“I wouldn’t,” Bailey said, very low. “I won’t. I love you too.”

She nodded again and wiped her eyes. “Okay,” she said again. “We’ll put this behind us. For now, go home. I’ll get in touch when I’m ready to talk again. Don’t expect to hear from me for a couple of months. I need some time.”

Bailey took a quick step forward, her face crumpling. “Don’t send me away. I’ve been in hell. I only just found out this morning that you were okay. Let me stay to help.”

“Not this time, kiddo,” she said quietly.

Bailey’s obvious distress finally loosened Melly’s limbs, and she felt able to pull her sister into a hug. Bailey clung to her.

“I really hate this,” her twin muttered.

Yeah well, you should have considered that before you stabbed me in the back.

Melly thought it, but managed not to say it. As Julian had said, relationships are breakable.

She pulled away. “There’s a reason why I need to take some time.”

“Fine. Damn it. I understand. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.” Bailey swiped at her nose with the back of one hand. “Mom sent Shane, and he can captain the other troops. They have your gear with them.”

“All right, thanks,” she said.

Reluctantly, Bailey backed up. She whispered, “I really am sorry.”

Melly had to turn away from the pleading in Bailey’s gaze. Her emotions were too powerful and contradictory.

“I hear you,” she said. It was the best reply she could offer.

“Melly,” Julian said from the doorway.

He strode into the room, sweeping past Bailey without acknowledging her presence or giving her a second glance. Bailey hesitated only briefly before leaving.

Julian strode across the room toward Melly, his face and body tight with fury.

“What’s happened?” Her heart kicked. She searched his face. “Justine’s done something else, hasn’t she?”

He shoved his phone into her hands. She looked at the screen.

There was a text message highlighted, from Gavin.

A single word.

Help.

Staring at it, she shook her head. Her thoughts felt slow moving, like a mudslide. “I don’t understand. Gavin’s the Nightkind government IT guy, right? Isn’t he in Evenfall?”

“Exactly,” Julian growled. “He’s in Evenfall.”

He spun to go back the way he had come.

Shoving the meeting with her sister aside until she could think about it later, Melly followed on his heels. Back in Julian’s office, Xavier paced stiffly as he spoke on his phone. Tess sat at Julian’s desk, tapping furiously on the keyboard.

When Xavier caught sight of Julian, he clicked off his phone and pocketed it.

He said, “I can’t confirm one way or another. One of the helicopters sighted this morning in the city could have been Dominic’s, but it might not have been. And nobody’s answering either of the secure lines at Evenfall.”

As Tess stared at Julian’s desktop screen, she spoke up. “The server appears to be down, which isn’t exactly news with the blackout in place. Most likely, Gavin sent that text using a hotspot in his phone.”

Xavier said quietly, “It’s possible the telecommunications cables have been sabotaged.”

Tess swiveled away. “The simplest way to create a blackout is to power down the servers. If they’re turned off and unplugged, they can’t be used or hacked, but that’s an easy fix. If somebody has cut the cables, then it will take a couple of days and repairmen to bring them back online.” She sounded frustrated. “Which is a shame, because if they were operational, I could try to patch into security footage to get some visuals from the camera feeds inside the castle.”

Julian’s expression turned violent. “And Gavin can’t act independently to turn them on again without my express permission, because I gave him a direct order. He would have had to work against himself to get that one text out. I’ve texted him back to tell him to turn the servers back on, but now he’s not answering. Goddammit.”

The mudslide in Melly’s head might be moving slowly, but it was as inevitable as a train wreck. She ran her fingers through her hair and scrubbed at her scalp. “If Dominic and Justine have teamed up, your people are in danger.”

Xavier said, “Their main priority will be to take the IT and munitions area, which is separate from the rest of the castle. Once they have control over the technology and the weaponry, they can take care of everybody else at their leisure.”

“Yolanthe is in there, along with troops who are loyal to me.” Julian looked at Melly. “They won’t surrender. They’ll be fighting, and they’ll be among the first casualties. I’ve got to go in to help them.”

She moved close to him and touched his hand. “You’re not going in without me.”

His fingers curled around hers. He said telepathically, This has turned into a much bigger issue than simply going after Justine. You don’t have to do this. In a very real way, it’s not your fight.

She told him, You can knock that shit right out of your head, soldier. If you’re going to be in danger, then yes, it is too my fight. I know I’m not your equal as a fighter. I’m a relatively young Light Fae, and I would have to devote several hundred more years of my life to achieve that as a goal. But I can be your partner in other ways.

I know you can. He squeezed her hand. I saw that for myself, down in the tunnels. If it hadn’t been for you, we wouldn’t be free right now.

Giving him a quick smile, she switched to speaking aloud. “How are we going to go in? They’ll be watching the helipad, and they can shoot down anybody who tries to fly in and land.”

Julian smiled back. As he still looked furious, the combination was chilling.

He told her, “Carling and I built Evenfall. I know ways in and out of that place that nobody else does. I’ll get us in.”

Xavier said, “We have to move fast. What kind of force can we put together quickly?”

Julian switched his attention to the younger man. “I have fifteen here at the house.”

“Mom sent me twenty troops, including Shane,” Melly told them. Shane alone was worth at least five other fighters in battle. “I haven’t had a chance to inspect them, but I know they’ll be some of our best. My sister would have been in that total. I just sent her home again, so I have nineteen.”

“My estate is so close, I can get six to meet us,” Xavier said.

“No.” Julian pointed at Xavier. “You’re no good in a fight right now. You’re out. It’s uncomfortable just to watch you move. It’s one thing if you’re forced to defend yourself, but that’s different from choosing to go into active combat.”

Xavier’s face tightened in frustration, but Melly noted how Tess’s tension eased.

The younger Vampyre said, “I’m not only close with Gavin and Yolanthe. I have other friends in Evenfall too.”

“None of them would want you to risk your life, not when you’re still recuperating. I rarely give you a direct order, but this isn’t open for discussion, Xavier.” Julian paused. “For this conflict, you may do anything you can to help, except go into battle yourself. Understood?”

The younger Vampyre bowed his head. “Yes, sir.”

Julian turned incisive. “I count forty-two. That’s Melly and her nineteen, me and my fifteen, and the six from Xavier. That’s a good, fast strike force. Any more would be difficult to take on the route we’re going to use to get in.” He thought for a moment. “We’ll leave in fifteen minutes. Do what you have to do to get ready. Xavier, get your six deployed. I want an advance scout to check out the grounds around Evenfall. If I were Dominic, I would set an outside guard around the perimeter. Make sure your people focus on the northeast side. We’ll be using a tunnel entrance in the forest. Tell them to get as close as they can for reconnaissance but not to take any unnecessary chances.”

“Yes, sir,” Xavier said again. Drawing out his cell phone, he walked out of the room.