I hit the ground hard, my knees taking the impact as I dropped next to Diego. Inside the Temple of light, you’d think that there would be nothing but beauty by the name. So far, I’d seen nothing but death, blood and fear. But I wasn’t going to let it get the better of me, or Diego.

I splayed my hands on his chest and wove my magic into him faster even than I’d done for Rose. Now that I understood how to heal, I could feel it there waiting to be used. I couldn’t lose Diego now, not when I was so close.

The wounds in his body were grievous and festering with a poison that was deeply rooted in his blood.

I purged it, carefully pulling the infection from him a speck at a time, flicking it off my fingers as it poured up through his skin. I wove my magic through his heart and pumped it, restarting it as I prayed it would be enough.

The color in his face improved slowly, but . . .his chest still didn’t rise. His heart faltered and fought to work while his lungs stayed silent and unmoving. “Come on, Spanish, don’t leave me!” I slammed my fist against his chest, tears streaming down my face. “You can’t do this!”

“You can’t bring him back,” Lucas said softly, his hand on my arm gentle.

I shook him off. “No, I won’t give up on him!” This was my fault. I’d let him die because I’d been so sure I could get to him in time. I took all the power of my magic and pushed it into him. My life for his if I had to. I would not let him go so easily.

I closed my eyes and put my head against his as I poured my strength into him, giving him everything I was. I let the magic pull deep from my soul, from my heart and body, everything if he would just take a breath.

“Live for me, Diego.” The words were simple and yet they tightened the magic between us. His chest rose one, twice, three times.

His eyes opened and he smiled up at me.

I swayed, feeling my own heart stutter, and fell forward into the abyss of darkness that was death.

* * *

I opened my eyes, already knowing I was dead. I stared at the scene in front of me.

Rose ran toward me, her smile bright and her arms outstretched. Behind her were the shadows of men I knew without knowing how, but more than just warlocks.

“Dom!” She cried my name and then her arms were around me. I hugged her back, squeezing her with all I had in me.

“Rose, Rose. I missed you so much!” I sobbed the words. I pulled back and cupped her face with my hands. My sister, she was my sister!

“I know, right? I found out when they took me. Can you believe we have the same father?” She grinned at me and I grinned back but my smile faltered.

“Rose, you don’t have to be here.” I brushed a hand over her face. “I healed you, your wounds are gone.”

“I know. I just woke up.”

I blinked a few times. “Wait. You haven’t been awake this whole time here?”

She shook her head. “I could hear some things, but couldn’t move. I just woke up when you healed me.”

“Then you can find your way back to the land of the living,” I tried to smile, but it fell.

Rose tightened her hands on mine. “What is going on?”

“I died, Rose,” I whispered. “I died; that’s why I’m here.”

She slapped her hands over her mouth and shook her head. “No, no, then I’m not going.”

My shoulders slumped. “You have to.”

There was a tug on me suddenly and I felt myself jerked back a few steps. I twisted around to see a coil of magic made up of blue, red, green, and black wrapped around me.

“A life line.” A deep voice spoke behind Rose and I turned to him. A man who wore a cloak of blue not unlike Diego’s. In fact, he sounded more than a little like Diego.

“You are a warlock?” I lifted an eyebrow. “Related to my Diego?”

He laughed softly. “We are brothers. He knows how to make a lifeline to pull someone back from the land of the dead. He tried with me but I’d been dead too long. Go, they don’t have much time.”

I reached for Rose even as I was pulled away. “Rose!”

The warlock nodded. “We will help her find her way through the darkness. With pleasure.”

Around her ranged the figures of six men, and I knew as I looked at them that they were not all warlocks.

I blew a kiss to Rose. “I love you, sister.”

She blew a kiss back. “Save me some cake.”

Laughing, I was yanked back through the darkness and into the room where the storm had finally bled away. I blinked up from where I lay in Diego’s lap. He stared down at me as I smiled up at him. “Dominique, talk to me, mi corazón.”

Oh, I liked the sound of that. “I saw your brother.”

His eyes popped wide. “You what?”

“I saw your brother. I think he’s going to make a move on Rose.”

I didn’t think his eyes could get any wider but I was wrong. They about fell out of his head. “He swore off women.”

“Well, she’s fairly determined when she wants something. And maybe death has changed him.” I pushed to a sitting position as a soft laugh turned my head. Lucas held a hand out to me.

“Death ... can change everything.”

I let him help me to my feet. Sure, I’d been dead only moments before but I was hardly an invalid.

Sterling and Corbin stood to either side of us. “You four saved me.”

“It seemed only fair,” Corbin said. “Seeing as you not only saved us but the entire Temple of Light.”

My eyebrows shot up. “How?”

“The storm was tied into the building. That was why it was so strong, it pulled its power from the inner spells woven when this place was created,” Gavin said, his voice gruff as he strode toward us through the main doors.

I turned to him next. “Well, then you’re welcome. I’d like to go now.”

My four men circled around me.

“You have to be tested first,” Gavin said, his eyes narrowed and hard.

I took three steps and slammed my magic into him lifting him over my head. “Piss off. I’ve proven myself, saved your stupid temple and brokered a peace treaty with the unicorns.” Okay, maybe that last was a bit of a fudge. “You are going to let me go and do as I damn well please.”

His eyes narrowed. “Just like your mother. Wild and out of control.”

“Thank God for that.” I flicked my hands and sent him tumbling through the air. From the moment I’d been told that the man who’d raised me was not my biological father, I’d wanted to believe I would find something better with the man who had the same blood as me. Now, I saw the truth. Blood did not a family make. Love did.

“My father loved me, and even if it would have cost him, he would have stood with me against any storm.” I tipped my chin up. “And you stay the fuck away from Rose while you’re staying the fuck away from me.”

The four men around me didn’t so much as flinch as I spun and strode toward Rose. With a flick of my hand, I wrapped her in magic and floated her out ahead of us. There was no way I was leaving her.

“I’ll carry her,” Diego said softly. “Seeing as she’s shacking up with my brother.”

I had to catch the smile before it was full blown. Because Rose’s situation was far from certain.

We made our way out of the Temple of Light, up the ravine, and through the forest. I stopped in the shadows of the Hive. I could see it through the layers that separated our world from the human’s.

“I need to see Ally.” I lifted a hand and dropped it through the gauzy layers and stepped through. The men followed me, but I could feel their disbelief.

“You are far stronger than any of us thought,” Corbin was at my side first. “You spoke to the unicorn as if you could hear her.”

“I could. She told me I was not only a healer but a woman of divination, whatever that means.” I said the words and watched as my breath floated away on the cold air. I strode toward the stairs that led down to the opening of the Hive.

Buried underground, the lair of the vampires was far bigger than it looked from the outside. The stairs were large stones laid together and they dropped down a dozen feet before stopping in front of a massive set of double doors. With the light of the morning rising in the distance, I knew there would be no letting us in.

I wove my magic through the locks and sprung them so the doors popped open. There was shouting and then the six of us were through the doors and I shut them behind us.

The darkness was not complete, but even so, it took my eyes a moment to adjust. Three vampires faced us and I realized then that my men had pulled their hoods up again.

“Where is my sister?” I said with far more strength than I truly had. I was at the end of my energy rope and I still needed to settle Rose in and tell Ally what had happened.

Ally strode around the corner, her eyes going to Rose first. “You found her.”

I nodded. “She’s healed but we need to keep her body safe until she comes back to us.”

She motioned for us to follow her. “Come, we can put her in one of the bedrooms, and I will set guards both in and out of the room.”

I nodded again. Ally reached out and touched my arm. “You look exhausted. Come on, let’s get you a bed,” her eyes flicked over the four men and a smile touched her lips making her eyes sparkle, “big enough for you all.”

Corbin, Sterling, and Lucas shook their heads in unison. But it was Lucas who spoke. “No, we will stand guard. Diego and Dominique need to rest seeing as they’ve both made a trip back from the dead.”

Ally arched an eyebrow as her face paled. She reached out and put a hand on my arm, her concern flowing through her to me.

“I’m okay,” I said. “Honest. Just tired.”

She swallowed hard and the threat of tears trembled on the edge of her eyes. “If you’re sure.”

I nodded.

She didn’t let go of me, but slid her hand down to mine so she could grip it. “Okay. This way then.”

She led us back to the room I’d seen her in after she’d become queen. The room where she’d entertained her men as she’d tried to find the one who would be her mate.

At the threshold of the door, I stopped, turned and looked at my men. The terminology still made my mind stutter but I’d get used to it. At least until they had to leave me. My heart jerked inside my chest as I remembered their warnings. This was not forever. This was just for now until the bonds between us were done.

“I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet,” I said to them. “There were two more signatures in that storm.”

They exchanged glances and Ally tightened her hold on my fingers. “What are you saying?”

“That there may be two more warlocks looking for us,” I said. “For me and Rose.”

“Why?” The fierceness in Ally made me smile as she all but bristled where she stood. “Are you saying they might still try to hurt you?”

“Steal our power, and kill us, yes.” I nodded.

She flicked one eyebrow up. “Then they are in for a surprise if they show up here. Rest, and I will take care of the defense with your three boys.”

Corbin snorted. “We are all older than you.”

“And yet here you are, still trying to figure out your lives like children.” She snapped her fingers at them, making me smile. “Come, you can help with sealing things off. We also need to send a message to the Windrun pack so they can be prepared.”

I slumped as Ally, Corbin, and Sterling strode away. Lucas looked at me. “You and Diego should sleep. I’ll wake you in a few hours.”

Diego nodded, took my hand, and led me through the door.