“There's just one thing,” Odin said with a smirk.
The Wolf and I turned to him.
“If I do this—if I help her complete you—I want something in return,” Odin said with a wily grin.
The Wolf narrowed his eyes at Odin. “What?” He snarled.
“I want Trevor back,” Odin said. “If he is complete, so are you. You will have acquired what you both desired; your position as Alpha, your son conceived, and possession of the magic to defend your mate with. There will be no reason for you to hold Trevor back.”
The Wolf frowned and looked at me.
“You're not leaving, you're just letting another part of you take over for a bit,” I said. “You're with him when he's in control, aren't you?”
“Yes,” he admitted. “I'm always with him. As he is always with me. He's here even now; urging me to take the chance Odin has offered and the gift you want to give us.”
“What's holding you back?” I asked.
“You,” he whispered. “I only have control when he's in his pure wolf form. I don't want to give this up; being a man with you.”
“Then bargain with him,” I said as I stroked his cheek. “Ask him for time with me in this form. Sometimes you have to make compromises with yourself.”
The Wolf smiled softly at me, and then his honey eyes went distant. After a few minutes, his smile widened, and he swung his head toward Odin.
“Trevor will return once we complete the ritual,” the Wolf agreed.
“I'll get the book.” Odin headed downstairs.
“How did that son of a bitch even know about Trevor's soul being incomplete?” Azrael growled as he watched Odin leave.
“I think he's done a lot of research on us. He knew everything about me; down to my nine-pointed star,” I said. “He's smart; I'll give him that. But he's also insane.”
“We can use that,” Azrael said coldly. “Every crazy person has their trigger; an issue that when exploited can drive them even more insane. We just have to find what Katila's is; push his buttons until he self-destructs.”
I thought back to the morning's incident and then murmured, “I would have said it was his ego, but even when I called him pathetic and weak, he remained confident. He got a little angry but stayed calm.”
“We'll figure it out,” Azrael said. “But first things first; let's get ourselves in top fighting shape.” He said to the Wolf, “You being stronger makes all of us stronger.”
The Wolf nodded; his eyes on me.
“And maybe put some clothes on,” Az suggested.
My wolf grinned wickedly at my angel and asked, “Why? Getting jealous?”
“Getting nightmares.” The Angel of Death shuddered.
The Wolf laughed suddenly; a dark, rich sound that made me think of him behind me. His hand in my hair while he drove himself into me. His pelvis slapping into my ass. My breath caught in my throat, and my wolf finally noticed the effect he was having on me. His amusement turned into arousal and a low growl vibrated out of him as he pulled me closer.
Azrael cleared his throat as Odin returned with the book. He held it up triumphantly and then set it down on the kitchenette table with a thud. It was a large book. The Wolf eased away from me with a rueful grin.
“That was fast,” Azrael said as we wandered over to the table.
The Wolf picked up his discarded pants along the way and pulled them on.
“I had it here,” I explained. “From when I used it to bring Odin back.”
Odin spared a quick, soft smile for me and then flipped open the blue leather book; light catching in the silver, nine-pointed star embossed on its cover. I couldn't read the book—it was written in Old Norse—but Odin had no problem with it. He skimmed through the pages with ease. As he did, my stomach growled, and Azrael chuckled.
“I'll make us some breakfast while he looks for the spell,” Azrael offered.
Az went to work on some eggs and bacon while the Wolf started the coffee and tea. I let them handle it; I needed a moment to think about what magic I should give Trevor if it turned out that I was able to. There was a time when I would have balked at cutting away a part of my soul; at the idea of binding myself so thoroughly to anyone. But now, I would do anything to protect my family. I would torture and kill or be tortured and killed. I would give up body parts or soul parts. Anything. They are my world and it was about time that my world was complete.
Halfway through breakfast—long after Kirill had returned without Lesya—Odin ran off to acquire the items needed for the spell.
“Meet me in the Southern tower,” he called back to us. “And put on something white.”
The Southern tower was where I had conducted the ritual to return a soul; twice. I'd brought back Odin and then Toby there. It appeared that I was going to heal Trevor's soul there as well. I looked at the men around me and they nodded; whatever happened, we'd deal with it together. This was worth the risk; we all knew it.
So, we finished breakfast in silence. Then the Wolf and I dressed in white, and we all headed up to the circular room in the top of the Southern tower. There are towers at all four corners of Pride Palace, in addition to the two that bracketed my balcony. The towers aligned with compass points—yes; on purpose. I'd been a witch before anything else. Well, in this life, at least.
We had to go down one floor to get to the tower entrance. Below that, the towers held storerooms that could be accessed on each floor. But on
