I leaned down and breathed in her scent—lavender, vanilla, honey, and something just Tessa.
Lucas laughed at Blaze. “You think you’ll be okay, old man?”
“It’ll be a brisk day in Hell when I’m bested by one of the Lunar Court. Especially Helen.” Blaze’s laugh turned to a small smile. “No worries on our account. Lucas and I are quite a bit older than you. One of us might be older than your mother, Cosette. And I believe I can speak for both of us when I say we have our own protections.”
Cosette gave one of her long-suffering sighs that sounded like bells chiming in the distance, and if I didn’t know her, I would’ve thought she was disappointed. But I knew it was relief. I’d heard her say that she was afraid of giving in to her power over werewolves. She didn’t want to help us if she didn’t have to.
“Good, but the offer stands if any of you get into trouble.” She linked hands with Chris. “You only need to say the word.”
Tessa squeezed my hand tighter as she grabbed onto Van. “Let’s do this. Now. The timing is just right.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. I’d just gotten Tessa back, and now we were about to go face her kidnapper. Without a plan. Without an army. Without a chance in Hell.
This was probably going to be one of the stupider things we’d done, but I trusted Tessa. If she said she saw this in her visions, then she saw it. I trusted her with my life. With all of our lives.
I reached out to Chris.
Within a second, we were all touching. Everyone except Samantha and Axel.
When Tessa looked at her standing off to the side, Samantha held up her hands. “This is not my bag. I don’t fight. Not the things you do. That’s not how I work.”
Tessa nodded. “You’ll wait here? With my brother?”
Samantha shrugged. “Not like I have a great alternative. I’m not even sure where we are, and I don’t have a car. So, yeah. Just try not to take too long.”
“I’ll take care of her,” Axel said. “But hurry home. I missed you.”
“We’ll be back soon,” Tessa said.
I hoped that was true. I really, really hoped. All I wanted was a little quiet time alone with my mate.
“Everyone ready?” Van asked.
There was a small chorus of yeses and grunts, and then everything was spinning and tumbling through a black abyss, but I didn’t feel it.
Because she was back. I could be tumbling through a deep, dark abyss and not feel it ever again as long as I had her. As long as I could feel our bond. As long as we were together, I was home anywhere. Even here in the black, barren space between realms.
Tessa was back.
She was back, and she was mine again.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Tessa
I never ever wanted to do anything less than go to the Lunar Court tonight, but it had to be done. The consequences of not going now would be unspeakable.
I was so far beyond tired that I was in another realm of exhaustion, and there was this gnawing pit of hunger in my stomach that made me feel weak and woozy. All I wanted to do was walk inside the house in the distance. Through the bits and pieces I’d seen as our bond renewed, I knew Dastien built it himself with my brother and Mr. Dawson. But I hadn’t seen how it looked when finished.
God, it looked like a dream. I could happily spend the next three years inside it with
Dastien, but I wouldn’t get that chance if I didn’t keep moving tonight.
I glanced back at my mate. My husband. His hair was longer. He’d added some muscle, which was insane because he already had more than enough. And there was a haunted look in his eyes that made me ache because it was my fault it was there. I did that to him.
I didn’t remember him while I was gone. I didn’t know that I’d been missing anyone or anything, other than my memory. But there was this emptiness inside me that never seemed to go away. There was this constant pressure that made it hard to breathe or think sometimes. But now I knew what that was.
It was Dastien.