We stepped inside the house as Nico answered the phone on speaker. “Luis? It’s me. Maddy’s with me.”
“Hey. All right, we landed about two hours ago. We’re going to get settled for a day or two, maybe do some exterior recon first. These guys can shift into pretty small lizards, so the plan is for them to infiltrate and do as much recon as they can. I’ll be nearby. Hopefully, we can figure out whether it’s Maddy’s parents or Abi being held here. They say they’ll do their best to get us what we need. Once I feel confident that we’re safe to go in, I’ll let you know it’s time. At that point, we can go over what they saw.”
There were lots of different kinds of shifters. It was one of those things youknewbut never really paid attention to, like all the different languages in the world—you understood they were out there, but it wasn’t something most humans really focused on. I’d never heard of reptile shifters until this, and I was completely fascinated. It made me wonder what other types of shifters there were out there. Sharks? Bats? I made a mental note to ask Nico about that someday.
“Sounds good,” Nico said. “I want updates. Stay safe out there. I owe their father a massive favor, and I want to make sure his boys come home safely. Remember, they didn’thaveto help us.”
“I know,” Luis said. “I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
“Good luck,” Nico said.
“Yeah, good luck,” I added.
Nico was still tense. Hearing from Luis hadn’t relieved the tension like I’d hoped it would. He stuffed his phone back in his pocket and walked to the kitchen, where he yanked open thefridge door and pulled out a bottle of water. Nico uncapped it and chugged it down in a few gulps.
He shook his head as he wiped his mouth. “I don’t know how I’m going to relax until I know those guys are safe and we have the intel on the safe houses.” He looked at me with almost manic desperation in his eyes. “I have to find out, for sure, where your family and Abi are being held. Once we know, we can come up with a plan to save them. Maybe then I’ll be able to take a breath.” He shook his head and looked forlorn. “I’m scared, Maddy.”
That admission surprised me. Nico had been my rock throughout this entire ordeal. It had never occurred to me that he was afraid. He’d been steady and constant, always ready to act or come up with a plan.
“Nico, what are you afraid of?”
“I don’t want to fail you. Ican’tfail you. If…” He trailed off and took a steadying breath before continuing. “If something happens to them, I don’t know how I can ever look you in the eye again. I have to get them out. Otherwise, I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
I couldn't let him keep taking all the pressure. We were in this together, and there was one last thing we could do to get them back. It was something only I could do—the one weapon I had in my arsenal that was the exact thing they wanted.
I put a hand on his cheek and gave him a sad smile. “Nico, if we don’t get them out of our way, then we’ll have to do it their way. I’ll simply meet up with them and give them what they want.”
Nico’s eyes flashed in surprise and anger, and I could feel him almost flinch away from my hand. “No. Maddy, absolutely not.”
“Yes, Nico. I have all the faith in the world that we’ll be successful, but we have to understand that it might come down to that. I would die for Abi and my parents?—”
“Well, you aren’t going to,” Nico growled. “I’m not going to let you give yourself over to them. They’ll bleed you dry and more than likely kill you. I won’t allow it. I can’t.”
I was patient with him because I understood his anger and could see it from his side. If the roles were reversed and it was his parents and one of his friends who had been taken, and he’d told me he was going to do what I’d suggested, my reaction would have been the same. It wasn’t something I wanted to think about. It would have pissed me off. So, I understood his response.
“I’m not going to let my family be tortured and killed. I couldn’t live with that.”
Nico grabbed my hand and pulled it from his face, intertwining our fingers. “Maddy, even if this plan doesn’t work, we’ll think of something else. Something will work. I refuse to let you be some guinea pig for these people.”
“It’s the very last option, but it’s on the table. It has to be.”
He was getting frustrated. I could see it in his face. Then he asked the question I’d been thinking about moments before. “What if it were me, Maddy? If the royals wanted me to give myself over to be bled out, would you do it?”
Hearing the words out loud was more visceral than just thinking them in my head. A chill ran down my spine, and my wolf reacted by emitting a low, angry growl. Nico grinned knowingly. “See? Neither of us can stand the idea of losing the other.”
There was nothing else to say. Nico pulled me close and wrapped me into a tight embrace. I put my arms around him, and we sat like that for a long time, enjoying the feeling of ourbodies pressing against each other. I could feel his heartbeat through my own chest, and I knew he could also feel mine.
After a moment, I murmured, “We’ll figure something out. I’ll stop thinking of sacrificing myself. Okay?”
He relaxed beneath my hands when I said it. He pulled me even closer. “Thank you.”
Nico made lasagna for dinner that night. It was his grandmother’s recipe, apparently, and he was excited for me to try it. When I offered to help, he shooed me away. Instead, he poured me a glass of wine and sent me out to relax on the back porch. Not one to turn down wine and a quiet night, I took him up on it and left him to make dinner.
The sun had already set, and the moon hung heavy in the sky. I sipped my wine as the moon tugged at me. It was stronger tonight than it had ever been. The aching of my bones sent waves of warmth through my entire body. I couldn't take my eyes off the bright, milky white of it as it sat there in the sky—not full yet, but getting closer.
My wolf was right at the surface. I couldn’t feel any emotion from her, just a heavy presence, like someone reading a book over my shoulder. To me, it was like she was there watching. Waiting. For what, I had no idea.
I recalled the dream from a few nights ago. The dream that was more a memory than a dream: the whispered voices, the fear, the running, and the rough hands shoving me over the railing to my death. It had all been so vivid. As if I’d actually been there, experiencing those things.
