There was so much in those words, so much about his life I didn’t know … like what being burned alive did to someone’s soul.

Emotion racked my body, and even though I didn’t need to breathe, I forced several mental deep ones so I wouldn’t break into sobs again. “Honor, I won’t ever, ever let anything like that happen to you again.”

He frowned and reached out to touch my cheek. “Better me than you.”

I grabbed his hand and blurted the raw truth. “Honor, the king killed your dad. Declan’s coming for us now, in Montana. Rage is going to fight him for alpha king. I messed everything up, but I can fix this—sort of. We all miss you so much—I miss you.” I openly wept as I pleaded with my dead friend. “The king, the high mages, they pretty much all want to kill me. It’s crazy up there, and we need you. I need you.”

He looked back at his father, who gave him a tight-lipped smile and nodded once. “You need to live up to your name, son. If your brothers need you, if Rage’s mate needs you…”

Honor pulled me in for a side hug and kissed the top of my head. “Okay, Nai. I’ll come back—for you.”

I threw my arms around his waist, relief filling me when he pulled me closer. We held each other tightly and then we floated up. Higher and higher we flew, clinging to each other.

When I peeked down and saw my parents waving at me, my heart clenched again. “I’ll be back to speak to you!” I shouted.

We would have our time, but it wasn’t now.

As we floated up past the castle, I noticed the Keeper on the balcony, leaning against the railing. When my gaze met his, he nodded once and then snapped his fingers.

Everything went black.

My jaw clenched, and my eyelids snapped open. I was back in the cabin, in solid form, and Noble was screaming in pain.

“Nai, help!”

Holy mother…

Noble’s wolf was … ripping away from him. Not his wolf’s soul—or whatever that transparent spirit thing was, but his actual furry wolf. It peeled away from his skin as my grandfather stood firmly at Noble’s head, his wolf held by the jaws, and yanked upward away from Noble’s face. Honor’s new wolf was practically crawling out of Noble’s body. Getting to my feet, I reached around Honor’s black furry belly and heaved with a grunt.

Noble screamed bloody murder, thrashing against Rage and Justice, who still pinned him down. With a lurch, I tumbled back as Honor fully separated from Noble. Still holding on to his wolf, I braced for impact. I crashed into the couch and then I fell backward with Honor on top of me. After a stumble, he got on all fours and stared into my eyes. I could see it in his hazel eyes. I could see him.

“Honor?” I croaked.

Leaning forward, he licked my cheek and then sat back on his haunches with a wolfish grin.

I burst into laughter and tears, wrapping my arms around his neck. “It’s you. It’s really you.”

Rage stumbled forward, “I hear him. It’s him.”

Honor spun, looked Rage in the eyes, and then jumped up on his hind legs and licked his brother’s face.

Grandpa Geoff helped Noble sit up, and Justice held out the bottle of the healing elixir I’d made earlier.

“Noble,” Grandpa said. “You okay?”

Noble swallowed some of the healing elixir, his eyes wide and wild, but he nodded. “Honor?”

The black wolf bounded across the room, licking each of us before settling at Noble’s side. All of the brothers embraced the black wolf, and Grandpa Geoff looked at me and smiled.

“Thank you.” I squeezed his hand. “If there is anything I can ever do for you—”

Grandpa Geoff leaned forward. “There is one thing…”

Okay, he kind of jumped on that favor quickly. It must be urgent.

“Anything,” I assured him. This man had my back from day one, I wouldn’t deny him.

“Nai, I need you to—”

The cabin door burst open and Kaja came in panting. “The king and his men are here.”

Chapter 12

Even knowing King Declan would come eventually didn’t prevent my heart from thundering against my ribs at Kaja’s declaration.

“Now?” I muttered, grinding my teeth. I glanced at Rage, the muscles in his neck corded and taut as he rose. Why couldn’t we catch a break and have Declan get struck by lightning or something?

“Let him come,” Rage snarled, his voice more wolf than human. “He needs to pay for all he’s done.”

Speaking of that … I turned to my grandfather. “Declan had Surlama put a curse on Rage’s mother.”

The more I explained, the more the high mage shook his head.

“Is there any way you can help us break it?” I asked—begged, in fact.

“With Surlama dead, the only way…” He pursed his lips. “I’ll have to go back to the mage lands. I have plenty of spellbreaker root in my workroom. With Dark Row burned down … it’s the only place I know where to get some.” He gave Justice a withering glare.

Justice winced. “Sorry about that.”

I frowned. “About what?”

Justice ran a hand through his dark hair. “When Declan showed up at Surlama’s and it was clear they were in league together … I sort of flipped out … and burnt her tent down.”

A sly grin pulled across my face, and Rage clapped him on the back.

“But I didn’t mean for the entire place to catch fire!”

“Funny thing about fire, it’s hard to control,” Grandpa wisely stated before turning to me. “Nai, if I leave, I can’t help with the fight here.”

I nodded. “I know, but if we don’t break the curse, Rage can’t kill Declan.”

“True.” Geoff turned to Reyna. “We won’t have time to return through the mage portals. I’ll have to make one for us.”

Say what? I realized then that I didn’t even know the full extent of my grandfather’s powers.

She blanched but then nodded.

“Are you well enough to do that? I mean—”

“Where will you be?” he asked, completely ignoring my question. “Tell me, and I’ll meet you there once I have the root.”

“The main lodge, right next to my house where you met my dad,” I said, thinking it was a good meeting spot. If I met him all the way out here, I couldn’t help out with the fight either.

Grandpa pulled his redheaded shield to the side, and I turned to find Rage leaning into Kaja.

“Tell Crescent to hold Declan off as long as possible. We need to break the curse before I can kill him.”

Kaja nodded to him and then flashed me a wicked grin. “Never a dull moment.” She winked. “I’ll see you in the field!”

Then she raced from the porch, shifting back into her wolf midstride.

Justice stood with Honor’s black wolf at his side, and panic clawed through me as my gaze landed on the very human form of the third Midnight heir.

“Do you still have your magic?” I asked Noble, who gingerly climbed to his feet. Losing his wolf had definitely changed the slope of his shoulders, but to lose the power over his element too…?