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Gallagher returned my glare with a grin.
    After ten minutes of hard meditation, I managed to push the darkness and terror down and slammed the lid to contain it. It continued to rattle and threaten to burst open, but by sheer will I kept it shut.
    “Perhaps you should allow Donovan and me to smooth things over with the humans, and then we can discuss our goals,” Gallagher said.
    I nodded and walked toward the lobby alone and without protest. I’d never be a good politician. No point in pretending.
    A moment passed before Liam and Nix burst out the door, each searching the space until they found me sitting in one of the white chairs in the corner.
    “What the hell happened in there?” Liam bounded to me, yanked me up and into his arms. “You were there, and then you disappeared.”
    “Andrew must have paused time.” Nix’s haunted eyes fixed on me, darted with hatred to Liam, and came back to me. “I’ll give you two a moment.” He returned to the briefing room door.
    “Does Nix know something I don’t?” The muscles in Liam’s arms flexed as he held me.
    Gallagher was right. I needed to tell Liam. “I—I have to tell you something.”
    He pushed me out to arm’s length and cradled my face in his palms. “I’m here.” The same tenderness that had drawn me in the first time I’d stood that close to him caught me again, sucked me into his aura of protection and made me want to spill my every thought.
    It took a moment for my courage to make it from my brain to my mouth. “The bond didn’t break.”
    Brow furrowed, he uttered an awkward chuckle. “Of course it did. You destroyed it.”
    Spewing grunts of frustration, I steeled myself for his rejection. “I’m not talking about ours.”
    Realization bloomed behind his eyes. “Oh.” He staggered back, his hand groping as if he needed something to hold on to. “Fuck.” A shudder ripped through him. He kicked one of the chairs. It crashed against the glass wall, but it didn’t break.
    “And that’s not all.”
    Liam cleared his throat, glaring at the floor with hands on his hips. “He’s risen.”
    “Yeah, but I don’t think he remembers anything. I feel his energy inside me all the time since the night you threw him from the tower, but his terror ate me alive in there. Gallagher knew because he can read my mind, and Nix figured out something was wrong within days of my arrival in Dun Bray and weaseled it out of Gallagher.” My hands worried together, writhing like the snakes in my stomach. “I’m such a hypocrite, getting mad at you for keeping things from me. But … I was afraid you wouldn’t …”
    His face snapped toward me. “What? That I wouldn’t want you anymore?” In two long strides, he came to me. “Dammit, Lila. I thought you knew me better than that.”
    He leaned closer and tangled his fingers into my hair, his breath coming faster with a slight hitch. My Light answered his touch to flare a golden orb around us.
    Head tilted, his body pulled mine to him until molded to his form. His mouth hovered teasingly close to mine. “I love you, Lila Gray. Nothing will ever change that.” Closer. “Ever.” His lips brushed mine and turned my body into a live wire, crackling with his energy.
    “We’re ready for you now, Li,” Nix said, disdain clear in his tone.
    Liam flinched, jerking me closer. “Li?”
    I dropped my face down against his chest. “Yeah. We need to go.”
    “We say that far too often to one another.” He kissed the top of my head and let his fingers slide down my bare arms. “We’ll talk after.” His hand rested on my shoulder as his frown deepened. “Wait … why don’t you just destroy the bond like you did with ours?”
    “I’ve tried. Every time, I end up turning into a bloodthirsty lunatic on the hunt for pain and sex.” I shuddered. “The last time … I would have killed Gallagher if Nix hadn’t been there.”
    “Shit.” Liam slid his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him.