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It came at me in waves, wrapping around me, souring in my mouth. All that hate.

“I would do more than hurt you, Holden. Please, don’t push me to that point.”

He waited a beat before looking at me, and a wave of some other feeling slammed into me and almost knocked me off my feet.

No. I couldn’t be. But there it was. I sighed when it all became clear.

“Oh, Holden. I understand. We can talk about it, all right? But just not now. Please. There’s so much more at stake.”

Than you loving me, I wanted to add.

Why didn’t I see it before? It wasn’t just a matter of him outperforming Elias.

He glared at Gentry once more, and the claws at his throat tightened—I could see the way they dug into his flesh even at a distance—before he dropped him to the floor.

I held myself back instead of rushing to him. It would only rub salt in Holden’s wounds to watch me rush to another man.

Why hadn’t I seen it? It all made so much sense.

“Thank you,” was all I said, even though there was so much more to be said and we both knew it.

Gentry rubbed this throat. “Yeah, thanks.”

“Shut up,” Holden hissed. His claws were still extended, I noticed.

I could feel his emotions; every instinct he possessed told him to kill Gentry, and not just because of what he had done to vampires in his former life. I had been so blind.

“Both of you, stop. We need to work together, or we’re all screwed.” I held my head in my hands. “Like I needed one more thing to worry about. I have the entire coven on my ass, led by my mother, of course. A psychopathic sorcerer is nipping at my heels. And now this.”

“I wouldn’t say the coven’s on your ass,” Holden replied. He sounded a lot more like himself, and his eyes were back to their usual color.

“Please. My mother is furious, which means everybody else will be once she gets in their ears. Big surprise.” I flopped down on the bed. “She might have calmed down a little since the phone call yesterday, but I highly doubt it.”

“You told her about me?” Gentry asked.

“The little bit she let me get in edgewise had to do with you, yes.” I could still hear her shrill, ringing voice in my ear. “She wasn’t pleased.”

“I’ve caused you trouble,” Gentry observed, sitting beside me on the bed.

“Yes,” Holden replied before I had the chance.

I shot him a look before turning to Gentry. “It’s not your fault, believe me.”

“It isn’t yours, either. You didn’t know who I was, and I didn’t know who you were.”

“I knew,” Holden whispered.

“You didn’t know anything,” I reminded him, my voice sharp. “Having a feeling and knowing something are two different things. And you would’ve had a feeling about any man I dated. It’s irrelevant now. This is the situation we’re in, and that’s that.” I just had to find a way to make it work. Somehow.

“There’s no guarantee Dominic will attack you,” Gentry offered.

He didn’t believe it. I could see it on his face.

“Yes, just like there was no guarantee Kristoff would.” I stumbled on the name.

Saying it was like opening an old wound, but it was one that needed to be opened and dealt with for good.

I looked at them. First one, then the other. “I won’t wait around for another sorcerer to decide it’s time to strike. I won’t leave my fate in anyone else’s hands ever again.”