“Because of that damn conversation we had about Leo's magic,” I growled. “Talon thought that since their magic was so similar, a Fury might be able to take Leo's magic without any problems. He was going to test it, probably on his own men.”
“That doesn't explain why he was taking so much,” Cyprian said.
“He decided to drain Leo while all of you were sleeping.” My fists clenched as I remembered it. “He didn't want the annoyance of listening to us beg and shout at him while he killed our friend.”
“Toe-fucker!” Cyprian cursed in Faulin.
“So I did the only thing I could think of to save Leo. I offered Talon a place in our fusion.”
“You what?” Malik whispered in horror.
“It was all she could think of to save Leo's life.” Cyprian held up a staying hand.
“I made Talon vow by his shriek to return the magic he'd taken and set everyone free after I shared my immortality with him,” I explained.
“His shriek?” Kyrian asked.
“It's a sacred vow that he wouldn't have broken.” I waved it aside. “Ugela didn't like it and tried to stop him, so he killed her.”
The men snorted as if that wasn't surprising at all.
“I thought that if I could just get him bound to us and get us free, we could kill him and break his bond to the Fusion afterward.”
“It wouldn't have worked, Se Esaria,” Cyprian said gently. “The Fusion would never have accepted him.”
“I wasn't sure about that, but I thought I could at least get him attached, as I had done with our kishanos before we settled them into the Fusion.”
“They were drawn in by your love and the magic of the Fusion,” Cyprian reminded me. “The Fusion is sacred; only those who are meant to be in it can be drawn into the magic. Talon would never have been bound. You would have given yourself to him for nothing.”
“Given yourself...” Malik's eyes widened as he repeated the words, then his jaw dropped. “You were going to have sex with him. That's why you took the aphrodisiac.”
“Really? You just realized that?” Everan drawled.
Malik didn't even snarl at Everan, he was too busy glaring at me.
“Yes, but I couldn't stop fighting him,” I whispered. “I tried to think of you, but that didn't work. I couldn't get my body to relax, and I knew I had towantto fuse with him for the fusion to draw him in.” I grimaced. “I nearly threw up.”
“Sweet Eden,” Kyrian whispered. “Amara, you—”
“Don't tell me that I shouldn't have done it, Kyrian,” I cut him off. “I couldn't let Leo die, especially not when he was there because of me. And I couldn't think of any other way to save him.”
“I'm going to strangle that Fury slowly,” Landry growled.
“No, Dad, he's mine,” I said grimly. “Talon wasn't merely one of the people who murdered my parents, he was the instigator. It was all his idea to go after my father. My parents are dead because of him.”
“What?” Landry growled.
“I'm killing that evil son of a bitch, and I'm doing it slowly,” I vowed.
Landry's eyes widened at my foul language, and then he grinned. “At least let me help.”
“You can hold the camera.” I grinned back.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
After thoroughly searching Talon's place, the Danutians went home and so did we. All but Everan, who helped me twist our kishanos home to where our friends were waiting, while Rywen twisted Landry. Despite the drain on our magic, most of us were fine. All but Leo, who looked wan and sallow with dark circles beneath his eyes. He said he was all right, but I refused to let him go home; I didn't want him to be alone in that vulnerable state. Everyone else decided to stay as well, including Everan, Landry, and Rywen. They all wanted to be there when we found Talon.
Rain had asked his team to D.C. too. Although his group had been formed to keep the Dralmarin community safe, they had branched out into investigating supe-related crimes in general. They were based in Italy but traveled all over the world when necessary. They'd been in New Orleans when Rain was captured, and that's where they were flying in from. Cyprian drove Rain to the airport to meet their plane. So, both of them were gone when Alex arrived. Despite being home, I wasn't downstairs to welcome Alex either. Instead, I was upstairs having a private conversation with Braxis.
