He jolted as my blood touched his tongue, the power inside me writhing in response to the former heir’s essence, bathing him in dark magic and restoring the last of his reserves.
A bond slid into place between us, tying our souls together for eternity and officially squandering my ability to ever kill him.
Because our lives were linked now, and the flare of his nostrils confirmed he felt it, too.
I sensed his finalized bond to Zephyrus and budding one with Shade.
And his nearly complete tie to Aflora.
Thank you, she whispered into my mind, aware of what I’d just sacrificed by allowing him to imbibe my essence. My retribution would need to be redefined.
But I already knew that.
It’d been obvious the moment I felt her pain. I would never allow her to experience such agony again.
I leaned in to kiss her, allowing my mouth to do all the talking without words.
With one arm around her and my opposite hand at Kolstov’s mouth, we formed a pretty awkward triangle. Only heightened by the other two men in the circle, their presence an unexpected comfort to the situation at hand.
It allowed me to devour her properly, without having to keep my guard up to protect her.
Because I knew Zephyrus and Shade had that part covered.
Then Kolstov released my wrist, his energy warming the air. Aflora slowly pulled away from my kiss, her cerulean gaze falling to the former royal on the floor.
They stared at each other for a long moment, his expression intense. Then he glanced at Shade, his eyes narrowing.
A humming current floated through the air, the Death Blood engaging a telepathic link with Kolstov that the rest of us could feel but not hear.
They were only mated on the first level, but Shade was no ordinary fae. I wasn’t surprised that he could converse mentally at an initial stage of a mating. He probably could have done the same with Aflora.
“Out loud,” Zephyrus said, those two words underlined in command.
“I’m telling him how we saved him,” Shade replied, his voice soft and reverent. “How Aflora saved him.”
“We,” she corrected. “You were right
to say we.”
“What happened?” Zephyrus asked. “How did…? Why did…?”
“Constantine knew about the mating,” Shade said, holding Kolstov’s gaze. “He’s known since the beginning. And not initially from me.”
“Dakota,” I muttered.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “But I knew from previous experience that she was feeding him information. So I did as well to win his favor.”
“How many times has this happened?” I asked.
But I already knew the answer.
There was no turning back time with death.
We were in the final version of events, Kolstov forever in this state. If we went back, we risked leaving him behind.
“Everything always comes to a head at the Blood Gala,” Shade replied, his voice gruff. “Aflora detonates. People die. But this is the first time Kols has ever been stripped of the source.”
“What about your grandmother?” Kolstov asked. “They were going to get her?”