There was a heavy, almost stunned silence in the room then, but he sure as hell had all of their attention. “I know you spoke of a prison circle, but… the fortress?” Len shook his head. “I mean, I expected you to come in hard, but that’s… harder.”

I sat there without a single clue what this fortress was, waiting patiently for someone to explain.

“The fortress is forbidden,” Reece said, sounding fifty percent less of an angry fuck than he had with Angel. “It could kill us all and destroy the realm.”

Well, shit. That didn’t sound good.

“We’ve all created one before,” Shadow said, not denying what Reece had said. “And we know there’s nothing else strong enough to contain the Danamain long enough for her powers to be stripped away. It’s our only real hope.”

“Maybe it won’t come to that,” Lucien said, clearly trying to sound hopeful. Trying and failing. “Mera’s plan is still solid. Dannie was reasonable at one point in time, and maybe with enough of us to give intervention a try, we might get through to her.”

No one looked convinced. Not even a little, but we needed the hope.

“We have a Plan A and a Plan B now,” Shadow finally said. “We can work with that.”

The others got to their feet, since it was clearly the end of his speech. “All of you rest up,” he continued, “and keep your powers as flexible and close to the surface as possible. We’re going to have to be at the top of our game tomorrow, which will start with fortress training.”

His friends nodded, trusting in him and his plan. “We’ll be in the library if you need us,” Reece said. “All of us will remain close tonight.”

Shadow agreed, and I was taken by surprise when he stood, dragging me up with him. Probably so that everyone didn’t see his raging hard-on.

“We’ll meet you all later in the dining hall,” he said. “For those of us who need to eat, it will be one last chance to fuel up.”

My stomach rumbled, and I was more excited than I’d ever admit, to know I had one last feast in front of me. Of course, all thoughts of my stomach vanished when the guys turned to leave.

Maybe it was the firm grip of Shadow’s hands on my hips, biting just enough that I could feel his imprint across my skin. Or more likely, it was the fact that while I knew we were going to have sex the moment they walked out the door, I didn’t know the how, where, or what Kama Sutra position he was going to put me into. The unknown was enough to have my knees weak, breaths short, and panties wet.