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Cinaed was beautiful in either form, but I preferred his human side. I couldn’t kiss a phoenix or hold its hand. At night, it was his human form I could hold as we fell asleep together. I wanted to live in this idea forever, but we needed to win to make it permanent.

“Blackstone’s going to fight this,” Avie said from my right. “Once he realizes what you’re up to, he’ll try to stop you.”

I wanted to pull her into a hug, but it wasn’t the time.

She’d expressed her doubts only to me because I was the overall commander, and she didn’t want to show me up.

I wasn’t afraid of pushback, but she was probably wise to avoid a lengthy debate.

“I don’t think he can spare the attention needed to stop us,” I said.

“F’dreg is waiting for the smallest opening to break Blackstone’s protection. ”

“Do you think he’ll accept?”

The demon would be a fool not to leave. Malachy correctly summed up the situation. The question was, what did F’dreg think. “I can’t say I know what he’ll do. He has no off-ramp other than to go home.”

“Agreed, which is why Blackstone can’t let you open the portal.” Avie said. “It’s not a given he can win even with the demon, but without F’dreg’s power he has no chance.”

“Which is why I’m waiting for the others to finish before I make my offer,” I said, turning from Cinaed to look at her. “Earth magic is stronger than Blackstone realizes. Once we wrestle control, he won’t be able to take it back easily.”

“Is Cinaed OK?”

Through our bond, I felt Malachy mending the last lingering issues in Cinaed’s human form. It would’ve been better and quicker if he could’ve regenerated, but this wasn’t the time or place. “Yes. He’s almost completely healed.”

“That had to be the hardest decision you ever made.” She put her arm around my waist. “I’m so happy for you, Roderick. This should’ve happened decades ago.”

I didn’t need her to tell me how she felt.

In my darkest days, she’d been my confidant and my rock.

“Thank you.” I put my arm around her and pulled her into a side hug.

“He’d have been angry if I didn’t ask him.

My desire to protect him is irrational. He was the right person for the job.

Besides, he’s stronger than me. Not only couldn’t I have done what he did, I’d have died on impact. ”

“Then forgive yourself.” She kissed my cheek and let go. “He’s coming.”

People who weren’t bonded didn’t realize we knew almost everything our mate did. “Stay.” I said as I released her. “You’re important to him too.”

Avie radiated a happiness she rarely allowed herself.

“We’re ready,” Anso said before Cinaed reached our position. “Say the word and we’ll take ownership of the glyphs we need.”

Cinaed reached me, and I took a second to kiss him. “You were amazing.”

“So are you,” he said. “Now finish this and let’s go home.”

Inside the circle, dark energy crackled between Blackstone and F’dreg. Neither wanted to make the first fatal move.

“Your arrogance will kill us both,” Blackstone said, desperation bleeding through his facade of control. “Release me or we’ll both die.”

“Release you?” F’dreg said in a voice that gave me chills. “You will walk out of this circle, and enslave me. I would rather kill you than let that happen.”

It was time.

My diamond pulsed in my palm as I approached the edge of the rainbow barrier. The fate of the world rested on my shoulders. No pressure, I told myself.

“Prince F’dreg,” I called, my voice carrying across the charged air. “I would like to speak to you, your highness.”

The demon’s beautiful head snapped toward me, his red eyes assessed me like a predator.

“You address me directly, human?” F’dreg’s voice made the ground rumble. “You think we are equals?”

Blackstone seized the moment of distraction to strengthen his shield. The prince’s hand flexed, tightening his grip. “No.” I shook my head. “You are not my equal. I control the Great Ward. You control… nothing.”

His eyes narrowed at my audacious words. I was playing with literal brimstone, but it was the right move. This wasn’t a negotiation. F’dreg needed to know I was in charge or else this would never work.

“Your attempt to save this human is pathetic.” He covered Blackstone’s shield in fiery black energy. A yelp came from inside the barrier a second before the flames died away.

I anticipated Blackstone opposing me, but I didn’t expect F’dreg would think we were in league with his captive. “No, your highness. If you don’t kill him, we will. I come with an offer.”

“An offer?” Curiosity edged into F’dreg’s voice. “What could you possibly have that I want?”

“Don’t listen to him!” Blackstone screamed. “He can’t help you!”

I ignored Blackstone. He was more desperate than I thought if he believed the demon he betrayed would listen to him. “An end to your stalemate,” I said. “And a return to your realm.”

F’dreg’s perfect features shifted with surprise before settling into suspicion. Blackstone’s laugh was brittle with desperation.

“Impossible!” Blackstone shouted. “Only I control the power of this summoning circle.”

His panicked gaze met mine, and I allowed myself a small smile. “Not anymore.”

“You lie.” Blackstone’s face tightened in concentration. “I have control of the sigils not you.”

“What say you to his accusations?”

The demon suspected both of us of deception. To him, we were both human mages. He didn’t care about our politics. “His words are meaningless.” I kept my attention on F’dreg. “I can open a portal back to your realm.”

“And why would you grant me such mercy?” The demon’s eyes gleamed with interest. “Anchor of the Great Ward.”

The last bit was his way of telling me he knew who and what I was. Good. That would make this easier. “I never said this was a gift.”

“You demand payment for my agreeing to spare your world?” F’dreg sounded offended and shocked. “And I thought this human was arrogant.”

“As I said before, you’re not in charge.” I raised an eyebrow. “I have what you need. If you want it, I require a fee.”

Blackstone made another attempt to free himself, but F’dreg stifled it with more black flames. “What is your price?”

I struggled not to smile. The demon had tacitly acknowledged I was in charge. “If I open the portal, you take Blackstone with you.”

F’dreg’s laughter shook the ground. “Now that is an interesting proposition.”

“No!” Blackstone’s composure shattered as he finally understood my plan. Dark energy crackled around him, but he couldn’t free himself. “He’s lying! He can’t control my sigils!”

“Don’t let him ask for a demonstration,” Anso said. “I can’t promise we’ll be able to maintain control for long.”

Command of the glyphs was at the heart of the bargain, but unlike Blackstone, I had leverage.

“One of us is lying. I have nothing to gain by deceiving you. You’re trapped inside the wheel.

The only way you can get out is to let that mage you hold captive leave.

You need to trust him to free you if you let him leave.

What do you have to lose by agreeing to my deal? ”

The demon studied me, weighing my offer against his chances of somehow breaking free and defeating us all. His face revealed nothing of his thoughts, but the slight tilt of his head suggested he was genuinely considering it.

I didn’t wait for him to ask more questions. Instead, my diamond flickered, and white energy coursed along the rainbow barrier. My energy exposed an intricate network that sat just beyond the limits of the medicine wheel. It coursed with power beyond anything any mage or demon could wield.

“The new Great Ward is complete,” I said, letting the image linger for a second before it became invisible again. “Even if you kill Blackstone and somehow break the constraints of the summoning circle, you can’t leave. The Ward will consume any demon it touches. Even you.”

F’dreg’s expression darkened as he weighed the truth in my words. He was close, but I had more persuasion.

“The glyphs in this wheel siphon off your power,” I continued. “It’s how he has the power to resist you, and it’s why you can’t break free. Every attempt to leave feeds him more of your strength.”

“Preposterous. He’s?—”

F’dreg tightened his grip, silencing Blackstone. “I had suspected as much.”

Cinaed’s approval through our link bolstered my confidence. I wasn’t doing this alone anymore.

“Of course you did,” I said in an only slightly mocking tone.

“Did you also know he planned it from the beginning?” I let my gaze drift to Blackstone’s black hematite.

“Do you recognize his mage stone? It’s been in his family since before the last great war.

It’s designed to work with certain runes to drain the energy of any demon trapped inside a summoning circle. ”

F’dreg’s face contorted with rage, his nails creating sparks as they dug into Blackstone’s shield.

“The plan was always to keep you trapped here. He’d grant you a sliver of access to your home so you’d never run out of power for him to draw from you.”

Blackstone glared at me. F’dreg no longer listened to his protests. “And if I kill him inside this circle?”

This time I couldn’t hold back a smile. I directed it at Blackstone. “The sigils he activated when I pushed him into the wheel will lock permanently. You’ll be cut off from your realm, trapped here until you die from lack of power.”

“He’s manipulating you!” Blackstone growled. “Surely you see that. Release me and together we can kill all of them.”

“Silence!” Black energy flowed from F’dreg’s free hand. It covered the protective barrier around Blackstone. “What guarantee do I have that you’ll truly allow me passage home?”

“None,” I said honestly. “Other than I don’t want either of you on this planet.”

The demon touched a talon to the rainbow barrier, and it rippled like water but held firm. I expected him to test me.

“Promise to release me,” F’dreg said. His smile was colder than ice. “A binding oath you won’t kill me as I leave.”