“It scares him.” She crouched down in front of me. “His worry and fear for your safety make him feel unhinged. It makes him reckless. It makes him miss things he never would normally have missed. While it sucks for you, I’m begging you to please just give him some grace to settle into this.”

My chest tightened. My eyes burned like I was going to cry.

“He’s waited over a thousand years to step away from his mother. A thousand years, Frankie. This is also uncharted territory for him . . . and that’s not a feeling someone his age feels anymore. You understand?”

I nodded. “You’re right. I just . . . I just hate feeling like . . . like . . . this.”

“Trust me, so does he.” She smirked, then straightened and resumed pacing.

For a moment, we were all silent. It was tense silence. The air was thick and heavy.

When I couldn’t stand the quiet any longer, I cleared my throat. “So what are we supposed to do in the meantime? Just let them risk their lives while we do nothing? There has to be something we can do⁠—”

“I’m so glad you asked.”

We all jumped at the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

I flinched so hard I dropped my hair-tie and my left braid unwound itself. The woman had appeared in the middle of the foyer, though that wasn’t too foreign to me at this point. It was her appearance that shook me and robbed me of my breath. Because I knew exactly who this was. I’d seen her once—in that odd dream-like state when we went to get the medallions from Leyka. But there was no mistaking who she was. Her white hair hung low past her hips. It could’ve been longer, but it blended seamlessly into her white gown that sparkled with starlight and crystals. Part of me wondered if the author who’d written Twilight had seen her before deciding the vampires in her novel would have glittering skin. Her expression was unreadable. Her aura overwhelming. Those white and gold eyes scanned the room.

Tegan sighed. “Valathame.”

Valathame. The creator of our species, a literal angel from Heaven whom we referred to as Goddess.

She strolled over to Tegan, then frowned as she pressed her fingertips to her forehead. “Stay out of the Seelie tunnels, Tegan.”

Tenn’s brows scrunched together. “Everest pulled us in⁠—”

“Ah. Everest. He’s a good boy.” She smiled and let out a little chuckle, then reached up and pressed her hand to Tenn’s chest. “Breathe, Haven. I will break every rule I must to ensure your survival. After all, what’s God going to do? Punish me by sending me to Hell with Lucifer?”

Tegan giggle-snorted but she tried to hide it by pressing her face to Tenn’s shoulder.

Tenn grinned. “You’re devious.”