the bond? Don't you need to go rogue since we bonded?"
He paused for a moment, then shrugged. "I feel fine. My guess is that I died too quickly to go rogue, but since I died, that fate is taken care of as well."
"Or it could still come after you," Gideon said, clamping his hand down on Ian's shoulder. "Welcome to the unstable world of being fully-bonded and always looking over your shoulder to see if fate's going to grab you by the ass."
Ian grinned, and slung his arm around Alice. "I've been stalked by magical shit my whole life. Keeps life interesting." He kissed the top of her head, his eyes growing serious. "Hey, Alice?"
She smiled at him. "Yes?"
"Since the new trend appears to be that we marry our soul mates, I'd hate to be out of the club. Will you marry me? And..." He cleared his throat. "I'd be a good dad," he said, not quite able to keep the thickness out of his voice.
She grinned, the most incredible emotions filling her up. "I will," she whispered. "I really will. And you will be an amazing father, one that will make yours proud." A flicker of sadness drifted through her heart. "But I don't know how to be a good mom."
"I'll help you." He laid his hand over her heart. "All you need is in here. I believe in you, and I'll help you find your way."
Alice put her hand over his, and she knew he was right. She might be a guardian angel, but she'd just found the guardian angel who was meant for her.
As they stood there, Alice became aware of a loud chirping from the ocean. Frowning, she walked over and peered out a window. Beneath them, cresting the whitecaps were two dolphins towing an ancient dinghy. Alice caught her breath as Ian's hands clasped her shoulders. "It's time."
"It is."
Anguish filling her, Alice turned toward Catherine and hugged her. "Let the Order protect you. They'll help," she whispered.
Catherine hugged her back. "I love you, Ally."
Alice pulled back, searching Catherine's eyes for a promise. "Stay with them, Cat. Seriously."
Catherine pulled back, wrapping her too-thin arms around her torso. "It's bigger than you know, Ally. I can't stay."
"But—"
Cat held up her hand. "Trust me, Alice. Let me do what I need to do. Don't come after me."
Alice's chest hurt with sadness, but she'd already broken one promise to her sister. She couldn't betray her again. "I'll always be here for you."
"I know." Cat hugged her again, then turned and ducked wearily down the stairs, slipping unnoticed past the men who were talking solemnly with Ian, not happy with his disclosure that he was off to become a merman. Guilt swept through her at the heaviness of the atmosphere, all jubilation from their defeat of the wizard gone.
The tightness of the bond between the men was evident, and Alice knew that they would have welcomed Ian back into the Order if he weren't leaving it to be with her. How could she let him give that up?
She knew then that she couldn't. He was compelled to come back with her, but if she could save Chloe, they would be allowed to leave. She would be trapped as a Mageaan without the pearl, but Ian would be free.
She would not let Ian stay with her. She would save Chloe not just to save the girl, but also to liberate Ian, and then, she would let him go.
It would be easy. As a Mageaan, she would control the sea. If she commanded it to reject him, it would. He would have no choice.
The dolphins squeaked again, and Ian met Alice's gaze, his warm smile not hiding the weight in his heart as his team stood in a silent semi-circle around him. "Ready to start our new life, sweetheart?"
Sadness filled Alice's heart as she put her hand in his, because she knew that this was the last time they would be together. She managed a smile, but not words.
It was just too hard.
* * *
Ryland leaned against the wall of the tunnel, his lungs heaving with each ragged inhale. His skin was hanging in shreds. His clothes had burned into embers. Around him on the floor lay the putrid remains of the poisonous substance that had tried to claim him once he'd entered the pit. What he'd had to do to break free of it...it had been a thousand times worse than what had happened when he'd been at the other pit