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“Good,” Asrai said, and I could hear a thread of pride in her voice.

But I wasn’t proud. I didn’t regret what I’d done, but I didn’t know if I could stomach it either. As if she could hear my thoughts, Asrai spoke again.

“You did what you had to do and there is only more violence coming.” Her voice was soft as streams of winter’s morning sun began to filter in through the doorway leading to the bedchamber. “I pray that the bloodshed never gets easier for you, that it does not touch your heart. But we must always do what needs to be done, to protect the things we love—thepeoplewe love.”

I could count on one hand the times that she’d held me like this, that she’d stepped out of her rough shell to give me comfort. But right now, I was not the one that needed it. I didn’t regret my actions; I didn’t feel guilty for what I had done even if it made me physically sick.

I knew in my bones, if it came to it, I would do far worse things.

My head lifted from her shoulder as I turned to meet her eyes. “Ata needs you. The things those men did to her . . .” I swallowed. “She needs a mother right now.”

I could have sworn I watched Asrai’s heart breaking in the look that flared behind her irises at my words.

We stood, our hands still intertwined as she pulled me against her chest and rested her cheek against my hair. I stayed there fora long moment, letting the warmth of her, the steadiness of her heartbeat, ground me.

Myfingersbrushedthroughmy curls as I saturated them in a thick oil, standing in front of the mirror hanging above the sink. The fireplace in the corner of the bathing chamber popped and crackled in the quiet space and I welcomed the heat against my water-chilled skin. I grabbed onto the lip of the counter with both hands, letting my head fall forward as I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath through my nose.

I was exhausted.

No more than ten hours had passed since I stepped back into Locdragoon and all I wanted was to crawl into my bed and sleep for the next full day. My muscles ached from even the smallest movements.

All but one of the men were dead. He had slipped through my shadows while I was handling the others, and by the time I’d noticed, he had disappeared into the night.

I would need to rectify that mistake.

I would not let a man who had assaulted my sister walk free in this realm—or any other.

“Hello, Dearie.”

My eyes snapped open and my head whipped around the room as I stumbled backward, looking for the source of the voice.

A low chuckle echoed throughout the bathing chamber and I slowly pulled my eyes to the mirror.

Cain.

“Did you miss me?” he asked, a smile stretching across his face as I glared back at the glass. Where my reflection should have been, he stood, the edges of his features blurring and dancing like smoke in the wind.

“How are you here? Landers put a blood ward around Locdragoon; you shouldn’t be able to be here,” I snapped, tightening the towel around my body as I took a step forward.

“Ahh, the beauty of a mating bond. All I need to do is listen to its pull, sprinkle a bit of magic and poof, I am wherever you are,” he said, chuckling to himself. I didn’t have time for whatever game he was playing. “Though I did run into the little problem of the wards. So, until I figure out how to break through those and physically come to you, you’ll have to settle for seeing me through shiny objects.”

“What do you want?” I hissed, reaching for the robe draped over the lip of the tub.

“How is your friend? Seems like you have had quite the night.” My movements slowed at his words as my heart began to pound in my chest at a rapid pace. How long had he been there listening—watching?

This was not good.

This was the absolute worst possible scenario I could be in right now with all the information coming in and out of this realm.

“What do you want, Cain?” I asked the question again as I pulled the robe tight around my middle, trying not to let him see the panic rising under my skin.

He shrugged, looking down at his nails, letting out a melodramatic sigh before meeting my eyes again.

“Nothing your pretty little self can give me, Dearie. Just wanted you to know that no matter where you are, I can get to you.” A grin slid onto his face and I forced myself not to recoil.

I opened my mouth to speak but he was already gone, the smoke of his reflection slowly swirling back into my own and for a second I stared at it, blinking at where he stood.

A frustrated scream burst from my chest and before I could stop myself my fist was shattering through glass. Shards of the mirror collided with the sink, the fragile material breaking on impact as I stared back at the hole my hand had made. The glass that had withstood the assault spiderwebbed out in all different directions as the small chamber filled with the sound of my ragged breaths.