Page 9 of Night Sector

Kieran merely stared her down, but I knew he wouldn’t underestimate her. The three of us had survived too long in this world to allow our egos to overshadow clear and obvious logic.

“She’s my best friend, Kieran,” Kyra continued. “And I left her screaming in her nest. So if you’re not going to work with me, say it now. Because someone needs to comfort her, and even though it’s you she wants, I can’t just leave her to suffer alone.”

Kieran’s dark eyes narrowed. “She rejected me rather spectacularly. So forgive me for not believing anything you just said about herwantingme.”

“Did he lose his hearing when the barrier shoved his soul back here?” she asked casually, her gaze going to me and then to Cillian. “Because I swear I’ve already explained this.”

“How about you try again?” Cillian suggested, his tone lacking emotion.

She rolled her eyes and looked at Kieran again. “Thebarrierrejected you. Not Quinnlynn. And that spell damn near killed her as well.”

“The spell she used to shadow without me?”

Her irises slitted into a glower. “No, jackass. The barrier spell that protects the island.”

I growled at her tone and the insulting nickname she’d chosen for my cousin. He was the future Blood Sector King. That required some respect.

But Kyra ignored me entirely and went on to say, “It knocked her out on her way in and caused her to crash into an ice block, which sent her rolling into the nearby water. Then she woke up and went into heat not too long after. And now I’m here because she needs you.”

“What is this barrier spell protecting?”

“The Sanctuary.”

No shit,I thought.

“What is the Sanctuary?” Kieran asked, impatience underlining his tone and thickening his Irish accent. “Tell me what it is, and I’ll consider going with you.”

“Kieran.” His name left me on a growl, his potential acquiescence not acceptable.

He held up his hand in a gesture to pause, making me bristle inside.He can’t possibly be considering this,I thought at Cillian.He knows what Kyra is capable of.

He’s blinded by his need to find his mate.

Then we need to wake him up.

Indeed,Cillian agreed.

“Quinnlynn said she had to show me for me to understand,” Kieran continued, his tone slightly less severe than before yet equally as stern. “I don’t trust her or you to do that, given everything that’s happened. So tell me what it is instead.”

“She never told you?” A hint of unease had crept into Kyra’s features and tone, her eyes roaming over Kieran with wary regard.

“Obviously not.”

“But she… she said she wants to mate you,” Kyra said slowly, her expression morphing into confusion. “I… I’m here to help her. I thought. Unless… maybe it’s the heat?”

Kyra took an unsteady step backward, her shadowing ability flickering to life against my telekinetic bindings. I instinctively shadowed to her back, my hand going to her hip to enforce my magical hold over her being.

She shivered in response, her heart skipping a beat.

Her power ignited once more, causing my own to flare in response.

Not so fast, little killer,I thought at her, aware that she couldn’t actually hear me. But I conveyed the words by subtly tightening my grasp.You snuck into our sector and demanded a meeting with our future King. Now you’re going to stay right here until he says you can leave.

Kieran’s dark irises met mine, his gaze knowing.You’ve tethered her,he seemed to be saying.

I have, I confirmed as Kyra tried to flee for a third time.

Her pulse escalated when her ability failed her, the Omega showing the first signs of uncertainty in her situation.