Alicia rolls her eyes. “Don’t mind Trevor. He’s upset he had problems with the GPS and had to spend too long away from Giulia.”
Giulia grins, turning to him. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“Of course you will,” Trevor replies, but his shoulders have relaxed and he takes her hand. There’s no denying what he feels for her. No denying he would do anything to make her happy.
“So, before you decide to make out on this table,” Apollo starts with his usual lack of patience. “What are we supposed to do now? Drive there?”
“You could,” Alicia says, facing him. “But there is the problem of others seeing you coming, and the trouble of Kayn and the Collector following you around. No, it’s much safer to use a portal stone.”
“The wards are definitely down,” Giulia says, the side of her body now pressed to Trevor’s. “With Prince’s death, the next owner will have some trouble going through the previous marking of his wards, removing any trace of it, then coming up with new ones. You have the perfect opportunity now. The sooner you go, the better. The wards are down because of Prince’s death. And the next owner will take some time to put them up again.”
Trevor drapes an arm over her shoulders, tightening his hold around her. Even with his less than proper behavior, it’s clear he feels pain when he sees Giulia like this. The repeating herself is the smallest part of her slips into other realities. I can’t even begin to comprehend what it feels like.
“So, we can just walk in.” Ren looks between us. “That sounds great,” he adds with a growing smile.
“It sounds too great,” Apollo comments, narrowing his eyes. “Things are never this easy.”
“They surely won’t be,” Alicia says. “Just because there are no wards, it doesn’t mean you’ll just walk in. There might be guards, other people plundering Prince’s things. You might have to fight for the books and the stones you’re looking for.”
I tighten my hold around Cassandra. This entire thing sounds a lot like a suicidal mission — from going to the fae’s place to stealing his stones, then going into the Collector’s palace. Add Kayn to that, and we’re exposed the moment we set foot out of here.
“Do we need to?” I breathe against Cassandra’s shoulder. If the table wasn’t filled with shifters and a half-vampire, it might have stood between the two of us.
“Are you questioning takingtheCollector down?” Apollo growls, baring his teeth and semi-rising from the chair. “This might be our only shot. I’ve been after him for years, and I never had a chance like this.”
Ren shakes his head. “If, maybe, we could go, and leave Cassandra here, safe inside the wards...”
Cassandra almost jumps out of my hold. “Hell no. If someone should stay, it should be you guys. It was my idea, and this is my mess.”
“Your mess is our mess,” Apollo says, poking the table so hard I’m surprised he doesn’t pokethroughit. “You won’t leave without us.”
Cassandra’s cheeks go red. She tries to get to her feet again, but I keep her sat on me. She shoots me an annoyed glance before looking at Giulia again. “Trevor. Alicia. Wouldn’t you go with us? Not against the Collector, but to help with the books. We’d have more numbers against —”
Giulia raises a hand, stopping Cass. “No. They die in almost every timeline if they take part in this. I will not risk it.”
My throat clenches. If they die, what’s to be expected of us? My fingers dig into Cassandra’s thighs and, more than ever, I want her to stay.
Giulia raises a small stone the size of a pebble. It’s of a color so dark it doesn’t reflect light. It only bounces it off. “This is the stone that will take you to the location Trevor pinpointed. I suggest you going tomorrow morning. Don’t worry, I will teach you how to use it.” She raises another pebble in her other hand, after she frees it from Trevor’s grip. It’s dark green, filtering the light into hues of gold. “This is your stone back here. The basis for these stones are very rare materials, so I don’t have many. Let’s not waste them.” And she puts both down on the table. She gives us a moment of silent reflection before she stares straight at Cassandra. “I told you yesterday, Shadow Mage, the way ahead is dangerous. You can still choose. The decision is all yours.”
The others look at her, craning necks in silent wonder. There’s no time for admiration, though. No time to awe at Cassandra, and her reflections, and the dilemma inside her.
She shoots to her feet, finally getting rid of my hold, and strides to Giulia. Cassandra plucks the stones from the table and holds them in a fist. “I’m going. After my revenge on that slave owner for capturing Tristan and Oreo, I can hide in a cave or something.”
And I can’t restrain myself. A peal of laughter climbs up my throat, and I laugh and laugh. Cassandra turns to glare at me, but there’s a small smile on her lips. I shoot to my feet, capturing her hips in my hands, and kiss her.
She has no idea how brave she is. Even if her powers are pure darkness, and even if she doesn’t care for the well-being of the world in itself, she has strong opinions on defending her own. On keeping us safe. And that’s all that matters to me.
“And who was about to make out on the table, right?” Alicia teases. I only break the kiss so I can thumb Cassandra’s bottom lip, red and swollen.Merda, I have to get her into the bedroom. I have plans for this pretty mouth of hers.
Giulia smiles, the somber atmosphere coming undone. “After dinner, everyone can retire and make out with their respective lovers.” She waves with a hand. “Alicia and I will prepare a fabulous meal. It’s either pheasant or bison. I don’t quite remember which timeline is which.”
Alicia folds an arm around Giulia’s waist to guide her outside. She looks over her shoulder at me and mouths “pheasant”. I grin at her. And even with what’s waiting for us tomorrow, even with what can go wrong, even with the danger... I can only think of my dessert. My hand propped on Cassandra’s hip, we walk out of the room together, Ren to her other side, holding her hand.
We might die tomorrow. So tonight, it’s all about making memories.
CHAPTER16
REN