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“I thought you might need this.” Rossa handed her a jumbo-size cup. “I got it in your world.”

Ella made an inarticulate sound of extreme gratitude and gulped at the scalding brew. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and regarded her companion.

“Don’t you ever get cold?”

He glanced down at his superb physique and literally fluffed his feathers. “Not really. Why didn’t you magic yourself up some blankets last night?”

“Because I keep forgetting that I can!” Ella glared at him. “I’m also terrified that I’ll ask for a sleeping bag and conjure up a tree house complete with elevator and servants to plump my pillows.”

“Magical power can be a very scary thing if you don’t learn how to control it.” Rossa settled himself comfortably across from her. “The main thing is, always treat it with respect.”

“That’s such a cliché. Did you bring food?”

He grinned at her. “What is your wish, fair lady?”

“A toasted egg-and-bacon muffin would be awesome.”

“Then do it yourself. Just try and focus down, or it will be raining buns or something.” She glowered at him and he shrugged. “It’s good practice before you go in there with all guns blazing.”

She thought lovingly about her egg-and-bacon muffin, pictured it in her mind and sent the smallest lick of power through the image. Her greasy, fatty treat appeared in her hands, wrapped in paper, and she actually squealed.

“I did it!” She devoured it in less than a minute. “Now I just have to work out how to harness the power of the muffin to the enormity of the task ahead.” She nodded at the exterior wall. “Have you ever been inside this place?”

“No one has.”

“That’s stupid. Adam obviously has. I sensed him in there, and he’s not alone.”

“That’s because cygnet’s there, too.”

“Are you sure?”

“I heard Adam brought him in yesterday.”

Ella cautiously raised her shields. “I can’t feel him.” The emptiness was chilling. Even her anger wasn’t big enough to conceal the loss of her awareness of her mate.

“That’s probably because he’s being held somewhere that’s magically warded.”

“But can’t he get out of anything?”

Rossa looked critically at the walls. “It depends what they did to him. If he’s totally encased in lead, Han Solo style, even he might find it hard to get out of that.”

Despite the heat of the coffee, she shivered. “Surely, I’d know if he was dead…” She raised her head. “ Can he die?”

“All Fae can die, given the right circumstances, you know that.”

“But Morosov’s different, isn’t he?”

“He certainly is.” Rossa sipped at his own coffee, his expression uncharacteristically somber. “But now that he has you, it’s certainly possible he could die.”

“Why?”

He sighed. “I told you he threatened to dismember his own family if they allowed Adam to take your face?”

“Yeah.”

“What I didn’t tell you was that he also said he’d take them all down with him if it meant that you survived.”

She forced a laugh. “He’s such a drama king.”

“That wasn’t his intent. He meant what he was saying, so technically, he could choose to sacrifice his immortality to save you.” He winked at her. “Ah, the power of love.”

“Don’t say that.” She hunched a shoulder at him and finished her coffee. “If I’m the source of his death, I want to be the one to hand out the sentence and execute it.”

“That’s funny, Soul Sucker.”

She bared her teeth at him until he stopped laughing. “It wasn’t a joke. Now how are we going to get into this place?”

He recoiled. “ We’re not going anywhere.”

“You’re not coming?”

Rossa stood up. “Of course I’m not! What do you think I am, suicidal?” He bowed elaborately. “You have all the power you need to get into this stronghold and save your prince.”

“Thanks for the support.” Ella finished her coffee and handed him the empty cup. “Can I ask you one more thing before you desert me?”

“Certainly my lady.”

“Now that we’re both in Otherworld, when Morosov and I are communicating, can anyone else hear us?”

“In your thoughts, or did you mean something else entirely?” He winked lasciviously.

“I meant in our thoughts, you perv.” She frowned at him. “Sometimes I can catch other people’s internal conversations here.”

“Like the way I can communicate with you?”

“Exactly.”

“There’s definitely a familial link, but I’ve always been told that the bond between a mated couple makes those conversations impenetrable for anyone else. A family member might know that you are speaking to each other, but not what you are saying.”

“That’s a relief.

“You’re welcome. Good luck!”

He disappeared, grinning broadly, and she was alone once more.

She hadn’t really expected him to join her, but it had been fun watching him charm his way out of it.

She returned her attention to the task in hand.

There had to be a way to get through the walls without going through the main gate.

Surely there had to be a service entrance somewhere.

With that in mind, Ella walked around the perimeter of the wall, stopping every so often to scan the stone face and identify any other entrances, magical or not.

Once or twice, when she detected a change in the surface, she attempted to magic herself through it, but nothing seemed to work.

It was a tedious business, not helped by her awareness that she was being watched and that time was running out.

Whenever she used Vadim’s magic, she was certain she was sending out a big fat “come and get me!” signal.

She’d gathered so many enemies in Otherworld already, she was surprised she wasn’t being hunted down by a mob.

But perhaps because she was Vadim’s mate, they were scared of her as well?

It might answer the question as to why she hadn’t been killed on arrival.

She halted opposite the main gate again and studied the movement of the four guards from the shade of the trees.

Would it be easier to simply walk up to the gate, ask for Adam and go right in?

By the time the alarm was raised, she reckoned she could take most of the opposition out.

She didn’t even need to see him. All she had to do was find where he kept his grisly trophies and take her face back.

How she was going to reattach it was another matter…

Well, it was pointless hanging about. She had to do something.

“Rossa? Come back here immediately!”

“What?” He reappeared, his expression grumpy. “I was just about to take a swim in a lake full of nubile young Water Fae.”

“They can wait. I need you.”

His smile widened and he placed his hand over his heart. “I’ve dreamed of you saying that to me. Have you decided to let fate take its course and follow your true destiny to have endless sex with me?”

“Not quite. I need you to help me create a diversion outside the main gate while I figure out a way to get in.”

He took a step back. “No way.”

She batted her eyelashes at him. “Oh, come on, Rossa. If you help me, I’ll tell Morosov not to kill you when he executes all his other relatives.”

“But if I don’t help you, he’ll die in there anyway.”

“Do you really believe that? I don’t think Adam has a clue what he’s taken on, do you?”

Rossa stared pensively at the gates. “All right, I’ll help as long as I don’t get caught…”