by Elena Gray
“Yes. As much as some supes would like to switch off the energy field that protects our world, there’s too much at stake. Samara believed that humans were more accepting of our kind. She wanted the council to consider lowering the veil so we could interact with your people again, but many fear our world will destroy yours.”
She gave me a sideways glance. “How do you feel about all of this?”
I rubbed the back of my head and thought over my answer. “To be honest, I didn’t share Samara’s point of view. Not at first. That changed after I met you.”
Her cheeks flushed at my words. I pressed my lips together, realizing too late that I’d said too much. She couldn’t know how I really felt. Hell, even I didn’t know how I felt. I was a jumbled, grumpy mess of confusion.
“Meeting your grandmother convinced me even more that humans can accept supernaturals. Still, it may not be enough.”
“What do you mean?”
I felt her eyes weighing on me as I stared down the path ahead of us. “I’m not convinced that humans—or supernaturals for that matter—can coexist. Humans fear what they don’t understand. Supernaturals fear ignorance.” And losing those they love… I omitted the last part, though I wasn’t sure if it was for her sake or my own. “Regardless of what Samara thought, too many others disagreed. Part of me feels like it’s the reason she was murdered.”
“We’ll find who did this, Roark. We’ll get Samara the justice she deserves.”
When Katarina touched my arm, my insides shook. I clenched my jaw, hoping like hell I could hold my shit together and not react to my instincts. She made those instincts come alive.
Willow trees danced around us we continued down the path. My mind spun with different thoughts, though they all revolved around Katarina. I was back to focusing all of my attention on her instead of our surroundings.
Turning my head, I surveyed the area, using the stream beside us to help me tap into its energy. If anyone was in our vicinity, the water would let me know. Its close connection to earth meant I could sense vibrations from other supernaturals as well as animals. The fact that most living creatures were largely made up of water helped.
I lost track of how far we’d walked when I finally found the courage to readdress the burning question on my mind. “Katarina, tell me what’s bothering you.”
“Why do you think something is bothering me?” Her response wasn’t as cold as her previous ones, but I still sensed her resistance.
“You rarely look at me and you talk to me as little as possible. Yet today, something’s changed. It’s like you’re pissed with me.”
“I have a lot on my mind, Roark. When Samara asked to see everyone, I hoped it was news about Slade. Once I found out about the veil, I realized I had something just as pressing that needed my attention.”
“After we find the tear, we’ll resume our search for Slade. Don’t worry, lass.”
She grunted at my reply. “It seems like the harder I try to find him, the more obstacles I face. I’m being pulled in so many different directions. Between searching for Slade, the missing witches, Samara’s killer, and whoever is after me, I’m not sure how much more I can—”
The instant her voice cut off, I looked at her. She came to a halt and pointed toward the veil. “There it is!”
“What?” I turned in the direction she pointed and saw the purple smoke leaking through the energy field.
“It’s the rip, isn’t it?”
“Yes. We found it.”
In my excitement, I pulled her into an embrace and squeezed her tightly. We were both smiling over our discovery until she realized how close we were. Then the wall she placed between us returned and she pulled away.
I cursed myself for letting down my guard. This was the reason Katarina could never know how I really felt. My feelings for her were a weakness I couldn’t afford. I refused to pay the price with her life.
Chapter 6
~Katarina~
My heart pounded in my chest from more than the excitement over finding the tear. Roark had wrapped me in his arms as if it was something we did every day. And damned if I didn’t like it. The warmth of his body pressed to mine made me forget that we weren’t more than ward and guardian. One hug and I’d betrayed my own code of distancing my heart from him.
My skin prickled and the hairs on my arms stood at attention. Normally I would say it was from Roark’s touch, but this felt different. Whatever this was, caused the magic inside me to twist and turn in agitation.
I held my arm out to Roark so he could see my hair standing on end. “Do you feel it? The change in energy here?”
Roark nodded as he dropped his gaze to his own arm. “I’ve never been near a tear before. I didn’t realize that you could feel the shift in energy. Almost like the pulse of an electrical current.”
“So if we can feel it, does that mean others can? Would this be like a beacon calling to them?”
“I have no idea how far this energy could stretch.”
I searched the woods behind me, wondering if there were already supernaturals on their way, ready to cross over into the human realm to wreak havoc. My fingers twitched near the knife strapped to my thigh. We needed backup. Who knew how many would be drawn to the energy of the breach?
“We need to call Jax and Quinn and let them know we found the tear,” I said.
Roark crossed his arms over his chest and quirked a brow. “Why don’t you try calling them this time?”
I extended my hand and wiggled my fingers. “Okay. Give me your phone, then.”
He shook his head. “You can’t rely on modern technology when you’re in a life or death situation. What if you’re running? Or your battery is dead?”
“So what do you suggest I do? Send up a smoke signal?” I’d already tried to see if I could speak to Roark, Quinn, and Jax telepathically like I could Slade, but for some reason, it only worked with him.
He wrapped his fingers around my wrist and tugged me toward him. I tipped my head back until I met his stormy gray eyes. Being this close to him twice in the span of five minutes, my nerves couldn’t take much more.
Getting lost in the turbulent sea in his gaze, I ignored the words tumbling out of his mouth. Instead, I remembered my conversation with Jax about my grandmother’s premonition—that we were all meant to be together—how I was the only one who could calm Roark’s storm.
If only that were true.
I snapped back to reality when Roark’s palm pressed against my abdomen. That simple touch sent sparks shooting to my core. What the hell was he trying to do? Kill me? Did he honestly have no clue what his touch did to me, or what it did to our bond?
Completely oblivious to my discomfort, he grabbed my hand and placed it against his abdomen. “You reach out to them the same way you contacted Slade. Do you feel the tether between us?”
I felt something, all right. I was finding it difficult to focus with the solid wall of muscle beneath my fingers. I itched to slip my hand under his shirt and run my fingers over the ripples.
I squeaked when I felt a tug at my core, causing my muscles to flex. My gaze shot to his. “What was that?”
“That was me using the tether to call you. Now you try. Close your eyes. Do you see Slade’s strand?”
“Yes.”
“Good, now do you see mine? It should be tighter than the others.”
I nodded. The connection between us had always been there, but I never had to visually sort them before. Except for Slade. His was fainter than the rest, but since our last conversation, it seemed brighter. I could only pray that each time we talked it would grow stronger.
I pushed hope and healing through my bond with Slade, then moved on to my tether with Roark. Other than the fact that it was tighter than the others, there had to be another way to tell him apart from his brothers. Maybe this should have been part of my training with Jax. It was too intimate to share with Roark, the one guardian who pushed me away the most.
His m
oodiness trickled through our bond. He was frustrated about something, but nothing new, there. Something else in his bond teased my curiosity, but he slammed a metaphysical door on it before I could figure it out.
I turned my attention to the other two strands. One filled me with light and love. That had to be Jax. The other was guarded and burned hot, which was a perfect match for Quinn.
Opening my eyes, I found Roark staring at me. In this light, I could see the flecks of blue in his eyes. They were like the sea after a storm. If I was foolish enough, I would have believed that for just a moment, I calmed the tempest inside him.
“I’ve got them,” I said. “What now?”
“How hard you tug on the strand will let them know how urgent the situation is. From there, they can use our tattoo to track us.”
Since my life wasn’t in danger, I gave their strands a slight tug and waited. I took a step back when I realized my hand was still pressed to Roark’s abdomen. That wasn’t awkward at all. I turned my back so he wouldn’t see the flush in my cheeks. I pretended to search the woods for Jax and Quinn.
My wrist began to tingle. Clasping it in my hand, I expected to see it glowing or swirling. I still didn’t know how this whole magic tracker thing worked. My friend, Natalie, would love the idea of a tattoo that could track you. She would want to know where she could get one. She always joked about how she never needed to search for me because I was always at my office.
Thinking about Natalie made my stomach clench. I missed her and my other friends so much. Granted, we hadn’t spent as much time together as they wanted due to my work schedule, but I still made time to text or call. Now they thought I was out of the country for work and had no cell service.
Roark stepped in front of me and smoothed the hair off my face. “Why do you look so sad? It worked. Jax and Quinn are on their way. Didn’t you feel your tattoo activate?”
“It’s not that. I just miss my friends. I’ve never gone this long without talking to them. We were supposed to be planning a girls trip.”
He released a breath and shook his head. “I can’t imagine what this must be like for you. We’ve been so worried about protecting you, we haven’t focused on what you’ve given up. You must have also had a job or a career.”
“I don’t miss the job at all. I thought working my ass off to advance in my career was what I wanted. But being here has made me realize I wasn’t truly fulfilled.”
Saying the words out loud, made me realize it was true. I liked my new life, even if I was still trying to navigate this world.
“Once Samara’s magic is gone, we’ll figure out a way for you to see your friends,” Roark reassured. “As you know, your uncle isn’t exactly a rule follower, so I doubt he’ll enforce you giving up your old life completely. He managed to keep you and your grandmother in his life, while still ruling the underworld.”
Some of the tension in my body evaporated. If there was a chance that I could see my friends again, then it would erase the only regret I had about becoming a reaper.
Rustling through the trees drew my attention over Roark’s shoulder. Jax and Quinn emerged a moment later. I wanted to launch myself at Jax but resisted the urge. I’d felt the tension from Roark and Quinn earlier from our display of affection. We already had enough problems between all of us. I didn’t want to add to it.
I glanced from Jax to Quinn. “So you really felt it? It actually worked?”
Quinn smiled and nodded. “We’ll have you keep practicing so that it’s second nature to reach us.”
“We’ll also teach you how to use your tattoo to track us,” Roark said. “That part is a little more complicated.”
Jax stepped forward and squeezed my hand. “Are you ready to learn how to repair the breach?”
Releasing a breath, I glanced at each of my guardians. No matter what we were dealing with emotionally, I knew they wouldn’t let me fail. “As ready as I can be.”
“I’m going to guide you as best as I can without drawing on my dark magic,” Jax said. “I know you can balance it, but right now you need to focus on closing the tear.”
I tugged my hand free from Jax’s and scrubbed my sweaty palms on my pants. I could do this. The ancestors had chosen me for a reason and I wasn’t going to disappoint them. Plus, Jax was a pretty good teacher. We’d been working on this since we knew my powers weren’t going anywhere for a while.
“Remember what we practiced—what it felt like when you drew the magic from your core?” Jax asked.
As if in response to his question, the magic inside of me awoke. It swirled in a restless pattern, waiting for me to direct it.
I held my palms out toward the purple fog leaking through the tear and called my magic forward. A prickling warmth crept through me from my abdomen. It moved through my arms and finally my hands.
What should have been a steady flow of power, was only a small trickle. Something was wrong. My power had always been stronger during our practice sessions.
Afraid to move, I held my position and continued to direct my magic toward the tear. “Jax, what’s wrong? Why is it so weak?”
He stepped closer to me, his hand hovered over my arm. “You need to open yourself up more. It’s just like a faucet. Slowly draw it forward. If you open it all the way, the power will overwhelm you and could end up blowing a hole in the veil.”
Right. No pressure at all, for the girl with hardly any training. I relaxed my body a fraction, letting a sliver of magic seep through, but it still wasn’t enough. I pulled another sliver and waited. I growled in frustration. At this rate, the veil would be closed in a year.
“Focus, love.” Quinn soothed. “You’ve got this.”
I inhaled deeply, then exhaled. I opened the gate wider and let the warmth flood me. It began in a slow wave, then crashed with a force that nearly buckled my knees. When I realized I’d opened it too far, I cried out and tried to force the magic back in. I was too late. Power ripped out of my hands and slammed into the veil.
Roark, Jax, and Quinn were shouting all at once, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying over the buzzing in my ears. Every nerve ending felt like it was on fire.
The veil trembled under the onslaught of power shooting out of my hands. Why couldn’t I draw it back in? God help me, I would single-handedly destroy everything my guardians had sworn to protect.
How the hell was I going to fix this? I needed to redirect the power away from the veil, at least until I could get it under control. I flexed my muscles and tried to swing my arms to the side. It was like pushing against a concrete wall. The magic was already linked to the veil and didn’t want to release its hold.
Jax’s hand banded around my arm. I could feel a slight tremor in the power roaring through me. No. Not now. He said I wouldn’t be able to balance him like this. I was terrified to turn my head. Terrified of what would greet me.
Meeting Jax’s gaze, ice flooded my veins. His eyes were black. He was drawing my power into himself. There was too much. If he pulled even a fraction of it in, I would lose him forever.
“Stop, Jax!”
I didn’t even know if he could hear me like this. I looked at Roark and Quinn. “Stop him! Don’t let him do this.”
Roark and Quinn shared some kind of silent communication. I didn’t care what they were discussing, as long as it involved stopping Jax.
I prayed to the ancestors, called for Samara, to anyone who would listen and help me. Spots danced in my vision and I blinked them away. I couldn’t pass out now. If I did, what would happen to Jax?
Katarina?
Slade? How was this possible? Reaching him was hard enough when I was focusing on contacting him. How was he able to connect with me when he was so weak?
Katarina? What’s wrong? For some strange reason, I can feel your anxiety and fear through my bond. I’ve never felt anyone but my brothers and Samara before. Are you connected through her magic somehow?
He couldn’t know about Samara. Not now. But th
e connection between us was open and I was too tired to figure out how to shut it down.
It’s Jax. His dark magic is consuming him. He’s absorbing my power.
Shit.
I could feel Slade’s distress through our bond, which meant it was getting stronger.
Katarina, I need you to listen to me. If you are somehow connected to Samara’s magic, then you need all of us to calm you. You need to pull the magic back from Jax and push it into the rest of us.
I shook my head. Not that Slade could see that anyway. Wouldn’t pushing that much power into all of you kill you?
Your magic can’t kill us. Not if we are linked. It’s the only way, Katarina. Do it now.
“Roark. Quinn. Is it possible for me to force the power into you and not kill you? Is it true that you are protected as my guardians?
Roark looked to Quinn and lifted a brow. Quinn scrubbed his hand over his face. “I think it would work. At this point, we have nothing to lose.”
Quinn grabbed my free arm and then Roark’s. Roark held onto Jax until we formed a circle. “Roark, we need to try and help her redirect the power,” Quinn said, then winked at me.
My lips trembled when I tried to smile. I knew what he was doing and it worked. I took one last look at Jax. His obsidian eyes sent a chill down my spine. His jaw was clenched and his body vibrated from the surge of my power in him. Was it too late to bring him back?
I closed my eyes, drew my power from Jax’s tether, and shifted it to his brothers. Like a rubber band, I felt it snapping back to Jax. “He’s too strong.”
“He’s not stronger than all of us,” Roark growled. “Try again.”
Gritting my teeth, I yanked the power toward me as if my life depended on it. Actually, all of our lives depended on it. As I pulled my magic, I replaced it with all of my love for Jax. I could feel my other guardians forcing the power through their tethers until there was nothing left.
My arms fell to my sides when the last of the magic faded. I took a step toward Jax and stumbled. Quinn wrapped his arm around my waist and held me up. With a trembling hand, I lifted Jax’s head until I could see his eyes.
