He still had several leaves on his lifemark. He still had time. But it would run out, and the years he spent with Grace were ones he would never use to find a mate who could help fight the war against the Synestryn.

Even the idea of looking for another woman to spend his life with—one who wasn’t Grace—was enough to make his stomach turn. But it was his duty to live, to fight, and the only way he could stay alive was to find the woman who would stop the decay of his soul.

If Grace ever learned that she was standing in the way of him finding the woman who could save his life, it would kill her.

Brenya closed her eyes in sadness. “So you see now. Being with her own kind is her best chance at happiness. She should grow old with one of her own. Feel that her life is long and full, rather than short and fleeting by comparison.”

Finally Torr realized the truth. “You didn’t bring me here just to fight that lizard, did you?”

“No. I could have slain the beast with a mere thought. But I needed your presence, and I am tired, even for thought.”

“You want me to take her back to Earth, don’t you?”

“Among other things. I do have need of you here, but I also knew that if you were the one to escort her home to her own kind, you would see to her safety. Without her memories or knowledge of the danger she would face on Earth, I thought it best if she had a protector. Someone she trusted.”

“She doesn’t even know me. You saw the way she flinched when I touched her—like I’d hurt her.”

“Before you leave, she will know you. Trust you. You will stay here and spend time with her while you drive back the invasion that the Solarc has sent to draw us out.”

The Solarc? The instant spurt of fear that shot through Torr was completely involuntary. If the Solarc wanted something from this place, Grace was in horrible danger. So was everyone else here.

It took Torr a minute to wrap his head around just how much trouble he’d stepped in. “Why does the Solarc want to draw you out?”

“I am growing an army.”

“Of what?”

“The Sanguinar are dying. Without them, you have no hope of driving the Synestryn back, away from my home world.”

“We do what we can, but there’s not enough blood for them to survive. If we spent all our time letting the Sanguinar feed on us, we’d be too weak to fight.”

“That is why I left Athanasia. Why I convinced my daughters to make the ultimate sacrifice.”

Torr had been so wrapped up in seeing Grace again, he hadn’t really stopped to think about why Brenya was here with all of these women.

“I don’t understand. What exactly are you doing here?” he asked.

“You will understand in time. For now it is enough to know that the women and children here must stay hidden from the Solarc at all costs. If he senses my hand in slaying his minions, then it will be like a beacon showing him the way to me.”

“Why are you hiding? I thought the Solarc ruled Athanasia, not this place.”

“He does. With terrifying authority. But when I left him, I knew he would not stop searching for me until he found me.”

“Why?”

“Because I was the first to leave his domain against his will. I gave his subjects the idea that they did not have to stay under his rule. He seeks to make an example of me.”

Torr eased into the nearest chair. The bulk of his weight made the black branches groan, but it held him up.

His mind slowly put together the pieces she laid out. “You were the one who cracked open the Gate. You’re the reason the Athanasian men have been able to sneak out and father children with humans. You’re responsible for the birth of Helen, Lexi, Andra and the other Theronai women.”

“I only opened the door. What my children did with it was their own decision.”

Children? “Wait. I thought the men who came to Earth were Athanasian royalty—the sons of the Solarc himself.”

“Yes.”

“And they were your sons, too?”

“Yes.”

“Are you telling me… ?”

“I’m the Solarc’s wife, Queen of all Athanasia, and he will not rest until I am once again under his control.”

Chapter 6

Torr sat there, shocked. The Solarc’s wife was not five feet from him. How could he not have known? “No wonder he’s looking for you. I can’t imagine that he was pleased that you left him.”

“He killed thousands of our subjects in his rage. Earthquakes, floods, interrogations. For that, I am truly sorry.” Some of her wrinkles deepened for a moment before smoothing once again.

“What will he do if he finds you?”

“He can see through sunlight, peering in on distant worlds. It is why the Sanguinar cannot step foot into the sunlight. He sees them and sends his Wardens to slay them. The twin suns here prevent him from seeing me. He must have learned that such a thing blinded him, so he has begun using other means to find me—sending his Wardens to all the worlds where I might hide.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. What will he do?”

“Bring me home. Strip my mind clean of all I have done to defy him. All who have ever aided my cause will die a horrible death.”

The crescent-shaped mark on his arm burned. “Does anyone else happen to use the same mark as you put on me?”

“No. It is mine alone.”

“Then I guess it’s in my best interests to make sure he doesn’t find you.”

“It is. But for more reasons than you may realize. If he finds me, this whole world and every creature on it will be slain. Including your Grace. I have touched her mind in my efforts to heal her. That leaves a kind of mark the Solarc will recognize instantly.”

Like hell. “Tell me what to do.”

“As long as I am free, he cannot use me to find those I have touched.”

“If you’re safe, we’re safe.”

“Yes. You must kill the minions who seek me and destroy their entrance to this world.”

“Where is the entrance?”

“When I came here, there were no portals, no Sentinel Stones, no way for any being less powerful than myself to travel here. It was safe. Clean.”

“But I saw a Sentinel Stone in the village.”

“Then you saw that it only opens to one place: Earth.”