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  “Jes. What are you doing? You should be in bed.”

  Giselle materialized. Giselle had helped deliver the baby, but she hadn’t been here a moment ago. Where had she come from?

  “I’m here to help you,” Giselle said.

  That sounded right. Giselle was always helping Jes. Giselle had been there for Jes when Dex hadn’t been. Instinctively, Jes moved toward her.

  “She’s letting go! I can feel it,” Lucy screamed.

  Jes flinched at the sound and turned her head—

  “No,” Giselle soothed. “Don’t listen to any of that. You’re tired. You need to rest. As soon as you do, you’ll have the baby again. It’ll just be the two of you. Forever. Just like you always wanted.”

  Just like she’d always wanted, Jes thought. Yes. She moved forward, ever closer to Giselle.

  But unfortunately, Dex wouldn’t stop talking.

  “Don’t leave me, Jes,” he begged. “I’m so sorry for what I did. I just wanted to protect the baby, but I should have known you would never hurt him. Even if the legend is true, you’d never do anything that would endanger him. I should have trusted you. Believed in the power of your love. After all, it had the power to change me. You taught me to love, and that’s a fucking miracle right there.”

  She thought she heard him sobbing, but that couldn’t be right. Dex wouldn’t cry. Dex wouldn’t say any of that to her. Lucy was right. She must be dreaming.

  And that meant she could go with Giselle.

  ***

  “Damn it, we’re losing her again,” Lucy cried.

  “No!” Dex framed Jes’s pale face in his. “Hang on, Jes.” He’d been getting through to her. She’d heard him. He knew she had. “Don’t you dare give in! Fight!”

  “This dark spirit’s powerful,” Lucy said. “But if he’s in Jes’s head, what does it want?”

  “It wants to live,” Dex said, remembering what the mage in the village had told him. “To take over her body permanently.”

  “How?”

  “By using a guise. The mage in the village told us that when a person is unconscious, a diabol could enter her mind the same way it would if the person is sleeping. As a dream. But the diabol would have to present itself as someone the dreamer knew and trusted. But who—” Dex’s gaze jerked to Cy. “You said Giselle was checking on Jes and the baby, but I haven’t seen her.”

  Cy nodded and handed the baby to Dex. “I’ll see if she’s in her room.”

  “No wait,” Dex said, thinking. “If she’s been possessed and the diabol is using her as a guise, that means there’s probably a shape-shifter nearby, the same one who created the bridge.” Torn, Dex looked down at Jes. “I can’t let you go by yourself, but—”

  “It’s okay, Dex, go. Leave me the baby,” Lucy said. “You and Cy find Giselle. It might be the only way to save Jes.”

  Lucy was right. Dex knew that. But he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Jes this way. Of losing her.

  Gently, Lucy took the baby from Dex. “Dex, I’ll stay with her. I promise. I’ll guard her with my life, just like I know you’d do for me. Trust me.”

  Lucy meant every word she said. She’d guard the baby and she’d guard Jes or she’d die trying. Gently, he kissed Jes and climbed to his feet. “Don’t let her go, Lucy. Keep talking to her. Keep telling her how sorry I am and that I love her.”

  ***

  As they ran to Giselle’s room, Cy leading the way, Dex gripped his hunting knife. “You have any of those poisonous throwing stars?” he asked Cy. “Because they’d sure come in handy right about now.”

  Breathing hard, his expression grim, Cy nodded. “Yeah. Give me a second to shift. When I’m ready, bust down the door. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “How will I know you’re ready?”

  Cy grinned. “Believe me, you’ll know.” He turned a corner before slowing down and pressed a finger to his lips. “This way,” he said softly.

  Stealthily, they walked until Cy stopped in front of a door. Cy stood on one side of the door while Dex stood on the other. Cy looked at Dex and mouthed “form number two” then started to shift. Dex recalled Cy saying he could shift into three different forms, only one of which gave him a tail. Within seconds just as it had before, Cy’s body marbleized. Instead of bursting into flames, however, it became covered in sharp scales. But then something even more amazing happened.

  Cy disappeared. Into thin air. As if he had the power to teleport. Or, Dex realized, to render himself invisible. Fuck. That was a sign if there’d ever been one.

  Dex kicked in the door and burst into the room, leaving space for the dragon-shifter to navigate around him. Giselle was lying on the bed, restrained, eyes closed, seemingly fine but for the thing undulating inside her. Next to the bed stood not one shape-shifter, but two.

  It wasn’t the sight of more than one shape-shifter that caused Dex to freeze.

  It was the sight of who was with them: Ella.

  One shape-shifter held the little girl in front his chest, one arm around her waist, her feet dangling off the floor, a knife to her throat. Ella’s eyes were wide, her fear apparent despite the way she struggled against her captor’s grip.

  Dex held out his hands. “Hold on, hold on. Don’t do anything rash.”

  “Put down your knife,” the shape-shifter yelled. As soon as he spoke, Dex recognized him. It was “Righty,” the diregeant shape-shifter who’d only spoken once, and only then to ask Dex if he’d impregnated Jes.

  “Now,” Righty yelled when Dex didn’t immediately comply. He tightened his hold on Ella, making her whimper.

  “Okay, it’s okay. I’m putting it down.” Slowly, Dex bent to lay the knife on the floor. As he did so, he said, “It’s okay, Ella. I won’t let him hurt you. I promise.”

  “Be quiet!” Righty yelled.

  But as soon as he did, his companion did a stupid thing. Instead of maintaining a position of safety near Ella, it ran. Not toward the outer door through which Dex and Cy had passed, but toward an open doorway to the right, likely the bathroom. If it was configured like Jes’s bathroom, it had a large window that accessed the outside.

  Righty automatically watched as the fleeing shape-shifter cried out. His body convulsed several times from the impact of Cy’s throwing stars before falling to the ground.

  Dex didn’t hesitate. As soon as Righty turned its head, Dex lunged for his knife, grasped the hilt, and threw it. It whistled through the air and plunged into the shape-shifter’s right temple.

  Righty howled. Blood sprayed out of his head and he released Ella. Ella immediately sprang forward and ran to Dex.

  She launched herself into his arms and he hugged her, saying, “It’s okay. You’re okay.” He held her out in front of him so he could examine her. “Did he hurt you?”

  Ella shook her head. “But Giselle,” she whispered. “It—it’s hurting her.”

  A spark of energy shook the air just as a naked Cy appeared beside them. He immediately checked to make sure both shape-shifters were dead, nodding to Dex in confirmation. Cy grabbed a sheet and wrapped it around himself.

  Dex hurried to Giselle but could only look down at her helplessly.

  He didn’t know what to do.

  Her body was still undulating, which meant the diabol was still inside her.

  ***

  Where had Dex gone? He’d been yelling at her, commanding her not to go, but then he’d left. Had he remembered that she’d lied to him? Had he decided he didn’t love her after all?

  “Come, Jes. Come let me hold you,” Giselle said.

  Giselle was a great hugger, Jes thought. But then another voice reached her.

  “Dex was right, you know.” It was Lucy. She sounded like she was crying. “You changed him. You performed a miracle, Jes, and you can perform another miracle. Come back to us. Don’t let this thing take you away. Please. Dex loves you. He’ll always love you. And he’ll always love your son.”

  Dex. He loved her. He would mi
ss her, she realized, but he’d also have Lucy to take care of him. Him and their baby.

  Although it made her sad, the thought also made her happy.

  It’s okay, Dex, she tried to say, though she didn’t know where he’d gone or if he could hear her. It’s not your fault. I understand why you did what you did. Considering how I lied to you, what else were you going to think? But don’t worry now. Our baby will always have you. I know you’ll take care of him. I know you’ll love him the way I love him. The way I love you.

  “Stop it,” Giselle growled. “Stop it and come here, you bitch.”

  Jes startled. Had Giselle just called her a bitch? Prim and proper Giselle, who never swore? Who wasn’t hateful or mean?

  In front of her, Giselle’s form shimmered until it grew dark. Ominous. Evil.

  Ah, now this dream makes sense, Jes thought.

  A diabol was inside her, trying to lure her to it so it could kill her in her dream and possess her body. And the reason it was freaking out was because the emotions that had allowed it to enter her in the first place—her horror and grief and terror over losing her baby—were fading. She’d begun to do what Bodin had urged her to do. She was letting go of her pain.

  It was the last thing Bodin had told her before he’d died. In one last bout of clarity, he’d called for her. When she’d arrived, he’d pulled her close.

  “Live, Jes. Do good but be happy. It’s the best weapon of all. Demon Tailors help dark spirits called diabols enter a person’s dreams. Their power is in negative emotion. Let go of the emotion, the hate, and the fear, and they have no power over you. Tell Dex to let it go before it kills him. Ask him to try and forgive me. And tell him I’m sorry. I wanted to love him. I would have. I did.”

  I did, Bodin had said before he’d died. Meaning, he’d loved Dex.

  Just as Jes loved Dex.

  And her love was the best weapon of all.

  She stared at the evilness in front of her and smiled. Foolish, she thought. It had been so foolish to think she’d surrender anything to it.

  “I forgive you, Dex. Je t’aime,” she whispered.

  She heard the diabol scream in fury.

  Then she was no more.

  ***

  Jes was so still.

  She had been still for almost twenty-four hours. Ever since the diabol had been expelled from Giselle’s body and Jes’s mind. One minute Dex, Cy, and Ella had been watching Giselle’s body undulate and then it had stopped. Giselle had groaned and seemed to come back to herself. While Cy and Ella stayed behind, Dex had run back to Jes.

  “It’s gone,” Lucy had said. “Did you—”

  Dex had nodded. “Hopefully Giselle will be okay. The shape-shifters that were bridging the diabol are dead. Why isn’t Jes waking up?”

  But Lucy hadn’t known why Jes remained unconscious. Or whether she’d come out of it.

  After checking her for injuries and determining that, physically at least, she was okay, they brought her into her bedroom, hopeful that the familiar surroundings would soothe her and encourage her to come back to them.

  Dex and the baby never left her room. After checking with Knox to make sure it was okay, Dex sent Cy for formula to feed the baby. His son drank it somewhat reluctantly but it was enough to curb his hunger. At one point, Cy came in to report Giselle had woken up. She was shaken and traumatized, but would be fine.

  Dex prayed the same would be true for Jes.

  As he watched over her, her body occasionally flinched, as if she was still fighting something inside her. Dex told himself that was good. It meant she was fighting her way back to them.

  Sitting on the bed beside her, Dex held their son. Gazing into the baby’s wide, serious eyes, Dex said, “She’s a fighter. Your mother will fight to the death to come back to you. To us.”

  The baby gurgled as if agreeing. Dex rested his forehead against the baby’s tiny chest and listened to the strong, reassuring beat of his heart. He allowed his tears to flow freely. There was no shame in loving Jes as much as he did or in fearing the loss of her. He prayed one day his son would find a mate to love just as much. He also hoped he’d be smart enough to cherish that mate from the very beginning.

  But no more regrets, Dex told himself. Jes wouldn’t want him carrying on so.

  There was only the present now, and if the Goddess granted it, their future.

  So Dex began talking to Jes.

  He told her things he’d never told anyone.

  He told her exactly what happened at the were orphanage.

  About Elliott. How they’d been beaten and starved and yes, even raped. How years later, he’d hunted down the perpetrators and killed them. How he’d believed that would set him free, but when it hadn’t, he turned his focus on the grandfather who’d abandoned him, blaming him for Dex’s suffering.

  “I even blamed my mother,” Dex confessed. “For letting him send me away. I cursed her. I wished her dead. And I got my wish, didn’t I? She killed herself.”

  He paused, but she didn’t respond.

  “Aren’t you going to tell me I’m being stupid? That I shouldn’t blame myself for her death? That what I was feeling was natural? Because I really need to hear that from you, Jes.”

  She remained silent.

  It didn’t matter.

  Hour after hour he told her stories.

  About his time with the Ferals.

  “You wouldn’t have liked them, but there was this one guy who wasn’t bad. And we rode to some amazing places. You’d like Yellowstone. I’ll take you there someday.”

  About the Para-Ops team.

  “You never got to see Wraith in action since she’d just been shot. But let me tell you, she was a sight to see. She almost blew her top when Felicia lectured her about verbal judo but she wasn’t as tough as she pretended. O’Flare saw that right away.”

  About a bunch of random things.

  “Lucy brought the baby back to you, Jes. She knew even when I didn’t that you’d never hurt him, and I’ll never forgive myself for that. But you never have anything to fear from her. Lucy’s my friend and that’s all. You’re the only female I’ve loved. The only female I’ve needed so badly I thought I’d die if I didn’t have. After that, I can’t go back to being Lucy’s fuck buddy. I won’t. We’ll find someone for her. I was hoping Cy might be a good choice, but then he went and pissed her off. They’ve been fighting like crazy, and if you know Lucy, you know she doesn’t like fighting. So I’d really like you to come back now, Jes. I’m not sure how long I can keep them from killing each other.”

  Most of all he talked about their baby.

  “He’s gorgeous, Jes, even if he does look a lot like me. He smiles when he hears my voice. And he smiles when he sees you. See, he’s smiling right now. I was wondering if you like the name Elliott? I told you about Elliott, remember? I know it’s a little, well, less than masculine, but we can call him Eli. That’s got a nice ring to it, don’t you think? I’m thinking that—Jes? Did you just move? Jes!”

  With his heart slamming against his chest, Dex kissed his son on the cheek and said, “Hang on, buddy. I think your mom might be waking up now. She’ll want you close when she does.” As he’d frequently done, Dex shifted Jes and positioned the baby so that he was pressed close to her side, propped up by pillows and the cradle of her arm.

  The baby cooed and blinked owlishly at him.

  “You think you can open your eyes now, Jes? I miss you so much. I love you.”

  There it was again. That flicker of lashes as she struggled to open her eyes.

  Hope swelled within him.

  After several tries, she finally opened her eyes. She frowned and he held his breath.

  She looked down at the baby.

  Looked back at him.

  “Dex,” she whispered. “Let’s call him Eli.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Jes walked down the center of the great hall, her smaller strides keeping pace with Cy’s longer ones. She rememb
ered that night so long ago, when she and Bodin had made a similar walk to the Draci leaders who waited for them. To the female Draci waiting to take Jes in. Jes had been so scared. Wondering what the future had in store for her. Wishing the werewolf who’d saved her loved her enough to keep her.

  So many things had changed since then.

  Today, Dex and Eli were the ones waiting for her. This castle wasn’t cold or gloomy. It was her home, filled with memories both good and bad. The room was lit not by torches, but by halogen bulbs, strings of twinkle lights, and hundreds of candles, all of them creating a warm, dreamy glow that complimented the bouquets of lush, fragrant flowers and the fairy-tale simplicity of her ivory gown. Her friends were here. Her family, both old and new, smiling and anxious to witness her union with Dex Hunt, the werebeast who’d once sworn to never have kids, never forgive his grandfather, and never give his heart to anyone, let alone a female.

  Jes and her brother came to a halt several feet from Dex. Dex wore a formal tux that perfectly hugged his taut, muscled frame. Its elegance did little to diminish the bad-boy vibe spurred on by his thick tawny hair, neatly trimmed soul patch, sensual mouth, and heated gaze. He was the perfect blend of devoted husband and father, passionate lover, and kick-ass whatever-it-takes-to-get-the-job-done male.

  She flushed as she recalled how thoroughly he’d been “working” these past few weeks—specifically, on convincing her that he’d protect, cherish, and love her for all eternity. Though she’d long ceased having any doubt of that, she hadn’t called a halt to his ministrations. She wasn’t a fool and he kept promising his best work was yet to come.

  They grinned at one another.

  Dex cradled Eli protectively close to him even as his appreciative gaze swept over Jes’s body, causing bolts of desire to course through her. His grin widened, telling her he hadn’t missed her response.

  Although he still struggled with resentment and anger at times, he was working on forgiving his grandfather. It wasn’t easy, but it seemed to be a huge factor in Bodin’s favor that his final words had helped Jes fight off the diabol that had possessed her. It also helped when Jes and Amanda told Dex about all the good Bodin had accomplished in his life.