“We can’t just do nothing!” Ahlvie argued again. “I knew that something was going on with all those attacks in the country. I should have knocked Cyrene out and dragged her back with me.”

Matilde and Vera pursed their lips in mirror images of each other.

“From what you tell me, her magic has grown much more powerful than when we last worked with her. I think you stood no chance,” Matilde said.

“Thanks for the confidence,” Ahlvie spat.

“Ahlvie,” Avoca said, “it’s not about confidence. It’s about keeping everyone alive. Something is wrong with Cyrene. I’ve been scouting the palace and our bond. You all know that something is not right. I should be able to reach her. Yet I’ve been blocked.”

“Warding.” Vera mused. “Yes, it would explain much. Likely keeping her in as much as us out.”

“Another obstacle.” Orden fretted. “We’ll have to bring those wards down if we hope to succeed.”

Ahlvie swore loudly and ignored the frustrated looks from the twins. He didn’t see how it could possibly get any easier than Lady Cauthorn sneaking him into the castle and then sneaking Cyrene back out. Anything else they planned would be futile. If she wasn’t going to come with them, then they needed to use something else to get her out.

“Hey, lover boy,” Ahlvie spat at Dean.

He was sitting in the corner and hadn’t said a word since the meeting began. Dean lifted his head to look at Ahlvie and raised an eyebrow in question.

“You have anything important to add, or are you here to mope?”

“He’s here to mope,” Avoca said savagely as she turned her back on Dean.

No one was particularly happy to have Dean with them. Not that he was a bad guy. He was fine. Ahlvie had even sort of liked him for a time. He’d liked that he made Cyrene smile, made her live for a bit. Live for something other than her mission. But, now, all he saw was red when he looked at Dean.

“I can get us in whenever you’d like,” Dean said, leaning back against the rock wall.

“That’s what you keep saying,” Ahlvie bit out.

“I’m here to make things right, but I don’t know enough about magic to take down wards or stop a Doma from wielding air magic on me,” Dean said. “And, if Cyrene is as powerful as you claim, then I don’t think she would hesitate if she saw me.”

“Yeah, she’s not the only one.”

“Stop fighting!” Matilde shouted. “You two are always at each other’s throats, and if I have to hear any more of it—”

“She’ll likely box your ears,” Vera finished.

Ahlvie pinched the bridge of his nose and walked further away from the group. Their crew was splintered without Cyrene to hold them together. That much was certain. He didn’t know how much longer he could keep this up. It was bad enough with the Indres in the countryside. Bad enough that he had to deal with…that…while trying to figure out what to do about Cyrene.

“Let’s just…take a break,” Ahlvie said, waving them off. “Reconvene in the morning.”

He retreated deeper into the cave network, trying to get his thoughts in order. Avoca was at his side in a second, as silent as ever. She placed her hand on his back, and he turned into her, pushing her into the wall and capturing her lips. She released a sigh and opened her mouth to him. He slipped his tongue inside and devoured her.

He could never have enough of this woman. Not ever.

No matter that she was a Leif, nearly a hundred years older than him, and had magic that he could never comprehend.

She was the only woman who he had ever felt matched him. And she did in every way. Wits, intelligence, bravery, charm, looks. She had it all, and she constantly kept him on his toes. The time they had been apart was torture. She hadn’t come to see him off, and he’d never gotten to tell her how he felt.

He still hadn’t actually.

The words kept slipping on his tongue.

He knew it was dumb to hold the words in. While he had been stuck in that dungeon, he had thought of how stupid he was not to tell her. Knowing that he might never see her again and had wasted his chance. Yet, now that they were together—his hands on her fair skin, her mouth against his, their bodies melding into one—the words were lost.

“Ahlvie,” she murmured his name like a prayer.

Then, she stiffened.

“What is it?”

“Alarm tripped,” she said.

Then, they were both running down the tunnel, back to the others. Avoca had her ice-white blade in her hand before she even reached the entrance. Orden and Dean had both drawn their swords and were striding after her. Matilde and Vera had their hands linked and were chanting some unheard words.

He was rushing after them to the entrance, praying they hadn’t been found, when he stumbled to a stop. Avoca had a young High Order locked against her. Her blade at his throat.

“Who sent you?” she snarled.

“It’s okay,” Ahlvie said. “It’s okay.”

“Okay?”

“Ahlvie,” the boy cried, fear blatant in his eyes.

“Release him. He’s my brother,” Ahlvie said, plunging forward.

“Your…brother?” Avoca asked.

“Aubron.”

She released Aubron at once, and the boy tumbled into Ahlvie’s arms. They embraced.

It had been years since he saw his younger brother. Years since he had left Fen behind to become a High Order. He hadn’t known that Aubron had followed in his footsteps and become a High Order himself. He would never have wished that for him. Aubron had been everything that Ahlvie wasn’t. Soft, where Ahlvie was hard. Kind, where Ahlvie would cheat. Caring, where Ahlvie was callous.

And, now, he was…here. In the bloody lion’s den.

“How did you find us?” Avoca asked harshly. “He could be a spy sent to root us out.”

“I went to find Lady Cauthorn. She told me how to find you after she read what I had,” Aubron explained. He produced a piece of paper from his pocket. “The consort sent me.”

“The…consort,” Ahlvie said, taking the paper. “Cyrene?”

“Yes!”

“We should get farther inside,” Avoca warned. Her eyes cut across the horizon, like the sentinel she was.

Orden and Dean sheathed their swords now that the danger had passed. The group hurried Aubron deeper into their lair. Orden quickly explained to Matilde and Vera who Aubron was and how he had come upon them. They instantly took to the boy and busied about making him comfortable.

Ahlvie knew that he should stop thinking of him as a boy. But it was nearly impossible not to think about the thirteen-year-old boy he had left behind. Plus, he was still so small. It was hard not to see him as younger than his seventeen years.

“Now, tell us, why is it that Cyrene sent you?” Vera said calmly.

“I brought news from the consort,” Aubron said. “From…Cyrene.”

Ahlvie held up the paper Aubron had offered him and then hastily read through it.

He shook his head. Cyrene. Welcome back.

He handed the piece of paper around, and once everyone read it, he could see that finally, finally, they had a plan in place.

“Well,” Avoca said with a toothy grin, “let’s do it.”

“But, first,” Ahlvie said, turning to Aubron with wide eyes, “what is this about you having a boyfriend?”

Aubron’s cheeks heated pink. “What? He’s not my first.”

The entire party laughed, and the tension they had been holding all these weeks vanished. They were a team once more.