He threw me a withering look. “I’ll be fine. My spell will keep it contained for a long time. Plus, even if it did awaken again, it would take years to fully corruptme.”
That shouldn’t be a problem. I was pretty sure we only had days, or maybe a few weeks, until the fae attacked.
“How long will it take for you guys to set this spell up, to track the dark crystal?” This question I directed to the three-magic born in the room.
Violet and Nikoli exchanged a glance, both turning to Baladar, who let out a bark oflaughter. “This wasn’t my idea, young ones.” As their faces fell, he let out a deep breath. “But I also won’t leave you to try and navigate this dark book alone. I will need a day to cleanse an area, set up special spells of protection, and to let light into my soul. We will all need to do this. Otherwise, the darkness could claim us.”
Violet blanched, her already white skin turning an almost sickly gray shade. I hurried to her side, grabbing her as she swayed. “What’s wrong?” I gripped her arm tighter, ignoring the swirls of energy zapping us both.
She recovered with a few rapid shakes of her head, her eyes focused on me as she gently pulled her arm free. “Letting light into my soul means I have to face the darkness in there. If I cannot be cleansed of it, I cannot be part of this spell.”
She might have pulled herself together, but I could see by the shimmer of emotions on her face that she was terrified.
“I don’t think I can face the darkness,” she whispered.
Oh, Violet.What happened in the Winter Court? What did you sacrifice so that you could keep my fae essence safe?
From the dreams she’d shared with me, I had a reasonable idea of what she had gone through. I saw some of the marks on her, felt the pain inher soul. But I had no doubt she hid much from me. Which I hated. I’d been waiting for her to come to me, to tell me everything, which would be cleansing for her, but so far she’d remained mute. I didn’t want to push her, but something had to change soon. It was slowly killing her.
Before I could think of how to console my best friend, Nikoli was there placing both hands on either side of her face, capturing her full attention. “You can face anything. You are far stronger than even you know. The Tuatha did not break you, Violet, they reformed you into something unbreakable, like steel tempered over fire.” His voice lowered, I could barely hear the last few words. “We will do it together.”
My friend’s entire energy changed then; she relaxed and almost fell into him. The anguish that had been sliding across her body like a second skin was dissipating. She leaned into Nikoli as if he was her only strength. This was much more than a fling. This was serious. I was torn between overwhelming joy for them both and that continued worry that I wasn’t doing enough— that this war was distracting me to the point where I neglected the ones I loved. Ultimately, I was trying to save them, but there were smaller battles each was waging, battles I could not be there for.
At least she wasn’t alone, she had Nikoli, and she would tell me everything when she was ready.
Kade slipped his hand into mine. “Let’s all get some sleep. We can deal with the rest in the morning.” His voice was gruff, and at the mere mention of sleep I felt like a hundred-pound weight had settled into my body. We had been weeks, months even, without decent rest. It was catching up to us, but we would soldier on.
“Take whatever guest rooms you like,” I told them, assuming no one wanted to travel all the way back to Staten Island tonight.
Nikoli, who was still holding Violet’s hand, chuckled. “Never thought I would be sleeping in the Red Queen’s house.”
Violet just grinned and then walked down the hall, Nikoli following behind her like a lost puppy.
“Don’t forget the run in the morning,” I called after them. “It’s mandatory. Last run, bonding exercise, you know the drill.”
I got some waves and mumbled agreements, and then they were gone.
With a yawn, I let out a muffled goodnight to everyone else, stumbling into the hall with Kade. The others branched off to different areas, and I led my mate down the long corridor to my wingof the mansion. As we approached my door, two of my guards stood outside.
“Good evening, Your Majesty. We did a sweep. It’s safe.”
I raised an eyebrow. “How did you know I was sleeping here tonight?”
“Calista,” Michael said. He was a short and stocky shifter with dirty-blond hair. One I didn’t know very well, but Blaine had vouched for him.
Blaine and Calista were worth their weight in gold. It might seem like a queen ruled her people alone, especially in the dictatorship style rule of the shifters, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It took a village of people to lead properly.
After entering, Finn curled up on the couch, and we made our way to my room. We both kicked off our shoes and slipped out of our clothes. Kade sat in his boxers on his side of the bed, appearing lost in thought. I knew my bear, he was bothered by that dark stone. By what we had discovered.
I inched along the duvet until I rested close to his back, then I rose up to my knees and dropped my hands onto his shoulders. It took all of my strength as I started working out the kinks; his muscles were hard, the tension he carried making it even more so.
He let out a low groan, tilting his head around to flash a sexy grin at me. My body, despite its exhaustion, perked up at that look on his face.
His face, which was far, far too gorgeous, was distracting. I forgot everything in my head when he looked at me like that.
I paused my massage, leaning in to kiss him gently. He let out a rumble of bear-like annoyance when I pulled back, and I resumed kneading his hard muscles, letting my hands trail around the front of his pecs and along his hard, chiseled abs.
As my hands trailed lower, Kade growled again, and then in a single move that should have been impossible, lifted me up and over his shoulder, dropping me down into his lap. By instinct, I wrapped my legs around him, molding our bodies together as my inner wolf growled with pleasure.
