I snarled in Xannirin’s ear. “Is this true?”

Xannirin nodded, ruby spilling from his nose and onto his tunic. “That’s why they’re all priestesses. She didn’t even tell me until the day before she was set to leave.”

With their statements, composure slipped within my reach. My racing heart slowed and clarity returned to my thoughts. With a wave of my hand, I released the onyx binding Kiira to the chair.

Immediately, she rose, coming to my side. With gentle care, she wrapped her hands around my arm and tugged. Surrendering to her request, I eased off Xannirin.

He stepped away and spun, backing into a nearby couch for protection.

My attention never left him. “To win, we need females to fight too. We need them to help in other ways. They can help in other ways.”

“How will we control the people then?” Xannirin snapped, using the hem of his tunic to clean off the blood on his face. “With the females subservient, we only needed to convince the males.”

“I think we’ve got the populace well in hand,” Kiira said, crossing her arms and glaring at him. “The stories we spun have most believing that we’re essentially Gods who walk the earth. Those who do not, you can deal with as you always have. Rokath and I have done plenty of work to ensure we are venerated like the Fates themselves.”

“Aye,” I agreed, cracking my neck to relieve some tension. Xannirin didn’t move, and I sensed we were finally getting somewhere. “Not only that, but now we have Assyria too. Her magic is powerful and useful. It is because of her we rescued Banand.”

Xannirin sucked in a sharp breath. “He’s alive?”

“Yes, and we can use him, just as we can use other females, to turn the tide back in our favor once more. He insisted he remain at the front to help Trol rather than return here to recuperate. There are people who want to fight, Assyria included, because they believe in saving the Demons too. We are going to let them.”

The storm raged outside, rain pounding harder against the windows as if to further my point.

“Perhaps we should call it a night and meet again in the morning when we’ve all had time to think on what’s been said tonight,” Kiira suggested, her posture softening. “Tempers have run hot, and I know the two of you well enough to know neither of you will yield anything else until you’ve had time to calm down.”

A muscle feathered in my jaw as Xannirin and I glared at one another. She was, unfortunately, right.

“Besides, what we built over centuries will not tumble down in a single night. This will all take time. And we will do it,” Kiira said, offering Xannirin a look hot enough to burn.

Our cousin pressed his bloody lips together like he was attempting to refrain from disagreeing.

I gave him my back and poured myself another measure of scale. One shot, then another, seared my gut. Kiira joined me, downing the last of her wine.

“Where are you staying?” I asked her when Xannirin made no move to join us.

She shrugged. “I have my own room just below, but I figured I would call for a cot to be brought to Rapp’s, just in case he needed tending in the night.”

“He’s lucky to have a friend like you.” I dropped my voice and angled myself so Xannirin couldn’t overhear my next words. “As I am blessed by the Weaver to have a cousin like you.”

She offered me a soft smile. “And I you. We’ll convince him. Together.”

Squeezing my hands, she backed away and fetched her veil. After settling it and the circlet over her head, she paused. Then, she took them both off again and tucked them into a pocket in her dress. “Starting tomorrow, no more veils for me. Or any of the priestesses here. Assyria has already made her stance on it, and I will not allow her to receive the stares of everyone for it. The first step for females being seen as equal is to remove the very thing keeping us hidden.”

Silence lingered for a moment. Then, Xannirin blew out a long breath. “Whatever you wish, Kiira.”

“Exactly,” she said, her words harsher than the lightning arcing through the sky. “Now, I will retire for the evening as I know exactly how early that gong rings.”

“Good night,” Xannirin and I said simultaneously as she swept out of the room.

Then, the two of us were alone. After another shot of the spicy alcohol, I offered him a final threat. “You will treat Assyria as an equal to us, as you treat Rapp. No more attitude or threats like you offered her at dinner. Am I clear?”

“Abundantly,” he replied, though I didn’t miss the sarcasm in his tone. He shifted from foot to foot, and I waited for what he would say next. “I can’t imagine how you felt once you realized the Angels had her. It’s not a situation I would ever wish upon anyone, let alone the one person who has been by my side since we were younglings.”

His words dulled the edge of my anger toward him, but I didn’t trust that they weren’t carefully chosen to do just that. “Actions speak louder than words,” I reminded him. Then, I grabbed my shirt and left him standing in the middle of a storm of his own making.

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25

Lightning cracked the sky outside, illuminating the unfamiliar shapes of the furniture in Rokath’s room. Hours had passed since he left me here, and now the dogs and I lay in bed, waiting for his return. The intensity of emotion flooding our bond told me the conversation with Xannirin and Kiira wasn’t going well. Resisting the urge to reach into his mind was harder with every minute he was away. I wanted to trust that when he returned, he’d lower his walls and tell me everything. Our relationship was growing stronger with each moment of vulnerability we shared.

But the storm swirling inside him was even stronger than the one brewing beyond the stone walls surrounding me.

So I built a strong barrier around my mind, trying to give him the space and privacy he needed to handle his affairs, and watched the dark clouds roll in off the angry sea.

Grem snuffed, wriggling closer to me. His long fur was still slightly damp from the bath I’d given him and Zeec, after which, I’d needed another too. At least the smell of wet dogs had abated. Sighing, I wrapped my arms around him and tugged him closer. Zeec rose, shook himself off, and curled up at my back until I was sandwiched between the two of them.

A violent fissure split the sky, the tower shuddering in its wake.

Then, rain pelted the windows. The rhythmic sound soothed my racing mind, and cocooned in the warmth of the hounds, my eyes drifted lower and lower with each passing blink. I yawned, trying to remain awake. More rumbles rolled overhead, combining with the rain as I drifted, drifted, drifted…

A crack like a whip filled the air, and I jerked awake. A brief flash illuminated a shadow standing in front of me. The air lodged in my throat as I gasped. Thunder boomed, and I sat upright, scanning the dark. All the candles had gone cold, and no light remained in the space. Clutching my chest, my racing heart beat into my hand.

Lightning crackled again, revealing the broken figure of my mate. Braced against the wooden post at the foot of the bed, his head hung low and heavy. Grem and Zeec both grumbled their displeasure as I crawled from between them and toward Rokath. I reached for him just as another flash filled the room.

When he lifted those burgundy eyes to meet mine, his pain slipped a knife between my ribs. “Come here,” I said softly, reaching for his arm. My fingers barely grasped his muscled bicep as I tried to tug him closer. He shook his head.

“I can’t protect you, Assyria.” His breath reeked of alcohol, and my brows pinched. Rokath rarely drank, and for him to smell like Vagach had—even more so really—the day I killed him was alarming.