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I lit the fire and filled the kettle, glaring at the dirty dishes filling the kitchen and my declining stack of firewood.

“I’m sorry I lied to you,” Delgarias said from the living room. “If you’d found Kerainne, you could have interfered with the Prophecy in disastrous ways.”

“But I did find her,” I replied, filling the tea infuser with the strongest blackest tea in my cupboard.

“Oh.” The shock and…some sort of understanding in that small word puzzled me.

“You didn’t know?”

“No.” Delgarias’s tone remained odd and thoughtful.

“How do you think the Leonines and Jagwolfes of Luminista found out that Kerainne had been…” I couldn’t say the word, “…had borne Mephistopheles’s child?”

“I’d assumed they’d found her with those observatory spheres you people have up there.

” Delgarias appeared in the kitchen, looking every inch a monster with glowing diamond-pale eyes and bared fangs.

Lightning danced across his knuckles, making the hair on my arms stand up.

“Then you’re the reason why they betrothed you to Nik.

And if that’s the case, why didn’t you make an effort to break the betrothal sooner?

You claimed you never wanted to wed her, but you just sat there in your precious utopian world and let her be hunted for twenty-five years? ”

The kettle whistled and I jumped. “As I told Kerainne, I’ve made many mistakes. I’m doing my best to atone for them. Do you want cream and sugar?”

“Just sugar.” The lightning vanished and the glow in the vampire’s eyes dimmed. “I apologize for my tone. Especially since that betrothal ended up helping me catch and hold Nik long enough to explain my mistakes.”

A demented chuckle escaped me as I filled the teapot and put the infuser inside. Though there was still something about this conversation that had me curious. “The way you said ‘Oh’ when you assumed I never found Kerainne. What did you mean by that?”

Delgarias opened my cupboard and retrieved two of my last clean mugs. “I thought her reluctance to see you again was due to self-inflicted shame about what happened to her.”

I nodded and removed the jug of now spoiled cream from the tea tray before carrying it to the living room. “And now you realize it was I who inflicted it.”

“What exactly did you do?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said more defensively than I cared to. “At least, not with you.”

“That’s fair.” Delgarias poured some sugar into his mug, but waited for the tea to steep a little longer. “However, you mentioned atonement and that’s exactly what I’m here to offer.”

“I’m listening.”

“Shortly before you and Gabriel brought Xochitl back from Luminista, Jayden—your friend Razvan’s Bride—and I did a scrying spell. We not only saw a vision of one of the Evil One’s acolytes bringing an abducted luminite to the pyramid in Qua’ al-fán.”

My hands shook as I poured the tea in our mugs. “Mephistopheles is going to take another luminite? Is it Kerainne?” Fates, please don’t let it be her. She’s suffered too much at his hands already.

“I don’t know.” Delgarias frowned. “The vision was so obscured that we couldn’t determine a sex or size, much less hair color. It could be you or Gabriel for all I know. Or perhaps another.”

“And you let Nik and Kerainne battle against him the very next day?”

Delgarias’s eyes flashed like lightning. “First of all, I was trapped in my day sleep when the Evil One attacked Shalafi, so I couldn’t stop them. Secondly, I don’t know if you’ve figured it out yet, but you don’t let or forbid a Leonine from doing anything they’re set on doing.”

I took a deep breath through my nose and let it out slowly. “Point. Now, what’s this to do with atonement?”

“The Prophecy spoke through us again.” The vampire closed his eyes and recited, “ The light bringers must descend from their stronghold to join those whom they’ve abandoned. If they fail to heed the call, darkness and destruction shall reign triumphant...”

Oh, hell.

Delgarias sipped his tea and nodded as if pleased by the flavor. “We need luminista’s aid in this war. Maybe not all the luminites, but as many as we can get.”

“Why didn’t you tell me all of this before?”

“Because I didn’t know if you could be trusted,” Delgarias said crisply.

“When you first arrived, you told us you were here because the Leonine and Jagwolfe matriarchs sent you for the betrothal. And even after we were assured that wasn’t your intention, you’ve made it abundantly clear since the day I met you that you believe Luminista is superior and above any concerns for the other worlds.

Besides, when Gabriel revealed himself, he swore he would do what he could to recruit the luminites. ”

I couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Gabriel can’t do anything of the sort. For one thing, he’s already tried for several decades. For another, he’s not even supposed to be here. He was forbidden from leaving Luminista because he freed Kerainne from her imprisonment.”

“I know. That’s why I knew we could trust him,” Del said cheerfully. “I’d planned on giving the Leonine matriarch some time to cool her temper before sending Gabriel there. But now that we know you can be trusted, perhaps you can go and try to win over some of your kin and friends.”

I very much doubted that I could, but I had to try. If I even brought one more to the cause, surely that would put me a few steps forward in making amends. Besides, Kerainne deserved some space after last night’s argument.

A bitter smile tugged at my lips. She’d actually thought she could get rid of me with that confession. Before I left on this mission, I’d send her a message that would make it very clear that I wasn’t going anywhere.