“You,” Sage said suddenly, and a wave of dizziness crashed into me.
“Me?”
Sawyer looked up from the ground and I came face to face with his wolf. Yellow glowing eyes stared back at me from behind his thick lashes. “This whole murder trial about Vicon was to get me out of the picture. They want your power, Demi. They want to bottle and sell what you have and become invincible, unkillable, the Fountain of Youth, whatever you want to call it. They want it.”
Me?
They wanted me…
I’d known that the vampire queen wanted my power. I guess the fey too, but … to start a war over it… “All of them? Why?”
Sawyer’s eyes flashed back to their searing blue. “Yes all of them, and because, Demi…” He inhaled through his nose. “…you’re like a drug. Do you remember that first time we kissed? The vibrating?”
I nodded, remembering when he’d backed me up against the wall in the hallway of the Fine Arts building.
Sawyer swallowed hard, chewing at his lip nervously. “I took a bit of your power then, unknowingly. I was so strong, so fast after that kiss, I felt … invincible. Every time we have been close after that, I’ve had to be very careful not to…”
Horror ripped through me at his words. Hetookmy power? He had to be careful not to what? Drain me like a vampire!?
“Not to?” I needed to hear him say it.
“Not to consume your essence, not to take from you.”
My mind was spinning, this entire war … wasn’t over Sawyer killing Vicon … it was overme.
It was … sick and wrong and … I couldn’t let all of these people die because of me. I couldn’t let buildings burn and our people lose everything they had over one person.
“I’ll go,” I told him. “Give myself up, and later, when our army is stronger, you can get me back.”
“No!” Sawyer growled as fur rippled from his neck to his arms.
The Paladin people would have to wait. I couldn’t let thousands die because I refused to give myself up. “Sawyer, I will not be known for this. I willnotbe a coward. I will do what is right,” I said boldly, tipping my chin high.
He looked at someone behind me and nodded quickly, and then I felt two strong arms pin my wrists behind my back. “Sorry, love,” Eugene breathed in my ear.
Panic flooded my system as I realized Sawyer would never let me turn myself in.
“Sawyer! Be reasonable. Thisentire citywill fall! I willnothave blood on my hands,” I wept.
I jerked against Eugene as he started to drag me backward. It was not lost on me that this was probably my karma for having Sawyer held against his will while I left.
“It will be onmyhands,” Sawyer growled, “and this entire city will fall before I let one hair on your head be harmed. Demi, you can’t let them have your power or we will be dealing with a whole new monster altogether.” He rushed forward and kissed me chastely before backing away. “I love you. Go back to the Paladin lands where you are safe. They won’t look for you there.”
The shock that rushed through my system then was too much and I felt my wolf come to the surface. “Sawyer, no! Just let me—”
Something pricked the side of my neck and I turned to follow the direction it came from.
Rab.
He was holding a fucking blow dart. But instead of looking malicious or greedy, he looked brokenhearted. “I will make sure she gets back to Paladin Village, and I will send every spare man I have to help you win the war,” Rab told Sawyer, and placed his fist over his chest.
Dizziness took hold of me, the trees started to blur behind him, and it felt like I had suddenly been thrown into a washing machine.
“No! I can’t!” I screamed, but it was warbled like I was talking underwater.
“Thank you. That would be much appreciated,” Sawyer told Rab. His voice was so deep it made me laugh. I giggled in a low whale-like tone, and then sagged in Eugene’s arms as I lost consciousness.
* * *
