She gripped his fingers so tight it cut off the circulation. “Yes, I do. But as long as you’re living the life you live, I won’t. You and I are not a couple. We had an affair—we haven’t even dated. We’re not together, and I’m not waiting for you. This baby and I deserve someone who will always put us first.”

The ferocity in that rocked him back on his heels.

Just as fiercely, he growled, “This isn’t goodbye. But there are several other people involved, along with those who have already been killed, and remember, careful investigations take time. I have to finish what I started for everybody’s sake—including this new young life you carry—and then I will find you.”

“Am I supposed to believe you’ll walk away from your plans for building power, just like that? Well, I don’t. You’ve had a long damn time to become who and what you are, and people don’t change on a dime even if they might want to.” She yanked her hands out of his. “Your taxi is here. Just go, will you?”

Fucking hell. He lunged forward and kissed her with all the wild hunger raging inside. It rocked her back in her chair. When he pulled back, he said through gritted teeth, “See a doctor, milaya. Let me know how you’re doing.”

Looking devastated, she nodded and whispered telepathically, <Goodbye, Alexei.>

If she had stabbed him in the heart, she couldn’t have dealt a more effective wound. Blindly raging, he grabbed his carry-on and stalked away.

This baby and I deserve someone who will always put us first.

They did. Goddamn it, they did.

And he could not walk away from his coven, not after the decades they had put into their mission. He could not simply walk away from what he had started.

As he waited to board his flight, he texted his coven. We have got to do whatever it takes to finish this.

Chapter Sixteen

The next day, Molly left New Orleans. She still had another night booked in the vacation rental, but Josiah… Alexei… had put his stamp on everything. He was everywhere she looked. She couldn’t rest on the bed without his reclining body to curl against.

And her Power finally unfurled, fueling a sense of restlessness. It was time to start the search again for her teacher. When she started to drive, another sign leaped out, this one in the shape of a key pointing west.

Over the next three days as she drove toward Los Angeles, she began to sense when the moon rose. It was waxing toward the full moon. Each evening the glowing, ivory orb grew larger, like a vast night-skinned goddess slowly opening one eye to contemplate the world spread below.