Prologue
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Jasmine
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"It's going to work," I assure my three orc husbands.
I've spent the last ten minutes explaining my plan to them in full, vivid detail.I won't lie; there were times I had to convince myself it would work.
They pace the ground, their heavy, agitated steps causing little earthquakes beneath my boots.
"I know you're worried," I add, moving toward them, laying my hands on their chests and feeling a thrill as they respond to my nearness.
No matter what is happening around us, I am always their sole focus, and when I touch them, I feel their power as if it were my own.
"But I've got this.I can save each of your brothers in there," I say, pointing to the egg, the size of a melon.
Its iridescent colors shift from jade to gold, with slashes of molten red.Veins mar the surface like fragile cracks, and a humming sound emits from deep inside it.
Without any previous knowledge of Kraukug and its magical order, it's clear to the naked eye that the egg looks as if it's about to die.Soon.I can't let that happen.
Without each of their brothers, my husbands will fight a losing battle.I won't lose them.There are too many threats they would be facing soon.
It's hard to imagine that the egg contains three fully grown orcs—well, a seedling of their spirit, but still.
Tristian, Alexander, and Marquis were also incubated in an egg like this.Theirs broke on the night of the white moon—the night they were supposed to claim me.
The elders' magic worked perfectly for us, but they've already lost one set of bloodlords; they can't lose another.
"No," they all say simultaneously.
"We will find another way," Alexander states, ending the conversation.
"I...um...already set it in motion," I admit, wringing my hands together.I knew they would say no, but nothing prepares me for the thunderous expressions on their faces.
"What do you mean?"Tristian asks, his jaw clenched so tightly I wonder how he can even speak.
"Just hear me out, okay?Cailyn..."The instant I mention Cailyn, they all sigh.I ignore them.Their human adopted sister is infamous for getting into trouble with them."We found the elder's book of magic.We decoded it.It wasn't that hard."
"We already knew how to decode the book, Jasmine."
"Yes, but it was useless in your hands because what could you do without a mate for your bloodlords, right?But now you have me.Listen," I urge, stepping forward.
"I can duplicate the heartfire spell.I tried it on Cailyn.Obviously, it needs the frequency of Earth to work, which means it disappears as soon as it appears on her arm.And since I'm the only one who can go through the portal—because you three can't, and I won't risk sending Cailyn—I can do it.
"I already know the perfect person for the job.I'll go through the portal, find Francesca—it's her birthday, by the way—give her the heartfire mark, and leave the egg in her care.And hope for the best."
They're not listening to me, and I don't blame them.But I'm not giving up.
"They're going to die here in a few days anyway, but what if they live on the other side and their mate can bring them back?"
"You're missing the part where you have to go through the portal, Jasmine," Marquis growls."We will never let that happen."
"Why?Nothing is going to happen to me."
"But will you return to us?"Alexander asks, his gaze filled with worry for a moment before he hardens it.
