“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes,” she whispered.
He nodded as though he understood what was happening, hugging her before murmuring something in return.
“I understand,” Aileana replied.
Understand what? I didn’t understand. What was happening?
Frustration and anger and fear ran through me. Red tinged my vision as I followed my mate. “What did you do?” I said again, my fists furling at my sides.
Aileana ignored me, turning to hug Ryllae next. Then she did the same with Maiela and Kysha.
“What did you do?” I growled.
Finally, my Earth Elf turned back to me. Tears lined her eyes, and her cheeks were damp as she sniffled. Reaching for my hand, she led me away from the others. I could feel Saena’s gaze on us as we stopped near a grove of trees.
“Elyxander,” Aileana started.
Right then, I knew. In the depth of my soul, in the part of myself that I had never shared with anyone but her, I knew. Anguish flooded through me and my dragon roared.
“What did you do?” I asked again, the words barely making it past my lips.
“I had to,” she whispered. Raising a hand, she traced the line of my jaw. “It’s the only way to keep you all safe.”
“No.” I shook my head forcefully. “You can’t do this.”
Aileana reached out, looking at me through watery eyes. “Elyxander.”
“No!” I shouted.
“We’re partners, right?” She traced the binding mark on my arm, staring at me imploringly. “Equals in every way?”
In my life, I’d been tortured, stabbed, sliced, and burned. I’d been subjected to dragonsbane, and I’d fought in countless battles. I’d been hurt in every single way imaginable, and yet none of them came close to the absolute agony running through my body.
“Always,” I whispered, forcing the words past the growing lump in my throat. “We will always be equals.”
Tears rushed down her face. “Then you’ll let me go.”
“No, she’ll kill you.” I shook my head. “She killed Nonna, and I won’t let her—”
“She won’t.” Taking my fingers in hers, Aileana pressed our joined hands against her stomach.
I stared at her. “What—”
“Saena will not hurt me,” my bonded mate whispered, her voice so low I could barely hear it.
“How do you know?”
“She won’t, because she knows what it’s like to lose a child.”
Before I could react or move or speak or even think, Aileana’s hand landed on my cheek. She pulled me toward her, her mouth gently brushing against mine. “I love you, Elyxander. I willneverstop loving you. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not a year from now, or a decade, or a century. Remember that, my love. Every time you look at the stars, know that I am looking at them, too. Distance cannot destroy us. You are mine, and I am yours.”
Everything within me broke. I fell to my knees. Aileana was pregnant, and she was leaving me.
“No.” It was the only word I knew. The only word I could say. And so I said it, over and over again. Louder and louder, as if that would make this beautiful, incredible, stubborn, fierce mate of mine change her mind.
Aileana shook her head as tears ran down her face. “I love you, Elyxander. Let me save you.” She looked over her shoulder. “Let me save all of you. This is the only way. She’ll kill us all, otherwise. My magic is empty. So is Ryllae’s.”