It was like Drake could read my mind. We both ran toward the cottage without even mentioning it.

But once we stepped into the clearing, my heart fell and my legs gave out.

The cottage was burned to the ground.

“No …”

Since only Keeran and Ebby knew about the cottage, I assumed it had been Ebby. Or Morda, after Ebby had told her about this place. Or both. Or all of the Silverblood witches.

Ebby had known I had stolen the coven’s heart, but I hadn’t told her where I had hidden it. Nevertheless, they had retrieved it, and in the process, burnt the cottage that had been a refuge for Drake and I.

I sank to my knees as tears filled my eyes.

Drake deposited Luana down and knelt beside me. He pulled the shoulder of my ripped gown down and took a look at my wound there. “This doesn’t look good.”

I glanced at my shoulder. The wound had stopped bleeding a while ago, but it still hurt. With the right healing and rest, I would be good as new, though.

I shifted my eyes to the charred wood mess in front of us. “We’re in big trouble,” I whispered.

Drake reached for my hand. “We’ll figure it out.”

“I’m glad you’re confident, because I’m not.” I sighed. “How can I be when Morda has the heart?”

“We’ll take it back.”

I rested my head on his shoulder. “Can I close my eyes and pretend this was all a dream? No, a nightmare?”

He kissed the top of my head. “You can take a few days to rest, but you know we can’t pretend nothing happened.”

Nothing happened … like the heart and me. “One thing I don’t understand though is how I didn’t awaken the heart powers before. As far as I know, a witch queen is born, not made. I didn’t suddenly become one. But why didn’t it connect to me until after we met? After I stole it from the vampires?”

“I don’t know.” Drake inhaled deeply. “Maybe it has something to do with our bond.”

“Our bond?”

“Yeah, well, I don’t know, but it has to be some kind of bond. I feel a pull toward you all the freaking time. Don’t you feel the same?”

“I do …” I frowned. I hadn’t given much thought to it. I thought it meant we were deeply in love, or even that we were mates, but I discarded that as vampires and werewolves only mated within their own species.

“I might be able to help with that,” Luana said from behind us.

By all that was sacred, I had almost forgotten about her. And Thomas, too. He was floating beside her. Drake had told me about him, but it was so weird seeing him like this.

“What do you mean?” I scooted closer to her and inspected her wounds. Besides all the scratches and cuts and blood, her ankle was twisted in an awkward way.

“I know someone who might know what it all means,” she said.

Drake stilled. “I’m not sure. Give me one good reason we should trust you again?”

Her hazel eyes filled with tears. “Why would I lie? I followed my alpha’s orders, and what do I get in return? I was abandoned by my pack and left as food offering to the crazed vampires.” A tear rolled down her cheek.

“Drake, give her a break,” I said, knowing he would listen to me. At least for now. “I think I can heal most of your wounds, but I’ll need some ingredients first.” I looked around. “I have no idea where I’ll get them though.”

“I know,” Drake said.

I frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“Just come with me.” He picked up Luana again.

The four of us went down the hill, through a few miles into the woods, until we reached a back road. We followed the road into a small town. Drake left Luana with me at the edge of town while he stole a car.

“What?” He shrugged at me from the driver’s seat. He pressed the pedal and the car lurched forward.

“You stole a car?”

“I left my silver cross pin in its place,” he said, as if that made it all right. “The owner will be able to buy twenty of these now.”

I shook my head, but glanced out the window.

My mind spun with so many thoughts, so many feelings. I felt lost and broken and hopeless. I reached across the seats and grabbed Drake’s hand. At least I had him with me. And this time, I wouldn’t let him go.

Finally, a couple of hours later, Drake drove onto a narrow dirt road flanked by tall and thick trees. After a few minutes, the road opened into a small but neat garden. And beyond the garden, a white manor with a wraparound porch and tall windows sat at the base of the mountains.

He stopped the car in front of the house.

I frowned. “What is this?”

One corner of his lips curled up. “Our place.”

“W-what?”

“I bought this place right after we got separated a few weeks ago,” he said. “I thought … I don’t know. As much as I thought we would succeed, I wanted to be prepared in case we didn’t. In case we had to run.”

I couldn’t help the smile that took over my lips. He was something else.

“I think Luana needs attention now,” Thomas said from the backseat.

Luana was curled against the door, shaking and sweating.

“Right,” I said, opening the car door. “Let’s take her inside.”

I barely had time to acknowledge the place as Drake carried Luana to one of the bedrooms on the second floor. I followed. Then he brought a box with several herbs and ingredients.

“Is this enough?” he said, putting the box down over the nightstand.

“It’ll have to be.”

If I had the coven’s heart with me, I was sure I could heal her with magic, but since I didn’t, and since I had exhausted myself fighting Morda, I required the help of salves and potions.

Thankfully, none of Luana’s wounds were life threatening. The only risk was infection, but since I would take care of them, she would be fine.

She fell asleep after I treated her wounds and put her foot back into place. She was still dirty and bloodied, but she could take a bath after she rested for a while.

Thomas disappeared soon after, saying he had been holding on to his ghost form for too long. He would back later.

When it was all quiet, Drake slipped his hand in mine and guided me to the third floor.

The stairs opened to a small landing and white double doors.

“This is our bedroom,” he said, pushing the doors open.

I smiled as I took the place in.

On the right, a seating area with a small couch and two armchairs in front of a cozy fireplace. On the left, a four posted king-sized bed with white gossamer over it. Everything in white wood and beige and soft yellow cushions and accents.

A happy, comfy place.

Glass doors opened to a balcony where I could see wicker chairs and table. The sun was rising, warming up the place with a golden light.

I crossed the room and pulled the thin white curtains closed. It wouldn’t leave the room in total darkness, but I doubted it could hurt Drake either.

Drake sat on the bed and patted the mattress beside him. “Come here.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I practically threw myself at him, and we both fell back on the bed, our arms around each other.

“I could stay like this forever,” I mumbled, burying my face in his neck and inhaling deeply. His scent filled my nostrils and I sighed in relief.

“We could.”

I pulled back. “What do you mean?”

“We can stay here. Hide from everyone else. We can pretend nothing ever happened and live our own life.”

“But … a few hours ago you were telling me we should run to fight another day. That we would get my coven’s heart back later. What happened?”

“I changed my mind,” he said. “I think we should hide in here forever.”

“I can’t. You know that. I’m the Witch Queen. You know my coven will die without me.”

He sighed. “I know, I know. But do they deserve to be saved? Look at what they did to you? Morda played with you; Ebby betrayed you. They were ready to kill you.”

“It’s the same principle of when you wanted to go back to your coven and save the vampires from Alex’s clutches. I want to take out Morda, recover the heart, and start over. I want to give my witches and our servants a better choice, a better life.”

“I know.” He closed his eyes. “Now even my original plan has gone down the drain. Alex is dead and only hell knows what happened to the princes and the other vampires.”

I cupped his rough, handsome face. “See? We can’t leave everything like that. We are better people than they are. We care about others. We have to help.”

Drake locked his eyes with mine. “That’s one of the reasons I love you, you know? You always want to do good.”

“You too.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Not always.”

Of course he did; he just didn’t see it. But I wouldn’t argue about that now. “Besides, no matter where I hide, you know Morda will come after me now that she knows I’m the Witch Queen.”

“I know.” Drake groaned.

“And there’s our bond too,” I said. “Or whatever that is.”

“Okay, okay, you can stop with our long to-do list. I know we have plenty to do.” He tightened his arms around me, pressing my body to his. “For now, I want to forget it all and spend time with you.”

I brushed my lips on his. “Spend time with me? How?”

He spun us around, pining me to the mattress with his body over mine. “I’ll show you.”

Drake leaned over me and claimed my mouth with his. His kiss wasn’t soft, nor were his hands as he took off our clothes and touched me. But once he was inside me, I felt strong again. I felt like I was right where I belonged. I felt confident and sure. With him beside me, I could do anything.

We could do anything.

We would find out about our bond, we would save the vampires and the witches, and we would have a better future together. Or we would die trying.

Regardless, we would do it together. We would be together.

Forever.