The growls died down, and I flicked a quick look in Keon’s direction to find him staring at me with an unfathomable expression.

Long seconds passed, and then Bastian strode forward and held out a glass of punch to Keon. “Try this, it actually has a fucking kick to it.”

Chapter Thirty

Bastian and Dean delivered food to the vamps in the garage. There was still no movement on the super vamp issue, but the vamps had settled into their temporary home nicely.

Food was eaten, and it was time to open gifts. We gathered in the lounge by the tree as everyone opened their presents. Grayson and I had picked out something small for each pack member. As everyone gushed over their gifts, I retrieved the bag that contained my gift to the guys.

They were sentimental purchases, and probably stupid, and I was suddenly nervous they’d think they were dumb, but fuck it.

I handed each of them a small jewelry box. “I hope they fit. I mean I can get them resized or…You don’t have to wear them.”

The guys exchanged glances, then opened the boxes to reveal the white gold bands inside, each engraved with a heart and the same message: A piece of my heart in your hand.

Grayson turned the ring over, his throat bobbing.

I winced. “I’m sorry, I know it’s corny, I just—”

“It’s perfect,” he said gruffly.

Azazel had already slipped his on. “I’ll never take it off.”

Mal shook his head. “Fuck, Fee, you know how to gut-punch a guy with emotion, don’t you?”

I exhaled in relief. “You like them. Oh, good.”

“Now you guys,” Cora said. “Come on.”

Huh?

Azazel nodded at Grayson, who reached into his pocket and pulled out a jewelry box. It was long, the kind used for bracelets or necklaces.

“We chose this together,” Grayson said.

Together? I flipped open the box and stared at the charm bracelet inside. There were three charms on it. A wolf, a set of silver wings, and a set of black wings.

“A charm to represent each of us,” Azazel said.

“So we’re always with you,” Mal added.

My eyes welled, and I sniffed back the tears. “I fucking love it.” I lifted it out of the box and slipped it onto my right wrist. It fit perfectly, winking prettily against my skin.

“I’ll never take it off…Unless I have to shift into Loup form, but then I’ll put it right back on.”

Grayson chuckled. “Yes, I should have added that proviso to my statement too.”

A wave of joy washed over me, filling me, completing me, and then Azazel made a strange sound, a soft grunt that drew my attention.

His face had drained of all color.

“Azazel?”

I reached for him, but he staggered backward, clutching at his chest as if in pain.

“His hands!” Cora cried out.

A network of black lines was spreading across the backs of his hands.

“Az!” Mal made a grab for him but too late. Azazel’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he crumpled to the ground.

Petra’s hands hovered above Azazel’s still form. The black lines were spreading across his alabaster skin. He was deathly pale. Lips bloodless, skin cold. The food I’d eaten congealed in my stomach, making me feel sick.

“What is it?” Mal asked Petra. “What’s wrong with him?”

She shook her head. “There is a connection inside him, and there is a taint entering him via that connection.”

A connection? “Like our soulmate bond?” I looked at Mal in panic. “Am I doing this to him?”

Petra shook her head. “No, your soul bond is separate and distinct, untainted. This is a different channel. I can’t quite figure it out.”

What other connection could he have? And then it hit me. There was only one other connection a Dominus had.

“His voralex! It has to be. We need to check it out.”

“Fuck,” Mal said. “You’re right. It would explain Leanna’s condition too.”

“What? How?”

“She lives in Azazel’s voralex. He gave her refuge there, allowed her to turn it into a coffee shop.”

“Wait, you’re saying Lumiers is Azazel’s voralex?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

I smoothed a hand over Azazel’s forehead, then stood. “We have to go check it out. Now.” I looked up at Grayson. “Is it okay to leave him here.”

“Go,” Grayson said. “We’ll take care of him.”

“I’m coming with you,” Cora said.

“Me too,” Keon said.

“What if someone sees you,” Mal said.

“It’s dark,” Cora said. “We’ll figure it out.”

I looked for Cyril and found him curled up asleep on a chair. “Bobby, take care of Cyril for me.”

“No problem.”

With a final glance at Azazel, I headed for the exit.

Leanna didn’t open the door to the coffee shop, so Cora jumped inside and let us in.

“I’ll check on Leanna,” Mal said.

“What are we looking for,” Cora asked, hands on hips.

“I don’t know. Anything out of the ordinary, I guess.” My mind was a mess of possibilities. What could this taint look like? Where could it be; who would do this to Azazel and why? “Let’s just search the whole place.”

Keon loped off to the first floor, while Cora flipped on the lights, and we searched the ground floor.

“She’s gone,” Mal said a moment later. “Her bed’s made, and she’s gone.”

Fuck.

Half an hour later, we’d come up empty. There was nothing out of the ordinary about Lumiers. Azazel’s voralex was untainted.

I wanted to cry. If the problem wasn’t his voralex, then what was it?

“We should check the outside, too,” Keon said.

I could have kissed him. “Yes!”

Hope flared to life in my chest as I followed the queen’s Blade into the night. We headed around the side of the building. It was a semi-detached structure situated on the corner of the road. We ducked behind the building, through an access alley, and into Lumiers’s unremarkable back garden. The space was fenced off, and the garden stretched far back into the darkness.

“The taint will be on the building,” Mal said.

Ignoring the garden, we focused on the voralex itself, scanning the walls, the windows, and the back door.

Nothing.

My gaze fell on the huge wheelie bins pushed up against the building by the fence.

I yanked one away from the wall and froze.

There, emblazoned on the brick in crimson paint, was a symbol that set alarm bells ringing in my head because I’d seen it before. I’d seen it in the warehouse when the Dread had attacked us and tried to siphon our power.

“That’s the same symbol the Dread used on us,” Mal said, echoing my thoughts.

“But these are new.” I pointed at the smaller symbols painted around it.

Keon’s arm brushed mine as he leaned forward to look at them. “Siphoning runes. Ancient demon runes.” He made a low growling sound in his throat. “How is this possible? These runes belong to the original fallen.”

“Vale,” Mal said softly.

Of course. Peiter’s brother Vale was a descendant of Samael, and on becoming a Dread he’d accessed his ancestral memory. Samael must have known about these symbols, and now Vale did too.

“And how do you know about these?” Cora asked Keon.

“Lilith allows me into her personal library from time to time. I like to read.”

“You mean snoop,” Mal said. “Lilith wouldn’t leave this stuff lying about.”

“No, she doesn’t.” Keon shot him a flat look. “Aren’t you glad I broke the rules?”

So, he could disobey if he wanted, or maybe Lilith’s instructions had been vague enough for him to circumvent. Interesting. “Okay, let’s figure this out.” My hand hovered over the main symbol. “This is a lock symbol. It stopped us from escaping. And these are siphons. Which means that the lock symbol is holding onto Azazel, locking onto him through his voralex, and the siphon is stealing power from him and his voralex.”

“Which is why he’s been so tired,” Mal said. “He’s not only missing out on the juice a voralex provides, he’s also being fed on.”

“But why?” Cora pondered. “They need all four Dominus to open the gates to the Beyond, right? Why target Azazel?”

She was right, this didn’t quite make sense. “I don’t know, but we need to stop this from working.”

Keon held up his hand, and claws sprouted from his fingertips. “Simple enough to do. We destroy the symbols.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a female voice said from behind us.

I knew that seductive tone. “Evelyn, I wish I could say it was nice to see you again.” I faced her. “But it really isn’t.”

Her attention was on Keon. “Touch those symbols, and Azazel will die.”

“You’re lying,” Mal said.

“Maybe,” she said. “Maybe not.”

“Any rune’s ability can be disrupted by breaking it,” Keon said. “It’s a fact.”

“You’re correct. But pull out the other bin. Go on.”

No one moved.

Evelyn sighed. “I don’t have all day, and my mouths are getting hungry.”

I noticed the mouths for the first time as they melted out of the shadows and moved down the snowy garden in their signature glitchy way.

Cora pulled out the bin, but I didn’t turn my head to look at the wall, choosing to keep my attention on the enemy.

“There’s another symbol,” Cora said.

Keon cursed.

“What is it?” I wanted desperately to look, but like hell was I taking my eyes off the Dread bitch.

“It’s a death rune,” Keon said.