“No, it’snotokay! I’mnotletting a leech put you under his powers!”
“Garrett!” she snaps. “Youknowhe’s not like that!”
“No.” He shakes his head, glaring at me. “Absolutely not.”
“We need to find out,” Amber says. “Weneedto know. This ishuge.”
“First, Selene is turned into a vampire,” Garret growls. “A shifter with even more powers than she had. Whoknowswhat happens if she turns onus? And now Dexter is a day-walking vampire? This isnotgood, babe.”
“Then it’s good we’ve got three new secret weapons onourside now, huh?” She indicates me, Parxon, and Eilidh. “They’repack. Everything I’ve seen about them makes total sense now. I’ve seen them as pack from the start. I understood that with her, but not with Dexter, and of course, I didn’t know who Parxon was until I met him. It didn’t make sense to me, which is why I didn’t tell anyone about that part of my visions. I just thought I was wrong.
“But I wasn’t wrong—I wasn’t listening clearly to the visions. Parxon, Dexter, and Eilidh arepack. Their first allegiance is to us,notLucius and his nest. And literally the survival ofallshifters and vampires depends on us treating them as pack. And Zeuzehn, obviously. Ditto Chaldis and Corbin. We can trust them. But he’s right—we have to know if he can still thrall a human.”
“Shit.” He paces in a circle, hands still on his hips. Then he turns and jabs a finger in my face. “You hurt her, and I’ll hurther.” He points at Eilidh.
“I won’t hurt her. I swear. I won’t touch her memories at all. Just a harmless test.”
He curls back a lip and growls, but finally moves to the side.
Amber steps forward and offers me a nervous smile. “Go ahead.”
I’m still not looking her in the eyes. “I just want to see if I still have the ability.”
“I know. I trust you.”
Garrett growls a little louder, deeper. “Get itoverwith!” he roars.
I look into her eyes and feel the connection take hold. “Hi,” I whisper into her mind.
She smiles and lifts her hand in a wave. I immediately disengage and turn away while Amber blows out a breath and Garrett rushes in to check her.
“I’m okay,” she quickly says. “I’m okay, Garrett. He didn’t hurt me. All he did was sayhi, and ask me to smile and wave.”
Eilidh touches my arm. “Well?”
I nod. “I can still do it. At least that much. It felt the same, like I still had the strength.” I stare at my hands, which are illuminated by a sliver of sunbeam flowing through a gap in the shutter over the kitchen window.
It’s still hard to believe I’m not dreaming. This is a day I never thought would ever come.
Not without it bringing my immediate death.
“Now what?” Garrett asks.
“Tonight, we take you to the stones and send you home,” Parxon says. “Before anyone discovers you’re here. I will meet you there at the quarters, dark, and full moons to move things to your world.”
“But what about you coming with us?” Eilidh asks. The pain in her voice rips at me.
If she stays, I stay. I will never be separated from her again.
I keep saying that, and this time, I fuckingmeanit, even if I have to handcuff her to me.
“I must prepare first,” Parxon tells her.
“How long will that take?” I hate howlostEilidh sounds.
“Not long,Mazbushka.” He smiles. “No longer than a few months. The story must be perfect, to protect Zeuzehn. I cannot leave unless I am certain he is protected.”
Eilidh throws her arms around him. “Please do it fast, Daddy,” she says. “Don’t let your ring get damaged. I’d never see you again.”
