By the time Shea, Nikulas, and Aiden landed in Seattle, the guys had nearly forgiven her for taking off with the “bloody bastard.” Nearly, but not quite. Nikulas still gave her the occasional side-eye while shaking his head in disbelief. It didn’t seem to matter to him that Jesse was her mate, something he should understand well, having been the first to find his own. In his opinion, if she hadn’t run off with him in the first place, the mating would never have happened.

Though if what Aiden had said was true, who knows how long she would’ve been able to resist the urge to be near him? However, there was nothing to do for it now. What was done was done, and Shea was beginning to accept it. She had no other choice, really.

As they rode the elevator up to Luukas’s apartment after dropping off her stuff at her own, Shea tried to calm her nerves. He would not be happy with her, and she had no idea how he was going to react, especially with everything that was going on.

She just wanted to get this meeting over with and head north. The closer they’d gotten to Seattle, the more certain she became that Aiden had been right. Jesse was near. She just knew it. She’d felt it as soon as they’d gotten off the plane—the call of his blood to hers. It was faint, but it was there. Which was to be expected if he was so far away. Being able to feel him at that distance at all surprised her. Perhaps it was the djinn sorcery in his blood, dark as it was, that made it that much stronger.

But before she ran off again, she needed to get a few things. And she owed it to Luukas to check in with him and try to explain. Maybe he would understand, his history with Keira being similar.

Keira opened the door before they had the chance to knock. Pushing the guys aside, she grabbed Shea in a bear hug. “I’m so glad you’re back!”

Shea felt tears fill her eyes at the unexpected welcome. Wrapping her arms around the little witch, she hugged her back hard.

“We’ve been trying to call you!” Keira gave her one last squeeze and took her hand to drag her into the apartment. “I finally called Aiden, and told him to go find you.” She prattled on as they walked, completely missing the look Shea gave Aiden.

“Did I not mention that part?” he said.

Shea turned back to Keira. “I lost my phone—”

“In the plane crash, we know.” At Shea’s surprised look, she explained. “We saw it. All of us witches. We get visions sometimes. It started with me and Emma, when we saw Grace and Aiden running from the demons in China. We never know when it’s going to happen, but it seems to be when one of our family is in trouble.” She stared steadily at Shea when she said this.

“So, you know.”

Keira nodded.

“Does Luukas know?”

She nodded again. “I had to tell him.”

“Of course,” Shea said. “How did he take it?”

“About as well as you would expect.”

Although she wasn’t surprised, a tiny part of her had foolishly hoped he would be more open to it, now that they knew who Jesse was. Taking a deep breath, she looked around. They were all there: Nikulas and Emma, Aiden and Grace, Christian and Ryan, and even Dante and Laney—standing near the door, of course.

Being up here made Dante skittish. She met his eyes briefly before he looked away. His disapproval was easy to see. Her tentative smile fell. This, more than anything, hit Shea where it hurt.

Emma approached the two women. “Did he tell you how he’s related to us?”

Shea shook her head. “No. Only that his name is Moss, and he’s from your coven.” She didn’t mention what he’d told her about Ryan. She didn’t feel it was her place to break that news. That was Jesse’s story to tell.

“That explains the whole ‘cousin’ thing the last time I saw him.” Even without the twist of her mouth and the fire in her eyes, Shea knew it hadn’t been a pleasant reunion.

She looked at the two sisters who she had come to care so much about in the short time she’d known them. “I’m so sorry.” Looking up, she included Grace in that apology, who was standing back, wrapped in Aiden’s arms. “I don’t know why I went with him. I just…there’s no excuse for it. But please believe me when I say, I had no idea this would happen.” She shook her head. “No, if I’m going to be honest, I’ve always been attracted to him.” She frowned. “No, that’s not the word. Obsessed is more like it. But I had no idea what fate had in store for us. I had no idea he was my mate.”

“And that’s why you didn’t tell Luukas that you were with Jesse the whole time you were held in Leeha’s fortress,” Keira said. “Nik told Em, and Em told me.”

She nodded. “Yes. I felt the need to protect him. Even then.”

Keira glanced at her sister before focusing on Shea again. “Well, who are we to argue with the gods? Whether we like it or not—and let’s be clear, we don’t—we need him to stay alive for you, so you can survive. And I very much want you to survive.” As she said these last words, she looked over at the bedroom door with an almost defiant expression.

Shea swiped at the tears that had finally fallen. Luukas was standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorjamb, watching the exchange with a hard expression. He looked even worse than he had before she left.

Keira continued, her voice sharp with resolve. “But, for whatever reasons Jesse did what he did, we need to get the demons out of the vampires Luukas created. If we don’t, I will lose him. And I’m sorry, Shea, as much as I love you, if it comes down to my mate or yours, I’m choosing mine.”

Looking directly at her maker, Shea said, “It won’t come to that, Keira.”

“It might. And I just want you to know where I stand. Where we all stand.” The other witches came to stand behind Keira in a show of solidarity.

Shea looked at them all in turn. “Jesse is your blood—”

“That warlock is a sadistic prick who doesn’t give a shit about you or any of us,” Luukas said from across the room. “Especially not his family.”

He was right. Except for one thing. “But he does care about me,” Shea insisted. Walking over to Luukas, she lifted her chin. She wouldn’t try to defend Jesse, but she refused to be ashamed of him. “All I ask, Luukas, is that you give me the chance to find him and talk to him. He has his reasons for releasing the demons, and it’s a…an understandable one.”

“What reason is that?” Ryan spoke up for the first time. She hadn’t stood with the other witches a few moments ago, but had stayed where she was. Rising from the chair near the window, she came to join the others now. “What possible reason does he have to release such a threat to us?” She seemed genuinely curious.

Shea repositioned herself so she could include them all in her response. “From what he told me, and from what I figured out myself, your families all ran to escape the new High Priest of your coven when you were young, correct?”

Those who knew their past nodded.

“That High Priest is Jesse’s father, and he wants to take him out. He needs the demons to help him. He can’t do it himself. So, he made a deal with them to help them find what they needed to attain their original forms, and their original power. In exchange for his help, they’ve agreed to help him get rid of his father, and will spare him and those he cares about. That includes myself, and my family. Which includes all of you.”

With a quick glance at Luukas’s set jaw, Keira spoke up. “Jesse is one of the most powerful witches I’ve ever seen. I don’t believe he needs the demons. I think he has another reason for releasing them. One he doesn’t want you to know about.”

“And even if that’s all true,” Nik said. “Who the fuck wants to live in a world ruled by demons, Shea?”

Ryan frowned, tilting her head as though she was listening. She was communing with her spirits—the voices that used to drive her so mad, she would pump herself full of drugs just to drown them out before she met Christian.

It still creeped Shea out a little.

Understanding dawned on Ryan’s face, and she gave her attention back to Shea. “Tell them what his father is,” she told her. “You need to tell them.”

All eyes turned to Shea. She had hoped to leave this part out, because by telling them what his father was, it also revealed why Jesse was so dangerous. But it looked like she wouldn’t have a choice, and she didn’t want to spend the entire night deflecting questions when what she needed to be doing was finding Jesse. “His father is pure djinn.” The entire room went still, even the witches. “That’s how he took over the coven, and why your families ran. He siphons magic from the coven. He’s not a good leader.”

“That’s putting it fucking mildly,” Keira burst out. “Sorry,” she added to Shea. “My parents never told me why they’d run, just that they didn’t agree with the new Priest’s ‘ways’.” She took on a thoughtful expression, and looked at Emma. “They must have kept that from us to protect us. If we didn’t know about him, we couldn’t think about him, and we wouldn’t attract his attention. It’s how the djinn work.”

It’s how the djinn work. Was that why Jesse was so interested in her? Because she attracted him with her obsession of him? As much as she would try not to think about him, she was never very successful at it.

Luukas strode out into the center of the room. “A djinn, Shea? We’re dealing with a fucking djinn?” It was obvious he wasn’t talking about the High Priest. “How the fuck do you expect me to welcome him into our group? How do you expect me to look at him every day? How, Shea?” His deep voice boomed throughout the room, the temperature dropping swiftly with his anger.

The tears threatened once more. “I’m so sorry, Luukas.”

He appeared in front of her, his furious visage not three inches away. “Sorry?” he hissed. His fangs flashed when he spoke. “He fucked with my head. He made me believe I was being burned alive. He made me believe it was Keira doing it. He made me believe I had ripped her into pieces with my bare hands—the love of my life. I thought I had killed her! And you’re sorry?”

Shea stood her ground, breathing hard. But kept her eyes averted, afraid that if she looked at him, she would be the one he tore apart. Keira had done many of those same things to him herself, and Shea wished she could point that out to him. But there was a major difference, and she knew it. Keira had done it against her will. Jesse had done it for amusement.

Keira’s hand appeared on his arm. “It wasn’t her fault, Luukas. She didn’t set out to make him her mate. We both know fate doesn’t always give us a choice.”

His mate’s touch calmed him, but not by much. He laid a gentle hand over Keira’s, but his eyes glinted like steel as they narrowed on Shea. “Get out of my sight.”

Holding back a sob, she gave him a brisk nod and turned on her heel. She kept her head high, not looking at any of them while she strode from the apartment. She made it all the way to her apartment, barely getting the door shut before she lost it. Falling to her knees on the hard tile, she burst into tears.

It occurred to her that she hadn’t even had the chance to tell him she had the demon’s blood. Or how she planned to stop Jesse.

A quick knock came from behind her. Shea wiped at her eyes and stumbled to her feet. She could tell by the scent it was Laney. Holding the door open, Shea invited her inside.

Dante’s mate offered a sympathetic smile. “I know we don’t know each other very well, yet. But from one girl to another who fell hard for the wrong guy, I get it. Luukas shouldn’t be treating you like this.”

Shea shook her head. “No, he should. He absolutely should. You don’t know what he’s been through, Laney. All of that stuff he said, Jesse did all that to him, and worse.”

“Well, be that as it may, we’re going to help you find him. Us girls.”

She stilled. “Do you know where he is, Laney?”

Laney’s brown eyes caught hers. “We do.”

Shea swallowed hard. “I have to stop him.”

Laney nodded. “We’ll help you.”

“Just let me get a few things.”

Lines of concern creased the witch’s brow. “I don’t know much about weapons.”

Shea was already heading to her bedroom. “Not weapons. They won’t do us any good against demons. But I do have something that will. I’ll explain it all to you on the drive up there.”

A bright smile lit up Laney’s face. “We’ll meet you at the cars in thirty minutes. All of us. If we have to drag those guys kicking and screaming.”