no response, so i tried my brother. what happens now?

i'm not sure, but i feel stronger, just like danny said. everything feels a little more enhanced. i was relieved to hear him in my brain. i would've been sad if that connection had changed. i'm glad i can still feel dad, even if it's in a new way. when we get home we deal with the bond and all the complications. but now we can protect you. it feels right, jess. i don't regret it. he turned to danny and grinned. "so do you want to fight me for status now?" he asked. he put up his fists in the classic fight pose.

"nope," danny responded, his tone mockingly remorseful. "my station above yours, it seems, was short-lived. but no matter; it was still brilliant while it lasted. maybe when we arrive home, you can go along back to your dad and i'll just stick around here with jessica. it suits me just fine."

i walked over to pick up my pack. naomi had moved to the edge of the tree line. we'd delayed our day too long. "do you see any winged devils out there?" i asked her. who knows if the underworld would send new ones.

she turned around, looking pensive. "non," she said. "i believe they are gone."

i hoisted the pack on my back and turned to ray, who had been sitting on the cooler the entire time. who knew what was going through this mind, and frankly, i didn't want to know. i didn't have the energy to answer any of his questions. mostly because i had no answers.

he stood up. "so what other fun surprises are in store for us on this mountain, hannon?"

"i have no idea, ray, but we're about to find out."

15

the mountain was blessedly quiet on the way down. the winged devils were indeed all gone. danny had used my blood on the one we'd captured while i was out in a fit of good thinking. the climb was going fairly slowly because we had a human in tow, which i tried not to bemoan too badly, since it was my own damn fault. eamon had shown up right as we'd left, but had refused to hike. i had no idea if he'd witnessed the blood swap or not, and i wasn't about to ask. naomi walked with us, even though she could've flown. everyone was quiet and pensive, thinking about what had happened and what the implications would be when we got home.

"once we hit the gorge and cross over, we'll be in selene's direct territory?" i asked naomi, who was behind me.

"oui," naomi said. "she controls the next mountain range."

"i wonder why it's so quiet. after the winged devils and mahrac, i thought we'd be encountering something every second."

"my guess is she cannot afford to control so many at one time," naomi said. "it takes massive power to keep such creatures in check. she has to pick and choose her best arsenal. we will encounter more of her roadblocks, but under the laws of the supernatural world, which even selene isn't above, she cannot risk unleashing a powerful supernatural on the human race. it's different from what happened with the devils, which are bound by rules of the underworld. selene must tightly contain things of this world. she is allowed to defend what it is hers, but if whatever she employs brings disaster, the coalition will come down on her fiercely, as they always have. after all these years she has learned to respect them."

the coalition was our oldest supernatural law council.

from what i knew, it was made up of freakishly old, freakishly powerful supernaturals who determined things like whether we went into hiding or came out in the open. if you went against high law, there was swift retribution. as far as i'd ever known, there hadn't been a change of old law in centuries and the coalition's identities were never revealed. not even my father knew who sat on the coalition. in their view, he was considered a young leader, barely above their notice. if my father upheld the high laws, he could go his entire lifetime and never come in contact with them.

in the last hundred years, it was rumored they'd all gone into "stasis," and they would remain that way until they felt-or were warned-of a major magical "disturbance" of some kind.

waking them meant you were in deep shit.

the coalition made me think of rourke and how long he'd been alive. it was possible he knew who sat on the council. "when rourke bested selene to escape," i asked curiously, "were you there?" my wolf growled and clacked her jaws with the mention of rourke. i know. i want him too. we're going as fast as we can. he was perfect. magnificent, strong, tall, blond, and tattooed. he was a warrior of old and he was mine. i missed his body and craved his mouth. he will be okay. we have to trust that. she won't kill him until we are there to witness. she's too sure of herself.

naomi leapt over several large boulders, landing effortlessly. "no. we were gone by then. but details of that event did trickle into the vampire court. over the years our queen has hired your mercenary many times to do her bidding. she even tried to keep him under her control, but it proved impossible. he is too strong for anyone to manage. when selene took a liking to him, it quickly turned into an obsession." she gave me a half smile. "no one would come out and admit such a thing, but there is a grudging respect given to him by all vampires. they also fear him. the power he wields comes from a deep source. there are whispers that he might be a god or close to godhood now."

a god? achieving godhood was much different from how humans perceived it to be. in our world it was something earned. as supes aged, they gained great power. over time their immortality became intertwined with every fiber of their being, making them truly immortal. thus godlike and unstoppable, able to avoid a true death altogether.

but rourke a god? i shook my head. surely that would be something i would've picked up on. his power was immense, but being a god was an entirely new level. "i wonder why he allowed selene to live instead of killing her while he had the chance?" i asked in a hollow voice, forcing my mind in a different direction as quickly as possible. picturing them together made my nails morph into sharp points and a growl to creep up my diaphragm. "he must've had a very good reason for not finishing her off."

"i'm sure he thought he had killed her, just as i had," naomi said in a firm tone. "she cannot be killed so easily, as we have all learned the hard way. but now that rourke is mated, it must be like an ocean of salt has poured into the wounds selene has been licking all this time. she will make him pay in ways you had not thought possible."

a fine coating of fur sprouted along my arms as i pictured selene harming him. she was going to be so dead when i was done with her. "that woman is beyond deranged. the world will be a better place without her."

"there's no doubt." naomi snorted. "i've been waiting to rid the world of her for over three hundred years."

"did you just snort?" i glanced back, laughing.

naomi looked sheepish for a moment. "we are not allowed to be so... flippant at court. i have not left court, except to fulfill missions, in too many years to count. it feels... nice to be free."

"can vamps go rogue if they want to?" i asked. "a wolf can."

"no, not really. there is no safe place for a rogue vampire. the queen controls all the masters around the world. if we turn our backs on our queen, we will spend the rest of our days avoiding death by her hand or the hands of her followers. there are smaller courts, ruled by less powerful vampires, all masters, but eudoxia is the supreme leader. she has won the right of power. a vampire can swear allegiance to a greater court, but there is none greater than our queen's court. if we had sworn first to a smaller court, we could have moved up to the queen's court, but you can't... what's the word?" she appeared flustered.

"demote yourself?"

"oui, you cannot demote yourself to a lesser court. and because of our usefulness to her, she would be enraged at our desertion and stop at nothing to bring us true death. a vampire does not do well alone. it is in our nature to... cohabitate with others."

"i'm surprised you can share this all with me so freely," i said. "don't get me wrong. i'm happy to glean this information. i find it fascinating. but i think we're coming close to the line. i don't want you to get in trouble for crossing it because i'm too nosy." i smiled. "i never thought i'd be friendly with a vamp, but you're turning out to be okay, naomi. vamps aren't as stuffy as i thought, barring your brother, of course. is he a typical vamp? that's how i pictured them all to act."

naomi stopped in her tracks.

"what?" i slowed when she didn't follow me. "did i say something that's going to make your face slide? you don't have to answer anything else if you don't want to. i didn't mean to be so intrusive. i know it's important for each sect to keep their secrets."

she hesitated for a moment, shuffling the rocks in front of her. "it's just... i could not be so free," she said finally, "if it wasn't for one thing."

i waited a few beats for her to answer, but she remained quiet. "what?" i prodded. "now that we're closer to selene's territory your queen has less reach over you? are you too far away? is there interference here?" i looked around the rocks, trying to spot the reason.

"non."

after another small moment, i replied, "what is it then?" her face was a mask of intensity and it was starting to make me itch. "what's wrong? you're killing me here."

"your blood," she said quietly, "seems to have severed my bond too."

"excuse me?" i gaped, stumbling over rocks, catching my footing right before i tumbled ass over end down the steep slope. "i don't think i heard you correctly." my fingernails dug deeply into the stone wall next to me, steadying me. i prayed i hadn't heard her correctly. "did you say my blood broke the bond with your queen?"