Page 46 of Lifeblood

Answer: They wouldn’t have. Because the combinationwouldhave been unstoppable.

“It’s not that simple,” Mordred said.

I spun on him. “Yes, it very much is. You all said it yourselves: You need me to end her. You need my lifeblood blood. This mate bond. Not to mention, it sounds like only a woman can break your curses. Imagine the power we’d have. Imagine thegoodwe could do.”

And justice. Revenge. Vindication.

“If we work together, we can do anything,” I said, nearly whispering. “After what we just did, I see that now.” I gestured to the carnage left behind by our shared magic—mostly wraith dust piles and witch cloaks and burnt plants.

“So we will. Work together.”

To my utter surprise—and evidently that of all the other demon kings—the words had come from Gareth.

“Yeah?” I asked him.

He nodded. “Yes. I know these attacks have been a lot after a time of relative peace. And I know how we all feel about Morgan le Fay and all she stands for. But I agree with Ava. Our best shot is to work together. Solidify the mate bond. Grow stronger as one. Then act.”

Mordred finally broke his silence. “You’re not wrong.”

Gareth raised an eyebrow. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

“Again, you mean,” Tristan said. “I’m in, too.” None of the demon kings seemed injured like I had been during the fight, but Tristan in particular looked exhausted. I wondered how much of this conversation he was listening to versus how many spirit conversations he was having at the same time.

Lance shrugged. “I was on this bandwagon from the start. Yes.”

I nodded deeply, aware that this entire conversation happening in the carnage of what had just transpired here was a bit insane. And yet, it needed to happen. “Then if all things are to be equal going forward, there’s one thing I need to do.”

“What’s that, little lifeblood?” Lance asked.

Smiling, I waltzed toward him as best I could without tripping on something or hurting myself more. With a hand to his cheek, I pulled him in. The slippery fae demon barely had time to grin fully before our lips met. All at once, it was like a garden had exploded in my mind. Lance’s floral scent surrounded me. His rainbow magic seemed to shimmer behindmyeyes, too.

I kept the kiss short and simple. When we pulled apart, Lance was grinning from ear to ear.

“Are you telling me that because of the attack during our date, I missed out on more ofthat?” he asked, greatly exaggerating some mock offense. It lightened the mood, which was desperately needed.

“Appears so,” Mordred commented in a rare show of amusement.

“See?” I said. “Nothing we can’t face together.”

Tristan was blushing. Lance noticed and held his hand out to him. “Oh, come on, pretty boy. There’s room for you, too.”

Except Tristan wasn’t blushing because of seeing me kiss Lance. No, I was sure it was because no one else knew we hadn’t even gottencloseto that.

I met eyes with Gareth then, just briefly. Only appreciation and care were there, so different from the anger I’d grown accustom to, that the sight of those things stole my breath for a moment.

Mordred took the silence as a sign to plan. He said, “We’ll move through each court for now. Tintagel isn’t safe, but if we’re on the move and no one is aware of those movements, we should be okay for a while.”

“Sounds good,” Gareth said. Another surprise. I’d expected arguments from him again.

“And the mate bonds?” Lance asked.

Mordred nodded. “No more rules. We have to claim the bond, but we don’t have to force it.” His gaze met mine. “The decisions, the timing, it’s all yours.”

“We’ll have to formally announce her to our courts,” Tristan pointed out. “Everyone knows we have a lifeblood amongst us. They’re expecting a prisoner, though, not a mate. And we won’t be able to keep her a secret, anyway,insideour courts.”

Lance nodded. “The key will be to keep moving, like you said.”

Mordred paced away for a moment before turning back to us. “Okay. We announce our shared mate bond at each court. Find refuge. Make plans. Then we act, eventually, against Morgan. As soon as we can.”

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