First we went south, away from the city—towardCorwin—toward the male who thought glamor could hide them from an orc’s bond. The mating rage coiled inside me, steady now. Completely patient and intently focused.
I let it.
For once, I didn’t fight it. Didn’t smother it. Didn’t pretend it wasn’t part of me. Iaimedit.
Because for the first time in my life, fear of what I might become was nothing compared to the horror of a world where she wasn’t in it.
“Faster,” I told Krusk, voice low and deadly.
And without a single word, he accelerated in the direction of my mate. Somewhere ahead, under layers of stolen magick and bad intentions, my mate’s magic flared like a star—calling me to her. Calling mehome.
Chapter 29
Savla
The drive south felt too slow. Even though Krusk broke every traffic law I was aware of, and at least four I was certain he invented on the spot, it didn’t feel like enough.
Every mile, the bond twisted harder. It was pulling now—thickening and choking me.Glamor still muffled her, but the direction sharpened the closer we got. It was like a compass needle jammed toward one place.
The Greyleaf Estate.
My jaw clenched so hard my fangs ached. Enka had called, and he was on the phone with us, his voice echoing around the interior of the SUV. He was relaying the attempts that the coven were making to break the spells as they drove toward us as well, following our GPS.
“It’s old magick,” he muttered, barely discernable over the chanting in the background. “Tabitha said it’s before their time.Layered so thick it’s like someone lacquered the whole damn estate in lies.”
“That sounds right,” I growled.
Krusk’s fingers tightened on the wheel. “You’ve said that name before.”
“Greyleaf,” I bit out. “Hanna’s parents.”
A heavy silence ensued.
Krusk finally muttered, “Then I suppose we’re not knocking.”
“We’re not,” I responded, my voice as tight as the ache in my chest. But my heart hammered at a speed that made my pulse throb under my skin.
This rage surging through me—hot, focused, relentless—felt too close and too familiar. My father’s voice whispered in the back of my skull, a memory that I hated.
You don’t choose the bond, son. It chooses you. And when it chooses wrong… it destroys you.
I shook my head sharply. Not now. Not him.
I’m not like him.
Krusk leaned closer in his seat, tone softer. “This isn’t him, Sav. This isn’t madness.”
“How do you know?” I rasped.
“Because your eyes aren’t empty,” he said. “You’re scared. He wasn’t.”
Enka grunted in agreement over the phone. “You’re fighting for someone. He was dying for someone. That’s a pretty huge difference.”
I swallowed hard. Their words were so steadying and grounding. I didn’t deserve them, but I needed them.
The Greyleaf estate rose like a carcass on a hill. A sprawling stone manor, three stories high, monstrous and proud in the waydecaying palaces were proud. Dead vines strangled the wrought-iron fencing. The glass in the windows reflected no light, not even the moon. The garden—
Gods.The garden.
