Page 56 of Titan’s Mate

This was the man who’d rescued her, taken care of her, read to her, made her laugh, opened up to her, given her love and cinnamon buns.

The man who would face demons for her, risking a lifetime of grief or an eternity of hell.

There was only one answer she could possibly give him.

She touched the ring reverently, then walked into his arms and held him tight. “Yes,” she whispered, her hand against his heart. “I would be honored.”

Chapter 24

They were on their way home later that morning when they both got texts from Brandon. Get back here as soon as you can. Tyr’s on his way. He has news.

The dragon was already there when they got to the house, sitting in the great room with the rest of the crew.

Everyone was here, Mari realized as she looked around. They all looked anxious—and hopeful. It hit her all over again how they’d taken her in—not just into their compound, but into their family.

It was a testament to the size of their hearts, and the love they had for Titan.

She fingered the brand-new ring around her neck. Love. Devotion. Forever.

She wanted their ‘forever’ to be a long one. In this world. But she was afraid to hope—at least, for herself. But for Titan—he’d already lost so much. He deserved to be happy.

Tyr greeted them both and waited for them to be seated. He must have found something, to come all the way here, but it was hard to tell from his face how hopeful it was.

When they were settled, Titan holding her hand for support, Tyr said, “Okay. I have good news and bad news.”

She felt a little of the air go out of the room, and Titan’s muscles tensed.

“The bad news is, I still haven’t found any way to remove the demon. All indications confirm that if a healer or sorcerer tries to mess with it, the toxicity will spread to them and kill them as well as Mari.”

Mari nodded. This was no different than before. Before she could ask, he added, “It’s remotely possible that a group of powerful sorcerer dragons—full Draken—might be able to absorb the toxicity. However, it would take some very delicate calculations, and also some very delicate negotiations, for any Draken to take that risk for a shifter they didn’t know.”

Brandon asked, “Could the Al-Maddeiri do it?”

Mari knew by now that the Al-Maddeiri dragons were a small clan, related to the Bad Blood crew. They would be the most likely to be willing to help her, if Brandon asked them to. But she couldn’t allow that unless she was sure she wouldn’t endanger them. She didn’t want to be responsible for wrecking two shifter crews and a Draken clan. As much as she wanted to live, her life wasn’t worth that.

Tyr said, “That’s one possibility we’re looking into. However, of the few full-grown Draken in that clan, only Emon, their king, is a true sorcerer—and he was never formally trained. It would be extremely risky.”

“And other Draken—how long would it take to potentially find them and persuade them to try?” Brandon asked.

Tyr shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Mari said, “Longer than I’ve got.” Titan sucked in his breath, but they needed truth, not false hope. “Even if I were willing to risk their lives, which I’m not sure I am.” She looked at Tyr. “Right?”

He sighed. “Probably.”

Titan snarled, “I thought there was going to be good news in here somewhere.”

Tyr took no notice of his tone. “There may be.” He spoke directly to Titan. “My research indicates that your clan had an artifact used to capture the soul of a clan member who died suddenly, when there was no shaman present.” He looked around the room. “It protects the spirit from demonic influences until the shaman is available to cross them over.”

“How is that going to help?” Titan said. “For us to use it, she’d have to be already gone, and I’m not going to let that happen.”

Mari loved him for saying that, but she knew the only other choice was him claiming her, and that would probably get them both killed. He’d said so.

“The artifact actually has a variety of uses,” Tyr said. “One of them would be to use it while Mari was still alive, removing her spirit to the artifact for protection. Her body would be put in stasis, in our lair, until a cure could be found.”

Mari heard Titan’s bear growling behind her, deep in his chest. The growl turned to a snarl.

Tyr ran his hand through his hair. “I know it’s not the best solution, but it could buy us some time.”