Dastien stood, and I stayed attached to him. Kissing him. Feeling thankful and warm and like I needed more.
A soft buzzing cut through my happy place. Buzz. Buzz. Buz-buz-buz. Buzzzzz. I’d tapped out that rhythm specifically for my brother’s contact. It made me pause for a second, but I shoved the worry away.
Axel was probably out at a club, having fun and drunk and wanting me to join him. He did that all the time these days. I was glad he’d made friends at college, but I was happily busy right now.
I had everything I needed right here.
More. Dastien’s voice came through our bond, and he moved to go back inside our cabin, but someone cleared their throat, and Dastien stopped.
Before I could tell him to ignore whoever that was, Dastien pulled away from me a little.
“What?” His voice was more gravelly than usual, and I knew his wolf was even closer to the surface than it had been a minute ago.
“We need to talk.”
Lucas was old. I wasn’t sure how old, but “very” didn’t even come close. If he said we needed to talk, then we probably needed to talk.
“Can it wait? Tessa’s exhausted.”
I rested my forehead against his chest. Thank you. I would’ve just agreed, but not Dastien.
“That’s why it shouldn’t wait.” Claudia’s words were soft but firm. “If we can make it so that nothing else comes tonight—or any other night—we have to try.”
Damn it. My cousin had said the magic words.
It was painful to drop my feet to the ground when I’d been so comfortable and happily wrapped up in my mate, but I did it. The lure of ending this madness was too great to ignore.
“What’s going on? Why did you really come back?” I’d asked Claudia a few times, but she hadn’t said anything.
Buzz. Buzz. Buz-buz-buz. Buzzzzz. I looked at Dastien. He’s calling again?
Want me to get it? Could be important.
“I need your help with something,” Claudia said so softly, I almost didn’t hear her.
I considered it for a second—I had a choice to make. Cousin or brother.
Maybe Axel was in trouble, but he was in Austin. He was a grown-up. He could take care of himself. No. I said through our bond. I’m sure he’s just drunk. Claudia doesn’t ask for much, so I think this is more urgent. But if he calls a third time, get it.
I turned my focus to Claudia. “What’s wrong?” She didn’t ask for help. Ever. Even when Luciana was at her evilest, Claudia tried to handle it herself.
“There has been some trouble with the other covens over the land.”
Great. Just what I wanted to hear right now. I had demons out the yin-yang coming after me. Fey that were itching to start a war. Now vampires were showing up. And she was bringing witches into the mix? Seriously? Why did anyone say the fucking “l” word? Luck should be stricken from the language. It should be—
Tessa. Your cousin is waiting for you to stop your internal tirade.
Right. I cleared my throat. “You’re talking about the compound?”
“Yes. I’m sorry to bring it up, but—”
She needed to stop apologizing for things that weren’t her fault. “Another coven wants it?” As long as they weren’t evil, then I didn’t have an issue with it. At least not right off the bat.
“Yes and no.”
Okay. I was way too tired for this. “What’s the problem? And how does that relate to stopping all the middle-of-the-night fights?”
“It’s all connected. I promise. I just…I thought the land belonged to me, but I was wrong.” She was looking everywhere but at me. Which meant she had bad news.
She better not be talking about those assholes in New York. “Who?”
“You.”
I took a step back from her. “Me? Then that’s easy. I don’t want it. You can have it.” I could go my whole life not stepping on that land again and be happier for it.
Claudia held her hand up. “No. No!” The face of horror at that thought was almost funny. “That’s not what this is about. I don’t want it. I…I’ve come to realize that I don’t want to be in Texas anymore. I like being in Peru.” She looked at Lucas, and he put his arm around her, pulling her to his side. “It feels a little bit like a failure to just give up the land, but there’s too much baggage. I just don’t think I can ever get past what happened there, especially if I had to live there. I need to move on from my past. Both emotionally and physically.”
I was confused. Why was this important at three-thirty in the morning? And how was it supposed to make sure the campus wasn’t attacked again?
“The thing is, neither of us has been living there. That’s why the cleansing hasn’t stuck. That land is meant to be owned by a witch,” she said. “That particular plot of land was chosen because it’s a nexus of power. It needs to be cleansed again, and then someone has to safeguard it to keep it from drawing in the dark. The person that owns it needs to live there.”
No. No way. I wasn’t moving there. “Then I’ll find someone to give it to, and they can move there. But why are we talking about this now? Can’t we figure this out in the morning? I mean the normal morning when it’s light out. At a more reasonable hour.”
She shook her head. “I think that part of the problem you’re having here is tied with that land. I think Luciana’s magic that tainted the nexus of power bled here. To the spot where she did magic here. We need to cleanse both. Luciana’s magic infested both places. So, we do it together. You and Dastien here. Me and Lucas on the coven’s land. We time it out. The moon is full. We can be there with plenty of night left before sunrise. I think if we do it at the same time—me there, you here—then we can seal it for one lunar cycle. I was planning on doing the cleansing tomorrow at three in the morning, but we’re awake now, and I think if we do this, then tomorrow might be easier. And judging how tired I am already and how tired you seem… Also, tonight is the new moon, which is the start of a new cycle and good for cleansing. Doing it now should buy us some time to find someone to guard the compound, and then you can get some solid sleep.”
A solid night’s sleep? For a full lunar cycle? She was saying everything I wanted to hear right now. “Do you think it’ll work?” I had to ask. I didn’t want to get my hopes up for nothing, but they were kind of already sky-high.
Claudia was quiet for just long enough for me to doubt everything she’d just said. “What? Tell me.”
“If it doesn’t work, then my next step is to have a synchronized cleansing on the next new moon in three places—here, the compound, and the chapel in Santa Fe. But hopefully, two out of three will be enough. I have nightmares about that chapel. I don’t…”
She didn’t have to finish the sentence. I didn’t really want to go back to that chapel either. Or the compound. Or anything that had to do with that bitch of a witch.
“In the morning, we have to find a witch that’s strong enough and that we trust to take over. To make sure that the land stays cleansed and good. I’ll go over there every day to do a cleansing spell until we can find someone to agree to watch over it.”
“Done.” As long as it wasn’t me, I was okay with that. “And I’m assuming you have a list of who?” I’d ask Shane or Beth, but they might feel the same about that land. Maybe River would be open to it? But that wasn’t a long list. Claudia knew a lot more witches than I did.
“Of course, I have a list. Beth and Shane don’t want it. I already asked them, but we can go over who I think would be up for the job in the morning.”
She already had me convinced. “Great. Do we have everything we need for this?”
Lucas held up the bag. “We’ve got the supplies.”
I looked at Dastien. You ready for this? I was so tired that it pained me to move even a foot farther away from my bed, and I knew he had to be as tired, even if he wasn’t showing it.
We’re awake now. As tired as we are, if we can rally through this, then tomorrow we can sleep. A cleansing shouldn’t take that long. I’ll even tell Michael to leave us alone—
You will? That would be a first. Mr. Dawson—Michael to Dastien—was a father figure and an Alpha to my mate. Dastien usually went along with whatever Mr. Dawson said.
I usually go along with it because he’s an old wolf. One of the oldest. His plans usually make sense, but if this works, then I’ll tell him to leave us out of the daily politics for at least a few days. We need sleep.
That’s all I needed to know. I turned to Claudia. “All right. Let’s do it.”
Buzz. Buzz. Buz-buz-buz. Buzzzzz.
Shit. Axel called three times and texted once. I couldn’t ignore him again.
That wasn’t a drunk dial or him being excited about something. Three calls meant an emergency.
Dastien moved before I could say anything, disappearing back into the cabin. I raced after him.
“Hello?” Dastien said. “Axel?”
“I don’t want to die alone.” His voice was soft and thready with pain and terror, and I knew everything was about to change.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. And every inch of me was cold.
Die alone? He was hurt? More than hurt. He was dying?
Axel wasn’t just my brother. He’d been my best friend—my only friend—growing up. A moment ago, I wasn’t sure I could take one more thing—one more fight, one more discussion about the fey, one more cleansing against evil—but then I heard something in his voice I’d never heard before.
Despair and defeat and death.
They said that God didn’t give you more than you could handle, but in that brief, less-than-a-second moment, I wondered if I could handle losing my brother.
And the answer was no. I couldn’t. It would break something vital in me, and I wasn’t sure how I’d get over the loss.
But it wasn’t too late. Not yet.
I had to move. I had to do something. I had to fight. One more time tonight. I had to find it in me.
And then the power came. Rising up. Filling me. First, from Dastien, and then Lucas and Claudia. In the next breath, the power of twelve people answered a call I didn’t realize I’d sent out. I was filled with three types of supernatural magic, and I knew that I could do this.
“We’re coming.” Dastien’s words broke over me, spurring me into action. “Where are you?”
He was already moving. He grabbed keys, shoved them in his pocket as he crossed the small one-room cabin to me. His eyes were still amber, still ready for a fight, but I wasn’t prepared for this. I wasn’t prepared to lose my brother. Not tonight. And if I looked in the mirror, I knew my own eyes would be a very non-human shade of glowing, molten chocolate.
Dastien grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door. It took me a second for my feet to catch up, and then we were sprinting to the car. “Where are you?” Dastien asked again. His voice was calm, but I could feel his fear and panic through the bond.
“I don’t know.” His voice was weak. Too weak. “A warehouse. I can’t…I don’t…They brought me here and I…” His voice broke. “I’m so sorry.” His voice grew softer with every word. “Tell her I’m so sorry.” He took a raspy breath. “Don’t bring her here. I called to warn—”
The call cut off and panic like I’d never felt before crashed into me, making me double over.
It felt like he was gone. Like it was over. Like he was dead.
But he wasn’t. Something or someone had disconnected the call.
There had to be time.
Please. Let there be time.
“Don’t slow down!” Dastien threw me over his shoulder as he ran, and my vision blurred until we were in front of Dastien’s car. He put me down and slid behind the wheel while I jumped in the passenger side. It wasn’t until another car door slammed that I realized Claudia and Lucas were with us, too.
“Where do we go?” I hadn’t heard anything about a location. We were rushing to nowhere.
Dastien turned to me. “You tell me. Where’s your brother? What do you see?”
Me. Me? He wanted me to tell him where to go? “It doesn’t work that way. I get the vision that I get. I have to touch something of his. I have to—”
“Your brother is a part of you. You share blood. You don’t need anything of his to find him.” He grabbed my face with his hands. “Tell me where he is.”
“I don’t know.” I tried to jerk away. If I knew, I’d tell him. What did he want from me? I didn’t have my brother on LoJack. I didn’t track his phone. The pressure to answer was making me panic, but there was nothing for me to say.
And if there was nothing for me to say, then how the hell was I supposed to find my brother?
And if I couldn’t find him, then he would—
Oh God. I couldn’t breathe.
“Answer me!”
“Don’t you think I’d tell you if I knew?” My throat hurt from how loud I screamed it, but the panic was growing by the second.
How could I save my brother if I didn’t know where he was?
Someone grabbed my hand, and Dastien dropped his hands so that I could look.
Claudia was squished between the front seats. “You can do this. He’s your brother. It’s the same with me and mine. Axel might not be your twin, but he’s your best friend. Your family. And you’re not without magic. Close your eyes and think of him. Find him.”
I did, but all I could think of was panic. And how I couldn’t breathe. And how he could be dying and was alone and that I didn’t know where he was and that I couldn’t help him and—
And I wasn’t sure I could do it. But if I didn’t, my brother would die.
Axel would die.
“How? Tell me how. I don’t know—I can’t—” I felt something hot running down my cheeks, but I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t care.
“Think of the last time you saw him.”
God. When? I couldn’t think. The panic. It was too much. Too much. Too—
“Your parents’ house.” Dastien’s words cut through my panic. “Two weeks ago. We went to your parents’ house for Sunday dinner. Axel said he’d been working on gaining magic of his own. You got in a fight with him, but then you made up. And—”
“Good enough.” Lucas cut off Dastien. “Picture your parents’ house, Tessa. Now.”
My parents’ house.
I saw the yellow house in my head. The big tree in the center of the circular drive.
Axel honking the horn from his car, yelling at me to stop being such a nerd before he sped away. His hand sticking out of the window as he turned the corner.
That was the last time I saw him.
But I’d see him again.
I just had to find him.
But how? How the fuck was I supposed to do that?
“Where is he?” Claudia’s voice was a soothing balm over my panicked thoughts.
I closed my eyes, searching for him, but all I saw was black. Inky black.
I shook my head, squeezing my eyes as closed as closed could get. “I can’t see anything. I don’t see anything!” The panic was getting worse, and it felt like someone was stabbing me in the chest, twisting the knife, until I couldn’t—
“Breathe.” Claudia’s voice was soft and soothing, but I couldn’t find any peace.
All I had was panic.
Breathe. Dastien’s calm voice invaded my mind. Push the panic away. It’s not helping you. Ignore it.
“What do you smell?” Lucas asked in his deep rumble. The old Alpha power behind his voice made a clear space in my panicked mind.
I breathed in. “Dust. And—” I gasped as fear and heartbreak ripped my soul apart. “And blood. His blood. He’s bleeding!”
I opened my eyes, reaching for Dastien, grabbing his arm. “He’s going to die.”
“Close your eyes again,” Lucas said. His dark eyes were glowing, and he nodded at me. “Close them.”
I nodded, following his lead.
“Remember the dark. The dusty place. Go back there.” He waited. “Do you see it?
I nodded. I wasn’t sure if I was making it up in desperation, but I could smell dust and blood and—
“Good. Leave the dark place. Go outside. What do you see?”
I moved before thinking to myself that I couldn’t. He was guiding me but I’d never had a vision like this. I’d never tried to go somewhere in my mind. I had to be touching something.
But Claudia was right. Axel was in my blood. In my soul. Axel was my family.
I had to assume this was real. It was my only hope, a hope I had to cling to.
I tried to move out of the vision. Wherever Axel was, it was dark. “Nothing. Nothing.” But then there was moonlight and a building and…
I could see. I could see something. It was working.
“Middle of nowhere. Some kind of warehouse. It’s abandoned.” God. That wasn’t fucking helpful!
“What kind of warehouse?” Dastien asked.
“How the hell am I supposed to know? It’s fucking abandoned! There’s nothing here. No—”
“Is there a sign? The walls of the warehouse. Anything painted on them? Look around.” Lucas stayed calm, despite my panic. “Look. See it. Tell me what you see.”
I wasn’t sure how it was working, but it was. I couldn’t second-guess myself, not when Axel’s life was on the line.
“I…” I looked around, trying to see something that could give me a location.
And then I saw it. The sign was faded and hidden behind a tree, but I moved and…
I couldn’t make out some of the letters, but I could fill in the blanks easily enough. “Abe & Cole Brewery.” I opened my eyes, gripping Dastien’s arm tighter. “Tell me that’s an actual place and that I didn’t just make up this shit.” Because my mind could’ve invented any damned thing from desperation, and I was beyond desperate.
Lucas was on his phone. “It’s a place.” He handed his phone to Dastien.
Dastien looked at the map. “I know where that is.” He didn’t wait for anyone to buckle up or even for Claudia to get back into her seat.
He started the car and moved it into reverse so quickly, I had to slam my hand into the window to keep my head from hitting it.
“Dastien.”
“You said blood. We’ll be there in ten minutes. Depending on how badly he’s bleeding, that might be too late.”
Shit. He wasn’t going fast enough. “Go faster! Move it!”
The tires squealed and I prayed that we’d get there in time.
Because if we didn’t, I wasn’t sure how I would live with myself.
I should’ve answered the first time he called.
Why hadn’t I answered the phone?