“Rezor.”
I turned to see her slip through the door to join me in the hallway. “Yes, Cleo?”
“Next time Vikkat’s people make contact, tell them about us,” she said. Her eyes were guarded, but she didn’t resist when I pulled her into my arms. “Please, Rezor. You’re very good to us, but you can’t hide us here.”
“I can when you’re under my protection.” I felt my marks pulse with heat. “And whenyou’remy mate.”
Her expression shuttered, and I saw her pull back emotionally even as she stood in my arms. “I’m not your mate yet.”
The words stung. “Aren’t you? Our flesh has joined. My marks burn for you constantly. I think about you every moment we’re apart. The thought of you in danger makes mewant to tear down mountains.” I searched her face, looking for any sign that she felt even a fraction of what I did. “That sounds like a mate to me.”
“Rezor—”
“I will help you find your crew,” I said, my voice fierce with the certainty I felt in my bones. “I will do everything in my power to reach them. But I won’t lose you in the process. I can’t.”
She leaned into my touch, and I saw the exhaustion and fear and hope warring in her expression. “We deserve a choice. I deserve one.”
“I know. And I will talk to the council, discuss options. If they agree to open communication with Vikkat that doesn’t put the clan at risk, we’ll take the next steps.” I pressed my forehead to hers, breathing in her scent, grounding myself in her presence. “But first, we take a breath. We think. We plan.”
“I’m not good at waiting,” she grumbled.
“I know.” I smiled despite the gravity of the situation. “But you’re good at solving impossible problems. So we’ll solve this one. Together.”
“Together,” she said quietly, gazing up at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read. “Promise me you’ll let us go, if—if someone wants to.”
I gazed at her, wishing I could peer into her mind and read her thoughts. “Do you want to go?”
“I don’t know what I want.” Cleo pulled back. “But I know I want options. If we have no choice but this valley, then so be it. But if the possibility is there to go home, don’t keep it from us.”
“I won’t.” I kissed the top of her head. “I think you’re themost brilliant, stubborn, impossible person I’ve ever met.” I traced her cheekbone with my thumb. “And if you want to leave me, I won’t stop you.”
I wanted to believe my own words. Wanted to trust that I could send her off without losing my mind. But even as I touched her, I felt the foundations of our world beginning to shake.
Cleo opened her mouth to respond, but the corridor lit up with a blinding flash of white light. The crack of lightning was so loud it felt like the world was splitting open. I grabbed Cleo, pulling her against me as the building shook.
For a heartbeat, everything was chaos and light and the smell of ozone.
Lightning. Inside the protected valley. Inside our sanctuary.
The storms were breaching our defenses.
CHAPTER 13
Cleo
The lightning strike made us both jump.
Rezor’s body moved over mine, one arm braced above my head, the other wrapped around my waist. For a moment, all I could hear was the ringing in my ears and the thunder of my own heartbeat.
We moved outside to see purple clouds shifting overhead and people in the streets. Their voices were raised in panic. Children cried. This was not something that happened in the valley. The valley was safe. The valley was protected. So they all thought. Fat droplets began to fall. It looked like rain, but it sizzled where it hit the ground and it smelled like sulfur.
“That’s not normal rain,” I said, pulling back from Rezor’s protective hold.
“The storms have never breached the valley before,” he said tightly. “Not like this.”
Another flash of lightning lit up the village, so bright I hadto shield my eyes. The thunder followed immediately, rattling the foundations. Wind howled, a sound like the planet itself was screaming.
“We need to get to the council chambers.” Rezor grabbed my hand. “Now.”
