“Wait,” I said, feeling the world spinning out of my control. Finvarra ignored me and held out his hand. Kyla squared her shoulders and stepped forward. I grabbed her arm and stopped her.
“You’re not doing this.”
“I’m not going to be responsible for starting a paranormal war, Danica.”
“You’re not. I am. And they’ll probably go to war anyway! They’re ancient and they have nothing better to do.”
Finvarra sent me an amused look beneath his brows, and I resisted the urge to flip him off. He looked entirely too pleased with himself, and I had a feeling we’d played right into his hands.
One of Finvarra’s people walked in with a contract, the ink still fresh. Obviously, there were unseelie stationed in the mezzanine above us, ready to jump into action.
Kyla shrugged me off, stepped forward, and scanned the contract. She tensed at something she read and then lifted her head, giving Finvarra a narrow-eyed stare. He merely raised one eyebrow as they had a silent conversation. Kyla rolled her shoulders, and I stepped forward in an attempt to read the contract.
Too late. She signed it and held out her arm. Finvarra’s huge hand encircled her wrist, and I glanced behind me at Vas, hoping he had an idea that would help.
His face was pale, his eyes burning with vengeance, but he shook his head.
And then it was done. Within a few seconds, Kyla dropped to her knees, a scream ripping from her throat. To Finvarra’s credit, he didn’t look like he enjoyed her agony, but he didn’t exactly look remorseful either. Bile burned up my throat as the long bronze mark appeared on the back of Kyla’s right hand.
I’d fucked up. And I’d gotten my friend trapped in a deal she couldn’t win. Kyla had only just started to accept Nathaniel’s pack as family, and now she was going to lose that pack and be alone with the unseelie—
“Danica.” Kyla’s voice was gentle and I jolted, realizing I was hyperventilating. Finvarra had left the room at some point, and I hadn’t even noticed.
“It’s my own fault,” she said. “You told me he was bored, and I provided far too much entertainment. I don’t know what happened. Something about him just made my fur stand up.”
My lips were numb. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s going to be okay.”
No, it wasn’t. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I got you into this position. But when you’re ready to go after the sword, you won’t do it alone.”
Kyla’s face was pale, her eyes slightly glassy, but her lips firmed as she handed me the contract.
“You can’t,” she said. “If you do, it’s an act of war.”
He’d written it into the contract. I felt the blood drain from my face and Vas laid his hand on my shoulder, reading the contract with me.
“I swear,” I said in a low voice, “I’ll do everything I can to help.”
“I know.”
6
SAMAEL
Ipaced back and forth for hours upon hours. I needed even less sleep than usual in this place, which made the time crawl by even slower.
This was a special kind of hell. Knowing Danica was roaming the realms, likely in constant danger, while I waited with no true ability to help…
My instincts roared in fury until my mind felt as if it would break in two.
My one comfort was that if we ran out of time… if we both fell, I would go first. I wouldn’t have to witness the sole bright spark in my long life being extinguished.
I would wait for her on the other side. Our story wouldn’t finish here. And if I found myself no longer by her side, if the fates judged my dark soul and found it wanting, I would cut them down until I made my way to her. I would carve out a space in the next world solely for us, and I’d never let her go. My little witch.
Something like panic roared within me, shaking my limbs. Danica had a long life ahead of her before she met me. She would have lived a full, rewarding life.
If I had anything to do with it, she still would.
