Kody’s capacity for love defied explanation. It made no sense to him. He doubted if he could be so forgiving in her place. She had every right to kill him.

But then, that was what made her so incredibly special. What made her hold a part of him that no one else ever would. Like his mother, she was a creature of pure light. One who never failed to warm him no matter how beat down or cold he felt. They could always make him feel better. Make him feel important.

Make him feel loved and cherished.

Heroic.

Cupping her chin in his hand, he leaned down to press his cheek against hers and inhaled the warm, vanilla scent of her skin.

“What am I going to do, Kody?”

“What you always do. Fight with everything you have, no matter what they throw at you. Over. Under. Around, or through. There’s always a way.… Your enemies will not take mercy on you. The world will not take mercy on you. Therefore, I will not be doing you any favors if I take mercy on you.”

He laughed at something her brother used to say to her. It was something her brother had learned from their father. “Love you, Kode.”

“Love you, too.” Rubbing his arm, she stepped back. “You want me to contact Suriyel and see if they know anything?”

He shook his head. “Let’s keep the Arelim out of this for as long as we can. If they don’t know anything, I don’t think we should notify them. Might stir them up. Make them do something stupid. ’Cause while I like to think I own the majority share of that, it’s the part I don’t own that others do that keeps me up at night, terrified of what they’ll do with their portion of it.”

“Good point.”

Nick glanced into the room where Bubba and Mark were. Guilt gnawed at him as he saw Mark’s condition. They were both innocents who’d been caught in the cross fire of his screwed-up life.

Kody and Xev were right. His enemies would never take mercy on him. It was why he had to be so careful who he allowed into his circle. Ever on guard of those he loved best.

So long as he was around them, they were all in danger. And only a tiny handful of them really knew why. The rest, out of necessity, had to be kept in the dark.

Xev came outside. “So what’s our next move?”

Before Nick could answer, his phone rang again. It was Caleb’s number. Worried his condition had worsened, he clicked it on to find Livia on the other end. “What is it?”

“I found her, Nick.”

“What?”

“Your mom. I just got her home for you, and put her to bed. She’s asleep, with no idea what happened to her.”