Graydon lifted his eyebrows. “Melly’s going with you?”

Bel nodded jerkily, flattening her hands on his chest as he drew her close. Absently, she stroked her palms across his pectorals as she replied, “She said it would be too unbearable to watch and wait while Julian goes into battle.” Her dark gaze lifted to his. “I understand how she feels.”

Bowing his head, he rested his forehead against hers. “As do I. I hate that you have to confront Ferion without me.”

“We don’t have a choice,” she whispered as she clenched her fingers on his biceps. “Everything has to happen simultaneously. Soren can’t try to remove the soul lien until Julian has Malphas trapped, otherwise we’ll run the danger of tipping Malphas off. And we have no idea what’s going to happen when Soren does remove it, or what kind of attention we may draw from the rest of the household.”

He gritted his teeth. “If only there was any other way to do this. Tell me Linwe is going to guard you.”

She nodded again. “And Sidhiel. Between Sidhiel and I, we should represent enough authority to try to win some kind of control over the situation, if – if Ferion can’t.”

Ferion could die when the soul lien was removed. He could be dangerously unstable. Graydon’s face tightened as his mind raced through various catastrophic scenarios.

“Letting you go is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he gritted.

Just as it had been the last time. As it had been every time.

She threw her arms around his neck. “Absolutely do not worry about me,” she told him in a strong, steady voice. “Don’t give it a foothold in your thoughts. Not only will Sidhiel and Linwe be accompanying me, but also, Luis, Claudia and Melly will be going too. And Soren, at least until he frees Ferion. It’s a good, strong group. We’ll be all right.”

He needed to believe that. Tightening his arms around her, he concentrated fiercely on the sensation of her long, slender body against his.

She murmured, “You’re the one I’m worried about. Gods, Graydon. The risk you’re taking. I feel sick thinking about it.”

As dark as a raven’s wing, the vision brushed along the edge of his mind. White, black and red like heart’s blood.

It was so close now, he could almost touch it.

“Don’t think about it,” he murmured. He passed his hand over her silken hair. “Instead, think about this.”

Even as her pretty, plump lips began to form a question, he covered her mouth with his.

For one moment, everything else fell away. He surrendered his soul to it and kissed her with all the passion he had, eating at her plump, soft mouth like it was a banquet he had never eaten before, and would never have again.

Underneath his lips, her mouth came alive, and she kissed him back with such transparent, desperate longing, it tore at him inside.

Cupping her face, he whispered against her lips, “There’s nothing else but this. Nothing else but us.”

Her mouth trembled. “I – I don’t know how I can bear it if…”

He kissed her again, hard. “Stop, don’t think of it. Be here, right now. We have all the time in the world. We’ve lived together for years. Picture it… Look at how happy we are.”

Her eyes flew open. As she stared at him, two tears spilled out of the corners of her eyes and flowed over his fingers. She tried to smile. “We’ve lived together?”

He nodded, pressing his lips to her forehead. “We’ve had children. What a handful they’ve been, growing up, but we’ve loved every minute of it. And we did buy that house, outside the city. We go there every chance we can.”

“The one with the big, private yard,” she breathed. Her fingers curled around his wrists, thumbs working over his skin.

Hungry for her mouth again, he kissed her over and over. “We have the most beautiful garden,” he told her. “It’s a bit wild and secretive, but we like that very much.”

A ghost of a laugh came out of her, the tiniest shiver of air against his lips. “I have a vegetable garden in the sunniest part of the yard. You go hunting, and bring home wild game.”

“And our friends come to visit.” He smiled against her mouth, thinking of it. “We are always happy to see them and yet glad when they leave, so we can have the place to ourselves again.”

“It’s so beautiful,” she breathed. “You’re right, I am happy. I’m more happy than I ever dreamed possible.”

All the immense number of hours he had experienced throughout countless days, and they counted as nothing against the richness of the life he lived in that one moment.

When the suite door opened, the beast inside him wanted to rage at the interruption. He let the impulse die. There would be plenty of fighting, soon enough.

Constantine said quietly, “Gray, it’s time. Everything is set up. We’ve got to go.”

Just like that, with a few quiet words, their happy, rich life together that was built in a single moment faded.

Their eyes met. The brightness that had begun to touch Bel’s face darkened.

Dropping his hands, Graydon stepped back.

Leaving her. He was always leaving her.

Turning away was like taking a knife to the gut. Somehow, he managed to speak around the pain. “On my way.”

SEVENTEEN

T

he three gryphons flew to Hart Island together. Rune carried Carling, while Julian rode on Graydon’s back.

Aside from Soren, who would join them as fast as he could, they were all the principals who would be spearheading the attack.

Graydon wished they had more Djinn support, but the Djinn made decisions based on consensus. If Soren took this issue to the Djinn assembly, they would talk the subject to death, and he knew somehow word would get back to Malphas. They couldn’t afford to risk losing the element of surprise, and they didn’t have the time.