Wrath

“I do, too, ma lykita, but who knows where they’ve taken him? There’s a chance he could be in Europe or Asia, just as much as here. He could be anywhere by now.”

I let out a sigh. “You’re not making me feel any better.”

He leaned down and brushed a kiss across my lips. “Does that help?”

One corner of my mouth tugged slightly. “Maybe a little.”

“I’d offer a lot, but we’d better get going. The last thing we need to do right now is anger the matriarch.”

I nodded. “Right. We’ll do what we need to do to make them happy so we can get to work on our own plans.”

“While we’re there, do me a favor. In fact, as we move forward, do this for me, please.”

I eyed him with hesitation.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” he warned, not for the first time. I had a bad habit of doing stupid things like jumping into situations that were over my head. “You’re no good to anyone, especially Dorian, if you’re dead.”

I pressed my lips together and nodded again. “I promise I won’t be stupid.”

He pulled me tighter against him, and I leaned up on my toes for a long kiss that didn’t last long enough.

“We need to go,” he murmured, and I frowned. He caught my protruding lower lip between his teeth before delivering another kiss. “Let’s get this over with.”

He scooped up Sasha, whose wing had completely grown back, from the bed and deposited her into my arms before we left the suite. We found the rest of the team waiting for us in my office.

“Are we ready?” Charlotte asked. Blossom, Sheree, and Vanessa all nodded.

“Wait,” came an urgent voice from the foyer. Bree flew into my office and came to a halt, her golden eyes glancing around at everyone. “I need a minute with Alexis, please.”

“The jet’s waiting,” Charlotte said.

“I only need a moment,” the faerie insisted. “Tristan, you can stay, too.”

The others filed out, and Bree closed the door behind them.

“Take off your necklace,” she demanded. I lifted a brow. “Sorry to be blunt, but the jet is waiting. For me, too. Ms. Katerina has summoned me as well. But first, just in case, I want to take care of something.”

“What do you need the necklace for?” Tristan asked as he took Sasha from my arms so I could unclasp the chain. He’d fixed it for me last night after Sonya/Kali had ripped it from my neck.

Bree ran a hand through her golden hair. “When I took you through the veil to go to Hades, Tristan, I wasn’t allowed to remain in the Otherworld, but they did allow me to stay temporarily. The Angels—”

“Did they tell you where Dorian is?” I broke in with excitement.

“No.” She frowned. “I’m sorry. It must not be my place to know. But they did say I’ll be meeting them again soon, so maybe . . . .” Her voice trailed off as she gave a noncommittal shrug, leaving me with little confidence they would help. “For now, though, they ordered me to take care of that stone of yours once and for all so we don’t have any more issues with it.”

I reached my hands behind my neck, but paused. “What does that mean? Take care of it?”

She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. “I’m going to make sure you can’t lose it again so easily—or that it can’t be taken from you. I’m going to make it permanently in your possession.”

Tristan and I exchanged a look, but he gave me a nod of consent. With a little trepidation, I dropped the pendant into Bree’s hand.

“Sorry about the artwork, Tristan,” she said as she twisted the red triangular stone out of the pendant he’d designed, then dropped the silver into his hand. “But this is a better way for Alexis to keep the stone.”

She then moved my leather jacket to the side and pulled the bustier down to expose the Amadis mark on the rise of my breast. Tristan and I traded another look as Bree cupped her hand over the mark and pressed the rock against my skin.

“Is this okay?” she asked.

Understanding now, I gave her my consent, then gasped as a warm tingle fluttered into my flesh, followed by the stone. After several heartbeats, Bree pulled her hand away and nodded her approval. The Angel stone hadn’t sunken down and hidden in my heart, as it had with Tristan when he was a little boy. Rather, it had embedded itself into my skin, a ruby-colored embellishment to my Amadis mark.

“Will my skin grow around it?” I asked, perplexed.

“No,” Bree said. “You want it exposed to do what it needs to do for Tristan. But now your connection will remain strong and steady, and no one can take it away ever again.”

Well. I would take this bit of goodness after all the bad in the past seven days that felt like seven lifetimes. If only we had time to try out the stone’s fertility qualities. But Tristan was right—the sooner we met Rina’s demands, the sooner we could begin the search for our son. And right now, Dorian was more important than the daughter we may never have. At least, in my eyes he was.

With that bit of business finished, we could finally set off. The Amadis jet had been waiting on us, and within two hours of hanging up with Mom, we were ready for takeoff.

“Ms. Alexis,” the pilot said before closing the cockpit door, “I suggest all of you find a seat for the duration and buckle your belts. We’ve been ordered to travel at warlock speed.”

“Warlock speed?” I asked.

“Yes. My co-pilot will be giving us a magical boost so we can cut the travel time in half.”

“Oh,” I said with mild surprise. I knew the Amadis jet kept a warlock on crew for safety reasons, but didn’t realize he could serve another purpose. At least Rina agreed we didn’t have time to waste. Which meant she really did have a good reason to see us in person—maybe more than to give my team and me a scolding about following orders and doing our duties? I could always hope.

Sheree and Blossom fidgeted in their seats for the entire trip, both of them nervous to go to the Island and possibly meet Rina. Although Mom hadn’t specifically said Rina wanted to talk to all of us, why else would she call my whole team? Probably to lecture them about keeping me on task. Making sure they understood what lay on the line if they followed my errant lead. And that dilemma caused most of their high-strung nerves—they wanted to go after Dorian as badly as I did, but hated the idea of defying the matriarch’s orders. In other words, they didn’t want to have to choose between Rina and me. Charlotte sat with them on the cream-colored leather sofa grouping, trying to calm them, but I couldn’t blame them for being a little edgy.

And Vanessa . . . the vamp wasn’t just nervous. Sitting in a row of seats by herself, she was downright frightened, wringing her hands and staring out the window with wide, glazed-over eyes. She trembled so hard, I was surprised she didn’t throw the whole jet off course or into a spin. Her fear was somewhat understandable— she’d done a lot of horrific things to the Amadis in the past—but she had to know by now that forgiveness had already been granted. Clemency was part of becoming Amadis.

So why was she so scared? Was I right to be suspicious? Had the last several days, or even months, been nothing but an act on her part? Were we taking our enemy right into the heart of the Amadis? With all of the betrayal lately, I couldn’t help but wonder. Especially after everything she’d put us through before and during her conversion.

Charlotte came over to the group of chairs where Tristan and I sat and slid into a seat across from us. She tapped her temple, and I tuned into her mind while burying my fingers into Sasha’s fur as the lykora slept on my lap.

“You should go talk to Vanessa,” she said. “She’s a wreck, and a jumpy vampire isn’t an asset. I’d do it, but she’s wary of me and seems to trust you.”

I chuckled to myself at the irony. Well, I don’t trust her. I don’t know if I ever can completely.

“Then what’s she doing here? Trust is necessary for us to succeed.”

We don’t have anywhere else to put her.

“Maybe you should leave her on the Amadis Island, then. Let the Island—”

Absolutely not. I wouldn’t dare.

Char let out a sigh. “I feel the Amadis in her and not a trace of Daemoni.”

I looked out the window at the dark ocean below us. I still don’t trust her.