“Yeah. Couldn’t have put it better myself.”

“You could have died. I mean, you had no proof that Azazel’s theory was correct.”

She smiled wryly. “No. But I’m sick of seeing you sad. You wear a smile and laugh and joke, but you’re not whole, Fee. You need this. You need your soulmate, and the rest…The rest will fall into place.”

“But you could have died.” I walked up to her and cupped her face. “What makes you think I’d have been okay with that? Cor, you are a piece of my soul. I can’t lose you. Ever.”

Her eyes filled with tears, and she sniffed. “Wow, possessive much?”

“Impulsive much?”

“Hey, you’re not the only one that gets to slip into hero mode.”

“You were totally the hero today.”

“Would have been more badass if I’d have had silver wings.” She sobered. “What are you going to do about Mal and Grayson now?”

Mal was mine, and Grayson was part of my Loup heritage. My Loup needed that connection if I was going to maintain control and fight off Hunter.

“I’m going to speak to Azazel.”

“Speak to me about what?” Azazel entered the room, and my heart shot into my mouth, because dressed in gold and crimson, his silver hair unbound and spilling over his shoulders, his silver eyes intense and bright in his chiseled face, he was fucking gorgeous, and he was mine.

Cora inclined her head. “And that’s my cue to do a little snooping. See ya.” She winked out.

Azazel bridged the distance between us and looked down at me. He hooked a finger beneath my chin and forced it up.

“Have you fucked Mal?” he asked, deceptively calm.

My pulse kicked in my throat. “Yes. I love him.”

He exhaled through his nose. “Dammit, Fee. He’s a mess. He’ll hurt you.”

“It would hurt me not to be able to love him. He has issues, but I know he’s working on them.”

Azazel looked thoughtful and then he nodded. “I’ll concede. What about Grayson?”

“I need him to keep Hunter at bay. The heat is going to get worse. Petra said we got lucky last time, but if it continues without a Loup mate to curb it, it could kill me. My Loup has an affinity to Grayson, so I’m hoping mating with him will stop it.”

“And take Hunter out of the equation.” Azazel nodded. “The Loup is a huge part of who you are. You won’t be whole without it. And Grayson is a good man, an honorable man.” He touched my cheek lightly. “I don’t share what’s mine, Fee. But you’re not a possession, you’re a part of my soul, and your happiness is my happiness.”

I slid my hands up his chest to his shoulders. “I don’t want to make you unhappy, though, Azazel. I don’t want you to think that my feelings for you are any less because I love Mal, or because my Loup craves Grayson.”

“I’ve lived long enough to know how complex the heart is. I’ve lived long enough to know that love shared can only grow and that monogamy is a man-made cultural constraint. I’ve lived long enough to be secure in myself.” He ran his thumb over my bottom lip. “And when you’re beneath me, and I’m inside you, there will be no room for any other man in your head or your heart.”

My stomach flipped hard. “Damn, that was hot.”

He smiled, and his dimples appeared, and my heart went into cardiac arrest at his beauty.

“If you keep looking at me like that, I’ll have to take you right here,” he said.

“Please don’t,” Mal said from his spot leaning against his bedroom door. “The last thing I need right now is an inferiority complex.”

Azazel fixed his penetrating gaze on Mal. “If you hurt her, I will kill you.”

Mal pushed off the door frame and padded toward us. “Likewise, big guy.”

Cora appeared behind Mal. “Wait, were you about to group hug without me?” She pouted. “Heads up, blue boy incoming.”

Keon pushed open the main doors and strode in. His tunic was gone, and his navy hair was pulled off his face, giving him a more civilized appearance, but then he bared his fangs, ruining the illusion. “The queen wants to speak to the female Dominus in the tower. Now.”

Azazel hooked an arm around my waist. “We’re coming.”

“Alone,” Keon said. “You wait in the ceremony chamber.”

Azazel stepped away from me and toward Keon. “If you lay a hand on her…”

“You’ll what?” Keon narrowed his eyes.

Head to head with Azazel, it was clear to see they were the same height, but Azazel was bigger, his form packed with power, while Keon was lithe, his body built for speed, agility, and stealth.

“You may be Lilith’s son,” Keon said. “But I am her Blade. I am her vengeance, and you are but a child in comparison.”

“A child who knows your every fucking move,” Azazel said coolly.

“Okay, okay.” Mal stepped between the two of them. “Put your cocks away. Cora, go with Fee.”

“Alone!” Keon snapped.

“Fuck you,” Cora retorted.

I shrugged. “I’ve got to concur with Cora on this one. Besides, what are you going to do? Kill me?”

Keon’s chest rumbled. “As soon as I’m able to. Yes.”

A shiver went up my spine at the threat.

“Follow me.” He left the room.

“I’ll be okay.” I smiled at Azazel and Mal. “I’ll see you soon.”

The room Keon led us to was bathed with the warmth of afternoon sun. It streamed in through windows that took up the whole of one wall. The vista beyond was a city of ice made up of domes and towers. We were high enough to see the mountainous terrain beyond the walls that bordered Imperium.

The queen stood looking out over her domain and didn’t bother to turn to greet us.

“You saved my life,” she said. “Why? When you knew I wished to end yours?”

Valid question and the answer was simple. “I guess I don’t want you dead.”

“I threaten your existence.”

“You don’t know me. I don’t know you. Whatever you have against me isn’t personal. I saw you about to get killed, and I reacted.”

She looked perturbed by my answer. “You have her face.”

“No. I have my own face, and to be honest, I’m getting a little sick of people saying that.”

Keon snarled. “I can rip it off, my queen. Just give the order.”

Lilith sighed. “Keon, please.”

His eyes gleamed with malice. What the fuck was his deal?

“I owe you a debt,” Lilith said. “I wish to repay it by offering you the truth behind the quest I gave Azazel all those centuries ago. Do you accept?”

I exchanged a glance with Cora, who shrugged. Darn it, holding the debt over her would be an advantage, but I needed to know why she ordered the murder of Cain and Abel’s bloodline.

“I accept.”

She looked relieved, almost as if I’d offered to take a burden from her shoulders. Maybe I had? I mean, how long had she been keeping this truth to herself? How many people knew?

“I have taken many lovers in my time,” Lilith began, “but Samael is my one true love. My heart belongs to him, and his belongs to me. But like all lovers, we fight, and it was during one of our separations that Samael lay with Eve. The result was Cain and Abel. I forgave him the transgression. We moved on, and he vowed never to see her again, but then Cain murdered Abel, and Samael went to console Eve.” Her eyes were hard with anger at the memory. “I told myself I had no right to prevent him from going to lay his son to rest, but when he didn’t return for a week, I grew concerned and restless, and I went to find him. I discovered him in a deep sleep in her home. He would not wake no matter what I did. I stole him away and brought him back to the Underealm, and when he awoke, he was no longer himself. He was confused. He made no sense. For days he wandered in a dream, and when he finally came back to me, he would not tell me what had transpired between him and Eve; instead he made me vow never to harm her, for if I did, I would lose his love forever.” Her eyes misted, and she walked over to the window and looked out. “I love him, and so I agreed. I have watched him deteriorate for decades. I have tried everything to reverse what she did to him. And then the answer came to me in a dream. To kill the curse, I would need to sever Samael’s ties to Eve.”

I stared at her back. “Their children… You ordered Azazel to eliminate Samael and Eve’s bloodlines to cure Samael.”

“Yes.” She turned to face me. “And I would do it again in a heartbeat. I would do anything to bring him back to me.”

Her pain, her desperation clawed at me. I pushed energy into my shields, not wanting to feel it. Not wanting to feel bad for her.

She smiled thinly. “I tell you all this because you saved my life. I owe you the truth, and it is only fitting I let you know that I will not stop. I will find a way to free my son of his curse, and once I do, I will end you.”

“What the fuck?” Cora said. “You kill her, and you’ll break Azazel. I mean, have you seen Conah right now?”

But I had my gaze locked with Lilith’s as a silent communication, an understanding passed between us.

I smiled wryly. “She doesn’t care. She knows Azazel is strong enough to survive my loss. She’s taken from him before, over and over, and if it comes to a choice between her progeny and her lover, she will always choose her lover.” I took a step toward her. “But let me get something straight. Samael may be your heart, but Azazel is mine, and I will do everything in my power to keep him. So, bring it on. I’m ready.”

Lilith’s eyes lit up with something akin to respect. “I almost wish it didn’t have to be this way. You are the first female my gut deems worthy of my son. I will regret your death more than any of the others.”