"Get up."

Cian's voice boomed in my ear, yanking me from a quite enjoyable dream. Involving syrup and whip cream. Two things I believed belonged only on ice cream in the waking world, but I was pretty much a yes woman in my dreams. All food, feathers, and chains were welcome, though come to think of it, the last two were on my list of things to try while awake.

"Now."

I swatted around my head and made contact with his jaw. He grunted when I shoved him away, but I ignored him and burrowed into my pillow with a sigh that turned to a scream when the covers flew off and long fingers wrapped around my ankles, pulling me to the end of the bed. Hands grasping for purchase, I failed to stop myself before I pitched over the edge and landed hard on my ass, right between his wide legged stance.

"That was totally unnecessary," I rasped in a voice thick with sleep. Looking up only to jerk my eyes back at once when they were met with the delicious sight of bulging thighs and... other bulging things, I added, "And a complete violation of the no touching rule."

"That is a rule I never agreed to."

He stepped over me and checked on June. She stirred and opened her eyes, cringing immediately when she saw Cian. A bit of his cool, cruel mask slipped, and he was gentle as he touched the visible bruises.

"I am sorry for what Kohl did to you. I will not harm you, and you are free to leave."

"Really?" She asked as she sat up.

"Really."

June flicked her eyes back and forth between Cian and me, reluctance visible in every line of her body. An ache spread through my heart. Not once in all the years I'd known her had I ever seen her anything but confident, and it was my fault she'd been broken.

"Really," I repeated, sitting on the foot of the bed. "He's not my favorite person or anything, but he doesn't seem to be needlessly cruel."

"You're coming with me, right?" June asked.

Cian tensed, but I cut him off. I couldn't be sure what Kohl had told her, but I prayed it wasn't the truth. If she knew I was going to die, she would refuse to leave my side, putting herself in more danger, and I wasn't going to all that.

"I can't. Apparently, he needs my help for some reason."

"An Andarien needs your help."

The incredulous emphasis on your was almost insulting. "I'm special, remember?"

"I will take good care of her," Cian, the man who claimed to not like lying, lied right through his perfectly shaped teeth without so much as flinching. "But it is a time sensitive issue, so I would ask that you leave at once."

Three days. That's all the time left on this earth I was guaranteed. The moment Cian delivered me to the Synod, this Shard inside of me would be ripped out, and with it my life. No more cases to solve or people to help or partners to fight with. Suddenly, this life that had always felt so empty seemed so full of possibility.

"Bria, I can go with you."

"No, it's not necessary." I scooted across the bed and took her hands in mine. "I want you to know I'm very sorry about what Kohl did to you. I wouldn't have invited you to Indulgence if I'd known it would put a target on your back."

"And I would have been pissed if you went without me. I consider it a fair trade." June's voice lowered. "Tell me you're going to be okay. Tell me you're not in over your head."

Aware of Cian's brooding presence, I threw my arms around her neck and squeezed tight while whispering in her ear. "Find Jac Grisham. But be discreet." Pulling back, I wiped tears off my cheek. "Get out of here and find some hot piece—or two—to feed off of and get back to your old self."

She nodded. The sucked on her lower lip and purred at Cian. "Of course, if you have a spare moment, I could take care of that business right now."

If Cian suspected I'd told her something I shouldn't have, June's blunt sexual come on distracted him from his suspicions. He didn't blush, but he stepped backward, and looked over her head when he replied.

"As much as the offer flatters me succubus, we really don't have the time."

Drawing back the covers, she exposed her long, elegant legs and stretched, toes pointing and breasts lifting as she arched her back. "It can be quick. Feeding isn't so much about the length of time but about the intensity, and there is so much sexual tension in this room, I have no doubt I would be satisfied for days."

"Again, no."

I knew June was only being half serious but jealousy pulsed deep inside me, alleviated only slightly when Cian denied her again.

"Pity." She stroked my cheek and fluttered her fingers down my beck. "Bria? Fancy finally crossing that line?"

Unconsciously, I clenched my legs together, her magic like a spark in gas fueled air, but before I could refuse or accept, Cian yanked me off the bed by my arm and dragged me to his side. This caveman behavior completely violated my no touching rule, but I couldn't tell him that in front of June. Not without giving too much away, and she needed to leave.

But whatever concerns I had about her being put off by his overbearing display vanished when she laughed. Getting out of bed, she straightened her rumpled outfit and kissed my cheek.

"If Kohl hadn't been involved in all this, I'd suspect you two were just trying to get rid of me so you could fuck each others brains out for a week." Cian's grip tightened. "Find me as soon as you get back. I want to see you're okay for myself."

"Of course," I promised, crossing my fingers behind my back and sending up a prayer she would find Jac quickly. He and his band of bitchy witches were my only hope at getting out of this alive.

The moment she was gone, Cian pulled me into the kitchen. I opened up my senses, searching for echoes now that the chaos had calmed, but besides the nasty energy brewing in the living area where the fight had happened, this place was almost barren of any energy. Coupling that information with the extreme lack of personal effects, I assumed this apartment was a new build, maybe not even his actual home, just somewhere to squat in while he wrapped up his business.

Two stuffed backpacks sat on the kitchen table. Cian threw one at me while hooking the other over his shoulder. Snatching a set of keys and shoving them in his pocket, he nudged me toward the door.

The overcast sky suited my mood. Even the cold wind was welcome, its harsh bite a reminder I was still alive, and as soon as I climbed in the passenger seat, I rolled down the window and hung my arm over the edge and rested my chin on my arm. Cian's gaze burned into my back, but I didn't turn to face him, staying quiet as he pulled out of the lot and headed toward the highway.

"Is this what humans call the silent treatment?"

His voice washed over me in a warm wave, and I blinked and shook my head, realizing I'd dozed off. The landmarks whizzing by were nondescript or local chains common to every town—nothing gave away where we were or how far we'd driven.

"Bria," Cian sounded exasperated. "This is going to be a long three days if you refuse to speak the entire time."

"Good." I croaked. "Do you really think I want them to be short seeing as they are my last days alive."

I jumped at a loud sound and twisted to find one hand was balled in a fist on the dashboard. Fire snapped in his blue eyes, and he slowly unfurled his fingers, pulling his hand back to the steering wheel.

"This is for the best."

"The best?" I gaped at him, sucking in a lungful of air and preparing to let him have it only to release it one long, defeated exhale. There was no point to this argument. We were just going round and round in pointless circles, both of us convinced we were in the right.

"We are not supposed to be in this world, Bria."

"Finally, something we agree on. But there has to be a reason the supernaturals in this world interfered and blocked your return to Andarie." Kohl's warning came back to me. That we'd locked the enemy inside with us. "People don't just agree to sacrifice their lives without good reason. I may have been left in the dark about my family's mission, but I understand that much."

"You understand nothing."

"Then make me understand." I faced him completely now. "Why did you come here in the first place if not to conquer our world, and what did Kohl mean when he said it's your fault you were trapped here."

"I—" He cursed. "Kohl is a liar and a master at twisting words to manipulate others. Trust nothing he says."

"Oh, sure," I mumbled mockingly. "Because I should totally trust the guy who has kidnapped me and is planning on killing me. It's even more convenient when we add the fact that you're the one he's accusing. Of course you would want me to ignore what he said."

"Five hundred years ago, our world was dying. We we were tearing ourselves apart with wars, and when..." He choked back whatever he'd been about to say. Inhaling and exhaling, he started again. "When a way to travel between worlds was discovered, my people jumped at the chance. We were refugees, and it was supposed to be a chance to start over. It wasn't until after we were trapped that we discovered how much weaker we were in this world. Some even died due to homesickness. Of the thousands that came, only a few hundred remain alive."

Ignoring the fact that his sudden forthcomingness had more to do with the fact I was going to die and therefore could do nothing with the information than with a real desire to be open with me, I processed what he was saying with an ache in my chest. For supernatural creatures from another world, their's was a very human story—if it was entirely true.

"But that doesn't explain why they would trap you here. If you were unwanted guests in this world, they would have sent you home, not shut the door behind you and locked you out."

"You're right."

"I am?"

Cian took an exit, exchanging the highway for a two lane road winding through snowcapped pines. "We weren't locked in by the people here. We were locked out by the Andarie, and your family agreed to help them in exchange for supernatural gifts they didn't possess as humans. So, the truth is the noble cause you think they sacrificed themselves for doesn't exist. It was purse selfishness that led them to taking on the Shards."

I was going to be sick, and what he said made a lot more sense with what I knew was true about most humans. Greed and selfishness was a lot more realistic than altruism, but I couldn't stop pressing him. Needing to find a hole in story. "The Shards make a key. How would it give them supernatural powers."

Cian gripped the wheel and closed his eyes. "Because the key is a who, not an it."