After several minutes, the hue of his skin returned to normal. His eyes filled with life, and a bout of strength reached him, so he finally let go of me. “That’s enough. I don’t want to weaken you.”
“No. You don’t?—”
“Thank you, my love,” he insisted, kissing my hand.
Hannes and I helped him stand, and Dante handed him a set of clothes he’d fetched for him.
“I never thought I’d ever see another,” Dad murmured, lost in his troubling memories while Hannes helped him get dressed—he was still too weak to hold his own. “I didn’t think it was even possible.”
“What isn’t possible?” Isis pressed.
“What did you see?” My skin knit back together as I held my father’s disbelieving gaze.
“They turned another…” Bjørn pushed André’s wrist away and stood too, but unlike my dad, he seemed fully healed.
“What?” André asked yet again, none of us understanding.
“Another F—” My dad coughed.
Bjørn’s expression became chilling. “They created another me.”
31
“Get him the best healer you can find!” Bjørn urged. “My claws release venom when they pierce the skin, I have to assume the claws ofthe other medo too.”
“Stop calling him the other you!” Isis chided.
Our heads snapped to my dad when he stumbled against Hannes’s chest, struggling to stay on his feet even with his help. André rushed to them, helping Hannes take him to my bed, and carefully laying him on it.
Hannes’s eyes glowed.“Mom, contact the Head of the World's Magistrate of Witches and ask her to send you her best healer immediately!”
His words echoed in my mind, revealing I was now fully connected to his family’s pack link, not just ours.
“I’ll call Sariah right now. What happened?”
“Dresden’s heart has been poisoned by a creature with similar powers to Bjørn.”
“How is that even possible?!”Queen Luna gasped through the link.“There are no others like him.”
“There is one now.”Jaw muscles tightening,Hannes looked passed me to my dad. “They turned another Fae.”
Facing my dad, I felt my heart tear, even as fiery rage coursed through me. The Martell cult would stop at nothing, but neither would I.
I walked toward him, sitting beside him and caressing his head while we waited for the healer. “What else did you see?”
Bjørn lifted his troubled gaze from my father to me. “Countess Dariah’s army had just arrived when we left. It’s the only reason I was able to bring Dresden back…” He shook his head. “They might be able to hold the other one like—” he stopped himself when Isis glared. “TheDark Oneback, but I’m not sure for how long. There are too many newborn Vampiri, and hordes of crawlers too. It was chaos.”
The way his fists tensed told me everything I needed to know.
“You are not going back there,” Isis guaranteed, but his gaze softened as he looked at her.
“I’m the only one who could stop him.”
“But—” She stopped herself from speaking, but we all knew what she wanted to say. TheDark Onehad almost killed Bjørn too.
“He caught me by surprise once. I assure you; he won’t bloody do it again. He’s a newborn. He can’t fight like I can.” His words were a deadly promise, but he gently cradled her face in his hands, kissing her lips. When his gaze focused on her, love burst from his honey eyes. “I’ve lived two thousand years, and I will live a thousand more. Nothing is taking me away from you, Isis. I swear it.”
A strong rush of magic came from somewhere in the castle, lifting the tiny hairs on my neck, and we all turned toward the door. A few moments later, Queen Luna rushed inside, ushering a stunning black woman in a long red gown with her.
