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“If her Seal breaks, we’re all in a lot of trouble.” He smiled, hoping to reassure her. “Limos found her agimortus, and she’s keeping it on her until we can secure it somewhere it’ll be safe forever.”

That, of course, was an issue of contention between the Horsemen, the R-XR, and The Aegis. They’d all done a brief teleconference an hour ago to discuss the best course of action, and naturally, everyone thought they were the best people to safeguard Limos’s little cup.

“What about Pestilence?” she asked. “He is her brother, so what if he decides he wants to hurt her through you?”

“Stop,” he said softly. “Everything will be okay.”

He prayed he sounded more confident than he was. Runa didn’t know Arik had been soul-sucked by the asshole, and if he had his way, she never would. She was strong enough to handle it; he’d never doubt her strength. But if she knew, she’d never stop worrying, and after all she’d been through, she deserved a life free of the ugliness in his.

“What about you? Are you okay?”

She didn’t need to expand on that. She was asking if his time in hell had affected him. “I’m okay.” At her skeptical look, he rolled his eyes. “Seriously. I know I should be a drooling mess on the floor, but I think the Seminus demon who patched me up might also have patched my mind, too.” A vampire walked by, his arms loaded with a case of Dom Perignon. Damn, these Horsemen didn’t screw around, did they? “Hey, ah…”

“Don’t.” Runa stepped back. “Don’t ruin this with talk about our past.”

He hadn’t planned to, exactly, but this was related, and he swallowed against the sudden dryness in his throat. “I just wanted to say that I was sorry for avoiding you lately. What I did to you—”

“Wasn’t your fault. Stop it, okay? And don’t ask for my forgiveness, because there’s nothing to forgive.”

“Are you sure?” He glanced around the room, the way he had a hundred times since arriving, to make sure he kept track of everyone who came in and out. You could take the soldier out of the battle, but the wariness always remained. And in this case, the battle was still going on. “Did your nightmares return?”

She’d been plagued by nightmares about both their childhood and the part she’d played in their mother’s death, and regret had eaten her alive for years. Until Shade had released her from all of it.

Guilt flashed in her eyes, giving him the answer he dreaded. “Only for a night. Shade ended it.” Her lips curved into a secret smile. “Trust me, it wasn’t horrible.”

Arik held up his hand. “Okay, that’s enough. I definitely don’t want to get into TMI territoto wiry.”

“Ew. Neither do I.” She looked over at Shade, who was clomping his way toward them, looking like the Terminator in his black leather jacket, sunglasses, and big boots that cracked like gunshots on the floor. “I’m going to have him take me to Limos so we can do the girl thing to get her ready. I’ll be back for the ceremony, okay?”

He hugged her again. “Thank you for everything.”

“No,” she said softly. “Thank you. Until Shade, you were the only person who never let me down, and the only person who was ever completely honest with me. You trusted me with your secrets, and you didn’t doubt my strength when even I did. Without you, I never would have learned to trust any man. So really, it’s because of you that I’m happy.”

Shade came up next to Runa and offered his hand to Arik, who took it, and that was the first time they’d ever shaken hands.

“Good luck, man,” Shade said. “That’s one hell of a family you’re marrying into.” Shade’s voice went low. “Just never forget how much your mate’s brothers mean to her. Because I can tell you from experience that she’ll put you on the floor if you forget.”

Smiling, Runa hooked her arm around Shade’s waist. “Love you, bro.”

“Love you too,” Arik croaked.

Runa took off with Shade, leaving Arik drowning in a stew of conflict that was entirely of his own making. Because of him, Runa had learned that not all men were lying, cheating, abusive scumbags. Great. Awesome. Give him a goddamned medal.

But he