Damonq gathered Elina to him, opening the earth in the richest spot he could find. He would place her in it the moment he could safely command her and Carisma to sleep the healing sleep of their people. Until then he needed to hold her – not for her, but for him. He nuzzled the top of her head, the shadow along his jaw catching in her thick hair. He loved those silken strands, every single one of them, and she had a lot of hair. It was the color that had caught his eye, all that midnight black.“You’re almost there, sívamet. We’re so close.”“What happened? All the lightning. It was terrifying. I couldn’t see much because Gary threw me to the ground and covered my body with his. Beneath me, I felt the ground sizzling, almost like it was fighting back, but I knew it was him – Darkness. I knew he was attacking you. He kept saying he was going to kill you and the baby.”The little catch in her voice, almost a sob, made his heart clench so hard it hurt. That catch was there for him. He c

Damonq pushed back strands of damp hair from her face. She was sweating blood. There were dots of it on her forehead and smears on her body. He opened the earth right next to them, making it deep. Seeing the shimmer of rich minerals made his heart a little lighter.This is the scary part. Buried alive.Her voice tried to make light of it, but he felt the undertone of horror. You will sleep and the baby will sleep. When you wake, you will be out from under the soil. On your rising we will practice opening and closing the soil until I know you are always safe and feel confident in your abilities.He brushed a kiss across her mouth. He, as always throughout her ordeal, had swept away the dots of blood on her forehead and the smears on her body. All toxins were gone and the air was sweet-smelling and fresh. Still, she turned her head away.I am not clean.You are very clean. I will put you under before the next wave starts. I’ll sleep beside you this night. He waited for her consent. It

“They didn’t happen because I was alerted to the danger and took care of it. Would you like to see my back where the threads of fire Darkness created burned through my skin to the bone?” Damonq demanded.Liv shook her head, sending her older sister a quick glance of sympathy. “I’m so sorry, Damonq. I would never want to hurt Elina. She’s been one of my best friends. She saved us.” The last was said in a whisper, on a hiccup.“Elina trusts you. Tensel trusts you. We all do. You betrayed that trust to have fun. Just for fun.” He let that sink in.Liv was silent for a long time, staring up at his face with too-old eyes. “You’re right, Damonq. I didn’t think of the consequences, only that I wanted to fly my dragon. I couldn’t wait.” She took a deep breath. “I wanted to show Danny and Amelia what I could do so they would want to be ancient, too. I should have thought it out first. What can I do to help the families of the two men who died?”“They are dead. There’s no bringing them back fr

Damonq wasn’t about to let it go. Amelia had allowed Darkness to influence all of the children, but in particular, Liv, the ten-year-old. Claire hadn’t found parasites in her blood, so how was Darkness controlling her?“Check me, then,” Amelia demanded of Tensel. She refused to even look at Damonq. “I want you to. Check my blood. I know I didn’t do something like that.”“You did,” Damonq said softly. “Darkness found a way to control you.”“That’s not true,” she denied. “Tensel” – she turned to her guardian – “I swear, it isn’t true. I would never hurt my little sister, or Elina. Either one of them. Where would I get a needle filled with parasites? Tell me that.”“When I went up to get May and Lana,” Damonq said. “He had plenty of time to give you whatever he wanted to give you. You were out of my sight. Danny had run for safety. You were supposed to be right behind him, but you weren’t. Was she, Danny?”Her brother frowned and then shook his head, his eyes sliding away from the ancien

Gary shrugged. “I didn’t say I thought it was too risky, only that it is a flawed system. There are weaknesses and they have to be addressed if all of you want to be safe.”Damonq noticed the healer had said “all of you.” He hadn’t included himself as if it didn’t matter one way or another that he was safe. It hadn't been to Damonq before he’d found Elina. He knew it still didn’t to Sandu, Andor or Ferro. He looked around at the other ancients. So many without lifemates. The burden of an entire species fell squarely on the shoulders of a very few couples.“Elina wishes to remain here. She wants to have a home here near her friends,” Damonq said. “She will go with me if I choose to leave, but she would much rather be here. I would like to buy property bordering this one and add to the compound. I would also like to go through the entire compound with you, Gary and Tensel, to see if some of these weaknesses can be addressed.”Tensel inclined his head. “I’m grateful you wish to stay. Jane