To heal a Rogue

EDELINA

I reached up, took his face between my hands, and kissed him.

There was nothing gentle about it. Years of fury, longing, and something I refused to name went into that kiss, and he answered with a low sound in his throat, his arms locking around my waist as he hauled me against him, as though he feared I might disappear if he loosened his hold. For a moment, I let him. I let myself feel the strength of his arms, the familiar warmth of his body, and the unbearable relief of having him here, in front of me, instead of trapped somewhere beyond my reach.

When I finally pulled back, his forehead rested against mine. Neither of us spoke for a while.

”I felt you go,” I said at last, my voice rougher than I intended. ”When Willow died, it was as though someone had cut a thread in my chest. Was that deliberate? Did you really sacrifice yourself for us?”

”Of course I did.” There was no hesitation in his answer. His thumb moved gently along my jaw, a tenderness I had no business finding so disarming. ”You matter to me, Edelina. And breaking this curse matters just as much. If the Delicate had lived another hour, she would have seen everything. I couldn’t allow that.”

I searched his face for a lie. It was an old habit, one I had never quite managed to break with him. Whatever I found in his expression, I decided to leave it alone.

”I’ll be honest with you,” I murmured, drawing back just enough to look him in the eyes. ”I thought you were still as selfish as I remembered. I thought that when the walls began closing in, you’d abandon us as you did before. Save yourself and let the rest of us burn.”

I tilted my head, studying him.

”And the worst part is that I understood why you might. Immortality changes the arithmetic. A single life means something different when you’ve lived for centuries and expect to live for centuries more. I doubt anyone who hasn’t lived that long could truly understand it, especially those of us burdened with this curse.”

”I’m cursed too.”

”But you still have your immortality. Your power.” I shrugged, though the movement felt strangely uncomfortable. ”Perhaps that’s enough to buy you a great deal.”

His mouth twisted into something that wasn’t quite a smile. ”Perhaps.”

I sighed. ”I’m fairly certain that isn’t why you dragged me into your dream.”

”Damn right it isn’t.” The mischief returned to his eyes, bringing with it a glimpse of the man I remembered beneath all those years of bitterness and separation. ”We still have work to do, and I intend to help. This isn’t me asking you for favors, Edelina. I’m offering.”

A smile crept across my face before I could stop it. The expression felt unfamiliar, almost awkward, as though I hadn’t exercised those particular muscles in years.

”Then tell me how to get you out.”

”I can tell you exactly where my body is.” He folded his arms, settling into the matter with the confidence of a man who had been waiting far too long for someone to ask the right question. ”Your son has royal blood. He can unlock the glamor seal on the tank, then break the runes in the correct sequence and release me. It’s clean. It’s simple. And it’s the only way I’ll emerge with my full strength intact.”

I stared at him for a moment, considering the proposition.

”As neat as that sounds...” I trailed off, rubbing my arm. ”I don’t know, Lycaon. Johann is already hurting, and I’m keeping things from him as it is. He’s dealing with more than any young man should have to bear, and I can’t hand him another knife to hold against his own throat. Is there no other way? Could we do what you did with the witch?”

”It’s not that easy.”

”Why not?”

”Because the only reason I managed to get inside that girl was that she left herself open to me.” He resumed pacing, his restlessness returning almost immediately. ”She reached out to me, Edelina. She wanted to know who I was, what I was, and she kept digging until she found something she couldn’t understand. In doing so, she gave me a door. All I had to do was walk through it.”

I frowned, turning the idea over in my mind.

”So we need someone to reach out to you. Fine. I’ll find a criminal. Some animal on death row, a man no one will miss, and let him do the digging. I don’t know how one persuades an ordinary man to probe the mind of a half-god, but I’m sure you can manage that part.”

Lycaon burst out laughing. It was a harsh, delighted sound, entirely at odds with the grave situation we were discussing.

”That will hardly work.”

”Why?”

”Because a mind has to want to let me in. And even if I found someone willing, an ordinary wolf’s body would be little more than a bucket trying to hold the ocean. Unless...” He stopped, his expression sharpening as he considered something. ”Unless I found an Alpha. Are there any left in your dungeons?”

”Possibly. I can certainly check.” I deliberately kept Yannis Chonto’s name to myself. There was no reason to give Lycaon more information than he needed, not until I understood where this conversation was going. ”But go on.”

”Even then, it wouldn’t be simple.” He shook his head. ”Without magic and some form of consent, the chances are practically nonexistent. It doesn’t have to be written or spoken. An unspoken willingness would suffice, but there has to be a gate. Someone has to open it.”

I raised a hand.

”Wait.”

Something cold began to unfurl at the base of my skull, spreading slowly through my thoughts.

”That girl from Willow Shelter,” I said, choosing my words carefully. ”She consented?”

”Yes.” He answered as though the matter were perfectly straightforward. ”Her soul reached into this place, and she opened herself to me. I merely answered.”

The meadow fell silent. Even the grass seemed to stop moving.

”Like I am?” The question came out thinner than I intended. ”Right now, standing here with you. Is that what I’ve done?”

He didn’t answer immediately, and somehow that frightened me more than an outright admission would have.

His expression changed. It wasn’t the calculated shift of a man pretending to care, but something more immediate, a flash of genuine alarm that stripped the amusement from his face.

”Goddess,” he breathed. ”Edelina, I would never do that to you. Not without your consent.”

”You wouldn’t need it, though, would you?” I asked, my voice growing colder. ”You just told me that all someone has to do is open a door. You said it yourself. I walked in.”

”I didn’t take you.” He stepped toward me, his hands open at his sides, as though any sudden movement might send me running. ”And I won’t. Besides, it would be foolish. My mother’s curse has had its teeth in you for far too long. The strain of possession could hurt you, perhaps even kill you.” His gaze moved over my face, and something in it made my skin prickle. ”I know what you look like on the inside, my love. You’re made of splinters.”

”Your charm continues to astonish me.”

He ignored the barb.

”My true body is all we need to win this. Once I have my full strength back, no wolf alive will be able to stand against us. Not the curse, not the crown, not that entire sorry excuse for a court. All I need is for Johann to simply...”

”No.”

The word left my mouth before he could finish.

It hung between us, flat and final.

”I’ll find another way,” I said. ”But it won’t involve Johann. He’s paid enough already.”

For a moment, Lycaon said nothing. He simply looked at me, and I found myself waiting for an argument, another attempt to make me see sense, perhaps even one of those infuriating smiles he used whenever he thought he could charm his way past my objections.

Instead, something behind his face shifted.

It was subtle at first, like a shadow passing across a window, but I saw the warmth drain from his eyes. His expression settled into something cold and unfamiliar, and when the corner of his mouth lifted, it bore no resemblance to a smile.

”Perhaps,” he said softly, ”I’ll possess you instead.”