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Her treatment had lasted just twenty minutes, but she already felt a whole lot better. Not perfect, no—never as healthy as before she’d fallen into a coma. She didn’t imagine she’d get back to her old self any time soon, but she’d gladly take howshe currently felt over the intense, debilitating fatigue that had overcome her outside of Erasmus and Helia’s townhouse. The chills had subsided, and she felt stronger than before, her skin no longer sallow, but glowing.

“Better,” she told him. Judging from the look on his face as he scanned her with onyx eyes, the treatment had worked.

Roark reached behind her to shut the door to the chamber, and then he pressed a few buttons on the screen. The chamber shut down with a whir that juddered the floor beneath her bare feet.

She was about to head into the change room that was still under construction when Roark spoke.

“If you have questions about anything we discussed, don’t hesitate to call,” he said to Darien. “Arthur shouldn’t have a problem with the warhead, but…well, you never know.”

Warhead? She’d noticed them talking intently while she was in the chamber. She would ask Darien to fill her in during the drive back to Heaven’s Gate. Later, after dinner, she would be going with Darien to meet Roman in the North Financial District.

“Thanks,” Darien said with a nod. “I’ll give you a shout if we need anything.”

“Did you hear anything about the helicopter?” Loren asked.

Her question had Roark dropping his gaze to the shiny floor. He took a moment to compose himself, and by the time he answered her, he did so in the voice of a commander. A man giving a battle brief—not a father whose daughter might be dead.

“The helicopter went down just off the coast of Yveswich a few minutes before the forcefield went up.”

Her stomach dropped.

Dallas. Max. That must mean…

They were either trapped in Yveswich or?—

She could not stomach the other option.

Roark added, “The report came from one of my officers, who’s since pulled out of Yveswich. It’s all the information I have, I’m afraid.”

The feel of Darien’s warm, sturdy fingers gently squeezing hers popped the bubble of panic that had closed over her head. “We’re going to get them out,” he said. “We’re going to bring them home.”

Loren hoped he was right.

94

Financial District

ANGELTHENE, STATE OF WITHEREDGE

Roman geareddown as he approached Angelthene’s North Financial District. Shay was in the passenger’s seat, one arm extended out her open window, her hair swirling in gusts of fresh evening air. Following closely behind them were Dean and Paxton. They’d raced down the last stretch of the highway I-5 into Angelthene, everyone flying high on the reality that they’d made it.

They’dfinallymade it.

It was probably just an illusion, that high—one that would soon wear off, like an adrenaline rush. For all Roman knew, Don could be here right now, in this very city, waiting to wreck his life all over again.

Right now, though, he would grant himself the space to relax. Even for justonenight. He had to breathe—and so he would let himself breathe.

As he pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall, most of the businesses shut for the evening, Dean followed, Iris’s headlights bleaching the pavement. They parked out front of a blood donor clinic, the red neon sign that was shaped like a droplet of blood flashing in the night.

Roman got out, Shay doing the same on her side, and drew a deep, deep breath, soaking in the scents of Angelthene.

Offreedom.

A breeze that smelled of magic—sugar and smoke—and creosote stirred through the lot and sent Shay’s strawberry blonde hair into a dance. She shut her eyes, tipped her head back, and inhaled deeply. Basking in her newfound freedom, just like Roman.

He couldn’t stop staring—admiringher. The city lights cast a silvery glow on her skin, bringing out the smattering of freckles on her nose and cheeks. And that rose-gold hairof hers…

Yup, he was fucked.