It didn’t take long for the witches to set up the spell. Minutes really. The last time I was inside a salt circle, I told myself I’d never again participate in another spell. But here I was, about to be inside another.
I turned my back on all of this when I walked away from them last time. I walked away on the new council, on my friends, on my responsibilities. I walked away from everything except the pain and loss I was feeling.
And now I was back here, asking them to help me again. As if I hadn’t abandoned them.
I knew they understood why I’d walked away, but as I watched them rushing around to set it up after dropping whatever it was they were doing to come here, I knew I owed everyone an apology.
That would come. After I had Tessa safe.
I still had Tessa draped across my lap. Samantha sat beside us, watching Tessa in case something changed. The candles around us were already lit. Now Claudia was walking around us with a jar of salt, surrounding us in a circle of white crystals while whispering the beginning of her spell. Just before she completed the full salt circle, Samantha stepped out.
“I’ll be watching,” she said, and she went to sit beside Axel.
The rest of them surrounded us. When Claudia was done, she nodded to the rest.
They knelt as one around us, and each slashed their palms with a tiny dagger.
Blood dripped down the daggers as they stabbed them into the salt circle.
With a slap of flesh against flesh, they joined hands. Their mouths moved together, saying the words. Magic filled the circle like too much static.
The candles, the moon, the stars were all the light we had to see by, but it was more than enough. The moon wasn’t full, but we would need more than the power of the moon if we were going to break the magic on Tessa.
The static feeling grew until it felt like tiny needles zapping along my skin.
I watched Tessa, but there was no change in her. One look at Samantha told me that she didn’t see anything different either.
This wasn’t going to work.
My skin grew cold as I realized that we needed something more. Something bigger. We needed a magical intervention from God or at least an archon.
“We need Eli,” I said.
“We tried calling for him,” Cosette said. “And he hasn’t shown up.”
“You can’t trust an archon,” Samantha said. “I know he’s helped you before, but you can’t rely on any of the archons.”
“No, you really can’t,” Cosette said.
Tessa was cradled in my arms, and I pressed my forehead to hers, willing her to wake up. “She was fine. She was eating. I don’t understand what happened. Did I do something to—”
“No. Being with you made her stronger. She’s fighting the magic,” Van said. “Or more accurately, I believe her wolf is fighting the magic, but it’s taking everything from her. There must be a seed inside Helen’s magic that kills the wolf or makes the wolf submit. We need that gone. She can’t survive without her wolf anymore.”
“I’m breaking out of the circle, but the rest of you need to keep holding hands,” Claudia said. “I have one more spell to try.”
There was a hush, and then Claudia started her rhyming spell. She walked around the outside of the circle. She held a cup underneath each pair of joined hands, pricking their fingers and dropping the blood into a cup as she spoke.
The candles grew brighter, and the flames flashed higher, but I didn’t feel the fizzle of magic along my body like I had with the first spell. And it certainly wasn’t doing anything to Tessa. She was still sleeping, but her breaths were shallow as if the weight of the magic was too heavy on her chest.
I set her on the ground and laid down next to her. I watched her chest to make sure I didn’t imagine it, but with every breath, she moved less and less. The time between breaths grew more and more apart. And then they stopped.
“Stop! Stop whatever you’re doing. It’s not working. She stopped breathing.” I pressed my ear to her chest, but I didn’t hear any thumping of her heart. It’d stopped pumping.
I had a second of sheer terror—a fraction of a second—before I started CPR.
God. We’d been here before. I’d been here before. But I didn’t want to be back here.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Breath. Breath.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Breath. Breath.
One. “Someone do something! Help me!”
Three.
God. Please. I can’t lose her now.
Five.
Breath. Breath.
I heard the murmurs of my friends as they debated what to do, and none of it mattered because I had to keep her blood flowing and oxygen moving in and out of her lungs.
“Bite her.” Chris’s voice was firm, clear, decisive. “Bite her now.”
I didn’t stop what I was doing, but I heard what Chris said. “What? You hated that I bit her without permission. I—”
“Bite her,” Claudia said. “Her wolf needs you. Renew your bond. It’s the only thing left to try. Renew the bond and feed her your strength. And while you’re doing that, we’ll renew the spell that linked us all together. With all of us here, we should be able to defeat whatever magic this is.”
Renew our bond. Cement it again.
I hated myself for taking away her choice. I swore I’d never bite anyone ever again, and yet, here I was. I’d do anything to have her back.
Last time I nearly killed her. This time maybe I could save her.
Save us.
I bit my hand, and then let the blood drip into her mouth.
And then I bit her hand.
I kept doing CPR. Kept hoping. Kept waiting to feel the bond slip into place.
“What’s mine is yours, and yours is mine. From earth to air to fire to water. Moon and sun. I will be yours to the end of time.” The words were old. It didn’t matter the language that you said them in, but the magic of them always worked. They’d been joining wolf to wolf for thousands of years.
Usually, a werewolf would see the past of their mate as the bond formed, but this time, I didn’t see flashes from her past. I didn’t see anything. I didn’t feel anything.
I tried to tell myself that I didn’t need to. I already knew the past. I just needed the bond between us to be found.
One.
Two. “Knowing what I have to offer, will you accept me and this bond?”
Three.
Four.
Five.
Breath. Breath.
One. I needed her to answer. She was supposed to answer. She was supposed to give her consent to the bond.
Four.
Five.
Breath. Breath.
I kept doing the chest compressions and looked up at the werewolves.
“Just finish it,” Lucas said. “The magic will work. She already said yes once. Nothing will change that.”
I hoped Lucas was right. I really needed him to be right.
I stared down at my mate. The fake form that she was wearing had faded more, and with my hands on her, I could see Tessa. The real Tessa.
Her skin was pale, her cheeks sunken in, and there were dark circles under her eyes. It terrified me that she looked like death. Worse. She looked like she’d already been dead for weeks.
This couldn’t be it. We’d been apart for so long. I couldn’t accept that I might never get to talk to her again before we die.
Please, God. Let this work.
“With these words, the bond is complete. I share all my power with my mate.”
Everyone was silent as we waited.
There wasn’t a flash of light.
There was no zing of magic on my skin.
Tessa didn’t wake up.
There was just the screaming of my wolf inside me, but he couldn’t do CPR. I needed this form.
So I shoved him down even when I wanted to scream and cry and smash each one of the candles around this stupid fucking circle.
Because I couldn’t feel any of the grief yet. I had a job to do. I had to keep giving her CPR because nothing else would save her right now.
“What now?”
No one said anything.
“What now?!”
Nothing but silence.
“I’m not giving up. Someone say something.”
Nothing?
“Come on! She would never give up if one of you were on the line. She would never—”
“Wait!” Samantha broke through the circle. “Wait!” She pushed me away, and because I was so desperate that someone could save her, I let her push me away from my mate.
“Fast.” I pleaded with her. “Whatever you do, do it fast.”
I counted seconds, knowing time was moving too quickly in my panic. I tried to slow my count, but I couldn’t afford to be too slow. I couldn’t afford to be wrong.
Samantha held her hands above Tessa, moving them up and down her body.
“Come on. Hurry.”
“I’m trying. Just…give me one more second. I just need—here it is.” She yanked something, and I felt like claws had punched through my chest and ripped out my heart.
“What are you doing!”
“This might hurt.”
“That already hurt!” And Tessa was turning blue. “Move!” I started to shove Samantha, but then she stared at me. And I froze.
Her eyes were two globes of fire.
What the hell was Samantha?
“I said one second.”
She turned back to Tessa and waved her hands. Then she yanked one hand toward her, and this time—instead of flying through the air and smashing into a wall like she had in her apartment—I felt like I’d been ripped from my body. Like something was missing from me. Like I was hollow and empty and all that was left inside my body was a sea of darkness.
She’d taken my soul.
“Bite her again. Save her. Now!” Samantha yelled. “I found your bond, and I destroyed it. Start the ceremony over!”
Okay. Okay. I could do that.
This had to work.
I bit my hand again and dropped my blood into her mouth. I bent down to her and bit her lip, just like I had the first time. Her warm, metallic blood passed my lips, and I prayed that this would work.
“What’s mine is yours, and yours is mine. From earth to air to fire to water. Moon and sun. I will be yours to the end of time.” The words came faster this time, one on top of the other, as fast as I could get them out.
But this time—this time—I felt the zing of magic along my soul. I felt it reaching out—reaching toward her. I saw her past—bits I’d never seen before. I saw her with her brother dancing around her room in California like an idiot.
I saw her jogging down a path.
And then I saw her in class with Cosette’s sister beside her.
I saw the doctor. Her mother—Helen. I saw witches, and I knew what coven they were from.
New York. The same coven Claudia had trouble with.
“Finish the words! She’s passing over to the other realm. Do it now!”
Samantha’s words brought me back to myself.
“Knowing what I have to offer, will you accept me and this bond?” This time I didn’t wait for an answer. “With these words, the bond is complete. I share all my power with my mate.”
The bond slammed into place, and it hurt—my soul was back and so was hers and it was taking up way too much space. It was too heavy, too hot, and if it grew much more, I knew I would explode. There wasn’t enough of me to hold it inside.
I was screaming. I thought I was screaming, but then I realized it wasn’t me.
It was Tessa.
She was screaming.
Her heart was thumping hard—slow at first, but then speeding up. Her breath was coming harder, faster, and she was alive.
Oh thank God. She was alive.
I pressed my forehead to hers. She was still screaming, but I had to find a way to fix this. “Tessa? Please. How can I help? How—”
“God. Damn. It. That fucking burned. Felt like I was going to explode for a second.” Her hand came up, touching my cheek. “Dastien?”
A sob came out before I could stop it. “Do you remember—”
“Everything.” She slid out of my arms and tried to stand, but her legs couldn’t hold her yet.
She was moving too fast. She was too weak for this. “Wait.” I stood, wrapping my arm around her waist to give her some support while I poured power through her bond.
She jerked in my arms and then blinked up at me. “God. That’s like guzzling a twenty-four pack of Diet Coke all at once.”
I didn’t care. I would give her everything I had, and then I’d give her more. But I never wanted to be apart from her again. I brushed a kiss against her lips because she was here and alive and I could.
“Hey.” Her hand cupped my cheek. “It’s going to be okay. I love you, you know? I’m glad you figured my plan.”
I pulled away just enough to see her face. She had to be joking.
Her plan? This was her plan?
If that were true, then we were going to have a long talk about discussing plans before enacting them.
Steadier now, she stepped away from me. “Oh, good. Everyone’s here. I love it when my plans work out.”
“What?” I screamed at her, but it wasn’t just me screaming—it was half the council.
She gave a little shrug as if telling us all it wasn’t a big deal. Which was complete garbage.
It was a very big deal. The hell I’d been through—that we’d all been through—she knew?
She spun to me. She was still way too thin, and I could feel the exhaustion in her, but there was a light in her eyes that I’d missed. I’d missed it so much.
“No.” She put her hand on my cheek. “I didn’t know exactly what would happen. I’m not sure I would’ve done this if I’d known how long it’d take to get home.”
I’m so sorry. Her soft voice came through the bond. We have a lot to talk about when we get home.
I dropped to my knees. She was really here. All the way back. I closed my eyes, and I could hear her thoughts. She was here, and it was everything.
I missed you. I— There were too many emotions. I couldn’t give them words, not even in my mind. Not even along the bond. It was too much, too big, too raw.
I know, but we’ll be okay. I swear.
No. She didn’t understand what it’d been like without her. She couldn’t possibly get it. I’m not sure I believe you. I want to go home. I want to take you home.
Not yet. Soon. I promise. She grabbed my hand and pulled me from the ground.
Tessa linked her fingers with mine and turned to our friends. “Well, it’s not exactly as I planned. I’ll explain more later, but we need to do something now. Van? Will you take all of us?”
Van’s shoulders drooped as he watched Tessa. “Where are we going now?” He sounded as exhausted as I felt.
“To see Mother. Or the woman who made me believe she was my mother.”
“You want to see my mother? Now?” Cosette muttered quietly. She stepped closer to Chris, who wrapped his arm around her. “Are you sure that’s wise?”
“There was a fight starting when I left, and I’m not sure which way time is passing among the courts.” Van flicked his hand, and a sword appeared in it. “It could be over by the time we get there or not started yet or in the middle of the worst of it. Are you sure you still want to go?”
“Yes. We have to. We have no choice.”
I opened the bond until I was inside Tessa’s head again. I knew she liked privacy, but the bond was back, and in place, and she wasn’t getting any privacy. Not for a while.
I could feel the weight of her exhaustion—at how her bones felt too heavy inside her body—and I pushed more power at her because she was so certain that this had to be done now or everything that we went through would be for nothing.
We had to go now, before it was too late.
“I’ve waited twenty-one months for this. I lost twenty-one months for this. Your mother is about to be taught a lesson. It’d be best if everyone came with me, but you don’t have to.” She turned to Elowen and Kyra. “I’d understand if you wanted to stay.”
They shared a look and then turned back to my mate. “And miss the Lunar Court fall?” Kyra said.
“No.” Elowen crossed her arms. “I think we both want to be there for this.”
I stepped close to Tessa. “What’s happening? Explain.” Please.
I will. I promise. But if we don’t go now, we’ll lose our one window. And we both sacrificed too much to let this window pass us by. She pressed her free hand to my cheek. Trust me. Just one more time. Please.
I peeked into her mind and saw her determination and her strength and her urgency. I understood that we had to do this now. I didn’t understand all of her plan—she was thinking too many things at once—but I didn’t need to. She’d explain the rest when there was time. I trusted her. Always. I’ll follow you wherever you go.
I know. She gave me a small, sad smile. I counted on it. Thank you for finding me.
I wanted to tell her that I hadn’t found her. It wasn’t me. I’d drowned without her every day. But that would wait.
Van stepped toward us. “Everyone, hang on to each other.”
“Wait,” Cosette said. “Dastien, Lucas, and Blaze. Before you agree to go, you need to be warned. It’s not wise for werewolves to go into the Lunar Court without protections. I can try to—”
“Dastien and I will be okay,” Tessa said. “I’ve got him, and I have my own ways around your mother’s power now. Lucas and Blaze might need help.”
“Really?” Cosette seemed suspicious of that, but the confidence was strong in Tessa’s mind.
“Really.” Tessa grinned, and it was maybe the best thing I’d ever seen.
I leaned down and breathed in her scent—lavender, vanilla, honey, and something just Tessa.
Lucas laughed at Blaze. “You think you’ll be okay, old man?”
“It’ll be a brisk day in Hell when I’m bested by one of the Lunar Court. Especially Helen.” Blaze’s laugh turned to a small smile. “No worries on our account. Lucas and I are quite a bit older than you. One of us might be older than your mother, Cosette. And I believe I can speak for both of us when I say we have our own protections.”
Cosette gave one of her long-suffering sighs that sounded like bells chiming in the distance, and if I didn’t know her, I would’ve thought she was disappointed. But I knew it was relief. I’d heard her say that she was afraid of giving in to her power over werewolves. She didn’t want to help us if she didn’t have to.
“Good, but the offer stands if any of you get into trouble.” She linked hands with Chris. “You only need to say the word.”
Tessa squeezed my hand tighter as she grabbed onto Van. “Let’s do this. Now. The timing is just right.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. I’d just gotten Tessa back, and now we were about to go face her kidnapper. Without a plan. Without an army. Without a chance in Hell.
This was probably going to be one of the stupider things we’d done, but I trusted Tessa. If she said she saw this in her visions, then she saw it. I trusted her with my life. With all of our lives.
I reached out to Chris.
Within a second, we were all touching. Everyone except Samantha and Axel.
When Tessa looked at her standing off to the side, Samantha held up her hands. “This is not my bag. I don’t fight. Not the things you do. That’s not how I work.”
Tessa nodded. “You’ll wait here? With my brother?”
Samantha shrugged. “Not like I have a great alternative. I’m not even sure where we are, and I don’t have a car. So, yeah. Just try not to take too long.”
“I’ll take care of her,” Axel said. “But hurry home. I missed you.”
“We’ll be back soon,” Tessa said.
I hoped that was true. I really, really hoped. All I wanted was a little quiet time alone with my mate.
“Everyone ready?” Van asked.
There was a small chorus of yeses and grunts, and then everything was spinning and tumbling through a black abyss, but I didn’t feel it.
Because she was back. I could be tumbling through a deep, dark abyss and not feel it ever again as long as I had her. As long as I could feel our bond. As long as we were together, I was home anywhere. Even here in the black, barren space between realms.
Tessa was back.
She was back, and she was mine again.