Page 61 of The Death Dealer

A batto the forehead wouldn’t have stunned Trevor as much as Damian’s kid telling him to choose Deni over Soleil, especially after the girl called him Uncle.“Excuse me?”

“She wants you to choose her over Aunt Soleil. So you have to pick her.”Sabrina shrugged as if it were a given.

“Otherwise?”

The girl sought her father’s permission, and Trevor followed her gaze to Damian, who shook his head.

“If she knows, I need to also, Dethridge. Soleil’s life could depend on it.”

The Aether weighed his strict no-revealing-potential-outcomes rule against what he knew to berightas Trev waitedimpatientlyfor him to decide.

“The future is fluid, Blane,”Damian finally said.“It’s ever-changing. If she tells you what she suspects, but it alters between now andthe momentit’s expectedto happen, you could misstep and make things worse.”

The explanation made perfect sense, but it was no less frustrating to hear.“Fine. I’ll play it by ear.”

“It sounds like the only certainty is that you should stroke your ex-girlfriend’s ego.”

Trev conjured a cup of coffee and a glass of water, using one to chase the other. Hopefully, the fatigue leftover from Damian’s sleeping spell would wear off soon. He couldn’t go into this with a clouded mind, or he’d put Soleil at risk.

“Can anyone tell me how to find her? My Trackersweren’t able todo that over the last two years.”

“We’ll call in Masters.Between the four of us,we can neutralize and rip open the portal.”

Pausing between sips of coffee, Trev raised a brow.“Four?”

“You, Draven, Sabrina, and myself.”Damian tapped his daughter’s nose with a doting father’s smile.

“That works.” Trevor calculated their odds. “It’s doubtful there’s anything stronger than two Aethers and a Guardian.”

“It would be if you added Ronan and Dubheasa,”Sabrina piped in, referring to the two Guardians who watched over her and her brother, Nate.

“Do we need them?”It’s not that Trevor didn’t like Ronan and Dubheasa—heabsolutelydid, going so far as to consider them friends of a sort—but if they needed that much firepower to break through a portal, things were worse than he suspected.

“No,”she said.“But three Guardians are stronger than one.”

“Thanks for the math lesson, kid.”

“You’re welcome.”

Trevor hid a grin behind a sip of coffee. Sabrina Dethridge was a cheeky devil, and they all knew it. She was their future Oracle, and to a man or woman, every Sentinel who served Damian in the past would lay down their life for her. For the entire Dethridge family, if it came to it—and it almost had.

“Okay, I’m caffeinated, and my magical hangover has lessened. Let’s plot this thing out. I want Soleil back where she’s safe.”

Damian and Sabrina smiled their approval. Their favor was a good thing if theywere all going tobe related by marriage someday. Trev hadn’t thought to ever go there with Soleil because of his curse, but if their long-term relationshipwasinevitable, he’d accept his fate and be happy for whatever time they had together.

CHAPTER22

“He’ll remain with the Authority, Mother,”Deni told the petite, smart-dressed blonde.“Trust me. No one knows Trevor Blane as well as I do.”

The smug way she’d said it, along with the superior look she shot in her direction, made Soleil want to rip Trevor’s ex’s head off her shoulders and use her dried-out skull as a chalice to drink aged whiskey.

Bitch.

“I understand youbelieveyou do, darling, but it’s been over two years since you’ve last seen him,”Deni’s mother said.“People change.”

“Not Trevor.”

Yes, Trevor,Soleil wanted to shout. Did the skanktrulythink he would sit around and pine away for her forever?