She walked her way around the car as he watched, impressed. She spoke under her voice but he heard the words anyway. Felt the brush of her power as she moved. The air in the space seemed to warm all around them.

His beast wanted to eat her up.

Until she drew a pocketknife out and sliced into her skin. The scent of her blood filled the air as she drew runes on the car.

Enraged that she’d harm herself, he barely managed to hold his tongue until she stood again, her eyes clearing as she let her magick go and it misted into the air around her.

“What the fuck did you just do?” He growled instead of yelling, figuring it would be better received.

She raised her brow at his tone before she gave him her back and headed into the building.

Guess he was wrong about that.

He didn’t ask in the elevator but took the keycard from her, opening the door to his room and jerking his head for her to go inside.

“You should know that’s never going to work on me. Unless it’s your goal to get punched in the balls.” She smiled sweetly.

He growled.

She moved to grab the keycard from his hand and he grabbed her instead, carrying her inside, his mouth crushing against hers until her taste drowned him, soothed even as it excited. He tossed her to the bed and she scrambled to her knees, eyes blazing, lips swollen. She fisted her hands and it sent a thrill through him.

“You’re fucking magnificent.”

It was her growl this time. “You’re playing with something that might end up drawing blood.”

He circled her as she kept a wary eye on him. “That’s okay. Sometimes Lycian love play gets a little rough.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Faine.”

He sent her a smile. “You know how hot it makes me when you’re violent.”

That growl turned into a snarl and he hummed his satisfaction. But he backed off. For a moment, because they were totally going to get naked in just a few minutes.

“Why did you draw blood? Tell me now.” He crossed his arms and glared at her.

“Funny, I didn’t hear a please in that sentence.”

“You try a man’s patience.”

“I’ll kick his balls into his throat if he doesn’t stop this now and show some manners.”

He grinned. “Damn, I am so in love with you.”

She threw her hands up, scrambling from the bed. “You’re certifiable.”

“I am. But it’s the truth. You wreck me. Savage. Fire in your eyes, fists ready to punch me in the face or worse. You’re a walking, talking aphrodisiac.”

“Lycians are weird.”

“Please tell me why you drew your blood.”

“Blood magick is older and stronger than the normal spellwork I use. I wanted to protect your car. I used my blood to bind the intent better. If anyone touches it with the intent to harm, I’ll know. It’ll also fry their circuits.” She shrugged.

“Vicious.” He stalked toward her and she held a hand out to ward him off.

“I am. And you scampered off to Lycia with your brother without telling me.”

“I don’t scamper.”

Her look made him stop playing. “I told you I was going. Just not the why of it. I wanted to speak with my father with Simon at my side. Helena, this is a matter of honor in more ways than I can really make clear to you. Attacking while on Simon’s land, in his den? He can’t let that go unanswered. His Ne’est was placed in mortal danger. In the one place he’d made safe for her. To not declare war would be to invite shame. The bond between them is soul deep. He promised her on his own life to keep her safe.”

She tossed herself in a nearby chair but her hands were no longer in fists so at least the immediate danger had passed. “And you went to support him. I understand now.”

He got to his knees before her. “No, you don’t. My Ne’est was put in mortal danger twice in one day too. I went along with Simon, but we both had to satisfy a promise.”

Her eyes grew wide. “What?”

He took her hands, turning them to kiss the heart of her palms. “You are my key. We haven’t performed the ceremony, but in every way but that, I am bound to you. To keep you safe. To delight you and support you. To please you and love you.”

Her mouth gaped and then snapped shut. He had to control his urge to laugh.

“This is happening very fast. Too fast.”

Really? She was going to try that one? “You’re a witch. You just used your blood to make a spell. You call magick through a metaphysical well to use. Where your clan lives the very earth at your feet receives you. Is it so hard to believe in something like this sort of bond? That some things simply are?”

She was quiet a long time as she pondered until she suddenly blurted, “One of the witches who was giving PURITY information knew the location of the haven in Indio. I didn’t know he was a leak. My weakness brought the deaths of twenty-two people. I am not a good risk, Faine.”

He reached out, cupping the back of her neck. “When I was a little over a hundred, we went to war for the first time. My right-hand man was my cousin. He sold information about our plans to a rival Pack. By the end of our second battle over three hundred of my men died because we were ambushed.”

Her mouth softened and she moved forward to press a kiss to his forehead. “I’m so sorry. Oh my goddess.”

Again, she knew what he needed. Stopped her own worry to comfort him. She couldn’t deny what they were to each other any longer. But first he had to finish making his point.

“No one dreamed he would do such a thing. He was my cousin. I’d grown up with him. His father is my uncle. But he wanted more, and unbeknownst to my uncle and my family, my cousin had been giving information to our enemy in exchange for the promise to be able to run Leviathan once we were defeated.”

Her lip curled and he loved her more for it. Such a thing would be utterly unthinkable for her. But it wasn’t for others and he said so.

“You know your path. You are righteous and would give up your very life to protect those you’re sworn to. But not everyone else is. You can only do so much, remain vigilant but also understand that sometimes people do things that are heinous and senseless. I can’t let you take responsibility for this situation in Indio. You made a choice. One I would have made, as it happens. Someone you trusted betrayed you. But the Magister? Even if those witches had been in your living room they might have disappeared. We know that. All you can do is to move on.”

“I can’t afford you,” she whispered.

“It’s too late for all that. I should also tell you that Tila is my mother, I’m half demon. They imprint on mates as well. You’re it for me. I know this with all my being. Tell me you don’t know the truth of what’s between us. Go on. I dare you. There are things we sometimes can’t explain but we know they’re true anyway. You are mine. I am yours. You can’t deny it. You’re too honest for that.”

Helena knew she should lie. Should push him back and insist he give her time and some space. He might even do it. But what she really wanted, so much it scared her, was to believe in what he said. To let herself believe that connection she did feel between them.

There was no one in the world who was anything like Faine. No one she trusted the same way. But.

“What about Lydia? You were married. Lark said that her life span was altered, would be far longer now that she took the bond with Simon. What happened with her?”

“I loved her. Very much. But she was not my Ne’est. This thing between us—the thing Seymeon and Lark have—it’s forever. There are many kinds of love. Surely you know this. What I felt for her was deep. And she’s someone I’m glad to have had in my life. I miss her even to this day. But you? I need you like I need to breathe. You’re who I think about when I open my eyes in the morning. I not only can imagine you in my life a hundred years from now, I want to. I knew there was another level of love. I see it with my parents. I see it with Simon and Lark. I feel it now. I understand it now. Are you afraid you don’t love me that deeply? Or are you afraid you aren’t worthy of such a gift? Be honest now.”