About an hour later, Ryker and Laughlan had pulled some fresh fruit and vegetables from the dried-up garden using their Druid magic. It was enough to feed all of us non-vampires and non-Maras, and we roasted the Druids’ produce over the firepit.

Velnias and Zane were kind enough to go out and hunt down a couple of stray moon-bisons, which they brought back for the Druids, vampires and Maras to feed on. Caia and Blaze stayed outside by the firepit, while Vesta set up the cloaking spell around the farmhouse, with a little help from Ryker. We were safe there for the night.

It was hot outside, a typical summer on the desert’s edge, but it was bearable, especially after we took turns in the bathroom. The pipes creaked, but cool water from the underground springs flowed endlessly, giving us all plenty to work with.

By the time I finished washing up, Caspian and Harper had retreated to one of the rooms. The Mara Lord was still recovering from his wounds, and Harper was exhausted. They both needed as much sleep as possible before our journey to Ragnar Peak. Pheng-Pheng sat by the fireplace in the living room, curiously listening to the delegation members as they caught up and discussed weak points in the daemons’ defense system, based on what they’d already seen in Draconis.

Zane sat next to Velnias on the other side of the fireplace, while Fiona worked in the kitchen, preparing our bags for the trip. She still needed some ingredients, but she did a fine job of laying out all the satchels and metal capsules for our backpacks, adding morsels of dried food and whatever else was already available to our gear. Of course, although she did try her best to be discreet, I noticed Fiona and Zane stealing glances at each other across the room. Not that I could blame her, though. The daemon prince was handsome as hell and had a heart of gold, despite his biting sarcasm.

Vesta was out back, working some of her fae mojo on the greenhouse. According to her parents, they’d used it to grow various herbs and plants which, if regrown, could serve to replenish our swamp witch and Druid spell supplies. By the Daughters, we needed as much magic as we could possibly get our hands on for what lay ahead.

With the right environment, a fae could easily restore that greenhouse, and, by morning, we’d have plenty of greenery to pick from for our spells, particularly for invisibility and tracking. I left the others inside and joined Vesta in the greenhouse. Jax wasn’t far behind and found me sitting on a ledge, watching Vesta as her hands glowed green over a mound. A stem popped out from the ground, its lime-colored leaves stretching outward as it grew before our very eyes.

“I give you… Bakram’s Tails,” Vesta giggled, beaming with pride as she knelt before the newly reborn plant. “We use it in healing potions.”

“Woohoo, go Vesta,” I replied with a chuckle. “I’ll be more comfortable getting myself cut down now, knowing you’ve got the healing potions covered.”

We both laughed. Jax sat next to me, the corner of his mouth twitching. “I see you two are keeping yourselves entertained here,” he said. “Though I’d like to kindly ask that you don’t get yourself hurt going forward. Healing potion or not, I’d very much like to see you walking out of whatever comes next without a single scratch.”

His tone was serious, but the warm glow in his jade eyes made my spine tingle and my skin sizzle. I lit up like the moon, making him smile. “Sorry, I can’t help it,” I murmured, realizing how bright my silvery skin was shining. I couldn’t control my intense emotions around him, especially when, for the first time in a couple of days, I could actually relax and enjoy Jax’s presence without the fear of hostile daemons barging in to ruin the moment.

He gripped my chin between his thumb and index finger, spearing me with his deep jade gaze, and smiled. “Don’t ever apologize for being so gorgeous. I know it’s my fault for making you feel and… glow like this, but you don’t see me apologizing for it.”

I leaned forward and dropped a kiss on his lips, prompting him to growl slowly. “Fortunately, we’re surrounded by a cloaking spell. Otherwise daemons might spot me from a mile away.”

“Do you always light up like that when you’re around him?” Vesta asked as she moved to nurture another mound. I let out an audible sigh in response, which she took as a “yes”. “I think that’s pretty cool. It means you can’t lie about your feelings for him, huh?”

Jax chuckled with delight, noticing me blushing even brighter.

“Keep your eyes on your plants there, little fae,” I snapped back, feigning irritation. It made her laugh. I wasn’t going to intimidate anyone tonight, clearly, so I focused my attention back on Jax, who couldn’t take his eyes off me. “How is everyone inside?”

“They’re good. They’ll go to sleep soon. It’s almost midnight,” he said, pointing at the third moon rising above. It cast a milky light over the property, giving the farmhouse a surreal glow and making it look like something out of an old Druid fairytale. “Fun fact, it turns out Amina and I are distant relatives. Cousins, it seems.”

I raised both eyebrows in surprise. Remembering some of Amina’s features, including the jade color of her eyes, I could see the resemblance. “Really? You were born after she went missing, though, right?”

He nodded. “Yes. She’s a third cousin. She was born a Dorchadas, but married Ryker before they boarded the delegation, and joined House Abraxian.”

“House Abraxian…” I muttered, trying to remember where I’d heard that name before.

“House Abraxian were some of the first to sacrifice themselves in the war against Azazel,” Jax replied, sadness adding weight to his voice. “Their ten sons were only children at the time. I took them under my wing, and they became my Wards.”

I now remembered. The name Abraxian had been tattooed onto the wards, along with the swamp witch symbols that allowed them to feed Jax with the energy he needed to perform mass mind-bending. He’d never told me about the origin of his wards, but I’d spotted the name whenever they removed their tunics during combat practice. Their torsos, necks, and arms were covered in black ink, and it lit up white when they channeled their energy into Jax.

“Don’t you miss them?” I asked, slowly leaning in to him.

“I don’t think ‘miss them’ is the term I’d use,” he replied, putting his arm around my shoulders. “I’m worried I won’t see them again. I know I shouldn’t, but I’ve seen enough on Calliope to know that when I look at what the daemons are doing here, there is still a chance we won’t succeed.”

“I know what you mean. I’m worried I won’t see my succubi again, either. Or my sister… my daughter…” I croaked, swallowing back tears. “I also understand why you’re fearful. We’ve seen greater plans fail miserably, after all, if you remember. But we can’t let despair get the better of us, can we?”

Jax kissed my forehead, then exhaled deeply. “Remember the day we vanquished Azazel?”

“How could I forget?” I scoffed. “Azazel compelled Jovi into shooting me with a poisoned arrow, and I nearly died.”

“And not a day goes by that I’m not thankful for the Daughters. For Viola, in particular, for bringing you back,” he murmured. “Thing is, that day I was scared witless. Not of dying myself, but of never seeing you again. It’s a crippling fear. It stiffens my limbs and it makes it hard to breathe. Not seeing my Wards again scares me, Hansa, but not as much as the thought of never seeing you again. And I know that’s exactly what will happen if we let the daemons and the Exiled Maras win. So, yes, I’m holding on to my fear, but not to pull me back, but rather to motivate me to keep going, to fight back harder than ever, until you and I can go back to Calliope and try to make sense of this wonderful thing between us.”

I was speechless, unable to hold my tears back anymore. I lifted my head to look at him. To my surprise, his eyes were just as wet, stoically darkened beneath his frown. His jaw muscles throbbed uncontrollably as he cupped my face and pulled me closer, to the point where his hot breath tickled my lips.

“I love you, Hansa, more than I could think possible,” he whispered. “I might’ve said it before, but I will burn this whole planet down before I let anyone or anything take you away from me. And that’s the only thing that keeps me going, the only thought that adds strength to each blow of my swords. My love for you, you raunchy, tough-as-nails, volcanic succubus tribe chief.”

My tears escaped and streamed down my cheeks, and I could see myself light up even brighter in his eyes. “You know, for a Mara Lord who doesn’t say much most of the time, you sure have a way with words.” I sniffed, prompting him to chuckle before he kissed me, this time deeply, with an intensity that made the world around us disappear.

He was right. Being afraid was natural, but letting that fear cripple my judgment and my actions was going to get us killed or, worse, separated. I had to take that fear and use it as fuel, like he did. Like I used to do, too, before the Sluaghs and the Destroyers decimated my tribe. I was still recovering from that blow. That tragedy had changed me in more than one way, it seemed. But Jax brought out the warrior in me, and that just made me love him even more, because he gave me myself back, in a way.

“You know, you could at least say you love him back,” Vesta interjected from across the greenhouse, brutally reminding me that she was still there, albeit with her back to us, and that she’d heard everything.

Jax groaned, then hid his face in the warm, small space between my neck and my shoulder, while I let out a small growl, jokingly scowling at Vesta. “Seriously, though, don’t you have plants to grow, little fae?” I muttered.

“I do, but it’s hard to concentrate with you two smooching twenty feet behind me,” she shot back, giving me a dry grin over her shoulder and making both Jax and me laugh hard.

Out of everything we’d endured on Neraka, after nearly getting ourselves captured or killed more than once, I could still count some wonderful gifts we’d earned along the way.

Vesta was, by far, the best thing to come out of this Nerakian insanity. She was mostly quiet and distant but had a heart the size of a pit wolf and a mouth on her that made Anjani seem like a Bajang cub, all cute and fluffy by comparison.

And I was always a sucker for a strong character. After all, I’d fallen in love with the Lord of Maras and I’d joined the company of GASP. Clearly, strength was also my soft spot—yet another reminder that, whatever came next for us, I was more than capable of handling it, especially with firecrackers like Vesta on our side.