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T he loss of Fane’s Gift shuddered through him. He felt like a fucking limb had been torn off. He set his jaw and tried not to throw up.

His magic was gone, and with it, a vital part of himself.

A cold sweat pricked his forehead. Without his Gift, he was defenseless—and worthless to Marjani.

His intrepid mate closed her fingers around his. “If we escape the castle by dawn,” she told the king, “you’ll also restore Fane’s Gift. That’s nonnegotiable.”

His abused heart punched in his chest. It was a chance. Sindre wouldn’t bargain with Fane, but Marjani was a different story.

The king regarded her as if she were an interesting species. Fane could count on the fingers of one hand the fae who’d dare openly thwart Sindre when he had his heart set on something. The man who could buy and sell whole nations hadn’t been able to buy this one woman.

No wonder the king wanted her so badly.

“You're in no position to be adding conditions,” Sindre told her. “The bargain is set.”

“No.” Her chin jutted. “It’s not. I did not agree to Fane losing his Gift, and neither did he until after the bargain was set. You talk about dishonor? Where is the honor in tacking on a new condition after a bargain is made?”

The temperature in the room dropped below freezing. The snow came down harder.

Fane locked his knees and tried not to look as weak and lightheaded as he felt.

It was Arne who broke the deadlock. “What’s the harm?” he murmured to Sindre. “It adds another dimension to the game.”

Thank you, Dad.

A long silence during which Fane held his breath.

Sindre gave a curt nod. “Very well. If you both escape the castle by dawn, I’ll return Fane’s Gift. If .”

Hope surged in Fane.

Marjani inclined her head, regal as a queen. Goddess, he loved this woman.

“That’s acceptable.” She stuck out her hand. “We have a deal.”

Sindre pressed her fingers. “The bargain is set.”

He raised his voice, repeating the agreed-upon terms for all to hear.

“Witness my words: If both Marjani Savonett and Fane Morningstar find their way through the maze and out of the castle by dawn, they will be free to leave Iceland with no retribution from me. You, Marjani Savonett, will receive six diamonds worth at least two hundred thousand dollars in the human world, and I’ll release Fane Morningstar from the rest of the geas and return his Gift. ”

Beside him, Marjani gave an audible swallow. “Two hundred thousand dollars,” she whispered.

“But,” Sindre added, “if either of you is still in my castle at dawn, you, Marjani Savonett, will accept my geas for a fae year-and-a-day, and Fane Morningstar will serve out his geas plus another ninety-nine years. And his Gift will be mine.”

Fane squared his shoulders. “Agreed.”

“Agreed,” echoed Marjani.

Around them, the room was buzzing. Roald gave Fane a last, contemptuous look and then deliberately gave him his back. One by one, everyone but his dad and Sindre turned their backs on him, too.

Fane kept his head high. Let them scorn him as an oath breaker. He knew it wasn’t so black and white. Sometimes a man had to choose between two opposing points of honor, and he’d chosen to protect Marjani.

But that didn’t mean it wasn’t hard.

He waited, tight-lipped, for his father to join the others. The king would expect a show of loyalty. Arne was his longest-serving envoy, and one of the few half-bloods granted full status in the court.

But his dad didn’t turn away. Instead, he put a hand on Fane and Marjani’s backs and urged them toward the door. “I hope you know what you're doing,” he muttered to Fane. “Even the fae get lost in that bloody maze.”

“You think I don’t know that? But I had to do something.”

The two of them exchanged a look, and then his dad moved a shoulder. “Hell. If it was your mom, I’d have done the same thing.”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan,” Marjani said.

His dad looked skeptical. “You’ll need it.”

Marjani’s backpack had appeared next to the oak door. When Fane asked where it had come from, she just smiled. “A friend.”

Arne squeezed Fane’s shoulder. “I’ll keep the king occupied as best as I can. Go with the Goddess. Both of you.” He winked at Marjani and strode back to the center of the tower. “Who wants to bet on the fada?”

An excited ripple of voices responded. “Me!”

“I will.”

“I’ll put ten thousand on the king.”

Diamonds, the court’s preferred currency, exchanged hands, with Arne keeping the bank.

Marjani shook her head. “They really don’t see us as people, do they? They're betting as if it were a fucking horse race.”

“Their loss.” Another wave of dizziness hit him. He reached for her arm. “Let’s get out of here.”

But Sindre ’ported in front of the door, blocking it. He raised a glass of wine to Marjani, ignoring Fane as if he was less than dirt. “Dawn is at 6:17 a.m. I’ll see you then, love.”

His nephews—the blond twins—strode up to flank them, their expressions avid. They loved a good bet, and Fane suspected they hoped that if Marjani were forced to serve Sindre, they’d get a chance at her. Bastards.

Marjani’s eyes flashed turquoise. “I’m not your love , and I plan to be long gone by dawn.”

She slipped out of those fuck-me heels that Fane knew must be from Sindre, and tossed them in the powdery snow at the king’s feet—first one, then the other. They landed with a puff of white.

“We’ll see,” he said with a little smile and moved aside.

She slung her backpack over a shoulder and slid an arm around Fane’s waist. “Ready?”

Lightness filled his chest. Even if they did escape, he was out of a job and stripped of everything he’d earned since accepting Sindre’s geas . But hey, he’d be with Marjani, and he’d still have his Gift—and he’d never again have to kiss Sindre’s cold white arse.

Things could be worse.

“Ready.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and together, they walked past Sindre and the twins. The oak door swung open and then slammed shut behind them with an ominous thud.

The maze stretched in either direction, the path wide but with no openings to be seen in either direction. He waited until they went around a corner before pulling her to a halt.

“Jani? I meant it. I’m mate-claiming you.”

“Now?”

“Now.”

A shadow crossed her face. She set her palm to his heart. “Fane—think. If we lose, he’ll use the bond against us.”

“Is that why you didn’t accept my claim?” He heard the anger in his voice, but damn it, if the woman was still trying to protect him, he was going to turn her over his knee when this was over.

“He’ll hurt you to control me. Like he did just now.

” She rose up onto her toes to whisper in his ear.

“You know those river fada he keeps as servants? The woman and I talked while I was getting ready. She told me he hurts her mate to punish her. Do you think I could stand by and watch him hurt you?”

“Fuck that. I can take anything that SOB dishes out. At least if you’re my mate, he’ll stop trying to seduce you.

” He gripped the back of her head and tilted it so that her face was angled up to him.

“Accept the claim. We’ll do this together.

If we lose, at least let me have that much. I’ll know he can’t touch you.”

Her throat worked. Her mouth opened. Rather than hear another no from her, he covered those soft, dusky-rose lips with his own. Spearing his tongue into her mouth.

Prepared for a fight.

But she didn’t fight him. Instead, her breath released with a sigh and her taut little body melted against him. He forgot how shitty he felt as his dick went iron-hard.

He kept his one hand behind her head, holding her mouth where he wanted, while his other hand went to her round little ass. He molded her to his body, pressing his insistent erection into her belly. Against his chest, her nipples pebbled through that sexy scrap of a dress.

She undulated her hips against his, and said something that sounded like, “All right.”

He dragged his mouth from hers. “That had better be a ‘Yes, Fane. I accept your claim.’”

A smile trembled on her lips. “It was.”

“Say it. I want the words.”

“Yes, Fane. I accept your claim.” Her smile broadened and then she was beaming up at him.

Inside his ribcage, something warm and luminous bloomed, like a piece of the sun trapped in his heart.

He gathered her closer. “Goddess, I love you.”

Her eyes widened. “I feel it. It’s humming inside me like my quartz does.”

“The bond?”

She nodded. “Not that you’re getting out of the mate ritual, but we’re bonded.”

“You see me arguing?” He gave her another kiss to seal the deal. When he released her, another wave of dizziness hit him. He dragged in a breath.

Her brow creased. “You’re hurting.”

He massaged his chest with the heel of his hand. “I need a little time to recover, is all.”

“And I have zero healing ability.” She placed a hand over his and eyed him worriedly. “First he stole your energy and then your Gift. I’m surprised you’re still upright.”

“It was worth it to get you away from the king.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I’m some bargain as a mate, aren’t I? No money, no job, and an oath breaker on top of it.”

“Yeah.” She caressed his shoulders, her tone so tender. “You know you're out of your freaking mind, right? Giving up everything for me?”

“No, I’m not. This is the sanest I’ve ever been. But I wanted to spoil you—buy you things, take you places. Now, even if we get out of this, I’ll have nothing except my Gift. Oh, and a house in Newfoundland. I’m pretty sure he can’t take that; it was mine before I accepted the geas .”

“Fane.” She gave him a little shake. “You’re all I want. And when we get home, I’ll show you just how happy I am to be your mate.”

Home. He liked the sound of that.

He hadn’t had a home—not a real one—since his mom died. His chest warmed even more, Marjani’s love pouring through the mating bond. Melting Sindre’s ice and healing the pain.

“All right, then.” He took her hand. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”