Lately, the sound of her voice was enough to stir his cock—and her unhappiness was enough to wither desire. But not completely. Never completely. Between the erotic dreams and the nightmare of losing her, he hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks.

*Prince?*

Daemon turned and studied the Red-Jeweled Sceltie Warlord. Ladvarian’s determination had gathered the kindred who had pored their strength, love, and unshakable belief that they, along with the Arachnian Queen who had spun the powerful healing webs, could rebuild Jaenelle’s devastated body, could hold dreams to flesh and keep Kaeleer’s Heart among the living. He had brought the Jewel that became Twilight’s Dawn to the island that was ruled by the golden spiders who were the Weavers of Dreams. And he was the one who had finally allowed Daemon to come to the other island where the kindred had hidden, and cared for, Jaenelle after she rose from the healing webs.

*You are unhappy,* Ladvarian said.

*Just tired,* Daemon lied. *I haven’t been sleeping well.*

Ladvarian hesitated. *Should we take Jaenelle somewhere else?*

*No!* Daemon struggled to remain calm while temper and fear raged through him. That the small dog could, and would, remove Jaenelle from his care wasn’t lost on either of them. His inability to believe she would come back, his grief and longing filling the abyss day after day, had been the reason she had risen from the healing webs too soon. He was to blame for the suffering she’d endured when he’d first brought her back to the Hall. The kindred had been willing to overlook his failure to love without doubt, but they wouldn’t overlook anything else that might interfere with Jaenelle’s well-being.

*No,* he said again. *I’m grateful to have her here. I’m grateful to be with her.* And what he wouldn’t admit to was the fear that if the kindred took her away, he might not be able to win her back enough for her to love him again.

*She is healing, Daemon,* Ladvarian said after another hesitation. *She is getting stronger.*

*I know.* But she would never be what she had been. It wasn’t just her body that she’d crippled when she’d unleashed her power to save Kaeleer. She could no longer wear the Black or Ebony Jewels that had once signaled the enormity of her power, and no one really knew what to make of Twilight’s Dawn since nothing like it had ever existed. Sometimes it felt similar to a lighter Jewel, sometimes he could feel a hint of Ebon-gray or Black when he was near her.

He didn’t give a damn what Jewel she wore, but he, like the coven and boyos who had been members of her First Circle, worried that the loss of that power would affect her mental and emotional health, which, in turn, might damage her physical health.