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He was quiet for a long minute. When he spoke, his light teasing and banter vanished. He was as serious as I’d ever known him to be. “I better not find you in a state of depletion when I get there.”

I disconnected the call, projecting my feelings on that matter. Knowing my best friend, he was calling me an arse and preparing for war. I didn’t need a lecture or someone to force my hand. I knew what was required. If I had any chance of pulling Iulian from a severe state of torpor, I had to be in top form. Failure was not an option.

I crossed the street to Ensley, who shivered in the frosty morning, his breath clouding the air with every exhale.

“You’re frozen. You should be inside.”

“Why are you out here?” His teeth chattered.

“I had to call home. I didn’t want to wake you.” I had yet to decide if I was going to disclose my night. Ensley already worried about my mission, and sharing the details of what I found would only make things worse.

I wrapped him in my arms and pulled his trembling body against mine, not that I could offer him any warmth. My body was as cold as the air around me, and it was the chilliest morning I’d experienced since arriving in the city.

Regardless, Ensley nuzzled against my chest, burying his face in my neck. I kissed his temple—his skin a furnace in comparison—and inhaled his sweet scent. Closing my eyes for a moment, I absorbed his living essence, his heat and heartbeat. So pure. So perfect. So alive.

“Was that Cristofer?”

“Yes. He’s coming to help. You’re right. I can’t do it alone.”

Ensley pulled back to study my face. His lips had turned a bloodless blue. “You were out there tonight. I knew you’d go.”

I scraped my teeth along my bottom lip and nodded. Deception was not my goal. Keeping Ensley out of danger was.

“And?”

“It went smoothly. I clarified a lot of details and discovered some obstacles that will stand in the way of the mission’s success, which is why Cristofer is coming. Two of us might have an easier time.”

“Are you going to tell me about it?”

“Not right now.” I stroked his cheek. “You’re frozen, love. Let me take you inside.”

He nodded but didn’t move from my arms. Squirming to get a hand free from the blanket, he brushed his fingertips over my lips. He exhaled with purpose, forming a thick cloud of warm air between us. It dissipated in seconds.

“You do it,” he said. “Exhale.”

Breathing was voluntary, usually reserved for times when we needed to blend with humans or scent the air. Even after so much time, I often forgot it didn’t happen automatically. I filled my lungs and pushed the air from my mouth, forming an O with my lips in the same way Ensley had done. He kept his fingers up, so the current flowed over them.

Nothing. No steam. No cloud. No fogging mist. I could have created one as a parlor trick, but why?

Ensley didn’t seem surprised, but he also didn’t hide his pity.

I clasped his wrist and lowered his hand, tucking it into mine. Showing him I was unbothered, I smiled. “I guess I’m not full of hot air like you.”

He chuckled. “Just a coldhearted bastard.”

It was a joke, a counter to my comment, but it stung.

“Is it weird for you?” he asked.

“Not anymore. Is it weird for you? My frigid skin? My unsightly pallor?” My cold, unbeating heart, I didn’t say.

“Not anymore.”

He placed a delicate kiss on my lips and brought my hand to his chest, like he’d heard my unspoken words anyhow. He pressed my palm over his heart, somehow knowing that I mourned the simple pleasure.

The organ thumped a gentle rhythm beneath, and it would have brought tears to my eyes if I were capable.

“Mordecai?”