12

ADRIAN

THE rune on the inside of my wrist burned in warning, and my chest loosened with the knowledge that we weren’t alone. “The others are here.”

Ivy’s face flooded with colour as she squeezed her eyes shut. A war raged within her; stay with her newly bonded mate or reunite with the one she’d been cut off from. The need to comfort her clawed at me, but I forced myself to hold back, to give her the space she needed. Maeve would be able to help her where I couldn’t.

Better start getting used to that , I thought, shaking my head as I backed away from my mate and her new bonded. Ivy was right: I would have to start getting used to sharing.

For now, though, I supposed I would have to make sure Elias didn’t kill anyone important.

“Stay here. I’ll check in with the others, and let Elias know you’re in here and are safe.”

Ivy’s gaze drifted from Maeve’s to meet mine. “Thank you.” Through the bond, she reached for me, letting me know she appreciated me for what I was doing.

I gave her one last smile before going back the way we came, climbing through the wreckage of the SUV and out onto the grass. In the time since we’d entered, the sky had drastically changed, and lightning illuminated the horizon, inching closer to the bloodshed remaining from the fight.

Rounding the side of the car, I searched the damage; the team that came to rescue us was cleaning up the bodies of the enemies, with Hawk directing them. He’d pulled his wings back in, though a large cut on his forehead still bled. He gave me a questioning stare, but I shook my head to indicate everything was fine.

Or as fine as it could be .

“Kingsley!” Elias’s voice was both a roar and a growl, one that would send anyone else running. But with the bond now fully settled within me and Ivy’s power tethered to mine, his bark barely scraped over my skin.

I turned towards him with a grimace and held up my hand. “She’s okay. More than okay.”

The stormy expression on his face didn’t move. “She’s not responding to me,” he growled. The shift was clearly close; his skin rippled as he held back the beast.

I sighed. “I know. She’s preoccupied. She accidentally completed the bond with Maeve.”

Elias stilled, and his eyes darkened with understanding and confusion, followed by fury. “Ivy didn’t know how vamps completed the bond.”

My stomach twisted. “No, but—”

“I’ll kill her.”

He pushed past me and started in the direction of the wrecked SUV. This wasn’t Elias in control—it was the wolf, and the wolf only cared about Ivy.

Fuck . I rushed to catch up to him and grabbed his arm. “Maeve did nothing to endanger Ivy, and you know it. You really think Maeve of all people would even risk something like that? She had no idea it was even possible they could be mates, let alone that Ivy might accidentally trigger the bond.”

Elias’s eyes were a dark, luminous green when they met mine. His chest rose and fell with sharp, ragged breaths, but he tried to regain control of his beast.

“You know she’s not in any danger, and that she needs to be with Maeve right now,” I added. I mentally prepared to send Ivy a warning about this, but I had a feeling he would get his emotions under control.

“I know,” he growled, closing his eyes. “I just—”

“You were split from your mate for days and you’re worried about her.”

He chuckled darkly and shook his head. “That’s not even the half of it.” When he opened his eyes again, they returned to their normal shade of green, and his skin no longer rippled with the need to shift. His features smoothed out, and the anger I’d felt radiating from him dimmed, though not completely gone.

I looked at the SUV and reached for the bond between Ivy and me; for a while after the crash, I hadn’t been able to feel anything from her, not her emotions, her pain, fuck, I wasn’t even sure she was alive. But the tether between us pulsated with warm, comforting light now, forever guiding me towards her.

“How did you get here so quickly?” I asked, turning back to Elias. “You were hours away.”

His jaw clicked, and he looked towards the SUV before meeting my stare. “I felt it, the moment you crashed. She’d tried to block me, but I knew as soon as the block was down, because our bond felt...broken.”

I blew out a shaky breath. “I felt the same thing.”

Elias’s eyes hardened, and he crossed his arms. “Turns out, when you crashed, it was like a beacon had been lit. We were all alerted to it; Jay’s team, us, and every other undercover agent within a certain radius.” He motioned towards the gathered black vehicles, nodding in their direction. “Ivy’s power also signalled for help.”

That explained why so many people were here; Hawk was still in control of the situation, but Jay was at his side, barking orders and sending agents out for clean-up. Any enemy soldiers who weren’t killed were rounded up and being processed by the members of Hawk’s team, though from the looks of it, one was missing. I couldn’t see Rowan, but I had to assume he was still with Thea and the kids, keeping them occupied.

Hawk stalked in our direction, brows drawn in a deep frown. “Everything okay?” he asked.

He glanced at the wrecked SUV quickly before looking away, and his jaw tightened as he awaited our response.

“Nothing you need to worry about, Nash,” Elias grunted. “We need to move a vehicle so Ivy and Grey can be safely transported out.”

The other team leader narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t say anything. I didn’t expect him to. If there was one thing to rely on Hawk Nash about, it was compartmentalising about our work.

A shout sounded behind us, and a flurry of magic created a cloud around a group of agents and their prisoners. A switched flipped in my mind, the part of me attuned to my status as an agent flicking on. I activated a protection charm on my gear; it buzzed along my skin, settling against my flesh. I did the same to Elias and Hawk, before striding towards the commotion.

The bond in my chest warmed with worry as Ivy stroked it warily. What’s going on? I feel...magic. But weird. Dark.

I stiffened, sharing a look with Elias, who must have gotten the same message. We’re going to check it out now. Stay with Maeve where you’re safe. Activate a protection charm around the SUV. We’ll come and get you once this is sorted out.

She wanted to fight me on this, but she relented by pushing warmth through the bond. Be safe. Protect each other.

Always, Sweetheart. I held off on ending that with I love you , but I hoped she felt that regardless.

As the bond went quiet, I focused on the conflict in front of us. A shiver raced down my spine, and as we drew closer, I understood what Ivy had been talking about. Dark, sludge-like magic hit me as soon as we entered the perimeter of the cloud. The smell of sulphur burned my nose, and I pulled my mask up to cover my face to block out some of the stench. My eyes watered, and as I blinked rapidly to clear some of the tears, I took in the destruction hidden within the cloud.

“Fuck,” I coughed, bringing my forearm up to cover my mouth. “Get everyone out now.”

Elias cursed, and Hawk dove further into the fog for a staggering, coughing agent. He ripped the witch out of the darkness, and she disappeared into what I hoped was fresh air—and not something worse. The protection charm hummed against my skin as I pushed further into the darkness and grabbed onto whoever I found. Completing the bond with Ivy was the only thing protecting me, Elias, and Hawk right now.

We each grabbed onto flailing limbs before shoving them out of the cloud; there were screams of pain, of retching and strangled breaths. I tried to ignore how my skin burned the longer I remained in the fog, but it was growing more painful. It seemed unending, and there were still agents and civilians trapped; people who came to help us, help Ivy .

“I can’t find anyone else,” Hawk said, appearing at my side. “I think we’ve gotten everyone out.”

I squinted, trying to make him out, but it sounded like his voice was floating in the air around me. I reached out for him but grabbed at air. “Where’s Elias? Fuck, where are you ?”

“Kingsley—”

Thunder rumbled through the air, followed by streaks of violet lightning. My magic hummed, my entire body reacting to the power cutting through the fog.

A hand gripped my upper arm and spun me towards them. I knew it was Elias immediately from the way both our bodies reacted to Ivy’s magic. Elias grabbed at Hawk, who finally materialised beside me. Sweat beading along his brow, face was leached of colour.

The wolf shifter dragged us both out of the cloud as another crack of thunder sounded around us. Someone screamed, though not the same as the ones reacting to the cloud. This one came out different, and it sent a shiver down my spine when it cut off.

As soon as we vacated the cloud, I dropped to my knees and breathed in cool, clean air. The smell of sulphur disappeared with each deep breath, and my vision cleared rapidly the longer we were out.

Lightning struck the sky again, and the cloud disintegrated. The mist shuddered and fell away to reveal the only person within—a man with his head in his hands, rocking back and forth, muttering something under his breath. I recognised the tell-tale signs of a mage, too overpowered for his own good.

“Poison mage,” Hawk bit out, coughing into his closed fist. “Fuck, they’re rare.”

Elias, who had been standing beside me a moment ago, took off in the other direction. I followed his line of sight and found Ivy standing on the other side of where the cloud ended, her hands lowering to her sides, her cheeks flushed with spent-power and eyes darkened with exhaustion.

I was on my feet before I could manage another thought. My chest was tight with the need to be by my mate. It hadn’t even occurred to me that there was something wrong with what I was seeing.

Specifically, who I was seeing.

Because Ivy wasn’t alone. Elias swept her into his arms and crushed her into his chest, almost lifting her into the air.

I stumbled to a halt in front of my mate and raked my eyes over her body to make sure she was alright. She had no other wounds on her, and other than the scrapes left from climbing in and out of the wreckage, she looked fine. But my heart still raced with panic and anxiety.

Why did she leave the safety of the SUV?

Why would she risk herself like that?

Ivy whispered something to Elias, who reluctantly released her, and she threw herself into my arms as soon as she was free. I buried my face in her hair, breathing in her scent as she pushed her face into my neck.

“I’m okay,” she whispered, trailing her hands up and down my back. “I was so worried about you. Both of you.”

Slowly, Ivy pulled away from me, and I felt her absence immediately, like the air had been sucked out of me. She looked me over with tired, worried eyes before doing the same to Elias. Briefly, she glanced over my shoulder, towards the area where we’d left Hawk.

I frowned, but she averted her eyes just as quickly, and I tried to ignore the pit forming in my stomach. “It felt...wrong, so dark. I didn’t like it at all.” Ivy wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered. “I just had this urge to destroy it. ”

“We’re okay. I just wished you’d stayed safe, with...” I trailed off as I finally realised Maeve was standing behind Ivy. The vampire’s face was carefully blank in her usual way, though there was another layer of that now that she’d bonded Ivy. Her body was wound tight with tension, and I understood why.

But the clouds weren’t as heavy anymore, and despite the thunder and lightning Ivy had conjured, it was still early afternoon, and the sun was still high in the sky.

Maeve, as if sensing my questions, gently shook her head. I clamped my mouth shut and put aside those questions—for now.

“We should get moving,” Elias said, trailing a hand down Ivy’s arm. “The window is closing for the ferry, and we don’t have much time left.”

I swore, scrubbing a hand over my face. “This was a trap to keep us from reaching it. Fucking bastards.”

Maeve nodded. “That’s what I’m beginning to suspect, which means we need to move. Leave Jay and his teams to clean this up, he has it covered. There isn’t much we can do here without risking Ivy’s power.”

My mate shuddered at that reminder; it also meant she would need to recharge soon, to expel any pent-up magic through us.

Her eyes met mine and she nodded as if she, too, realised that. “How are the girls? Thea? Are they here?” she asked Elias, though she made no move to seek them out.

Elias cupped her cheek and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “They’re okay. A little shaken up. They don’t know what happened.”

She blew out a breath and nodded. “Okay. Good. They don’t need to know, at least not yet, if at all.”

Glancing at Maeve, I motioned to one of the parked SUV’s. “I’m going to enhance the charms on one of these and then we can go.”

Maeve bowed her head, and for a moment, her mask slipped. Fear shone bright in her eyes, and based on the slight tremble in her fingers as she took Ivy’s hand, it was clear she wasn’t sure what was going on.

Changed vampires couldn’t live in the sun long term, and yet Maeve stood there, completely unbothered by it.

Had bonding Ivy changed something within her? Was it even possible?

My mind remained glued on that as I finished charming one of the cars. I motioned for the group to join me as soon as it was done and tried not to dwell on it too much when Ivy slipped into the backseat.

“Is it just going to be us or is Hawk coming, too?” she asked cautiously, as Elias and Maeve took the seats either side of her.

Maeve glanced at me, then out the window as the half-Fae took to the sky. “For safety reasons, he’ll watch over us and alert us to anything coming our way. And that means you’ll have necessary...privacy to recharge.”

And I was driving . I shifted uncomfortably at the thought, but reached out to Rowan about us moving. His voice came through the runes connecting us, and he gave the all-clear for me to go.

We had only an hour to go, and then Ivy would be safe.