Mercury inhaled deeply as Kaden approached, his seemingly permanent scowl deepening.

"Everything okay?" Kaden asked.

"I see you are," he replied, not looking up from the screen.

Kaden crossed his arms. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

Kaden raised an eyebrow at him.

"Nice visit to Soraya, was it?"

Kaden held his tongue for fear he'd say something he'd regret. He had been to see Soraya. He'd been avoiding it, worried about the connection he felt to her, but Thorn was right. Putting off seeing Soraya had also meant putting off treatment for the bone-deep fatigue that threatened to take his legs from under him. He hadn't been right since that Fallen booby-trap had pumped him full of poison. The serum ravaged his system, slowed his ability to heal, left him exhausted. Soraya, a brilliant doctor, had been unable to find a cure and instead had been giving him extra blood. Her blood.

Kaden swallowed involuntarily, still tasting her on his tongue, still feeling her power coursing through his veins. He was breaking a dozen laws by taking it. She was the fucking Princess for Goddess's sake. Of royal birth, her blood was deemed almost sacred. Nobody really knew what his "treatment" consisted of, and Kaden knew full well Thorn would actually have him hung, drawn and quartered if he knew the truth, but he couldn't help himself. She was his one true weakness, and no matter how much he tried to ignore it, she called to him.

He stared at Mercury. For a man blind in one eye, the guy saw an awful lot. He'd never outright said anything, but he had warned him. Several times. This was different though. This time he was angry.

"This"—Mercury jabbed a finger at his computer screen where Roarke's tracking program worked overtime—"is bollocks."

Kaden glanced at the screen. The program was working fine, but he knew that wasn't what his brother was talking about. "She's fine," he told him.

Mercury threw his mouse across the desk, soliciting a squeak from Roarke a few stations over. "You should never 'ave let her go."

"What choice did I have?"

The guy's nostrils flared as he rose from his seat. "It ain't right. It's the middle of the fuckin' day for crying out loud!"

Yeah. That was kinda weird, and if he thought about it too long, it freaked Kaden out too. "She won't take any unnecessary risks, Merc. She's not stupid. She had to go though. You know that. It's Ryver. He's our brother."

Mercury started pacing. "You think I don't know that?"

"What then?"

"She's alone, Kaden. She may be a daywalker, but she ain't invincible! She can't defend herself against half the Fallen fuckin' army on her own. It's fuckin' ridiculous."

It was true. Kaden was uncomfortable about sending her alone too, but he suspected it wasn't for the same reasons. Kaden felt uncomfortable because he was hostage to the sun. He felt uncomfortable because he wanted to be rescuing his brother, and he'd happily take all the volunteers he could muster with him. He was uncomfortable because he felt he'd lost a Guardian on his watch, and right then, there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it.

Mercury continued to pace, his aura awash with emotions. Red anger gave way to something far more telling: the green of jealousy, quickly replaced by the indigo of possessiveness.

"I had no choice, Mercury. She volunteered, and I wasn't prepared to leave Ryver there a moment longer."

The Guardian stopped and turned heel, marching over to Kaden. "She is alone. And you let her go." The words came out in an angry whisper, the guy's features pinched with fury. His face was so close, Kaden had to resist the urge to wipe the spit from his cheek.

His brother's anger was infectious. So challenged, Kaden refused to step down. Without looking, he knew Roarke sat agog just a few feet away. Inhaling, he held his head high, ice-blue eyes narrowed as he stared back at his brother. "Have a care, Guardian."

"Fuck you."

Kaden leaned in, his few inches of extra height forcing Mercury to look up at him. "Where I send those under my command is none of your damned business. There is a mission to complete, a Guardian to rescue, and I will use all of the resources at my disposal. Do I make myself clear?"

"And sending a Pixie to do Warrior's job is okay with you, is it?" Mercury retorted.

Kaden took a step closer, making Mercury take a step backward. "She may not be of this House, but she is a Sentinel of the Seelie Court and she has sworn an oath of friendship. Her skill on the battlefield is legend and I, for one, do not take that for granted. Malandra Ravenborn is stronger than almost all of us, and she outranks you by so many levels it's almost unfathomable. Don't mistake her for someone who needs your protection, and do not question my decision to send her anywhere."

Mercury blinked up at him, his mouth moving, trying to form words, but nothing came. Kaden felt the guy's anger dial down, sliding instead into mild confusion. "Bollocks," he hissed, then turned and left.

Kaden watched him go before allowing his shoulders to relax a little. He could feel eyes on him. Without turning around, he asked, "Do you have any questions, Prospect?"

Roake gasped. "No, Sir. None at all."

Kaden nodded and returned to his desk, where he folded himself into his dilapidated chair. In his mind, he could see Malandra. She stood on the edge of Friarsfield Forest, surveying her surroundings, preparing her advance. Mother of Faerie, it was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Ow! Watch it!"

"If you would just stand still for a second, you'd be less likely to get stabbed," Soraya replied before slipping another pin into the material under Lena's arm.

"I don't have time for this, Soraya. There are more important things to deal with, and it really doesn't matter what I wear."

The Princess inhaled slowly and Lena caught a hint of anger from her.

"I'm sorry, Soraya. Really I am, but all this"—she grabbed a wad of whatever the floaty material was—"just isn't my thing. And making me wear blue is just ridiculous." She lowered her voice. "It's not like I'm a virgin!"

The Princess swallowed audibly and Lena knew she was embarrassed.

"Your brother hasn't exactly lived like a monk either, you know." She had meant to sound jovial, but the words left a bad taste in her mouth. Before they found each other, Lena avoided Thorn as much as possible so she'd been spared the joy of meeting any of his conquests, but that didn't mean she didn't know. Even back then the thought of him with anyone else made her feel ill. Now it caused her physical pain and she rubbed her sternum to help alleviate the ache.

"Blue isn't just about purity, Lena. At least not in that sense. It’s associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, and faith. All our queens have worn it at their handfasting."

Okay, so she didn't know that, but still. "I'm really not a dress person."

Soraya slipped in another pin and took a step back to survey her work. She nodded and flashed a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I know you're not like other women, Lena, but for once, can you just pretend? What you wear is important. What you say and how you say it is important. Our race is hanging on by a thread and people need to see you. They need to believe in you and Thorn. They won't do that if you stomp down the aisle in your uniform. This isn't about being a Guardian or a Warrior. It isn't about the Order at all. It's about love and strength and unity. I don't know how many times I have to tell you how important this ceremony is to everyone, not least of all my brother."

Lena's brow crumpled. "Thorn? What do you mean?" She thought he was just going through the motions. They were mated in blood. Anything else was completely unnecessary, just a show for everyone else.

"You might be content to ignore tradition and just do as you please, but Thorn can't do that. You know he can't."

Lena hitched up the yards of fabric in her dress and stepped down from the podium Soraya had her standing on. "Has he said something?" she asked.

Soraya shook her head. "No, but I know him."

"Right." She wandered over to the sofa and turned to sit down.

"STOP!"

She froze, eyes wide, searching for danger. "What? What's the matter?"

Soraya rushed over and pulled her away from the couch. "If you're going to loll around, can you wait until I'm finished? You'll crease it!"

"Holy Mother of Fae, Soraya, I thought the world was going to end! You scared the crap outta me."

Her mouth set in a grim line. "I didn't mean to. It's just that a lot of work's gone into this."

And now Lena felt bad. "Sorry."

Soraya waived her back to the podium. "Come on. Just a few things to check and then you can go, I promise."

Lena puffed out her cheeks as she exhaled, but chose to keep quiet. She did as instructed and stepped back onto the platform.

"There now," the Princess said as she fluffed up the light material and got things back into some sense of order.

Lena glanced down and for the first time looked closely at what she was wearing. The ice-blue lace in the bodice and shoulder straps really was beautiful. Small, delicate flowers gave way to what she assumed was some kind of chiffon just below her waist. The skirt was full of yards and yards of material, yet it was light as a feather—something she should be grateful for, she supposed.

"Right," Soraya said as she fiddled with the hem. "I think that'll do."

Lena tried really hard not to breathe a huge sigh of relief. The Princess had practically dragged her up there kicking and screaming. It had been a distraction of sorts, giving her something else to think of for few moments, but she had to get back to the Command Centre. Soraya undid the ties at the back of the dress and helped her step out of it. Wearing just her underwear, Lena skipped off the podium and grabbed her uniform while Soraya carefully placed the dress back in its box. She was already fully dressed by the time the Princess finished. She didn't want to hurt Soraya's feelings by literally running out of there, but her gaze kept shifting to the door.

"It's alright. You can go," Soraya told her, sounding a little too much like someone's mother.

Lena dashed over and gave the woman a quick hug. "Thanks, Soraya. You're the best."

"I'll remind you of that at our next deportment lesson," she replied as Lena raced for the door.

Shit. She'd hoped the Princess had forgotten about that.

Lena sprinted from Soraya's wing, across the balustraded balcony and down the sweeping Georgian staircase. On the bottom step, she found Mercury nursing a bottle of beer. One look at the guy's face sent panic through her. His cheekbones razored through his skin, every inch of him carved deep with worry and something like grief. "Merc?" she asked as she took a knee in front of him. "What's going on?"

Lena couldn't help the sharp intake of breath as he lifted his head. His good eye burned a brilliant ochre, the depth of emotion in him truly breathtaking. Lena reached for him, closing her fingers over his hand. Just to be sure she searched her blood bonds for Ryver. Did Mercury know something she didn't? She got no reward for her efforts—still that gaping hole of nothingness where her brother should be. "Mercury, you're freaking me out here."

A weak smile pulled at the corner of his mouth, making his scar wrinkle. "Don't worry. You ain't missed nothin'."

Thank Goddess for that. "So what's going on?"

He took a slug of beer. "Ain't got a scooby."

Lena's brow furrowed. "Huh?"

"I 'aven't got a clue what's goin' on. Fuckin' Pixie is out there in broad bloody daylight and I ain't got a clue how to help."

She felt sorry for him—really she did—but she didn't have any golden nuggets of wisdom to share. She thought the idea of Malandra going out there alone was the worst idea in the history of bad ideas. "Are the suits ready?"

"For what good they'll do."

"I thought Kaden said you'd made some improvements?"

Mercury closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them, some of the emotion had dulled, his eye starting to return to its usual chocolate brown hue. The frustration hadn't abated, but he seemed to be getting a handle on himself. "I've done what I can. I even got hold of a contact at NASA to check the specs of the latest space suits."

"Wow." Lena didn't bother asking how he knew anyone at NASA. The guy had contacts all over, in the most unexpected places. Nor did she bother to ask how on earth he'd persuaded anyone to discuss the specifics of their latest designs.

"They would work fine if humans were wearin' them. With us in them, we get about 3 hours."

"How come?"

Mercury shrugged. "'Ow the hell am I s’posed to know?"

Lena moved to sit next to him on the bottom step. "You asked Soraya."

"Yeah. She reckons it’s somethin' to do with the curse."

Of course. Fucking Fallen. When House Velgeren fell, the Seelie Court drew on all its considerable resources to banish the entire race and cursed all Vampires to walk in darkness until they could all regain their honour. Until the Fallen were vanquished. That was millennia ago. Lena sighed and pushed herself to her feet. "I'm heading back down to the Command Centre. You coming?"

Mercury drained the last few drops of beer from his bottle and nodded. "Not like I've got anywhere else to go."

* * *

The connection was patchy at best. Kaden had already had to ask Malandra to repeat herself twice. "Can't you do anything about this?" he asked Roarke, whose fingers flew over the keyboard at lightning speed.

"I'm trying, Sir. There's a lot of interference."

"I know that." He pulled his microphone down on his headset. "Malandra. Say again. Repeat. Say again. Over."

To his right the door to the centre swung open and Mercury and Lena strode in. He held up a hand to signal for them to be quiet.

For a moment, there was nothing but static, but suddenly the Pixie's voice came through loud and clear. "I've found the entrance to the service tunnel. Do you copy? Over."

"I copy. Over."

Mercury raced over to his station and plugged in his own headset. Kaden flashed him a look, a silent warning not to utter a word. This was as good as the comms had been since Malandra left, and he couldn't afford to waste time with chat. Despite everyone's worry, through his new bond with Malandra, he knew exactly where she was and how she was doing. She was uninjured. She felt confident. More importantly, she'd just confirmed she may have found the only way they were going to find their brother. Mercury nodded and cupped both hands over his earphones, listening intently.

"There's a lot of plant growth. I haven't been able to access the tunnel yet. Over." Malandra's voice once again sang out over the airwaves.

"Roger that," Kaden replied. "How long before you think you can gain entry? Over."

"I could do it in seconds if I wasn't bothered about getting caught. Over."

From the corner of his eye, Kaden saw Mercury stiffen and his mouth open as if to say something. Kaden was at his side before the guy could form his first word. He didn't care what Mercury's problem was, nor did he care what he had to say. Kaden was the one who'd sent her out there. He was damned well going to be the one to run the op. Mercury narrowed his eyes as he looked up, but Kaden just shook his head at him

"You will not take any unnecessary risks. Do you copy, Malandra?" Kaden said into his headset.

"I copy. Over and out." Malandra's voice crackled over the loudspeakers.

Kaden caught the miniscule relaxation in Mercury's shoulders, but the deep scowl remained.

The airwaves fell silent. Roarke tapped away on his keyboard. The noise was almost a permanent feature nowadays. At least it meant someone was still doing something. The amount of frustration Kaden felt rolling off both Lena and Mercury was only surpassed by his own feelings of uselessness. Lena feigned interest in whatever Roarke was doing on his side of the workstation, but Kaden knew his sister was doing the same as him. Waiting.

The sound system crackled back to life, but the snippets of words were completely unintelligible. If they were even words at all.

"Malandra?" Kaden said into his headset. "Come in."

There was nothing but static.

"Roarke!" he barked at the young prospect.

"I'm sorry, Sir. There's too much interference."

"I fucking know that!"

"Kaden!" Lena interrupted.

He snapped his attention to her. "What?"

She just stared at him.

"Don't push me, Steward," he replied, ignoring the shock in her widening eyes. "Mercury. See if you can establish another connection."

Mercury didn't reply, but he was already pressing keys like a madman.

Kaden could see the Pixie in his mind's eye; she'd made her way to the entrance of the service tunnel. He could feel how determined she was, and he knew she'd be completely out of communication within minutes. If there was any Osmium near that tunnel, he wouldn't be able to track her at all. He knew deep down that this wasn't her first rodeo. She was a Sentinel after all. He started pacing, straining to hear anything through the crackling. Damn it. Nothing.

"Mercury?"

The Guardian just cursed in response.

The static continued. Any minute, they were going to lose contact altogether. Kaden just wanted one last check-in. Just one last opportunity to reassure himself she was okay. One last chance to tell himself he was doing the right thing.

As the white noise dragged on, Kaden struggled to get his emotions under control. He wasn't used to feeling quite this useless. Glancing at the clock, he swore again. If this went tits up, there were still over nine hours until sundown. Mercury's specially designed UV suits would give them a few hours to launch some sort of rescue, but Kaden knew deep down that wouldn't be enough.

"Malandra. Come in," he said again.

There was no reply.

His ability allowed him to see her as if he was there with her. He could feel her emotions through their newly formed bond—still confident, though now there was a hint of apprehension too. If only he could bloody talk to her!

Malandra checked her watch and took a look around before she did something amazing. Kaden's jaw fell open as he watched on.

"Boss?"

Mercury's concerned voice barely registered.

The door leading to the service entrance had been welded shut, but that didn't stop Malandra. Kaden watched on agog as the Pixie passed her hand over the seals and they just disintegrated. She wrenched the small grating away, took a deep breath and disappeared down the tunnel.

"Holy Mother of Fae," Kaden whispered.

Mercury appeared in front of him, his face just inches away from his own. "You 'ave about two seconds to tell me what the fuckin' 'ell is goin' on, or I swear to God I'll—"

Kaden swallowed hard and took a step backwards. "She's fine."

Lena left Roarke and joined them. "Kaden, what's going on?"

He wasn't quite sure. He'd never seen anything like it. He'd heard about it, but like so many things, it was the stuff of legend. Passed into the annals of history so long ago he doubted there were many who even knew such things used to be possible. It appeared Malandra was a smithy as well as a daywalker.

* * *

"Just tell me you can still feel her," Lena hissed.

Kaden nodded, though he didn't respond. His ice-blue eyes had darkened to a deep sapphire and his cheekbones razored through his ordinarily handsome face. Like her, the Keeper of the Watch was unused to watching from the sidelines. Ever the true Warrior, he would do whatever was necessary to protect his King, his House and his brothers, but he didn't have to like it, and it didn't mean he wasn't worried. Lena watched him closely.

Yeah. Kaden was very worried.

She couldn't blame him. Malandra might have volunteered, but Kaden called the shots. This was on him.

"Can you still see her?" she whispered as quietly as she could.

To almost everyone else, Kaden was an exceptional tracker and guardian of all those he held dear.

Last year, she discovered for herself just how exceptional his talent was. They could all feel those with whom they shared a blood bond. If they thought about it, they could get a sense of where they were. It was different for Kaden. He could see them all as if he was standing next to them.

Kaden shot her a look that was full of anger. "Watch it, Lena."

She looked over at Mercury and Roarke. Neither of them were paying any attention to her or Kaden. Their newest recruit was hellbent on establishing a new connection with the Pixie. As for Mercury, she wasn't sure what the hell was going on with him. He looked like someone had written off his beloved 4x4. He hadn't said anything for a while. Hadn't moved either. He just sat there looking more than a little ill.

Puffing out a big sigh, she turned back to Kaden. "Nobody cares, Kaden."

"And just what do you mean by that?"

Her reply was cut off by crackling over the loudspeakers.

Mercury sprang to life, snatching up his headset and listening intently.

Lena looked at Kaden and noticed some of the tension had left his face. "What is it?" she asked.

"She's on her way back out," he whispered.

As if on cue, Malandra's voice filled the room "Kaden, do you copy?"

Kaden pulled down the mic on his headset. "Loud and clear. What's going on?"

"Comms won't work in the tunnel, but Roarke was right. It's still there."

To her right, Mercury shifted.

"Is it accessible?" Kaden asked, ignoring his brother.

"I'm not sure. I wanted to report back before I try for the end."

"Understood."

"Kaden?"

"Yeah?"

"I could feel Osmium from about thirty...forty yards in."

Kaden's shoulders slumped. "Copy that."

"I'll report back as soon as I can."

"I meant what I said about not taking unnecessary risks, Sentinel."

"I hear you, Keeper of the Watch. Over and out."

Mercury ripped off his headset and threw it at the desk as he leapt out of his seat. "Is that it? Is that all you've got to fuckin' say?" he spat as he advanced on Kaden.

Lena was asking herself the same question, but for once she was looking beyond her own feelings. She could see how much the burden of responsibility weighed on Kaden. She recognised the signs; she saw it in Thorn every day. She stepped into Mercury's path. He towered over her five-foot-six frame, but she held her chin high and stood her ground. "Stand down, Mercury."

"Get out of my way."

Not happening. "Have you forgotten why she's there?"

Kaden's hand came down on her shoulder. "It’s okay, Lena."

She looked back at him, but all his focus was on their brother.

"I do not now, nor have I ever, answered to you, Mercury. She is my responsibility, and I will keep her safe. Do you hear me?"

Mercury opened his mouth as if to say something, but Kaden obviously didn't want to hear it. He barged past both of them and left.

Lena crossed her arms. "Well done, genius."

"It ain't right, Lena, and you know it," Mercury replied.

"Why don't you stop bloody whining and go and do something useful?"

"Oh go an' boil ya 'ead!" He spun on the spot and stalked away.

Well. That went well.