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“I don’t know, honestly. Even Mike regained his ability to fly almost immediately after drinking from the omega. Perhaps we just naturally metabolize the magic component faster due to our digestive systems. Our bodies are made to break down blood very quickly.”

Archer lifted his eyes in thought. “Yes, that would be a reasonable hypothesis.”

“You still haven’t answered my question—why would we need your help?” I asked through gritted teeth. This wasn’t one of Archer’s science lectures, and every second we wasted here was one where we weren’t looking for Marlowe, rescuing her from a world with some freak fae king and her brainwashed brother.

The young vamp looked at the Council who all nodded, and then he turned towards me. “I will help you find your omega and close the portal between our worlds again.”

Bullshit. I couldn’t believe a word this bloodsucker was saying. Even if we weren’t actually enemies dating back hundreds of years, he’d been a part of the group that had tried to take Marlowe away from us. That had attacked her. With her perfume, who’s to say he wouldn’t go crazy after meeting her, and try to drain her dry just like his old man had?

“Why?” Elias asked. “This is beyond a simple apology. What’s in it for you?”

One of the elders tapped the file the young vamp had laid on the table, looking at Archer. “You seem to be the one who would know what to do with this. There are several files in here, scans of old documents we’ve uncovered from private archives recently that describe the fae’s systemic eradication of our kind in their world. When the fae came here to find the shifter twins and discovered we had survived and were thriving here, they tried to destroy us again.”

Another elder placed his hands on the table gently. “Despite the animosity, if you think about us objectively, you know we are not the evil monsters human lore describes us as, and neither are you. Our ways are different, but we truly only want to live our lives in peace. Should this fae king succeed in coming here, we are at risk of genocide once more, no matter how quickly we pass the magic between us to prepare.”

“I’m Kian Sable,” the young vamp said, standing and holding out his hand. “I’m offering to fight alongside you to protect our world from the fae again and get back your omega.”

The pack turned to me, waiting for my decision.

About fucking time they deferred to my authority.

My knee-jerk reaction had me wanting to say no, so we could shift and decorate the walls with their guts.

But this kid did have some powerful magic. And while we were learning how to use our own, I didn’t think we’d be good enough to fend off an army of soldiers like Ezra. And that wasn’t even counting the fact that Ezra was likely just as the prophecy said—the alpha of alphas. If we challenged him to a fight, he could always just bark and force us to obey him.

Vamps weren’t as susceptible to that power, though, and they had their own methods of compulsion we could use to our advantage in an emergency.

I ran my tongue along my teeth. “It’s easy to offer us your assistance now, but I need you to understand something—if you join us and help us rescue Marlowe, she is not for you. You will not touch her and you will not drink from her, or I will rip your Moon-damned throat out.”

Kian looked towards his dad, whose head hung sheepishly, and then back to us. “I’d be the first to call my dad a shit stain, but I’ve never known him to go into bloodlust before. So, if your omega could make him lose control with just a sniff… yes, I understand it’s an easy promise to make without having met her. But, if it helps, I will make sure I am never alone with her.”

Hmph, I supposed that would have to do. I grunted and reached out, taking his cold hand in mine. “Fine. Welcome,temporarily, to Pack Wolcott.”

34

MARLOWE

Ishivered in the dark, the sound of dripping water and tiny feet scurrying along the floor echoing off the walls. I had woken up only an hour or two ago, my body aching. It was like the flu but ten times worse. Even blinking was painful.

A cold, silver choker was wrapped around my neck like a collar, keeping me from shifting or using any magic.

Not that I had the energy to do either.

I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t move, and I could barely think. I just existed in this windowless void in a never-ending state of misery.

There was no way to tell how long I’d been out. Even hunger pangs couldn’t help me gauge a timeline, because it was hard to distinguish them from the overall hurt.

Could I even possibly be dead?

The growing sound of footsteps approaching came from somewhere outside the room until stopping close by. A lock clicked open, light flooding the space. My eyes burned and I shut them, a small whimper sounding from my chest.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” The sound of the king’s voice scratched with sharp nails at every one of my nerve endings. I felt him crouch behind me where I lay on my side. “Oh Marlowe, my beloved. What a pathetic little sight you are.” His fingers brushing against my cheek burned, and my attempts to keep silent from the pain failed when a weak cry escaped my lips.

Maybe I shouldn’t have mouthed off. In the woods, I had made up my mind to play his game, and pretend to be his docile, lovingfiancée rather than fight against him. Catching flies with honey over vinegar, whatever.

But after hearing how shifters lived here and more about what his plans were… he was a monster, even more depraved than I’d originally guessed. He was going to kill a lot of people, and Ezra was happily going along with it due to his mommy and daddy issues.

Well, if I wasn’t dead yet, that meant he still needed me, although for what exactly I still wasn’t clear.