inside of his mind, trying to locate the bond that tethered him to Zeena. He hissed as he realized there was no bond present. What the hell had his mate done?
Morning came much too early in Katy’s opinion. In less than half an hour, Gage had them up and back out on the streets of Vegas. As they walked toward the end of the busy street, Katy’s eyes caught on a sign that pointed down a set of stairs that would lead to a basement of the casino. On the sign was the word “Sin.”
She huffed out a tired laugh and pointed. “He literally told us the name of the club.”
Gage shook his head. “Now the question is, did he have a way to contact her and warn her we were coming?”
“Dude, you totally just popped my balloons for the parade.”
“What parade?” Gage held her hand while walking across the street.
“The one going on inside my head because, hopefully, we’re about to meet up with the best possible person to defeat Azure. And you just pop, pop, pop with your dose of reality.” Shenarrowed her eyes at him. “Keep that shit in check, Dire. I don’t like my emotion-driven parades messed with.”
Gage glanced at her with an almost smirk, because Gage’s face doesn’t move enough to have a full-blown smirk. “So what I’m hearing you say is that you’re hungry.”
Katy pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m going to kick you.”
Gage steered Katy away from the stairs indicated by the sign.
“What about…” She pointed back to the stairs.
“We’re not going in the front door,” Gage hoped she wouldn’t tear into him for not explaining why. She’d been quite testy all morning. He was so new to this mating thing, or even just having a female around, for that matter. It was definitely something that was going to take a willingness from both of them to communicate and work through the issues that they would no doubt have.
Gage guided Katy down the dingy back corridor of the casino, following his nose. At the end lay an unmarked door barely visible in the gloom. He exchanged a glance with Katy, seeing his own trepidation mirrored in her eyes. But they had come too far to turn back now.
With only a slight hesitation, Gage grasped the handle and pulled open the heavy door. Music and lights assaulted their senses as they stepped into the secret club below the main floor. Gage’s inner wolf bristled at the sensory overload, but he focused on keeping Katy close as they moved into the noisy space.
Despite the early hour, the club was lively, packed with supernatural beings drinking and dancing with abandon. Gage’s sharp eyes scanned the crowds, seeking one face among the chaos. Finally, in the farthest booth tucked out of sight, he spotted her. As they continued forward, he smelled her uniquescent mixed with the smell of pain, anger, and fear. Even in the dim lighting, the defeated slump to Zeena’s shoulders was obvious. Her glamour could not disguise the grief etched into the lines of her face.
Weaving through the press of bodies, he pulled Katy close behind him, forcing her to almost walk on his heels. Gage reached the booth and motioned for Katy to slide in across from the fallen queen, and then he slipped beside her. Zeena did not seem surprised to see them, merely lifting her glass in a weary greeting.
Up close, Gage could see past the thinning glamour to the wreck Azure had made of his regal mate. Dull scales covered gaunt cheeks, and lank hair fell limply to frame a pallid face. But her eyes still hinted at the formidable will lingering beneath the despair. That and the desperation to which she clung were her only allies. If they could get and keep her talking, perhaps the true queen could yet emerge.
“You found me at last, Dire Wolf.” Her voice was a broken echo of its former melodic tone. “I was told you were coming.”
His eyebrows went up.So, she’d received a visit from their Creator as well.Gage chose his words carefully, sensing Katy’s sympathy for this grieving female. “We only wish to stop Azure before more innocents are harmed.”
At the mention of her mate’s name, Zeena flinched. She tossed back the remains of her drink before meeting their eyes. “Then you and I both seek the same end.”
Katy reached tentatively across the table to touch Zeena’s hand. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” At the Queen’s sharp glance, she amended, “The loss of the mate youknew, I mean.”
Zeena’s jade eyes shimmered with tears. “You have a gentle soul, young one, to pity me so.” With a shuddering breath, she gripped Katy’s hand. “Visata was wise to choose you. It takes tremendous courage to do the work of a Dire Wolf.”
Gage leaned forward intently, recognizing an opening. “Youhaveseen the Creator then?” At her solemn nod, he continued, “Then you must know Azure’s ambitions will only end in ruin.”
“I know.” Zeena’s whispered confession was anguished. She turned her palm up to cling to Katy’s hand like a lifeline. It was bizarre for him to see the queen that he’d always seen as cold and aloof be so passionate without being cruel. At her former mate’s name, Zeena’s brief flash of strength gutted out again. She wrapped her free arm around herself as if to hold back pain. “He is lost,” she choked out. “Warped by ambition into a monster I no longer know. If I stand against my mate openly, no matter how far he’s fallen, it would destroy us both. But it will destroy me all the same if he continues down this path. He’s already cost us our relationship. Centuries upon centuries of being mated. Poof.” She made a motion with her hands. “Just gone.”
Katy shot Gage a pleading look he already knew too well. His tenderhearted mate would not push this grieving female. With an internal sigh, he considered his words carefully.
“What is your plan for your future, Zeena?” he asked gently. “Are you leaving your mate? If he’s left alive, will you stand by his side while he serves a lifetime prison sentence?”
Zeena considered this, desperation and longing warring in her expression. Finally, she shook her head. “I won’t stand beside a monster, no matter how badly it hurts to let him go. I’ve already severed the bond.”
Katy’s eyes widened, and Gage felt a rise of panic. “The bond can be severed?”
Gage looked at her and shook his head. “Not our bond. Not ever.”
