“I guess this is it.” Alina slung the canvas bag over her shoulder, and I remembered the night we brought her to us. She was wearing the linen dress again, fully herself. She was even barefoot, just as we had found her in the tower.

“I guess it is. I’m glad you came with us that night. You helped make my brother happy—and nobody wants to be around Pierce when he’s unhappy.” I tried to keep my tone light.

Her smile was strained. “I’m glad I could do it. Especially since it’s obvious how happy Jasmine is now. She never would’ve been happy if our uncle had married her off. I guess Pierce really did save her life, after all.”

“A very poetic way of looking at it.”

“Well, there’s no other way of seeing it, is there? I mean, it’s clear they were meant for each other.”

“It is.” And we were meant for each other. Tell her we were meant for each other! What are you waiting for?

The dragon’s roar filled my head. I managed to plaster a fake smile on my face in spite of his protests.

She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, eyes never leaving my face. Pleading with me.

I squared my shoulders when I remembered the danger we could all be in if she stayed. There was no way her clan would allow the disappearance of two members without causing an uproar. They would leave no stone unturned until they discovered what happened, and no one could know of our existence.

It was bad enough Jasmine and Alina knew. They had to remain the only ones.

When I looked at it that way—the future of our family, the success of our mission to guard the treasure—my personal needs seemed very small. It was a sacrifice, but my life had been built on sacrifice. I was used to it.

“It was a pleasure getting to know you.” I extended my hand to shake, and she hesitated one more moment before touching her palm to mine.

Like she couldn’t believe things were ending the way they were, with a handshake.

I sensed her confusion, her heartbreak, her uncertainty.

She thought I liked her. She thought there was more between us than a handshake.

For her sake as well as mine, I had to make her believe she was wrong. I had to ignore the dragon’s command that I pull her to me and crush her under my weight as I pinned her to the wall and claimed her.

“You, too,” she whispered, withdrawing her hand as soon as possible.

She backed away without another word, eyes leaving me to take in everything around us. There wasn’t much to see there at the mouth of the cave, but I had the feeling she was taking a mental picture.

Me, standing there, watching her walk away.

A tiny smile touched the corners of her mouth. A bitter one.

That was the mental picture of her which I knew I would review again and again. The bitterness I was responsible for. The way I had broken her heart.

I should’ve been smarter. Wasn’t I supposed to be the smart one in the family? There was no excuse for letting the girl become as familiar with me as she had. I knew from the start that there could be no future for us.

“Come on. We’d better get moving.” Miles ushered her into the SUV—the main road was clear by now, so there was no need to take the Jeep down the side of the mountain as we had when we first brought Alina to the cave.

It was almost a relief when he closed the door behind her. I didn’t have to see the pain on her face once the tinted window was between us.

“This is for the best,” Pierce murmured, standing at my side.

“Where did you come from? I thought you’d be back with Jasmine.”

“She’s taking a shower. I think she used that as an excuse to be alone for a while. And I thought you would need me.”

“You thought wrong.”

“Did I?”

The question hung in the air between us.

I hated him at that moment. Thinking he knew so much.

Was that how I made him feel most of the time? It could’ve been. I was always the one with the answers, the one who thought he knew so much more than anybody else.

The truth was, I usually did. I observed, I listened, I formed conclusions that were right nine times out of ten.

Hell, if it weren’t for my knowledge of what we kept in the library, I would never have found the loophole which made it possible for Jasmine to stay. I knew my shit.

What I didn’t know was how to navigate life without Alina—especially when I’d see her sister every day, the sister who looked so much like her.

I’d never have the chance to forget the one and only time I had ever brushed up against fate. The only chance I’d ever have to find my mate.

The car pulled away, with Miles and Cash seated up front. I watched until the taillights disappeared into the darkness. She was gone.

“You coming back in?” Pierce asked after a long, silent stretch.

“Not just yet, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind.” He kicked up a little dirt, then took a deep breath. “It’s nice to be outside. I might hang around with you for a little while, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah. That’s okay.” And so we stood there, side by side, looking out over the valley and the mountains in the distance, while Gate kept watch somewhere above us. Protecting the treasure we were assigned to, just like we did every day and had for a thousand years.