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I’m no longer surprised that she hid herself. I also know why she was in that lab.

Always with the damnedlabs.

Menders are supposed to be extinct. She would be a rare find. No creature with so little regard for their own life could be expected to last long.

I also realize that whatever fascination she holds for Mitri has been solidified. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants. And he wantsher.

I suppose I should be upset that he admitted killing four Delegates to her, but I’m finding it difficult to care. I doubt they were innocent.

I leave Kimi to his play and make a circuit of the property, spreading my scent over top of the monster’s as an added precaution. There are a lot of Others who would never willingly cross the path of a dragon.

She might be able to free me of my curse. She’s selfless enough that I could ask it of her. Can I, though?

With my head clear of cobwebs, the longing to return to my old form has returned with a vengeance. I can only marvel at the fact that I left that laboratory before I could completely change.

My mate was the only thing I could think about at that final deciding moment. A demon who wants nothing to do with me.

Mitri said that we were all affected by this new curse. Could it have affected our bond?

I pause my steps to sense the tie that connects us and feel it falter before it reaches his side. I take a sharp breath at the pain of disconnection. He has wholly closed it off, leaving me with very little hope.

The only thing I can do now is ask Beatrice to help me reach my mate. I can offer her as much gold as I can carry for it. What is my hoard without my mate to guard it with me? If healing his mind doesn’t, I will ask her to return me to my original state.

I pace the perimeter as the faeries watch for several hours, allowing my scent to saturate the land here.Kimi is in a new position at every pass, playing with his toy without tiring.

On the seventieth circle, Mitri returns. He stops the vehicle but does not exit.

I open the passenger side and slide in.

“Is it safe to return to the den?” I ask him as he lights another cigarette. The overwhelming scent of clove permeates the car and causes my nose to twitch.

“I do not believe so,” he replies, reclining his seat.

I find myself nodding, “King is there.”

“Yes. You will have to ask her to help.”

“Just me, huh?” I scoff.

He turns to look me in the eyes, “Your use as an ally is no longer a priority.”

I want to be pissed that he’s casually telling me he wouldn’t care if I died right now, but I can’t.

This is Mitri. I was lucky that he decided to help me in the first place. He doesn’t feel pity or remorse, so I wonder what motivated him to do it. Maybe that curse made him more sympathetic, which sounds absolutely insane. Instead of complaining, I nod again.

“And him?” I point at Kimi as he plays golf with no club, shading his eyes to see into the distance despite it being fully dark outside.

“A problem,” his accent gets thicker, and he inhales his smoke deeply.

“You can’t kill him.”

“I will find a way.”

“How long will that take?”

He rolls a single shoulder and inhales again.

“How many times has he killed her already?”