Shay shouldn’t have worried about falling asleep. The moment he rested his head on his pillow he was surrounded by Nicole’s lingering presence. The scent of her body and the feel of her heat filled up both his bed and his head. The combination proved to be remarkably soothing and after a few minutes, Shay felt himself drifting away.

Even more impressive, he stayed asleep for quite some time. It was hours later when he woke up. Rising from the mattress and pulling back the drapes, he saw that it was already afternoon.

Nicole hadn’t woken him up when the sun rose. In fact, he hadn’t heard her make a single sound. He reached out with his mind, and felt her presence, strong and steady nearby.

Shay breathed out a sigh of relief.

The truth was he was feeling better as well. A long rest had done him a world of good. His thinking was sharper. His senses more focused.

He changed into a fresh set of clothes before exiting his bedroom. The moment he opened the door, he spotted Nicole sitting across the room on the windowsill. She turned her head as she slid a thin slice of apple between her lips. A smile lifted her cheeks.

“I was wondering when you were going to wake up,” she said after she’d finished chewing.

In front of her was a plate of cobbled-together food—apple slices, clusters of grapes, wedges of cheese, a few crackers, and a handful of nuts. It wasn’t like anything he’d ever seen her eat before. Usually when he’d spied her eating in the bookshop it was a fast food sandwich or takeout. But his kitchen was different.

“You should have roused me,” he said.

She shook her head and finished off her apple slice. “You needed the sleep. Besides, there wasn’t anything going on here, and I can watch a quiet street just as well as you.”

He supposed she was right. Still, he couldn’t shake the idea that this was his responsibility, not hers.

“No sign of Marrow?” He moved across the room toward her.

“Nothing so far.” She raised the plate up to him as he sat down next to her, offering him some of her lunch.

He took a small bunch of purple grapes. “You’re certain?”

She shrugged and turned her attention back out the window.

“Pretty sure,” she said. “I mean it’s looked pretty normal out there. There haven’t been any otherworldly portals opening up, or seven-foot tall fairies walking down the street, so I was clear for a lunch break.”

A light smile curled her lips.

A part of him wondered how she found the strength to joke at a time like this, when things were looking dark.

“It’s better than crying,” she said as though he’d asked the question out loud. Maybe she’d heard it that way. Or maybe she was deeper into his head than he realized.

“It sounds like you’ve dealt with trouble before,” he said.

“Nothing this bad, but yeah,” she said. “When you grow up knowing that you’re tied to a magical secret that no one can ever know about, you pick up a few coping mechanisms.”

Without looking away from the window, she lifted up a piece of cheese and took a bite. Shay knew her intense focus wasn’t because something had caught her eye. There was something she was having trouble saying. It was the same thing that had happened to him last night.

There were things that were frightening to express for the first time. Especially when you’ve believed yourself above fear.

“You knew this was going to happen,” he said.

“This?” She laughed. “Like with you and Marrow and my soul inside your head? No, I never thought this exact situation would happen.”

“But something similar?”

She took a while to chew her food. Far longer than she needed to.

“Yeah,” she finally said. “I guess I always knew something would happen. But now that it has, crying won’t change it.”

“Neither will laughing,” he countered.

“True.” She looked up from the street and met his gaze. “But one feels much better than the other.”

“Better than kissing?”

Nicole gasped then choked in surprise, but she recovered quickly enough. “Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep. You’re acting funny.”

“Am I?” A smile spread across his face. Nicole was right. This did feel good. Teasing her was a much more pleasant use of time than worrying about Marrow’s return.

Of course, he could think of an even more pleasant way to pass the time.

“Because I’m feeling more clear-headed than I have in days,” he said. He reached out for another taste of sweet fruit off her plate, but she pulled it away from his fingers.

“Get your own apple,” she said.

He laughed. “That is my apple.”

He leaned in even closer. She leaned back.

He traced his fingers up the length of her arm as she stretched the plate out behind her. She arched her back to keep it away from him. He pressed against her. Only a whisper of space separated them. One deep breath and they’d be intimately entwined.

The thought turned Shay’s emotions from playful to heated. He could have her right here on the window seat. Have her in all the ways that he’d dreamed of just hours before. He could taste her skin, feel the thrum of her heart pounding in her chest, listen to the sound of her moans against his ear as he pleasured her in ways she’d never known possible.

He could know the sweet heaven of her body surrounding him. The very idea turned his blood to fire.

And Nicole was quick to notice.

Her breath quickened as well. Her gaze locked on his. He saw a reflection of his own desire shining in her eyes.

For a moment, she held her breath. He felt the indecision running through her. He understood it, too.

She was already dreaming of Elysium. What would happen if they became closer? What would they see and feel if they created an even tighter bond?

Right now, it seemed neither of them were brave enough to find out.

Shay moved back, and Nicole slowly pushed herself up on the cushion below her. A second later, she placed the plate in between them. He looked down at the light meal. There was no way it would satisfy them both.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

“Honestly, I was bored,” she said. “There’s only so long a person can stare out a window without going a little crazy. I want to do something.”

“You want to open the shop?”

“We’re closed on Mondays.”

“Then what did you have in mind?”

She didn’t answer. Not in words, at least.

Instead, she bounced up from the window seat and held her hand out toward him. Shay stared down at it for a long moment. He might not know exactly what she wanted, but he was coming to know that mischievous twinkle in her eyes pretty well.

“Oh, come on,” she said. This time she didn’t wait for him. She reached down, grabbed his hand and gave it a hard pull.

Shay knew he could have resisted, but the strange thing was he didn’t want to. So, he allowed her to guide him down the stairs to the bookstore. Once they were at the side door, she let go of his hand and slipped behind the counter.

“I thought you weren’t going to open the store,” he said.

“I’m not.” She ducked down, disappearing behind the counter. “But that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to open anything.”

A second later, he heard the soft clicks of a safe dial turning.

“Nicole, wait,” he said, rushing to her side. “That’s not a good idea.”

She paused just long enough to shoot him an annoyed look.

“Why not?” she asked. “What’s there to be afraid of? That someone might find out about the grimoire? That the fae will come looking for it? Too late for that.”

Shay pressed his lips together as she went back to turning the dial. He supposed she had a point. Still, he felt a shiver of trepidation, remembering the rush of power that he’d felt pouring out of that safe before. The sensation had been heady. Nearly intoxicating.

But more importantly, the book inside had nearly killed Nicole, and that wasn’t something he would allow to happen again. He reached out and covered her hand with his before she could click through to the final number.

She turned her eyes to him, and he felt a rush of a different kind as her soulful gaze met his.

“I’m not worried about the fae,” he admitted.

Pure warmth filled her eyes as a smile lifted her cheeks. She patted his hand.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m not planning on using the book. I promise.”

Shay hesitantly pulled his hand away from hers, and a moment later, the sound of metal sliding into place echoed off the walls. Nicole pulled down the heavy lever. Just like before, a wave of powerful magic rolled out through the crack, strong enough to take his breath away.

Nicole slipped her hands inside, and pulled out the book.

“Be careful.” The words came out of him before he could stop them.

Nicole rolled her eyes before standing up and laying the heavy grimoire down on the counter top.

“You can calm down, Shay,” she said. “I grew up around this thing. I know how precious and powerful it is. And after what happened a couple of days ago, trust me, I know exactly how dangerous it can be.”

“Then why bring it out?”

She looked up at him. “Because I think it can help us with Marrow.”

“No.” Shay slammed his hand down on top of the cover before she could crack it open. “Absolutely not. You just promised me you wouldn’t use the power inside this book.”

“And I meant it.”

“Then what are you planning to do with it?”

“I’m going to read it,” she said as if that explained everything.

Shay shook his head. “You can’t. There’s no way you can read the ancient language of magicians.”

“And there’s no way that I can see the visions in your head, but…” She lifted up her hands in an exaggerated shrug.

Shay groaned. The woman was maddening.

“Even if you could manage to read the writing, what are you hoping to find there?” he asked. “It’s just filled with spells. Spells that you just promised not to use.”

“It’s also a book,” she said. “And books are filled with knowledge and answers.”

“Not grimoires,” he shot back. “They’re more like banks than the books that fill this shop, Nicole. Magicians weave their power into the ink which they then put on the page for safekeeping.”

“Maybe that’s how most get written, but not this one.”

Shay narrowed his eyes. “You know how this grimoire was created?”

She hesitated before finally shaking her head. “Not exactly. I just have a feeling.”

“A feeling?” he asked skeptically.

“Yeah,” she said. “You know how I’ve been feeling more connected to you lately? Well, I’ve been feeling the same way toward the book too.”

He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

She tapped her fingertips against the cover. It was clear she was struggling for words. “This morning while I was sitting there waiting for you to wake up…well, I could have sworn that I heard the book calling me.”

Shay’s chest tightened. “You heard your name.”

“No, I didn’t actually hear it,” she rushed to say, but then her gaze fell to the floor. “Except, I did. Just not with my ears. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I heard it in my heart. It was the same way the book communicated to me when I banished Marrow.”

He ground his back teeth together.

“You mean when it tried killed you?”

“I don’t think that’s what it was trying to do.”

“I was there, Nicole,” he said. “I saw what it did to you.”

“No, I don’t think you did,” she shot back. “After I used the magic to banish Marrow, I was floating toward someplace amazing. Somewhere beyond peaceful and serene.”

“That’s because you were dying,” he explained flatly.

She shook her head. “But something was holding me back. It wouldn’t let me cross over. Its power was strong enough to keep me balanced on the edge until you, Emily, and Merlin could bring me back. I think that power was the book.”

“Grimoires can’t do that,” he said. “Like I told you, they’re just repositories for magic. They’re not living things.”

“Maybe normal ones aren’t.” She jabbed at the grimoire with her pointer finger. “But I think we can both agree, this book is far from normal.”

“So, what do you think it is?”

“I don’t know. But my grandfather used to tell me that when trouble came knocking, the book would tell me what to do. It would take care of us.”

“And how is it supposed to do that?” he asked.

“I won’t know until I read it.”

She cast a pointed look down at his splayed palm still keeping her from opening the cover. Reluctantly, he pulled it back. It sounded like he wasn’t going to be able to talk her out of this ridiculous idea. Which meant she would only see reason when she found it wouldn’t work herself.

A smile lifted her lips as she peeled the front cover open on the counter. Her eyes went wide as she looked down at the page. Her teeth grazed the full curve of her lower lip.

“Well,” Shay said, taking in her amazed expression. “Can you read it?”

Her eyes lifted to meet his gaze. A small bubble of laughter escaped her lips.

“Not at all,” she admitted. “This is gibberish.”

“So, you’re ready to put the book back in the safe?”

She looked at him with disappointment in her eyes. “You can feel all my emotions but you still think I’m going to give up because of one setback?”

Not anymore, he didn’t.

“Besides.” She dipped her head down to study the page. “Just because I can’t understand what I’m looking at doesn’t mean that there’s nothing there. I can still feel the book talking to me. I just need to figure out what it’s saying.”

Shay couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her hunched over. Her gaze focused. Determination poured out of her.

There was no way she was about to give up on an idea just because of one small failure. That was one of the reasons he loved her.

Shay tried to draw in a breath, but the air caught in his tight throat.

He loved her.

The realization was a shock. But there was no doubt in his mind. He was certain. Even though he’d never known the emotion before, he knew love was what he was feeling. It helped that he had Nicole’s soul inside him interpreting the emotion—this feeling that went beyond concern, beyond desire.

It was an urge that came from his core. From the depths of his soul. It was a calling to bask in her joy. To stay by her side in troubled times. To protect her from harm. Maybe that was why he refused to walk even a step away as she flipped through the pages of the book.

Nicole must have noticed as well. After a few minutes, she glanced up at him.

“Are you going to spend the whole day staring over my shoulder?” she asked.

“Probably.” There wasn’t anywhere else he wanted to be. “I still don’t trust that thing.”

“That thing?” She let out a laugh. “It’s a book, Shay, not a venomous snake.”

“That’s what you think.”

“Everything’s fine,” she said, pulling her attention away from the grimoire long enough to face him. “I promise you nothing bad is going to—”

The word died in her throat the moment a pop sounded and the front windows started to rattle. Both their gazes snapped to the street outside as a swirling wind picked up the debris on the street and whirled it up and away.

No.

The energy around them shifted, turning cold and electric. Shay didn’t need to run to the window to see what was going on. He knew the feeling well enough.

He was back.

Apparently, Nicole didn’t need to be told either. In one fluid motion, she swooped up the grimoire, tossed in the safe, and closed the heavy iron door. Only then did she run to the front of the store. She pressed her open palms flat against the glass and gasped louder than the great gusts of wind flying down the street.

“It’s Marrow,” Nicole said, turning back to look at him. Her eyes were wide with panic. “He has my parents.”

Nicole couldn’t think. There were too many impulses rushing around her head—panic, dread, adrenaline—to allow for rational thought. All she could do was act.

Before she knew what was happening, her legs were carrying her toward the front door.

But before she could wrap her hand around the cold bronze handle, Shay was there. The steel band of his arm enclosed her waist and drug her back behind the counter.

She thrashed in his hold, kicking and flailing, doing anything to wriggle free from his grasp. But it didn’t work. A growl of frustration ripped from her throat.

“Let me go,” she shouted.

If she had been thinking clearly she would have known that he wasn’t going to. And she couldn’t make him.

Even without his powers, Shay was far stronger than her. But with magic flowing through his veins, it was like fighting ancient god. She had no hope of winning.

Of course, that didn’t mean she was about to give up.

“You have to let me go,” she pleaded. “Those are my parents out there.”

“I know.” Real empathy sounded in his voice, but still his hold on her stayed as firm as ever.

“I have to save them.” She was the only one who could. If he didn’t let her do it, they’d…

No, she wouldn’t think about what would happen.

Nicole closed her eyes, but blocking out the light didn’t take the image of her mother’s and father’s frightened faces from her mind. What the picture did do was make her fight even harder. Hard enough that for a second she felt Shay’s grasp on her slip.

She seized the moment and pushed forward, but it was no use. In an instant he had her back in his arms.

“You walk out that door and Marrow will have won,” Shay said. “He’ll strike you down before you can say a single word.”

Nicole shook her head. She didn’t care about winning or losing. She sure as hell didn’t care about her own life. All she cared about was getting her parents away from the fae soldiers she’d seen standing behind them. Away from the blades of the gleaming halberds pointed at their backs.

A wave of despair crashed over Nicole, threatening to pull her down and drown her completely.

“You can’t possibly understand. You don’t have parents.”

She didn’t mean the words as an insult. They were simply the truth. He had no way of knowing what was on the line. He didn’t know what it meant to love someone more than your own life.

“True.” He tightened his grip, and held her writhing body flush against him. “But you do, and I can feel everything inside you.”

“Then you know that you have to let me go.”

“Think,” he begged. “Marrow has your parents. That means that he brought them here for a reason, Nicole. If he’d wanted to hurt them he would have done it already.”

Her worst fear pushed its way to the front of her mind. “He wants to kill them in front of me.”

“Killing them can’t get him what he wants.” His calm, rational voice took the edge off her panic. He had a point.

Nicole drew in a shaky breath. Then another. She really wanted to believe him, but…

“Trust me.” His voice was barely a whisper but she heard his plea loud and clear. He was as worried about her as much as she was worried about her parents.

And the strange thing was she did trust him. But right now putting her faith in him and saving her family seemed like two very different things.

“I don’t think I could handle it if anything happened to my parents.”

He nodded. The stubble on his cheek rubbed against her face.

“I understand,” he said. “And I promise I’ll do everything to make sure nothing does.”

She believed him. After all, he knew Marrow. He knew how he thought, and what he was capable of. Nicole consciously let the worst of her tension fade from her body, and in response, Shay loosened his grasp.

This time she didn’t rush toward the door. She listened to Shay instead.

He entwined his fingers with hers, and started for the staircase that led back up to his apartment. Once there, they both rushed to the window where they’d made their stand last night. Shay threw back the curtain and pushed up the glass.

Nicole breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t see any sign of injury on either of her parents. They looked fine, though God only knew what that Marrow might have done to them.

“Mom! Pops!” Nicole yelled out before she could think better of it.

“Nicole!” They both shouted back in unison.

A few of the pedestrians passing by on the main street turned their heads their way. Damn it. Why did the bastard have to come back in the middle of the day when the city was teeming with people? Obviously, he didn’t care how many people got hurt in this sick game of his.

“Are you okay?” she called out

“They are,” Marrow answered. “For now.”

It was a standard villain response, even given in low creepy tones, and Nicole waved it off.

“I wasn’t asking you, dickface,” she said without sparing Marrow a glance.

“We are,” her pops said.

“Are you all right?” her mother called out.

Nicole gave an exaggerated nod. “I’m fine. I have protection.”

“And the book?” her pops asked.

“Safe and sound,” Nicole replied.

A look of relief came over her father’s face.

“Then everything really is okay,” he said. “Nicole, don’t do a thing this man says, no matter what he threatens. You and the book are the only importa—”

Marrow grimaced and raised his hand. The soldier standing behind her pops pressed his halberd into his back. Her father let out a crippling scream.

Without thinking Nicole lunged forward, but Shay grabbed onto her arms keeping her from plummeting down to the concrete below.

“You bastard,” Nicole shouted. “I will kill you with my bare hands before this over. And that is a goddamned promise.”

“I-It’s okay,” her pops said, in a voice that was more than a little shaky. Even with her mother’s help he struggled to get back up on his feet.

Nicole opened her mouth again, ready to hurl another string of threats Marrow’s way, but she could see a few people passing by pull out their phones in her peripheral vision. No doubt to call the cops as they hurried past the disturbing scene.

Nicole pulled herself together fast. She didn’t just have her family to think about. The whole city was in danger.

“Shay,” she whispered in a panic. “If the police come—”

“They won’t.” He raised his hand. A few dozen golden sparkles emanated from his fingertips.

Was it that simple? Could he really just wave his hand and make those people forget what they were seeing? Apparently so.

“What’s your strategy, Marrow?” Shay demanded.

Even though she was now trapped looking over his shoulder, Nicole could feel the tension rushing through Shay’s body as she pressed into his side. His voice might be calm, but his muscles were coiled and ready to fight.

“It’s the same deal as before,” he said. “Bring me the grimoire, and I’ll spare your life.”

Shay cocked his chin to the side. “Don’t you mean you’ll let the hostages go?”

“Now why would I do that?” Marrow laughed, long and slow. “You see I learned something very interesting from your mortal whore’s father when I finally found him lounging on a tropical beach. It seems that the grimoire will only open itself up to a direct descendent of his bloodline.”

Oh God, no.

He knew. Nicole’s blood ran cold at the realization.

“That means I need either the father or the daughter to access the grimoire you’re about to bring me,” Marrow went on. “Now I’m not picky who does the actual opening for me. Though I have a feeling you have a preference, jinni.”

“You’re bluffing,” Shay said. “You still don’t have anything to bargain with. Nicole remains safe as long as she’s in the shop. Killing her father won’t change that. It will only limit your options.”

Marrow’s smile widened. He looked even creepier than before. God dammit, she didn’t like fairies.

“That’s why I didn’t only bring the father.”

Marrow raised his other hand again and this time a soldier dug his halberd into her mother’s back. She crumpled to her knees just like her father had.

“No!” Nicole screamed. She desperately tried to push past Shay to get to the window, but he refused to give her even an inch of space.

After another long second Marrow dropped his hand and the fae pulled the blade away from her mother’s back.

“So, you see, I do have something to bargain with,” Marrow said. “And the bargain is very simple. Bring me the grimoire or the woman dies.”

Nicole wanted to scream in frustration. Fear and fury warred for supremacy inside her.

“There’s no other way, is there?” Technically, it was a question, but she already knew the answer. “We have to give him the book.”

Shay shook his head as he turned around.

“No,” he said, his voice so quiet that she had to strain to hear him. “There’s another way.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

He looked at her with serious glint in his eye. More serious than she had ever seen before.

No, that wasn’t true. She had seen that look once before. Right after she had made her first wish and bound her soul to his.

But he didn’t want her to do that now, did he?

Nicole’s eyes widened. She reached out for his hand. Her fingers tangled with his and she held on tight.

“Shay.” It was one word but it held a whole world of meaning. Fortunately, he understood.

“You know what to do.” His gaze was steady on hers. “You’ve done it before.”

He couldn’t be saying what she thought he was. If she made another wish he would be bound to her until the day she died. He’d be cursed to stay on Earth.

Nicole shook her head. “I can’t do that to you.”

He squeezed her hand and wave of reassurance pulsed through her veins.

“You’re not doing anything to me,” he said. “I want to save your parents. I want to save you. I want to stay with you, Nicole.”

Nicole let out a breath. She turned her head and looked out the window. She saw the faces of her mother and father. They shook their heads at her, pleading with her not to make a mistake.

But they didn’t know how weak she was.

“It will be fine,” he said again. “Trust me.”

This time it was so much harder to give in to that trust, because she wasn’t the only one that had to live with the consequences. What would Shay do if he woke up tomorrow or the day after, or in twenty years and regretted this decision? It would be too late.

“Tick. Tock,” Marrow said.

When Nicole didn’t say anything right away, Marrow lifted his hands, and this time the blades of the halberds poked into both of her parents’ backs. Their agonized screams pierced her brain, driving away the last of her hesitation and doubt.

“Fine,” she yelled. “I’ll do it.”

Marrow threw down his arms. A massive smile spread across his face, thinking that he’d won.

“Nicole, no,” her parents’ pleaded. Neither one of them knowing what she had really agreed to.

“I love you, Mom and Dad,” she said before turning toward Shay. “And I pray that neither one of us lives to regret this day.”

She drew in a shaky breath, and slowly let it out.

“Shay Madrid, I wish that you send my parents somewhere safe where no one from the Realm or the Underworld can ever find them.”