“Warned against it,” I finished for her. “Yeah, I know. But you trust me. You didn’t want your family line of power to die with you, though if I have anything to say about it, you’ll be outliving me anyway, so it’s a moot point.”

Shadow’s pissed-off grumble from behind broke through, but we ignored him.

“Angel,” I said, allowing her name to drift across in a whisper. “I call you ‘Angel’ because you’re the most beautiful, angelic being I’ve ever seen. You remind me of Earth’s version of a guardian angel, and I know your family filled that role in the past.”

Her eyes widened, and I had all of her attention now.

“If you allow me to touch you, I can release your memories,” Shadow said.

She snarled again, any sliver of trust that had been building gone in a flash. “You would touch me to steal my power. Or plant the very memories you want me to have. The odds of me allowing you to ever touch me are zero.”

“Great work,” I muttered to the beast, wanting to sigh at the backward steps we’d just taken.

“I don’t need her damn power,” Shadow rumbled. “Since I returned to the realm and bonded to my stone, I’m stronger than I’ve ever been, and if Angel removed her head from her ass for five minutes, she’d see that.”

And there he was, my Shadow Beast, nailing people skills since the dinosaur days.

Thankfully, Angel, who was also ancient, took a moment to consider his words and examine his power. When her eyes closed, I knew she was assessing the truth of what he’d said. An increase in power was a tangible measurement, giving our story some credibility.

“You are stronger,” she said, her gaze once again on us. Her expression remained wary, but there was curiosity there as well. Angel was ancient and world-weary, and more than a little broken, but deep inside, there was just a being who loved fiercely and deserved the same in return.

If she took the risk here, she would discover the inbuilt family she had in us. Her treasora.

Her family.

As that word shimmered in the air between us, she locked me in those depthless eyes. “Did you just speak in my mind?” she asked.

I shook my head. “We’re bonded, and while I can’t speak in your mind, sometimes the emotions or words cross through our connection.”

Her denial of our bond didn’t emerge this time. “I know you,” she whispered. “I’ve been feeling so lost, in a way that I haven’t felt since my family perished in the final battle of the meadows. I couldn’t understand why, after all of these centuries, I was back in the pit of despair. What could I have lost again when I had nothing left of any value?”