“Over here,” I called and nearly fell to my knees as we turned the corner, and I looked under a fallen tree, one that had been charred. I nearly screamed. “Jaxton!” I leaned forward and put my hands on his face, doing my best not to cry.
Rowen barked out orders. “Rome, Ash, Aspen, work on the tree. We will work on Jaxton.”
“I’ll make sure the wing knows he’s here,” Nelle said as she bit her lip and turned to get one of the other hawks.
“If you’re going to do a spell, don’t you think you need me?” Ash asked, and I looked up at my brother when Rowen shook her head.
“Earth isn’t needed in this spell. Otherwise, I would. I promise. For Jaxton, I would,” she repeated, and my heart broke a little more for them. But I ignored it because Jaxton was hurt. He was so cold and he wasn’t moving, but he was breathing. I had to remind myself that that was enough. For now.
“On three,” Rome grumbled, and Ash moved to help the fae leader and alpha of the bears.
I heard a groan, wood splintering, and then caught the scent of smoke on the air as other hawks moved forward, circling us as the three men dragged the large tree.
Rowen took one hand, and Sage took the other. Suddenly, I found myself in a circle around Jaxton’s prone form.
Our coven leader raised her chin. “We’ll do the spell.”
“That is our wing leader. You will not touch him,” one of the elder hawks snapped from beside me.
I turned to them, my flames blazing in my eyes even as pain and agony ripped through me. “We will save him, and you will step back. Your healer cannot fix this. A necromancer did it.”
He spat at my feet, and I glared. “A witch did it. Now a witch is going to fix it? No, that’s not how this works.”
“You will cease, and you will let them heal him. You know who Laurel is to him,” Aiden whispered.
My heart clenched at that, the twinge aching through me.
“She’ll never be good enough for him,” the elder outright said. I ignored the verbal slap and glared at Ash, warning my brother not to do something stupid like rip off a certain hawk’s head. He could do it, and he would for me. However, we were trying not to be thorns in their sides. Murdering them probably wasn’t the best idea.
“Laurel, with me,” Rowen began, and I let out a breath, closing my eyes and focusing on the words I needed to say and my mate at my feet.
“With this spell of beaming light, we mend what’s hurt and make it right. Send energy through to cleanse and heal, our intentions set, manifestation real. Make Jaxton whole, we do decree. This is our will, so mote it be!”
I opened my eyes as Jaxton’s body bucked, and I let out a sharp breath, annoyed with myself for letting my emotions get the better of me. More blood dripped from my nose, but I let it fall, knowing that blood magic also had a purpose.
“Laurel, it’s not enough.”
Jaxton hadn’t woken, and my heart broke with each passing moment. I didn’t need Rowen’s words to understand that.
“There’s another spell you can do,” Ash said from my side as he knelt beside us and looked down at Jaxton in my arms.
“She’s not strong enough.” There was no censure in Rowen’s words, only fear.
I glared at my friend.
“Whatever you think I need to do,” I said, my hands shaking, “I’ll find a way to be strong enough.”
Ash let out a breath and held out his hands, sliding a knife into his palm. I hadn’t even realized he had a blade on him. The shifters and the fae around us each let out a sharp growl or moans.
“Warn us before you start bleeding,” Rome whispered.
“You know what to do.”
I nodded and held up my palm. As Ash sliced it, I ignored the pain. I was already aching so badly that my mind barely registered the cut. Rome continued growling, looking as if he wanted to save Sage from all of this. I shook my head and then joined hands with my brother.
“It’s Christopher blood. I won’t hurt your mate.”
Rowen started to mutter under her breath, but I didn’t focus on her. Instead, I focused on who I needed and began to chant.
“On this day and in this hour, we call upon the Christopher power. Earth and fire we do combine, to bring back he who is mine. In this moment, our lives our bound, turning life from lost to found. Return to me as you should be, this is my will, so mote it be!”
Tears slid down my cheeks as agony ripped its claws over my body, flames searing me beneath my flesh. My soul burned, the flames encroaching on my very essence. And yet it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.
I looked down and let out a sob. “Jaxton.” I leaned down and pressed my lips to his as he smiled.
“I knew you’d find me,” he rasped.
“Wing leader,” the elder whispered as he knelt beside me. “Who did this?”
“We all know who did it, Elijah,” Rowen snapped. “Give him some space. Give them both space.”
“You are not of our wing. You do not understand.”
I looked at the other man, my flames wanting to reach out. But I knew that this wasn’t the time or the place for that—nor did I have the energy, not after three spells back-to-back.
“You will give me space with my mate. You know what spell I just did and how I need him near me. You may be his wing, but I am his, as well. You shouldn’t forget that.” He knew the cost of what had been taken just now.
Elijah sneered. “You have no mating bond. You have no authority over the wing. You should remember that, girl, before you kill him along with everyone else you’re sending to hell.”
“That’s enough. If you do not want to deal with an incident that crosses all town boundaries, you will give him space.”
I looked up at Aspen, wondering why he was standing up for me. Then I thought about it. Aspen and Nelle were growing close. And considering that Nelle had her issues with the wing, not her brother, it made sense that everything seemed as if it were too much right then.
“I’m fine, Elijah,” Jaxton said as he shook his head and leaned up. I sat next to him and held him close, even as he glared at the others around us. “We have a lot to discuss.”
“What did you see?” Elijah asked, and I let out another snarl.
“Seriously? He just said he needed time.”
Jaxton squeezed my hand and then stood, pulling me with him. With the spells we had used on him, he would be back to normal within the hour. I was the one weakened and needing aid. I leaned against him, hating that anyone saw me weak, but there was no holding back at the moment.
“Renee came after me.”
“Renee? That’s the necromancer’s name?” Rowen asked as she moved forward.
“Yes. Renee. She’s a fire witch, a necromancer, and a higher-order one from what I could tell.”
I cursed under my breath. “Meaning she can bring back shades. Not just the revenants.”
“That’s all your area of expertise. But from what I could tell, she’s stronger than Faith was.”
“That means Oriel is not the necromancer with fire. At least as far as we know.”
“No, not that we can tell.”
“She just came at you?”
Jaxton looked around as the pulse in my temple began to beat hard again. “I was walking home after I helped those three wolves,” he began. At my look of confusion, he explained about the three teenagers without a pack, and Rome nodded as if everyone understood what was going on. I didn’t. However, I wasn’t a shifter. I was barely a witch. And we didn’t have time for me to keep asking questions.
“So, I wasn’t the last person you saw before it happened?” I asked, glaring at Aiden and the others.
“Why would you think that?” Jaxton asked before blinking and looking at the bruises on my neck. “Who. Hurt. You?” he gritted out, one word at a time.
“I’m fine, Jaxton. I took care of it.”
“I helped,” Ash added.
Jaxton turned and glared at his wing. “
You hurt her? You thought she did something to me? Laurel. Of all people. You thought she did something to me?”
“You’re not in your right mind when you’re around her, wing leader,” Elijah whispered.
“We’ll speak about this later. I don’t have time for how you’re reacting right now or the way you’re treating my mate.”
I ignored how it made me feel when he called me his mate, especially considering that I had called him much the same. We seemed to be skipping steps, as if we were claiming one another, knowing there wouldn’t be a happy ending. Because with those spells, I knew I didn’t have much energy left.
Jaxton wouldn’t be able to save me, but we could call each other mates as if any of that made sense.
“She found you. That’s all that matters,” Aiden whispered.
“No, I don’t think it does. But we will discuss it. However, she’s not the one who betrayed us. She’s not the one who attacked me. You know who was?” He paused, his shoulders shaking. “It was our cousin,” he whispered as Nelle sucked in a breath.
I blinked. “Your cousin?”
“William. The one we thought was dead. He seems to be mated to Renee, the dark fire witch. And he was here. He was the one who did this.” Jaxton lifted his shredded shirt, and I let out a curse, holding my hand above his newly healed flesh.
“I thought it was just burns.”
He shook his head as he looked at me. “No, talon slices, as well. Your spell, whatever you did—and we will talk about you using magic later—” he added, “seems not to have healed it all.”
“You see? Our healer could have helped him,” Elijah spat. This time, Rowen was the one to whirl on him. “Enough, old man. You might think you’re helping, but all you’re doing is creating tension within our ranks. Who is this William?” she asked for all of us.
“He’s our cousin. He left the wing over a year ago now, and we all thought he was dead.” Jaxton rubbed his heart with his fist. “The bond broke, and he was just…gone. We all thought he died. But he didn’t.”
“Are you sure you weren’t seeing things because of some witch magic crap?” Elijah asked. This time it was Aiden who stopped Elijah. Not with a word, but with a fist. Elijah went down, and I winced as the elder let out a gust of air. However, with the way he acted and given that we were not human, I didn’t blame anyone in this situation.
“I don’t know what they want, but they needed me down. They didn’t tell me why. They just attacked. And with whatever magic she has, and how William is nearly as strong as me? I couldn’t stop it.”
I reached out and cupped Jaxton’s face. “You survived.”
“Just. But you found me, and we’re outside town limits.”
I hadn’t even noticed. But given the way Rowen’s whole body looked as if it were strained, I knew she had.
“Can you be outside of the town wards for long?”
My sister witch shook her head. “No, I need to get back soon. With the way we’re fluctuating in power and energy, it’s good for me to be close. I can stay away, but not if we’re using this much magic.”
What she was saying wasn’t a secret, but I knew she hated revealing her weaknesses.
“Come, then. I’ll make sure you get back,” Ash insisted.
Rowen raised her chin. “I’m fine. I know the way.”
“You shouldn’t go alone,” Sage put in. “It’s safer to be in pairs. Especially with everything that just happened.”
“Because we still don’t know what’s going on,” I added. “We don’t know what they want other than our town and our power. If they get in and get us, if they find the nexus of our town’s energy, who knows what they’ll do. And it’s not only the witches,” I added for the shifters’ benefit. “It’s how our town blood and energy thrives on the fae and the shifters and the mermaids and all the connections we have. Without the town, we’d die. Without us protecting the town, anyone who came in could use the energy for their own greed.”
“If we’re not careful, we’ll lose more than the town. More than the people in it. We’ll lose our very soul and existence.”
I swallowed hard at Jaxton’s words, even if what he said was true. “We have to stop them. No matter the cost.”
Jaxton leaned down and kissed me as if nobody were watching, though many people were. “We’ll protect this town and you. Because that’s a price I’m not willing to pay.”
Elijah grumbled under his breath, but I ignored the older man. I had nearly killed myself protecting Jaxton, and I knew he would do the same for me.
“We have a checklist,” Rome grumbled. “Find William, find Renee, find Oriel. Figure out how to break the curses, figure out how to protect the town, and plan a wedding. We’ve got it.”
I looked at him and blinked at the last part. “Really? You’re just going to conflate a wedding like that?”
“We need happiness, and weddings can be happy. And not at all stressful. And if I have to pretend that that’s what I’m planning instead of having to deal with magic and shifters and everything completely unknown to me a year ago? That’s what I’ll deal with.”
I looked at them, at Jaxton, then at the retreating backs of Ash and Rowen, both of whom had left without a word because I knew Rowen needed to be within the town borders quickly. And I knew that we didn’t have much time.
We might think we knew what Renee’s motivation was, but she had done something. She had made a mistake.
She had dared to hurt my mate, and now, as soon as I found her, I’d make her pay. Even if it killed me.
Which, given how the magic pulsated within me, wasn’t far off, despite any spells my coven might want to find and try for me.
Chapter
Twelve
Jaxton
Though it wasn’t a mating bond between us, I still felt something pulsating between Laurel and me. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was something. They had said that the spells she had used connected us in some way, and I guessed they were right. I just hadn’t expected it to be like that.
I could sense her. Feel her.
I knew that if she left, it would feel like someone were ripping my heart out. Was that what a mating bond felt like? I wasn’t sure I even wanted to know.
“You should be sitting down,” Laurel declared from beside me, and I looked over at her from the front of the bookshop.
I blinked and shook my head. “You’re the one who should be sitting down. You used your energy to protect me. While I might be fine, you’re in pain.”
She shrugged. “I’ll be okay. The coven helped.”
“At the end, not at the beginning,” Rowen snapped from beside us, and I blinked at the ferocity in her tone.
“I’m fine, both of you.”
I wasn’t sure I believed Laurel.
“If you were fine, we wouldn’t constantly be cleaning blood off your face from your nosebleeds.”
My gaze shot to hers, and I nearly growled. “How many nosebleeds have you had?”
“Enough,” Rowen snapped again.
My mate raised her chin. “I needed to find you. Don’t get on my case. I needed to find you. And so, I did.”
“You did. Yet you could have died doing so. You have to stop doing things like that for others, Laurel. You should’ve asked for help or done something else. You didn’t need to hurt yourself for me.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. If looks could have killed, I’d be lying on the floor in a puddle. “I will do anything I have to, to ensure you are safe. You keep saying the same about me. So, here we are. Trying to protect one another. And that’s what we’ll do. Try to protect one another.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“I’m sorry, too.”
Rowen looked between us and sighed. “Both of you should be resting. The healing spells and the other ones we used to find you, Jaxton, really should make you feel as if nothing happened, but it did. The necromancer and a hawk almost killed you.”
“You don’
t have to remind me. I was there.”
I had nearly died. I vividly remembered seeing my cousin’s face as he smiled at me with a look I had never seen before and the way his talons had felt when they dug into my flesh.
“Laurel should be resting, though,” I added.
“She should, but she’s Laurel, so she’s not going to.”
“I’m standing right here. I’m going to help clean up the mess from the spells, and then I’m going to clean my sword. All while ensuring that Jaxton doesn’t do too much.”
“You just heard Rowen. I’m fine. You’re the one who used too much magic for the spell.”
“Rowen didn’t say that. You’re projecting.”
“Well, if the two of you are going to continue fighting without telling each other how you feel, I’m just going to head over here and work at my shop. I’ll be there if you need me.”
Rowen moved forward, cupped my face, and kissed me gently on the mouth.
I grinned at her, shaking my head. “You are trouble,” I whispered.
“I am glad that you are safe. Remain that way and watch out for our girl.”
Rowen gave Laurel a withering stare and then headed back to her spell shop.
Sage and Rome had already made their way to her place since somebody needed to run the bakery.
I didn’t know how much longer the three of them would be able to keep their shops open with the revenant and necromancer attacks we were dealing with, but perhaps they could find a way. They were good at that.
“Are you okay?” I asked thoughtfully.
“I should be asking you that question.”
“Then I’ll answer. I’m fine. Whatever you did helped. I’ll be forever grateful.” I paused, wondering how to bring this up.
“This bond that I feel between us. Will it fade?”
Laurel met my gaze and swallowed hard. “It might. It probably will. It might not go away completely like it would with anyone else, though.”
My hawk slashed me with its talons, and I reined it in.
“I hope you never feel this with anyone else.”
Her lips quirked into a smile. “Possessive much?”
Dusk Unveiled (Ravenwood Coven Book 2) Page 10
