Page 76 of Alpha Exile

"Because I know where she is now." Reaching for the first aid kit, he grabs the bottle of pain killers, wincing as Delilah rubs at his right ear. "I can—I can hear her thoughts, and sense her location. I think I even might know her weaknesses. Some kind of lingering affect of the possession. That's a good thing, right? That's useful?"

Delilah and I exchange a troubled glance.

It might be.

I hope that it is.

Thirty-One

Delilah

"And you're sure you're really feeling her?" Kerry leans in, holding her hands up in a triangle shape and peering at Roarke through them. "Be specific. Double check and make sure that it's Delphine you're sensing."

Eyes closed, Roarke purses his lips and makes a low, thoughtful noise. The rest of us all watch him, the air tense and expectant.

"It looks like her." He winces. "She's moving away from the territory, so the signal is becoming faint. But I can see her. And she's muttering beneath her breath... she did that when she had me under her control. I can see bits of black magic floating off her fingertips, too, and her dress is burned from... fire? I didn't see her get burned, but that's what I see now."

I breathe out slowly, sharp relief in my chest. "I burned Delphine's dress during our battle at the foot of the mountains. Roarke was out of it when that happened, so he wouldn't have seen it then. If he's seeing her dress scorched up in his vision, it must be real."

"I'm not spotting any falsehood through my truth-seeking spell," Kerry murmurs, hovering her hands near Roarke's head in various spots, then squinting at him through first one eye, then the other. "It doesn't appear that he's connected to Delphine in any way anymore. The mate bond is intact... though it's weak, and relatively fragile."

She straightens up and looks at me. "I think he's right. Somehow, the possession and extended period of mind control gave him the ability to psychically connect with Delphine. Because of your weave-severing abilities, that connection goes one way—so she can't sense him the way he can sense her."

I bounce up onto the balls of my feet, a thrill of excitement shivering across my skin. "This is it, then. We've finally got a way to track her down and end her permanently. She won't get away this time."

Next to me, Finn whoops, then grabs me and spins me towards him. He drops a passionate kiss on my lips, smirking as he pulls back from me. Roarke stands up and throws his arms around Kieran, then high-fives Lance in excitement, all while Bastian watches with a soft smile on his face.

Kerry is more sober. "You'll want to be sure you're prepared for the battle when youdogo after her. Whatever she's up to, I have no doubt that she's only retreated so she can gather more power and come back a second time. This isn't a moment to go in half-cocked without a plan."

"We won't," I reassure her, instinctively looking to Lance, my strength in times like these. "I've only just brought us back together, and I want to make sure we're on sure footing before we charge in. This time, when I draw Gregor's dagger, I'll have a target for it."

"Agreed." Lance nods sharply, shoving Finn aside so he can put his hands on my shoulders and look steadily down into my eyes. "We've all changed since Delphine took us, Roarke most of all, though none of us are untouched. Now that we have these new abilities—seeing ghosts, using fire, even sensing her location—it's important that we train and hone them."

"You should strengthen the mating bonds as well," Kerry adds, piping up. "The last thing you want is for her to steal them again when she gets the chance."

Cat, whowasquietly puttering around in the kitchen until now, snorts loudly at that. "Does this mean another round at the Mating Circle? Because if so, warn your old mom so she can drop off some snack and electrolytes."

I roll my eyes at her suggestion. As thankful as I am for that night, because it brought us all together, I don't want to go through the awkwardness of it again—especially in public.

"I don't think we'll need to do that," I murmur, looking around at each of them. "We've already renewed the bonds. They just need to be strengthened and settled into place. Remember that time I showed all of you the threads?"

"I remember," Bastian murmurs, his eyes gleaming with memory. "That was when you fought for me to be included in the pack, and as one of your mates. I'd thought I was lost before then."

Lance asks, "So we're going to do that again? Just... look at the threads?"

"I can see them all the time now," Finn pipes up, sounding smug. "In fact, I can seeallmagic. Including that truth-seeking spell you cast, Kerry."

Kieran snorts. "Someone's feeling a little less special these days."

He gets an elbow to the middle for this, and I just laugh. "We'll do more than look at the threads. I've been strengthening my bond with the fire flowers, and Kerry has shown me a few weaving witch tricks. We can strengthen the bond with magic—this way, the next time we face Delphine, she won't have a chance in Hell of stealing any one of you."

I meet Roarke's eyes meaningfully, and he nods gratefully, swirls of emotion pulsing through our mate bond.

No one will ever put their hands on him again and keep us apart, that much I'm certain of.

* * *

Patting the small leather satchel I've slung around my belt, which has settled just next to the dagger, I reflect on the Spirit Eyes I pulled from Roarke's chest. He's since recounted much of what happened to him with Delphine—a period of time that includes a great deal of blank space and blacking out, which I'm grateful for, because it means he doesn't remember how his body got bruised up or abused.

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