“Oh, you’re just being nice because June’s upset,” Anton sighs. I turn to glare at him, but he just shrugs, unwilling to budge from this point.“Seriously, Jesse,” Orion says, leaning forward with interest. “If you heard, without Juniper there, that she was engaged to this guy – what would your impr
“Quiet,” Laila breathes, her voice a hush. “Let me concentrate.”Even as the six of us lean forward to get a better look at the map and the divination tools scattered across it, we remain very quiet, waiting, barely daring to breathe lest we disturb something.Laila looks left and then right at both
Jesse whips his head to Anton in shock and then turns towards Orion with a snarl, his canines extending. “If you fucking touch any of my baby sisters –““Whoa,” Orion says, his hands snapping up in a plea for mercy. “Whoa, whoa – all of this is news to me, okay?”Anton and I go still as Jesse contin
“Oh, go away Jesse,” I snarl, smacking at him in turn.“Okay, we’ll do that,” Midnight says, reaching out for Jesse’s arm. “Let’s go, boy.”Jesse skitters away from his mate with a gasp, staying out of her reach. “What!? No! We’re staying!”“We have to go home!” Midnight sighs, reaching again.“No,
“Okay,” Jesse says, putting a hand on Midnight’s shoulder, noticing her discomfort. “Nice to meet you, Laila and Orion. And I love you, June and Tony. I’ll see you tom-“But Midnight doesn’t let him finish, looking excitedly around at all of her presents and vanishing them away, eager to get them ho
But I just wait for Anton to reply, unwilling to let the slightly awkward silence get to me. Because I’m not letting him distract or joke his way out of the question this time.“Come on, Anton,” I say, holding his gaze. “You know every detail of my romantic life and you refuse to tell me anything ab
“Do you think you have a mate?”He shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t think it matters. I always just knew that when I found her, that would be it, mate or not.”I smile a little. “She’ll have to be one hell of a girl.”He nods, just once. And doesn’t say a word.“Thank you for telling me,” I murmur, sn
“Whoa,” Jesse says, looking around as Midnight and he step into my room. “Crap, June, you sure got the shiny side of the coin in terms of lodging on this planet –““Hey!” Midnight snaps, glaring up at him. “You’d better say nice things about my yurt.”“The most comfortable yurt in which I have ever
“No!” she sputters out, stumbling a few steps towards me, shaking her head so hard her pretty blue-green hair flutters out all around her. “No, Junie, don’t make me go! I want…I want to stay here! And help! I mean…” she bites her lip. “It will be nice to be able to visit home. But I want to stay wit
“I’m sending you home too,” I say quietly, doing my best to look each in the eyes. “I’m sorry this happened to you. I’m sorry if you’re disappointed that you didn’t get the wish.” They murmur a variety of responses back to me, most of them relieved. One by one they step forward and I take their ha
“Does…” I whisper, my eyes still fastened to Orion as my eyes move over him, feeling the powers that radiate from him now. “Does that mean you have all of the powers of Darkness too? From…from the wish?” “No,” Orion murmurs, looking down at his hands and flexing them, experimenting with the feel o
Beatrice is the last to go, staring at me in shock, realizing finally that she bet everything on the wrong horse. I bare my teeth at her, fangs extended, and Beatrice’s eyes go wider as she trembles and finally submits, going to her knees and bowing her head. “Good,” I say, my voice returning to n
Laila’s knife sinks deep between Death’s shoulder blades and the final scream of a God fills the air as Death falls to his knees. The magic stops mid-stream, like a tap being suddenly turned off. I groan and tilt forward against Anton, who catches me and holds me against his chest. “Shit, June,”
“Just a little longer, June. She’ll do it.” But what if she doesn’t? What if…what if I’m inches from oblivion, and this is it? My heart strains in my chest, my wolf shaking like a leaf from snout to tail. But still, I will myself to hope. To trust in my friend. “I know,” I reply, letting my ey
I gasp, my shoulders trembling under the sheer weight of Death’s magic that flows over and around us, my shield barrier straining and buckling under its might. “June,” Anton breathes, eyes wide as he looks up at the magic streaming over us in an unending torrent. “Shit – are you –“ I crouch besi
The wish presses against Death for a moment and then sinks into him, dissolving into his chest. He sighs with happiness and what looks like ecstasy, tilting his head back to the sky as the magic disappears into him. Beatrice steps away, tucking her hands behind her back, beaming at the God she jus
Before I can get more than three steps after Laila, Anton lunges forward, his paws landing on either side of me as he snatches at the back of my gown with his teeth, holding me back. His fierce growl reminds me that I need to stay here – that Death took Laila because he wants me to come rushing onto