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At my words, his embrace tightened.

Asher began to speak, but then his voice broke. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I’m all right, Lana.”

Of their own accord, my hands began to run gently over Asher’s back. Now that I knew he was all right, my relief morphed into a sort of restlessness. I rubbed my cheek against his chest.

His hands reached around and covered mine. With care, he pried them away and maneuvered them between us.

“Later,” he promised. How agonized he looked as he spoke.

I reached up and touched his temple. “Your eyes are sad.”

He took my hand and squeezed it. “How could I be sad?”

I almost believed him. I wanted to, desperately. But I couldn’t shake the worry that something was off. Maybe it was just the incomplete bond...

“You don’t regret it?” I asked, my voice nothing more than a whisper. I felt my heart laid bare.

Asher tilted my head and claimed my mouth. His lips were so much softer than any other part of him, and the sweetness of the kiss alone reassured me. All over again I felt wrapped up in Asher’s very essence.

I responded to the kiss, parting my lips as it deepened, turning hungry. This is what I wanted. Physical reassurance. To know that he was as pleased to be with me as I was him.

Last night came back in all its burning glory, and I felt my nails dig in. But before the kiss could escalate into anything more, Asher broke it off.

Our foreheads pressed together. “Lana, only a fool would regret being with you,” he said, answering my question.

I smiled a little at that.

“Let’s get today over with. Then I’ll show you exactly how much I don’t regret it. I promise.”

I could feelour time slipping away as our rental car drew ever closer to the portal.

“Turn right here,” I said. This close to the gateway, I could sense it and, in the roughest of terms, I could navigate us toward it.

Asher slowed the car and flipped on the blinker, brooding as he did so. My earlier unease had returned. I didn’t know if it stemmed from something personal between me and Asher, or greater worry that today wouldn’t end well. That last night was all I got with the hunter.

My eyes drifted to Asher’s gun. “You’re still planning on giving a blood oath, right?” I asked, daring to look over at him.

Blood in exchange for surrender.

He nodded, his eyes riveted to the road.

Somewhere out there, dozens of Infernari waited for us. They would kill us on sight unless I told them we were coming to surrender. They still might.

I drew in a deep breath. “I’m going to try to contact the Infernari through my connection. If I give them my word we’re not here to do violence, they should at least hear us out.”

Again, he nodded, his face stoic.

I closed my eyes, pushing away the jumble of my emotions, and focused on the web inside of me. I didn’t know who all waited for us, but I assumed Azazel, Clades, and Aecora were among them. I slipped into the web, seeking out their essences. I could feel the breath of hot winds, the pull of a riptide, the smell of oiled leather—all of it and more as I touched each essence.

Comrades,I spoke through our connection,I know you are out there. I have the hunter. We want to end the violence; we want to surrender. Asher seeks to make a blood oath as proof of his word. All I ask is that you let us speak to you... please.

I repeated the request over and over, hoping the message got through.

“Did it work?” Asher’s voice cut through my focus.

My eyes fluttered open as I released the connections.

“I don’t know.” I frowned. “Hopefully.” Placing an idea in someone’s mind wasn’t exactly my affinity, and I didn’t have any magic left in me. The connection, however, didn’t require magic. It was always there, always accessible. “I can’t tell how many are waiting for us.” But it was probably more than the three I’d reached out to. My plan suddenly felt paltry, insufficient.