“You should have waited,” I say. “You should have waited until the power had settled.”
Zhen locks his eyes to mine — bright violet to even brighter violet. “I couldn’t wait … I didn’t want to wait even those nine fucking years, sneaking moments and only ever seeing you from afar? I forced my father out before his time just to have the power to convince Disa that … I …” His face crumples.
I don’t push him further, my chest already aching with sorrow and old grief. “If Oso takes another intersection point, he might be able to widen the crack in dimensions. Then the world will be facing whatever army he’s able to rally.”
“I’ll come to you,” Zhen says, actually shifting forward as if he might do so from the confines of his chair. “Now.”
I shake my head, holding up my hand to make myself clear, even though it means letting go of Rought. “He won’t be able to get by me …” I know that for the truth the moment I say it. Though I also know that victory won’t come easily. “He might not even try, not for his next strike. He tried to drain Disa’s essence. He got enough of it that the universe abandoned her. And even then, he was still able to cage me for three months, ineffectively draining me because the wards that held me at bay were a hindrance to him doing so. But … he desperately wants that power. If he can’t get it from me, he’ll come for an intersection point.”
“Fuck me,” Rought mutters.
Coda’s fingers start flying over the keyboard of a second laptop, though the tech’s device looks more cobbled together than the one I’m using.
“I can feel him …” I take a breath and reach out to the intersection point and maybe into the universe beyond. “I can feel him coming. He’d be stupid to strike at me here, but enough of the man still exists within him that his ego is still in play.”
Then I look directly at my father. “I need to know how to seal the breach. I’m assuming that killing the interloper is a solid first step.”
My father nods stiffly, glancing between Rath and Rought as if questioning our ability to kill the creature that he was unable to kill. “I would assume the same. And I’ll start digging through the archives here as we ready our defenses as well.”
“You’ll contact the others.”
He grimaces. “I’ll contact the others, though it will be more easily believed coming from you.”
“I’m just a little busy,” I say, heavy on the sarcasm. “Plus you have the established relationships.”
“You’ll keep me updated.”
“I imagine you’ll notice if he gets past me.”
“You know that’s not what I mean,” he says peevishly.
“No,” I say. “I really don’t know you at all.”
“That wasn’t my choice.”
I hold his gaze until he takes a shuddering breath and looks away. Then I reach over and end the video call.
“Harsh,” Coda mutters, not looking up from their laptop. “But fair.”
Rath draws me into his lap without asking permission. As I wrap my arms around his neck, I decide that I’ve already given him all the permission he needs to claim possessive cuddles in perpetuity.
“What’s next?” Rought asks.
“We figure out how to kill your father,” I say. “The knife interred in the family plot would probably be a good starting point.”
“The knife Mack was digging up when he died,” Rath says.
I nod, having put all the pieces of that puzzle together as well. “Ingrid was scrying. Mack was retrieving a knife that was used to kill one soul-bound mate.” I swallow. “My aunt’s blood is still on the blade. But … I’m not certain enough of Oso still exists for that to be effective against him. So we need other options as well. And … I’m torn about Presh and Deville … do we send them to the Outcast? Or does that make them easy hostages for the taking?”
Rought grimaces, and both brothers share a look over my head.
“I’ll call the Outcast,” Rought says. “I’ll tell him to pull in all his patrols, to fortify at the pack house. Whether he’ll listen …”
Rath nods, then says definitively, “Presh and DeVille stay here, confined to the house.”
I don’t protest his tone or argue with him. I want Presh as near as possible as well. Some part of me — maybe that otherworldly part — knows that none of us are here in this moment without intent, without an alternate destiny to fulfill. Including Presh.
Eleven
