by Salem Cross
Jasmine tumbled from the sky and hit the ground hard, her body writhing in pain. Under the three of us, dirt and stones began to levitate, the ground trembled, and the trees closest to us began to catch on fire. I spun to find Mae standing there staring in our direction with unseeing eyes. Her arms were outstretched before her, directed at the two Guardians who had attacked us.
I yanked at the power that consumed her. Her power rushed into my body with a staggering force and caused me to stumble backward. The roaring of it in my mind was deafening. It blazed a trail through my body, the burn just barely tolerable. Gritting my teeth, I found my balance and concentrated on pulling enough power from Mae to break her from this trance. The ground stilled, and the violet flames went out. Mae’s head turned towards me. For a moment, I wondered if she would attack me. I braced myself.
Instead, her posture relaxed, and her arms dropped to her sides. The violet hue that surrounded us disappeared. Both Arthur and Jasmine stopped thrashing. Mae’s eyes rolled into the back of her head, and her legs gave out from beneath her. I was there to catch her before her head hit the ground. At once, I noticed the blue around her lips and the coldness of her skin. Luckily, the moment I cradled her to my chest, her body responded by pulling the energy I had collected back into her.
“Is Mae alright?” Arthur’s appearance at my side caused me to tense.
I snarled as I stood up with Mae in my arms. I turned to face Arthur. The horror and worry on his face assured me that he had snapped out of his sudden bout of violence. I paused as I noticed that his eyes were speckled with violet flecks.
“She will be,” I snapped. “Now do you understand why I needed Mae to leave?”
Arthur reached out to touch Mae’s dangling hand, “Rylan, I—,”.
“I swear that I will rip out your heart and let the vultures feast upon it if you touch Mae,” I warned. I was too far gone to allow anyone near Mae right now. “Now step away.”
Arthur stepped back with his hands raised in surrender. Guilt and shame colored his features. The logical part of me understood that what had happened was not his fault. But right now I was in no mood to console the Guardian. I glanced at Jasmine who was struggling to get to her feet. Confident that she was no longer a threat, I walked over to the front door and pushed it open.
Briefly I wondered how they’d survived Mae’s attack. So far Mae’s lightning had destroyed everything in its wake. Not a tree, rock, bush, or creature had made it. Not that I would tell Mae that she had killed a few birds and squirrels.
I carried Mae across the foyer towards the stairs. My fear over what had just occurred within the span of fifteen minutes turned to anger. Mae could have been killed by one of the werewolves. An image of a werewolf clamping down its large jaws onto Mae’s neck sent chills down my spine and caused my heart to flutter painfully in my chest. Then she had rushed outside to warn us of the danger only to put herself in harm’s way again. How could she not see the risk here? All I wanted was to keep her safe. She was my world, and I needed to protect her.
I took her to our room and placed her on the bed. Despite reabsorbing her magic, she still looked pale and her skin was cool to the touch. In the silence of our bedroom, I could hear the sound of her irregular heartbeat. Why had it not returned to normal? I grabbed her hand and held it, hoping her body would take the energy it needed.
Nothing happened this time.
I pushed away the worry. She would be alright. I pulled the covers over her body to keep her warm. For now, rest would be the best thing for her. Once she awoke, hopefully her body would have righted itself. Forcing myself to leave her side, I quickly showered and changed into clean clothes. After checking on her again, I left the house to grab our belongings from the totaled SUV and brought them back upstairs. I would have to reschedule all of the travel arrangements.
Once everything was inside, I grabbed my laptop and lay down in the bed next to Mae. She had not moved. I tucked the comforter closer to her body and watched as her chest rose and fell slowly. Back in Georgia, she’d snapped out of her trance state. She hadn’t fallen unconscious like this. Anger surged through me. This would not have happened if we had left when we were supposed to. But she had fought me on leaving. Then she had the audacity to try to fight off one of the werewolves instead of running inside as I commanded her to do. She had put herself in danger without thinking of the consequences. I shuddered violently as I thought about all the different ways a werewolf could hurt her. If they had gotten their claws on her it would have ended her life. Just like that it would have been over and we would never have had our time together.
Had she been a soldier under my command or a servant in my employment she would have been severely punished. No, that was not right. She was my mate. Not someone in my employment. So how was I to deal with someone I cared about when they were not doing what they were told? I had never been in this type of predicament before, and it left me feeling off kilter.
Resolved to remain by her side while she recovered, I opened my laptop and began working on travel arrangements and business dealings. Occasionally, I found myself distracted. I would catch myself staring at my mate for long lengths of time. My knuckles would caress her cheeks, and sometimes I would find my fingers winding through hers.
***
Rylan, Jasmine’s voice called to me.
I blinked before glancing down at Mae and frowned. It had been hours and still, she had not moved. Her heartbeat was just getting back to normal, and the color was rising in her cheeks, but there was no sign of her waking anytime soon.
I debated not answering. The Guardian was getting on my nerves. Jasmine had disappeared the other day once we had returned from our trip to the abandoned den. I was sure it was to avoid Mae so she could elude the shame that she would inevitably have to feel from the disgrace of attacking fellow Guardians. Coward. Further, Jasmine’s brief and distant goodbye this morning had hurt Mae, although Mae would never admit it. Then, she went after my mate. As much as I wished to ignore her, I knew she would not interrupt me if it were not important.
What is it?
Patricia’s pack called a little while ago. Patricia did not return home yesterday. Arthur went to investigate. While he has been gone, I have been studying some of the plants that we collected yesterday and have found something.
It will have to wait.
Mae is not awake yet? The concern in Jasmine’s voice did nothing to ease my anxiety. When I did not answer Jasmine continued. I suppose I should not be surprised. She used a great deal of energy. While she rests, I need to show you my findings.
Instead of answering I turned my attention back to my laptop. I signed the document one of my lawyers had sent over and sent an email out to the real estate agent I had used before to begin searching for a house similar to this in Georgia or in the Carolinas. My territory swept all the way down to Florida but I found the stifling heat, random rainfall, and humidity too miserable to consider actually living there. If the agent could not find anything to my liking I would simply build one for Mae. I smiled as I pictured her face when she saw the house of her dreams in front of her. I was sure it would be similar to her expression when we had pulled up to this house.
I glanced down at Mae. Despite my worry for her health and anger at her disobedience, my heart swelled. My gaze trailed over her beautiful face then across the room to my jacket. Once we went back to Salisbury, we would figure out the rest of our lives. Maybe in the near future I would be able to walk her down the aisle. I smiled as I pictured her walking towards me in a white dress. My heart rate accelerated. My smile expanded into a grin as I thought about how exciting it would be to hear Mae, my last and most important bride, speaking her vows out loud for all to hear. While the Joining was permanent and sealed our lives together, I wanted to seal our fates together in even the most basic human way to show the world Mae was mine.
My happiness faded as I thought about what had transpired today. Anger resurfaced and my grin dis
appeared. A happy future with a wife, a house, and maybe even kids… all those dreams meant nothing if Mae took herself out of my world because she was too stubborn to listen to directions.
I slammed my laptop closed as fear began to creep through my veins. A world without Mae would be meaningless. My heart clenched painfully in my chest as I leaned over to check Mae’s pulse. I could hear it but I needed to feel it. I pushed down the panic at the thought of Mae ever dying. If I could just get her to listen to me… but how? I slid out of bed and forced myself to leave her side to see what Jasmine had found.
I found Jasmine in the makeshift study on the first floor. She had her back to me as she stared down into a microscope. Although she did not look up when I entered, I knew she was aware of my arrival. I shut the door but did not venture further into the room.
With a sigh, Jasmine straightened and turned to face me. I noted at once that her eyes were neither brown nor red; they were violet. Strange. The contrite expression on her face did nothing to lessen my anger towards the female warrior. Jasmine and Arthur had gone after my mate. It was forbidden, and Guardian law ensured that I had every right to eliminate them both. Thankfully, I had the sanity to remind myself that Jasmine and Arthur were both here to help Mae, and what had happened had occurred due to outside forces.
“Rylan, I know nothing I can say will change how you feel, but please know I am truly sorry,” Jasmine said, her voice soft. She bowed her head submissively. When our gazes met again, she continued, “I will apologize to Mae as well once she awakens. Until then, let me go over my findings with you.”
I stalked over to her side of the room. The blood in my mouth from fighting my canines only fueled my anger towards the female Guardian. This better be quick. I was not sure how long I could control my fury. When I stopped next to her, Jasmine turned towards her work. She used tweezers to push a small slide under the microscope.
“During our exploration yesterday, I gathered some wormwood, white sagebrush, and musk thistle,” she started. “They are the most common type of plant life in the area. I also took samples from a few oaks, pines, and some grass samples. I wanted to see if I could find any evidence of Patricia’s claims that nature is changing around here.”
“I am assuming you did, or you would not have called me down here.” My patience was worn so thin that my fingers twitched to strangle her. I was sure the small movement did not go amiss.
“At first, no,” Jasmine admitted. She motioned for me to look at her sample under the glass. “Tell me what you see.”
Begrudgingly, I looked through the microscope and studied the green cell structure. I looked up.
“There is nothing unusual about this.”
Jasmine nodded and used tweezers to remove the slide from under the microscope. She replaced it with another.
“This is from the same exact leaf. Tell me what you see now.”
I glanced down into the microscope. I had to do a double-take to make sure that what I was seeing was true. The cells in the leaf had mutated and were coated by a thin layer of what look to be infinitesimal pieces of dark dust particles.
“I double-checked every sample from yesterday and compared them to today’s samples. They are all like that,” Jasmine said softly. I looked up at her, and she gave me a pointed look. “The first sample you looked at was from last night. I created another one this morning to run another test on it. I created a third about two hours ago and the third sample is what you looked at the second time.”
“What is happening to the cell?” I asked as I took another look at the sample.
“That is what happens when dark magic lingers on anything living for too long. The dark magic is mutating the cell. It will eventually kill the plant or change its properties.”
I straightened up and looked at her.
She nodded as if I had asked for confirmation and continued, “The dark magic is still on the first two samples. We just do not see it nor, it appears, can we sense it.”
“Impossible.” If dark magic lingered in these woods, we would know.
Jasmine shrugged and said, “Maybe once it was, but that is not the case now.”
“Impossible,” I repeated. “How do we not sense it? What did you do to this last sample for you to be able to detect dark magic?”
Jasmine rubbed her eyes before she answered, “I do not know why we cannot sense it. Maybe someone altered the magic so it has become undetectable. If someone could do that, then they would have to be quite powerful and know what they are doing. Dark magic is not stable and quite dangerous to handle.”
“It should be impossible to hide magic from us, especially magic as twisted as this.”
Again, Jasmine shrugged.
“It is just a theory.” She leaned up against the table and crossed her arms over her chest. “As to how I figured out that dark magic is all around us… you can thank Mae for that.”
Just the sound of my mate's name on her lips caused my anger to flare up. I clenched my jaw to keep from snapping at the Guardian. When I knew I could speak without anger, I took a deep breath and pressed, “Explain.”
“Her power still lingered in my body when I set up the last slide. I felt it reaching out and doing something. At the time, though, I did not know what.” Jasmine gave me a half-smile. “Then, when I placed the slide under the microscope, I saw Mae’s power not only revealing the dark magic but fighting it. Her power eventually stopped it from spreading and neutralized it.”
Jasmine straightened, her eyes changing from violet to red as she stared at me. “I think this depravity that triggers violence is a form of dark magic that is floating around in the air. It’s an attack on every creature within these woods. That dark magic has been triggering Mae’s defense system. Her power attacks the force trying to enter her body as it did to me back in Georgia. Similarly, her power reacted by attacking and neutralizing the dark magic in the sample I showed you.”
Jasmine took a step forward, her eyes bright with excitement.
“Rylan, Mae struck both me and Arthur because her power was reacting to the dark magic within us. She was unknowingly fighting for us not against us. I snapped out of it almost instantly when she struck me. Her power is humming within me now. It is in my mind like a protective barrier. I am sure that whenever this dark magic makes its way through these woods tomorrow, it will not affect myself or Arthur.”
“There is no way to prove that theory without someone getting hurt. And that does not explain why I am not affected.” The excitement in Jasmine’s eyes worried me.
“Do you not see it? Her power hums under your skin. As your mate, you take part of her within you every time you feed, and you are a conduit for her power. Mae’s power will always linger within you, and it will keep you safe. And there is a way to prove all of this.” Jasmine smirked. “Mae can sense when this wave of dark magic is coming. She can alert us and Arthur and I will wait to be—”
“And put Mae in danger? This is all at Mae’s expense,” I told her contemptuously. “She has collapsed both times, Jasmine. I am scared she will kill herself if she goes through that again. Twice now, her body has pulled what it has needed to survive from me after both instances. I cannot and will not allow her to continue to be in a position where her life is in jeopardy. I do not want her anywhere near this place. Tomorrow we are leaving.”
“Rylan, Zyroe and Autumn said that Mae needed to be here to stop the gates from opening. If Mae’s power can sense the dark magic, we can use her to either track the source of it or at the very least protect any innocent lives here while we continue to investigate. With dark magic clinging to everything around us, werewolves that disappear, and a force that triggers madness… something is amiss here, and Mae might be able to help us figure it out.”
“No,” I snapped, taking a step towards Jasmine. I towered over the other warrior. “She will not be involved with the scheming of a god and his whore witch. Now that we know there is something to address, Mae can stay out of
it and let other Guardians take over.”
The fact the Jasmine was so inclined to allow Mae to stay in such a dangerous situation when she had vowed to keep her safe only days before made it even harder for me to not murder the Guardian. Jasmine sighed in frustration.
“What if Ekon’s and Cain’s disappearance has something to do with the dark magic here? We have to find them. Guardians do not just up and disappear. Mae could be a key in finding them. They must have found out what was going on here and that got them into trouble. What if Zein—,”
“What if Zein found out about the trouble happening here, too? Is that what you are about to say?” I interrupted. “If that is the case, and three Guardians have been eliminated due to the suspicious activity here, then Mae most certainly does not belong here. Thank you for proving my point.”
Jasmine gave me a look of exasperation.
Before she could continue to fight me on this, I said, “Look, Jasmine. I know it is not ideal to leave you and Arthur here, but once I have Mae somewhere out of harm’s way, I will come back and help. I am not shunning my duties. I am making sure that my mate is safe before I dive head first into danger. I cannot risk anything happening to her. I just found her, Jasmine.”
“But—”
Rylan.
I jerked in surprise at the sound of Mae’s voice in my head. Whatever Jasmine’s rebuttal had been was long forgotten as my heart soared. My mate was reaching out to me, needed me, and she was using our own private channel of communication for the first time. Without another word to Jasmine, I left the room and went to Mae. I felt her confusion and fear.
I am here, and I am coming to you.
I felt her shock at my response. I could not stop the smile that tugged at my lips. Her mind had unconsciously reached out to mine the moment she awoke. With our bond solidified through our Joining, our souls would always reach out for each other when we were apart.
It took me mere seconds to make it upstairs and walk down the hall to our bedroom. I threw the door open and strolled in. Mae was sitting up on the side of her bed. As I stepped further into the room, I noted the way her shoulders sagged. Her head was hung low, and her hands, which were gripping the comforter, were white-knuckled. Mae lifted her head slowly and looked up at me. My steps faltered as I stared into my mate’s tear-stained face. The dread and angst etched into her face caused my heart to skip a beat.
