Disappointment racks me, but I ignore it. I’m certainly used to it by now, and—on the positive side—at least my hands aren’t trembling anymore. So what if she remembers the facts of what happened today and nothing else. Certainly nothing that came before. It’s probably better that way.
“Don’t thank me,” I tell her, even as she reaches for me, her hand clutching at my arm as she smiles up at me in a way I haven’t seen from her in quite a while. Now my whole body is trembling…and I don’t have a bloody clue what to do about it.
Especially when Grace is full-on grinning at me despite the fact that her grip isn’t quite as strong or as firm yet as it would normally be. “And why is that exactly?”
A half a dozen answers come to mind, but in the end, I don’t say any of them.
“That’s what I thought.” She rolls her eyes. “Just admit you saved me, Hudson. I promise, it won’t make you any less of a jerk in the long run.”
“I think you’re confused.” I shake my head again, more determined than ever to make it stick this time. The last thing I want from Grace is gratitude. It’s the last thing I’ve ever wanted from her. “I was just—”
“I don’t want to argue with you,” she says. “Especially over something so ridiculous.”
“So don’t,” I answer. “I’m sure you’ve got better things to do right now.” Besides, you know, ripping my heart out of my chest again.
Things like returning to Katmere and taking her rightful place in the Circle.
Both necessary.
Both important.
And both extremely dangerous.
Because Grace may have survived my father’s bite, but that only makes her more of a target, not less. He will heal eventually, and when he does, he’ll be angrier, and more afraid, than he ever was before.
Which means it’s already too late.
The war I’ve worked so hard to prevent—the war my brother and others have tried to blame me for inciting—will come whether we want it or not.
Whether we’re ready for it or not.
And now that we know what side the wolves will fall on… It took an army of gargoyles to defeat them the last time the vampires and wolves fought together. Who knows what it will take today, especially when all we have is one gargoyle and a few rogue vampires to join the witches and the dragons.
Not great odds.
But thinking about the war will wait…at least a few more days. Because as Jaxon reaches down to help Grace from the hole I created for her, he wraps his arms around her and presses her body to his. And I begin to see red, even before he leans down to kiss her, and every ounce of chill—and emotional self-preservation—I have goes out the fucking window.
My hands curl into fists, my fangs explode in my mouth, and though there were a million other ways I was hoping to break my newfound knowledge to Grace, the words come out before I can even think about stopping them.
“Jaxon, if you wouldn’t mind, take your fucking hands off my mate.”
End of book Two
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Acknowledgments
Writing a book this big and complicated takes more than just one person, so I have to start by thanking the two women who even made it possible: Liz Pelletier and Emily Sylvan Kim.
Liz, I feel like we’ve been through a war, or three, and I can only say thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for pushing me and this book past my comfort zone, thank you for your unflagging determination to tell this story, and thank you for the Herculean effort you put in to make sure that we got it done （in a ridiculous amount of time）。 We make a great team and I adore you more than I can say.
Emily, what do I even say? You’ve been with me through every twist and turn of the last sixty-four books and I am so incredibly grateful. Thank you for your enthusiasm, your support, your friendship, and all the late-night solidarity sessions. You are, sincerely, the best agent and friend in the whole world.
Stacy Cantor Abrams, while I was working on this book, the anniversary of my first YA novel passed, and I realized that we’ve been working together for ten years. I’m so, so lucky that you bought Tempest all those years ago. I’ve learned more from you than I can ever say and am thrilled to count you as a great friend as well as a great editor.
To everyone else at Entangled and Macmillan who has played a part in the success of the Crave series, thank you, thank you, thank you. Bree Archer and Elizabeth Turner Stokes for making me all the beautiful covers all the time, Jessica Turner for the amazing marketing and publicity, Meredith Johnson for all your help with this book in all the different capacities, Toni Kerr for your flexibility and the incredible care you took with my baby, Curtis Svehlak for making miracles happen on the production side and for putting up with me being late on everything, Katie Clapsadl for answering a million questions with such grace, Riki Cleveland for being so fabulous always, Heather Riccio for all your enthusiasm and help with a million different things, Jaime Bode for being such a devout advocate for this series, and Nancy Cantor, Greta Gunselman, and Jessica Meigs for taking such care with every page of this story.