We raced down the road toward the docks, and I gasped with an epiphany.

“How are we going to get out of the mage lands?” I asked him. But his only response was to shake his head, so I turned to his mom. “Can you get us out?”

She swallowed hard before answering. “We need a document signed by either a member of the High Mage Council or the alpha king to go through the portal to the mortal realm. I can get us on the boat to the magic lands, but getting through the portal to the human realm is a different matter.”

Great. A problem for future Nai I suppose.

As we approached the dock, the male mage captain straightened, displaying the thin triangle and dot mark on his forehead. He wasn’t the one who had driven us to the mainland before. Sitting on the railing, he smiled pleasantly as we drove past him and onto the small ferry, the bumper of our car inches away from the one Justice drove. The mage captain followed us, stopping only to gather a loop of rope that tied the boat to the dock. He jogged up the plank, and with a wave of his hand, the metal grate we’d driven over slid under the dock.

Please don’t let him stop us, I prayed.

We stepped from the vehicles, and the mage greeted Rage and then Elaine with the same warm smile.

Somewhere in his late twenties or early thirties, the blond-haired man had a boyish appearance with two dimples that made him seem much younger than his alleged years.

“Headmistress! Nice to see you, ma’am.” He nodded to the Midnight brothers as we exited and then circled around the vehicles. “Are y’all heading to the mainland for a bit of shopping?”

His gaze bounced from each of us to the next until he spotted the selkies, and then his eyes widened.

Shopping? I glanced at our haggard group and nearly laughed. Rage’s shirt hem was singed from his firefight with Declan, and both Justice and Noble looked like victims of torture—which was pretty much spot on. Headmistress Elaine’s clothing was splattered with blood, and Kaja and Fiona weren’t looking any better off than the rest of us.

Elaine cleared her throat, pulling a gold coin out of her pocket. “Yes. Shopping.” She slipped the coin over to the young man.

He took in our full appearance now and nodded, tucking it into his pocket and not asking any further questions.

“Shopping sounds like a dream,” Kaja said with a smirk as if we hadn’t just been in a fight for our lives. Once again, she solidified her spot as my bestie.

Fiona nodded to her sister with a conspiratorial twinkle in her eye. “Right?” She turned to the mage. “I’m practically dying to get away.”

I snorted at their twisted humor. Apparently, it ran in their family.

“We must depart immediately,” Elaine said to the man.

The man’s expression turned somber, and he strode toward the bow. Elaine pursed her lips, “I’ll see if I can convince Bert to take the rest of the week off,” she told us.

Before she could follow after the guy, who I assumed was Bert, Justice pulled at her sleeve. “Good idea, Mom.”

His injuries made me want to facepalm myself. “And can you ask if he has a bottle of mage wine?” I asked her.

“That is a very good idea, too.” Rage slid his arm around my waist and kissed my temple.

Elaine looked at me oddly but nodded.

I snuggled closer to Rage, resting my head on his chest. His heart rate slowed, becoming a steady thump-thump that lulled me with a false sense of security. Having him here, knowing he was safe and we were still alive, wasn’t something I could take for granted.

“I don’t think it’s the right time to be celebrating,” Justice told his brother. “We’re not out of the woods yet.”

I shook my head, but my gaze darted to the selkies before I stopped myself from spilling my secret. “It’s for later.”

Justice shook his head, but I’d take his censure now over having all of the selkies know my secret. Freaky hive mind. Besides, Rage could probably use their bond to speak to his mind.

“Are you coming with us or going back to King Ozark?” Rage asked the selkies who stood a few feet away.

My gaze bounced from my mate to Harp and Gray. Both selkies, like the rest of us, were splattered with blood and gore, but their armor had apparently protected them from serious injury. Like their matching attire, both men wore serious expressions.

“We’ll return to King Ozark now,” Gray said with a nod to Rage before facing me. “And my liege wishes to remind you that if you have need of us—the selkie warriors—you have but to ask.”

Mother Mage, I hope it doesn’t come to that.

Rage nodded. “Thank you. Tell your king I’ll keep my promise.”

Silence descended over the group as I was the only one who knew what the promise was.

Without further conversation, the two selkies climbed onto the railing and then dove into the dark water.

“I’ll miss the fanny packs,” Kaja said, watching them swim away and causing me and Fiona to fall into laughter. She then dragged me away from Rage and pulled me into a hug, squeezing me tightly. “Please don’t ever run away again without me,” she whispered into my ear.

I nodded, too choked up to answer.

“Well, they may not have the best fashion choices, but they were badass fighters,” Fiona remarked, coming to stand beside her sister. Kaja and I broke apart, and Fiona leaned close to us, “Maybe we should get some fanny packs?”

We all burst into laughter, something I felt I hadn’t done in years. The Harvest girls had that effect on me. “I kinda want one,” I said.

Kaja shook her head, raising her eyebrows at me in mock chagrin. “Well, that is just not fair. You get a fated mate and a fanny pack? Come on, Nai, spread the wealth a little.”

We chuckled, and then things turned more serious. I started to fill Fiona in on all the craziness that had happened since the night Honor died, but she cut me off.

“Kaja told me on our way from the infirmary,” Fiona said, shaking her head. “And I thought classes being canceled and the rumors of Declan’s breeding companions was a lot. Girl, you know how to shake things up.”

Kaja leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulder. “I knew from the moment you called Rage an asshole that you’d keep life interesting.”

Interesting seemed like such an understatement.

Elaine returned holding the bottle of mage wine and wearing a frown.

“Nai, you wanted this,” she said, extending the bottle to me.

I opened my mouth to explain, and Rage grabbed my hand.

‘Not here. Wait until we’re off the boat.’ Then, his gaze darted to the mage who drove it.

Clearly, you couldn’t trust people who could be paid off. Heard that loud and clear.

My gaze darted to his mom before returning to him. ‘Pretty sure your mom thinks I’m a lush right now.’

“That’s for me,” Rage said, taking the bottle from her. With a tight smile, he strode toward the SUVs to put it away.

Elaine shook her head as she watched Rage walk away. “At some point, I hope one of you will fill me in.” Then, she looked at me. “I know that’s not for Rage. He’s too much like his father, who almost never drank. Too much of a control freak.”

Good to know.