“Fine,” he bit out, sounding not even remotely fine.

Relief swept through me so powerfully I almost started crying, and he must’ve felt that through the bond, because his eyes widened slightly. I went over to him, folding my arms around his waist as I stared up at him. “Thank you.”

A sighed shuddered through him as he lifted his hands to my cheeks. “I hate this,” he said, voice low. “I hate the idea of not being in there with you. I’m your Protector. This feels...wrong.”

“I know.” My gaze searched his in the darkness. “But I’ll be okay. And you’ll be okay. We just need time to adapt to this. Patrol. Hunt. We haven’t had that time yet.”

“Don’t be logical,” he said, lowering his head. “That’s not your job. It’s mine.”

Before I could point out that I was entitled to be logical every once in a while, Zayne kissed me, and it was no quick, chaste kiss. He coaxed my lips open with his, and the moment the kiss deepened, the world around us faded away. I leaned farther into him, and when the sound he made rumbled through me, my toes curled.

“Well, now we know why Zayne’s suddenly all soft and virtually useless,” Cayman commented dryly. “Look at the happy couple.”

“I can still kill you.” Zayne’s lips brushed mine once more before he lifted his head, pinning the demon broker with a dark look. “Easily.”

Cayman gasped. “I’m affronted.”

I peeked over my shoulder, my gaze finding Layla. I didn’t know what I expected to see when I looked at her, but what I saw was happiness. The sad kind I recognized and had felt myself, way back when I’d realized Misha had been interested in someone. It wasn’t that I’d wanted him, or that I hadn’t wanted him with someone else, but he’d been mine in a way, and then he was no longer. I imagined it was the same for Layla.

Emotions were weird.

“That was the consequence?” Roth asked, cursing under his breath. “You fall in love and it weakens you?”

“Apparently.” Zayne’s hands rested on my shoulders. “Messed up, right?”

“More than messed up,” Roth replied. “That’s downright—”

“Smart?” Cayman said, and I was beginning to wonder if he had a death wish today. “What? It makes sense. Love can be a weakness or it can be a strength, but no matter what, love is always the priority. You both would put each other first, before your duty, and the ones in charge would see that as a weakness. Something they’d want to prevent.”

“Well, thanks for your input,” Zayne said, sighing. “That makes us both feel better about everything.”