Stone stood abruptly, the frustration that had been simmering within him finally boiling over after yet another failed attempt to access the astral realm.
Three tries, and nothing.
Not a goddamn thing.
The curse’s grip tightened, coloring his frustration with a bitter edge, making him want to punch a hole through the stupid Integratron’s wall. He was at a breaking point and if he didn’t get away from Ella now, he was afraid of what he could do to her.
“This is fucking pointless,” Stone’s voice echoed off the stark walls of the Integratron, his tone harsher than he meant it to be. He glanced down at Ella, who remained seated on the floor, her expression carrying more than just weariness. “It isn’t working, and banging our heads against the same wall isn’t going to change that.”
Ella looked up at him, hurt flickering through her eyes, quickly masked by a subtle frown. “So, what? You’re just going to walk away? Give up? Is that what you’re proposing?”
Stone felt a pang of guilt for his harsh words but the curse made it hard to back down or soften his stance.
Even the charms Isolde had given him stopped working.
They were probably sick of this bullshit, too.
“Maybe I am,” he snapped, feeling trapped and cornered—not just by the room, but by his own swirling emotions. “It seems the more logical option when nothing we do is making a damn bit of difference.”
Without waiting for a response, Stone turned and strode toward the door. Every step felt heavy, and each one echoed like a gavel in the quiet of the Integratron. He didn’t want to leave like this, but part of him believed it was the only way to break the cycle of their failures.
The fresh air outside hit him like a slap, sobering up his thoughts a little, and making him question his abrupt departure.
Or was it the distance from Ella?
He had spent the past few hours trapped in a building designed to amplify energies—and his were growing more volatile by the minute.
Stone strode past Jinx, Trudie, and Isolde, their faces etched with concern.
He didn’t have the energy to meet their eyes or explain. It wouldn’t end well if he did.
Instead, his need for solitude outweighed the polite niceties of group dynamics.
Besides, they were big girls. They could handle it.
The desert air was cool, the sky above splattered with stars, offering him a vast, open canvas to cast his frustrations upon.
As he stood alone, taking deep, deliberate breaths, the calm of the desert night began to seep into his bones. The curse’s stranglehold loosened slightly with each inhalation of the crisp, night air.
Behind him, the door to the Integratron opened and closed softly.
Stone didn’t need to look back to know Ella had followed him out. But instead of joining him, her voice, low and strained, floated over from where she stood with the others.
“We can’t seem to stay in the astral plane long enough to do any good,” Ella explained, sounding as defeated as he felt. “Every time we think we’re getting somewhere, we get kicked right back out. I don’t get it.”
Stone listened, his back still turned to the group, the isolation allowing him to eavesdrop without interruption.
He heard Isolde’s soothing tone reply, “The astral realm isn’t just about willpower or desire. It’s about balance and readiness. Both of you must be in alignment, or it rejects you.”
“I’ll bet money the curse is throwing off the balance. You need to present a united front and it’s cracking you apart,” Jinx chimed in with her usual bluntness.
“But in the astral realm, it feels like the curse is gone. It’s like we’re us again and we…” Ella began.
“That’s not possible,” Isolde states softly. “The curse will be with you regardless.”
Ella sighed. “No, we’re normal there. Stone is—”
“When you were in the astral realm, was everything coming up peaches and roses? Or was there anything there that made you sit up and take notice?” Jinx asked.
There was a silence that extended between them before Ella admitted, “There was a darkness. It—it sort of took over for a while.”
“The curse,” Trudie added softly, the healer in her always sensitive to the undercurrents of emotional and spiritual energies. “It took on form.”
“What? No, that’s not—”
“It is,” Isolde stated, her concern evident even to Stone.
“But if felt like it was helping me. At last, toward the end.” Ella’s sigh was audible even from a distance. “Great. So, do we need to break the curse first? But if so, how? We’ve tried everything we know. God, this sucks. I thought dealing with asshole Alphas and my ex were bad.”
Stone’s fingers clenched into fists at his sides. The conversation was a stark reminder of his failure—not just in controlling this curse when they were together, but in protecting Ella from the fallout.
He was the weak link, and his continued presence seemed to only endanger their mission further.
As the group continued to discuss potential strategies, Stone felt a flicker of something shift inside him—resignation, perhaps, or maybe the first sparks of a necessary epiphany.
He couldn’t keep fighting like this. Not if it meant he was putting everything at risk.
Stone turned slowly, his resolution hardening in the quiet desert night.
“What if we just... forget?” The words slipped out, laden with desperation and a hint of surrender.
He proposed the drastic option almost as a whisper, his voice carrying to the group behind him, echoing slightly in the cool air.
“Forget? What exactly are you suggesting?” Ella’s voice carried a mix of confusion and alarm.
Stone swallowed hard. “Forget each other,” he clarified, the idea sounding just as radical to his own ears as it did in the open air. “Isolde mentioned it was an option. If the curse is fueled by our connection, and our memories, maybe erasing them would allow us to push through. Then we could obtain the Breath. We’d have the others here to help us remember the mission, even if we don’t.”
Silence descended for a moment, heavy and thick.
Jinx broke it first, her tone unusually subdued before a wry smile cracked her face. “Man, that’s some soap opera level amnesia plot right there. What’s next? Do we find out Ella has an evil twin?”
Despite the gravity of the situation, Stone couldn’t help but snort. The absurdity of Jinx’s humor in such a dire moment was both inappropriate and oddly fitting.
Trudie interjected gently, “It’s a serious suggestion, Jinx. But maybe we should consider all other options before we turn to the magical equivalent of a hard reset.”
Isolde nodded thoughtfully. “Erasing memories... it’s irreversible. Once done, there’s no going back. You’d have to rebuild your connection to each other.”
Jinx’s eyebrows shot up. “The last thing we need is to wipe the epic saga of Stone and Ella, only to rewrite it because we missed a loophole in the curse.”
Trudie stepped closer, her eyes lighting up. “Maybe there’s another way to approach this. The Integratron is designed to amplify energies, right? What if Jinx and I join you and hold a balance circle inside? Maybe we can stabilize the energies enough to counteract some of the curse’s influence.”
Ella turned to Trudie and tilted her head slightly. “What do you mean? How would that work? I thought you were afraid to join us because of your energies?”
“I was—but sometimes, it’s a matter of intention. If Jinx uses her chaos magic and I use my harmony spells, we might be able to create a balanced energy field inside the Integratron. It won’t cure the curse, but it could give you both the stable environment you need to try entering the astral realm again. Think of it as... neutral ground,” Trudie explained, her voice calm and soothing. “I told you when I met you—I felt like I was meant to be here. Be around whatever was happening. Maybe this is it?”
Jinx nodded, her demeanor serious for once. “Ah, hell. It’s worth a shot. Chaos and harmony, working together to keep this crazy curse at bay while you both dive deep. It’s like setting up a magical buffer zone. Nice job, goody-goody.”
Trudie rolled her eyes, but her lips slid into a smirk.
Stone, who had been ready to abandon all hope, felt a flicker of it reignite.
This plan didn’t require forgetting—didn’t involve irreversible choices. It was a chance, however slim, and that was enough to pull him back from the brink.
However, the idea of going back inside the Integratron, only to fail some more had him rethinking things.
“And if it doesn’t work?” he muttered, his voice heavy with skepticism.
Ella stepped closer and touched his arm. “Then we try something else. But we have to try, Stone. We can’t give up now—not when we might have a real solution. Please.”
Stone looked back at the Integratron, the dome of the building looming like a silent soldier in the night.
He drew a deep breath. The desert’s chill air was sharp in his lungs, but the fight slowly reignited within him. “Alright, let’s do this. But if I start to lose it again…”
“Oh, don’t you worry about a thing, Drama King. We’ll pull you back,” Jinx cut in, her tone serious, yet edged with her typical bravado. “We’re not going to let the curse win. And we’re certainly not going to let you implode. Chaos magic has its perks, you know. I can take it as well as I can give it.”
Her wink did nothing to quell the panic starting to rise in him.
“Fine,” he muttered.
With a reluctant grunt, Stone allowed himself to be herded back toward the Integratron by Jinx, who clapped him on the back with a little more force than necessary. “Come on, Grumpy. Let’s go balance out your bad vibes.”
Inside, Trudie and Jinx quickly set up the space, drawing intricate sigils and arranging candles they pulled out of nowhere, it seemed, in a meticulous pattern.
Once again, the air inside felt thick, charged with potential energy as Trudie began to chant softly, her voice weaving through the air like a calming song.
Stone stood in the center of the protective circle with Ella beside him. The hairs on his arms stood up as Jinx began her part of the spell. The air crackled with chaotic energy that somehow didn’t clash with Trudie’s harmony, but instead, complemented it. It created a strange sort of balance that Stone could feel seeping into his bones.
As the energies around them stabilized, Stone felt a momentary peace—a respite from the constant battle within himself. He glanced at Ella, who met his gaze with a determined nod.
“Ready?” she asked, squeezing his hand.
“As I’ll ever be,” Stone replied, tightening his grip on her hand, wishing he felt more sure than he did.
With a deep, collective breath, they sat down on the floor and closed their eyes. Stone focused on returning to the astral plane—the gateway they needed to reach.
This time, the entry was smoother, the resistance they had felt their last few attempts seemed to be dampened by the buffer of balanced magic.
The astral realm unfolded before them, clearer and more stable than it had been before.
Like the last time they made it in, Stone felt free of the curse. For now, it also felt like the darkness that had tried to convince him to share his truths with Ella was nowhere to be found.
They moved together through the astral landscape, each step measured and cautious as they hunted for the Breath of Selene.
Perhaps Ella was right. Maybe being kicked out was a part of the trials?
Stone and Ella approached a shimmering boundary that appeared to mark their path forward.
Before they could continue down it, the echo of the shadowy figure’s earlier words hung thickly between them.
It resonated inside his mind and pulled him up short.
“Show that you can transcend your limitations, face your shadows, and balance the chaos you bring to this realm. Only then can you proceed.”
The words, once a distant challenge, now felt like a direct accusation aimed at Stone.
The sinking feeling in his gut grew as he considered what lay ahead. He had refused the trial—refused to give in.
Hell, now that he had more clarity, maybe that was the reason they were kicked out.
The truth of his trial—the raw, almost predatory pull he had felt toward Ella and the overwhelming desire to claim her that he had fought to suppress—wasn’t something he wanted to share.
But he might have to.
Standing at the edge of what felt like a precipice, Stone realized with a heavy certainty that they would not be allowed to move forward without confronting the truth of their trials.
The shadowy figure’s demand was clear, and the barrier before them was not just a physical obstacle but a metaphorical one, too. It represented the walls he had built around his darkest secrets.
His heart pounded louder in his chest, each beat echoing the creature’s words about facing shadows and balancing chaos. The secrets he had buried were not just shadows—they were storm clouds threatening to burst.
He knew that revealing these truths could change everything between him and Ella.
The fear of her reaction—of disgust, fear, or even rejection—clawed at him. Yet, the understanding that honesty was the only way forward pressed heavier on his spirit.
“Ella,” he began, his voice rough with the weight of his confession as he turned to face her. “The last time, in the trial... there were things I faced. About myself—about us. Things I haven’t shared and I think I need to.”
Ella’s eyes widened but he knew he had to push through this.
He had to let it go and hope for the best.
The boundary to the path ahead remained, shimmering slightly as if reacting to their conversation. It was a silent challenge, urging Stone to step forward with the truth.