I press my palm to the mark over my heart. The bond is there, but faint. Wrong.
I don’t waste any time, quickly pulling on my pants and shooting into the sky.
It doesn't take long before the bond snaps back into place, just like when she went missing at the lake. I swoop around and angle toward her, scanning for a threat.
I spot her small form at the edge of the village, leaning against the protective wall. She’s wearing only a t-shirt, her hair is disheveled, eyes red-rimmed. She’s anxious, but unharmed. “Frankie!” I land next to her, sweeping her up in my arms. “Are you okay?”
She wraps her arms around me, squeezing tight and burying her face in my chest. “It happened again.” She sniffles. “I knew you would findme, but I was so scared. I woke up and had no idea where I was or how I got here.”
I swore I’d protect her, that I wouldn’t fail her again. Yet here we are. “I’m so sorry I let this happen.”
She pulls back and looks up at me, concern filling her glassy eyes. “It’s not your fault. I’m your mate, not your child. You shouldn’t have to babysit me.”
“It is my fault. As your mate, my job is to protect you with my life. How can I do that if I can’t even…” What the fuck is around her neck. I reach for the odd gem hanging from a thin rope. It’s round and clear, but the light inside it is constantly moving. “Where’d you get this?” The moment I touch it, a jolt runs from my fingertips all the way to my shoulders, making me pull back.
“Get what?” Her hand moves to her chest, brows furrowing when she feels the gem. “What is it?”
I try touching it once more, but it shocks me again. “Apparently, it doesn’t want me to touch it.”
She moves her hand to the rope, quickly pulling it away. She does it two more times. “I can’t take it off.”
“What do you mean you can’t take it off? When did you get it?”
She looks puzzled, shaking her head. “I-I don’t remember. I must have gotten it while I was blacked out.”
My mate’s not wearing a necklace that has undetectable magic in it. “You need to take it off. We don’t know what it is, or what it does, or who even gave it to you.”
She thinks for a minute. “I can’t. I know I should, but every time my brain tells my hands to take it off, they don’t listen. My gut is telling me to leave it on.”
Mygut is telling me to get that fucking thing off her. I don’t like it, and I don’t trust it. “Let me try.” I reach for the gem again, but this time I don’t pull back when it shocks me. I manage to wrap my fingers around it, but something cuts through, burning all the way to the bone. I drop it and curse, my skin red where it made contact. “Does it burn you?”
“No! I didn’t even know I was wearing it until you said something.”
“First thing in the morning, we’re going to the library. Quenric is one of the oldest demons in existence. If anyone knows what it is, it’s him.”
CHAPTER 15
Frankie
“Interesting,” the gray-haired demon says for the fourth time in less than a minute. I bite back the urge to ask him if he plans on saying anything else while he scours through an old, dusty book. He has no horns or wings—nothing that screams demon—and for a second, I wonder if he’s a shadow demon like Ronin. But aren’t shadow demons supposed to be, I don’t know, intimidating? His pale gray eyes and inked-stained fingers are anything but.
“Do you know what it is?” Zarreth asks, growing impatient.
Quenric looks up, startled. Did he forget we’re sitting right in front of him? “Know whatwhatis?” he asks.
Zarreth squeezes his eyes shut, rubbing one of his temples. “The jewel,” he sighs. “You know, the one on Frankie’s neck. The one you’re reading about.”
“Oh, that.” He looks at my necklace like he hadn’t already examined it. “Well yes, it’s a light rock.”
Zarreth exhales sharply through his nose. That tiny sound is enough to finally snap Quenric into focus. He reaches toward the stone butremembers to jerk his hand back at the last moment. “Right, yes, no touching,” he mutters. “I forgot.”
His lips press together while he stares at it, his mind clearly working. “I can’t tell you what it does,” he finally admits, his head tilting as if to get a better look. “Or why you can’t take it off, but it’s definitely from the Realm of Eternal Light.” He looks at me, puzzled. “And you don’t remember how you got it?”
“Nope, I still don’t remember how I got it,” I repeat for the third time since we’ve been here.
He shakes his head at Zarreth, tsking. “You should know better than to feed her demon brew. That stuff is no joke.”
Zarreth’s fingers clench under the table. “I didn’t give her demon brew. We told you already, she’s losing time.”
