Draven ca back on day three exactly like he’d promised, and the relief that hit when I felt his bond flare bright and close was so sharp I actually had to sit down before my knees gave out entirely.
He looked exhausted—dark circles under his eyes, moving like every step hurt—but he was back and whole and when he walked into the pack house I was on him before my brain caught up with what my body was doing.
"You’re okay." Not a question. An observation I needed confird.
"I’m okay." His arms ca around . "Lysander kept his word. Three days of archives, no strings attached."
No strings attached. I’d believe that when we actually destroyed the demon and Draven didn’t end up enslaved, but for now I’d take it.
"Did you find anything?" Because three days in a vampire coven had to be worth sothing beyond the terror of watching him leave.
"Everything." He pulled back enough to look at . "The summoner’s na. Their bloodline. Where they were last seen. All of it."
Wait. Everything? In just three days?
"How—" I didn’t finish because he was already pulling toward Kael’s study where everyone was apparently gathering based on the bonds all spiking with attention.
Ten minutes later we were all assembled— and my four mates plus Morgana and Marcus and the visiting Alphas—and Draven spread out papers that looked older than civilization across the conference table.
"The summoner’s na is Cassia Blackthorn." His voice went clinical. Precise. "Witch. Born 1642. Still alive as of three years ago based on coven intelligence."
Still alive. The summoner was still alive.
"Where?" Kael’s voice was sharp. Focused.
"We don’t know." Draven pulled up another docunt. "She’s been in hiding since the demon first manifested. The covens have been searching for three hundred years."
Three hundred years and nobody had found her. Great. Very encouraging.
"But we know her bloodline." He pulled up what looked like a family tree. "Eighteen direct descendants. Most are dead. Three are unaccounted for. One is—" He stopped. Swallowed. "One is ."
The silence that followed was so complete I could hear my own heartbeat trying to escape through my throat.
"What?" The word ca out strangled.
"Cassia Blackthorn is my great-great-grandmother seven tis removed." His voice stayed level but I felt his horror through the bond. "The summoner is family."
Family. The demon—the thing that had killed eighty-one people and almost killed Kael and was currently healing to co back for more—had been summoned by Draven’s ancestor.
"That’s why Lysander wanted you back." The pieces clicked together with sickening clarity. "He thinks you can break the binding because you share her blood."
"Essentially yes." Draven’s jaw was tight. "Coven law says blood bindings can be broken by blood relatives. If I can find Cassia, I can potentially destroy the summoning magic."
Potentially. Not definitely. Potentially.
"Or it kills you trying." I heard my voice go flat. "That’s the cost, isn’t it? Breaking a three-hundred-year-old demon binding probably requires a blood sacrifice."
His silence was answer enough.
"No." The word ca out sharp. Final. "We’re not sacrificing you to break a binding your ancestor made. We’ll find another way."
"There might not be another way." His hands found my shoulders. "If this is what it takes to stop the demon permanently—"
"Then we keep fighting it every ti it cos back." I cut him off. "But we’re not trading your life for a maybe. Not happening."
Through the bonds I felt Kael’s agreent mixing with Riven’s strategic reluctance mixing with Thorne’s feral possessiveness, and yeah everyone wanted Draven alive even if it ant the harder path.
"We have six months." Morgana’s voice cut through the tension. "Six months to find Cassia, learn how she summoned the demon, and figure out a way to break the binding without killing Draven. That’s our new tiline."
Six months to do the impossible.
Again.
The eting dissolved into planning and research assignnts and strategic discussions I couldn’t focus on because my brain was stuck on Draven potentially dying to fix his ancestor’s mistake.
Hours later when everyone had left and it was just the five of us, I found myself on the roof—because apparently that was still my default processing location—staring at stars that didn’t care we were probably all going to die.
"You’re catastrophizing." Riven’s voice ca from behind and I turned to find all four of them standing there.
"I’m being realistic." The distinction was blurring. "Draven’s ancestor summoned a demon. Breaking that binding will probably kill him. The demon cos back in six months. We’re running out of ti and options and—"
"And we’re still here." Kael moved to stand beside . "Still fighting. Still finding ways to survive."
"For how long?" The question I’d been avoiding. "How many more battles? How many more funerals? How many tis do we survive by luck before luck runs out?"
"As many tis as it takes." Thorne’s rough voice was certain. Final.
As many tis as it takes. Right. Because giving up wasn’t an option when giving up ant everyone died.
"I’m tired." The confession ca out small. "I’m tired of fighting and losing people and watching you all almost die. I’m tired of being the Hybrid Queen everyone needs when I don’t know how to be her."
"Then stop trying to be her." Draven moved closer. "Just be you. Selene. Scared and stubborn and still showing up."
Just be . The who’d failed eighty-one tis already.
Through the bonds I felt all four of them pushing certainty and love and absolute conviction that being was enough, and I wanted so badly to believe them.
"Six months." I heard my voice go quiet. "We have six months of peace before round three."
"Then we use them." Kael pulled against his chest. "We research. We train. We find Cassia. And we figure out how to end this permanently."
End it permanently. Right. No pressure.
Riven’s hand found mine and Draven moved to my other side and Thorne settled at my back, and suddenly I was surrounded by four bonds that thrumd steady and strong despite everything we’d been through.
"Co inside." Kael’s voice was gentle. "It’s cold out here."
It wasn’t cold but I went anyway because arguing seed exhausting, and when we got to our room—because Kael’s room was definitely just "our room" now—all four of them looked at with expressions I couldn’t quite read.
"What?" The question ca out cautious.
"We’re alive." Riven’s voice was soft. "All of us. Despite everything. That’s worth celebrating."
Celebrating. Right. Because we’d survived two demon battles and only lost eighty-one people total and Draven was probably going to have to sacrifice himself eventually but sure, let’s celebrate.
Except—
They were right. We were alive. All five of us. Still here. Still fighting.
That was worth sothing.
Kael’s mouth found mine and the kiss was slow and deliberate and tasted like relief and desperation in equal asure, and when I kissed him back I poured every ounce of we’re still here into it.
The bonds opened wide and suddenly I was feeling all four of them wanting at once—Kael’s fierce possession, Riven’s patient desire, Draven’s controlled need, Thorne’s feral hunger—and the combined weight of it made my knees forget how to work.
"Tell us what you need." Draven’s voice was rough.
"I need—" I couldn’t finish because what I needed was complicated and ssy and probably selfish but I needed it anyway.
"We know." Kael’s hands were already working my shirt off. "We’ve got you."
And they did.
All four of them. Taking turns and sotis together, learning what made gasp and what made moan and what made forget my own na.
Through the bonds I felt everything amplified—pleasure building and cresting and building again until I couldn’t tell where I ended and they began.
When it was over I lay sprawled across all four of them—spent and boneless and absolutely claid—and tried to rember how to form coherent thoughts.
"Six months." My voice ca out hoarse. Wrecked.
"Six months." Kael agreed. "But tonight we rest."
Rest. Right. We could rest.
Six months until the demon ca back.
Six months to find Cassia and break the binding and save Draven and stop the darkness at its root.
Six months before everything changed again.
But tonight we were alive and together and safe.
Tonight was enough.
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