by Aileen Erin
He pressed his forehead against mine, and I leaned into him.
“I don’t want what happened today to taint our honeymoon,” I said.
He pulled back. “That will never happen. This has been everything. Nothing could ever taint it.” He brushed a feather-light kiss against my lips. “Nothing.” One more kiss. “Not ever.”
When he brushed a third kiss against my lips, I couldn’t stand the teasing. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sank deep into him.
Tomorrow would come. Then I’d have to face the demon or evil witch or whatever was coming for us.
For now, I had Dastien and the quiet, and I was going to savor every second I had left.
Three
Almost dying took its toll, which meant it was time to make food, and not just a little food—sandwiches and Cheetos weren’t going to cut it—but a ton of food, including lots of meat. Dastien grilled some massive steaks that had to have been at least half a cow, but he said it wasn’t even nearly that much. Still, a family of ten could live for a few days on the food I chowed through. I’d made four boxes of wild rice and a large salad.
It’d taken no time at all for us to devour the entire feast, and now we were sharing a half-gallon of coconut chocolate chip ice cream while we watched The Princess Bride. I couldn’t believe that Dastien had never seen it. For whatever reason, my family watched it every Christmas Eve. Watching it with him was like seeing it for the first time again. All the jokes were a surprise for him, and I got to feel that zing of surprise, too.
But as the credits rolled on the movie, the anxiety started churning again.
Everything is going to be fine.
I just hate waiting. I wish we could’ve left tonight.
I tried. Soonest the boat could come was in the morning.
I gave his hand a squeeze. I know you did. I’m not complaining. Just anxious. A fight’s brewing and we’re a million miles away.
He put down the carton and tucked me in closer to his side. “We’ll be home soon enough. For now, just relax.”
“Doing my best, but if this thing killed Muraco, then are any of us safe?”
“No.”
I winced. “You didn’t have to be so honest.” I grabbed the ice cream and groaned when I saw it was empty. Only more of the creamy coconutty awesomeness with those little crunchy chips could help me now. It was heaven in a carton.
“We have another one. Want me to get it for you?”
“Kind of. I mean, eating more ice cream won’t fix anything exactly, but it definitely won’t hurt.”
“As you wish.” He tapped my nose as he got up.
A laugh slipped free, and I realized it wasn’t just the ice cream that was helping me feel better. Still, when he came back, I snatched the carton from him. “What should we watch next?”
“Whatever you want?”
I flipped through Netflix for a while before settling on a movie I’d never heard of. “What about this?”
“As you wish.”
I snorted. “Dork,” I said, but I was glad he’d enjoyed it so much. I hit play, and as the movie started, I realized I’d never said thank you to him.
He raised a brow. “For the ice cream? De rien.”
“No. For saving my life,” I said with a mouth full of coconut perfection.
“Just don’t make it a habit, okay?” His tone was teasing, but he was still freaked out. I didn’t need the bond to see that. The white-knuckle grip he had on the spoon was making it bend a bit. I tapped his fingers, and he sighed. He bent the spoon back to normal-ish.
I snuggled into my blanket and scooped out a giant bite of ice cream. It was going to take time for both of us to recover, but this was helping. “I’ll do my best to make sure I don’t almost die again.”
“Good.”
I jammed the ice cream into my mouth and pain hit my head so hard that I closed my eyes and dropped my spoon. It clattered to the cement floor, but the sound was far away. I slapped my forehead. “Shit. Brainfreeze.” The pain eased a bit and I was able to open my eyes. Black spots filled my vision. “What the…” Time slowed. It took too long to turn to Dastien, and the black dots expanded.
Dastien was gone.
Everything was gone. I was in a black abyss just like my vision on the beach.
Panic made my lungs grow tight and my heart race, but when magic pricked my skin, fear crashed over me.
What the hell was happening? I tried to blink but nothing changed. I was sitting in the dark. Either I was about to have the most fucked up vision ever or someone was messing with me.
I said a prayer for the vision to kick in. For the black abyss to become something else. For anything to happen that would make this into something that I could understand.
When the vision didn’t immediately start, I knew something was wrong. Really fucking wrong.
Magic spread along my body and it felt like slime. Disgusting. Evil. Very possibly deadly.
So what was this? A spell? From who? A witch? Had some fey captured me? Questions raced through my mind at a million miles an hour, and I didn’t have any answers.
I couldn’t smell any sulfur. Which was good, but when I thought about it, I couldn’t smell anything at all. So, ruling out a demon wasn’t smart. At least not yet.
I reached for my bond to Dastien, and suddenly the air grew too thick for me to breath as my panic amped up.
No. This was bad. Really fucking bad.
If I couldn’t reach Dastien…
I could still feel the bond, but it was usually like a thick rope, bigger than my thigh, that tied us together. Here it felt like dental floss—so thin and fragile. So far away I could barely reach it. The only other time this had happened was when I went to live with Claudia on la Aquelarre’s compound. The boundary of the coven’s land had been warded to keep anything from crossing. It’d cut Dastien and me off from each other, nearly driving Dastien mad.
This wasn’t as bad, but it sure as shit wasn’t good either. The bond was too thin for me to tell if he was freaking out or losing his mind or…
My mouth grew dry and I tried to control my panic spiral. I had to find a way out. I had to get back to Dastien.
I got off my ass and walked, holding my hands in front of me. If I was in some kind of room or chamber, I’d hit a wall eventually. If there was a wall, then there had to be a door. If there was a door, I could try to break it down either physically or magically.
That was a lot of if’s, but it was a theory. My best one so far.
I walked and walked and kept walking for what felt like hours. After a while, I started counting my steps. When I passed ten thousand, I growled. Fur rippled along my arms and I closed my eyes as I fought for control.
I gritted my teeth as I tried to think through my frustration. Losing control to my wolf wasn’t going to help. What I needed was a plan. If I had that, then I had a goal and I could figure this out. I was smart. I wasn’t going to be stuck here forever.
I let out a breath and the wolf settled down.
I needed to get out of here—wherever here was—but walking clearly wasn’t working. I was stubborn enough to keep trying to reach a wall, but if I hadn’t reached one yet, I had to assume that this place didn’t have them. And if there weren’t any walls, then there probably weren’t doors either. It had to be a magical holding pen of some sort.
I had to try some magic to counter it. But what spell? What did I need most?
To see. I needed to see.
If I could see, then I’d have at least some sort of an answer as to where I was.
Since something had put me here, chances were good I wasn’t alone. But I had to be able to see who to kill.
Just thinking that made me feel a little better. Not as good as I’d feel when I actually got back to Dastien, but I had a plan. I was thinking it through. Step by step.
First, I needed a light spell.
I tried to remember that it didn’t matter what I said exactly, just my intentio
n and force of will. I had to believe in my spell.
I held a hand out in front of me and pictured a ball of light forming. “Bring me light. Bring me light. Bring me light.”
Light flared for a split-second, but it only made me see spots.
Damn it. I hadn’t believed in my spell enough.
I blew out a slow breath as I tried to center myself. I can do this. This is easy. Just say the words and it’ll work. No problem.
I lifted my hand again. “Bring me light. Bring me light! Bring me light!”
The light flared brighter this time. I did a little happy dance and started to glance around, but beyond a little halo of light around me, there was nothing to see. The floor somehow absorbed the light, making it look like I was floating in an endless pool of black even though I could feel the firm ground under me.
I froze as a draft rustled strands of my hair against my face.
A greasy blob of magic plopped against my hand. The light flickered and then it was gone.
“You asshole!” I rubbed my hand on my pants, trying to rid my skin of the feel.
Oh, hell no. This guy wasn’t getting the best of me.
Ignoring the sickening feeling of its magic, I held my hand in front of me one more time. “Bring me light. Light! Light!” I yelled the spell, putting my willpower in it.
The light bloomed brighter—floating on top of my hand—but blipped out faster. This time the greasy magic spread all the way up to my elbow.
No. No way. I wasn’t going to let this asshole win.
I threw all the will and determination I had into the words. This spell would light the world up. I screamed the words. “Light! Light! Light!”
The light burned so bright I had to squint. Aside from the ring of light around me, everything was black. There was no horizon. No ceiling or walls. Just the black endless pool around me.
Maybe if I ran—
The light was slapped from my hand. The magical blow knocked me on my ass and I was bathed in darkness. Again.
Someone was messing with me.
I jumped up from the ground. “You piece of shit!” I stomped around in a circle. “You’re so fucking scared of me you won’t show yourself and you won’t even let me have any light? You’re pathetic!” Spit flew out of my mouth as I shouted. My breath heaved. Fur rippled on my arms again, but I wasn’t ready to be a wolf. She couldn’t help me here. Not yet.
By the time the last echoing remnants of “pathetic” hit my ears, my wolf was under control.
I needed to know who or what I was up against and why it’d dragged me here. If it’s ultimate goal was to piss me off, then it was doing a fan-fucking-tastic job. But there had to be a better reason. And I had to figure it out. Fast.
I couldn’t walk my way out of here. Taunting hadn’t worked. It could snuff out my magic like it was nothing. So what was left?
Wait? I hated that, but I wasn’t sure what else to do. So, I sat cross-legged with my hands on my knees. As freaked out as I was, I had to find a way to calm down. There had to be a way out of this. I just hadn’t thought of it yet.
I closed my eyes, and then I heard a noise.
It was faint and so far away that I held my breath until my lungs burned, straining to hear it again.
My heart picked up its pace. The sound was like a whisper on the wind.
My jaw cracked as I clenched my teeth.
At least I didn’t have to wait long. Whoever—whatever—had taken me was going to show itself very soon.
I stood and balanced on the balls of my feet, hands loose at my sides. I was either going to run or fight. I wasn’t sure yet. But I was going to be ready.
I licked my dry lips as I listened, focusing all my energy on hearing whatever was approaching. At first, the noise was nothing more than a soft hiss, but as it grew louder, I realized it wasn’t a hiss at all. It was a voice. Not just that. It was words. The tiny gap of silence between the sounds meant there were two words.
But I couldn’t decipher them.
The voice grew louder, becoming a dark rumble that made the hair on my arms stand on end, but I still couldn’t make out the words. It was more of a rumbling growl than anything else. I wasn’t sure if it was the dark or the tone of the growl or the magic under it that made me want to run.
I clenched my fists as I waited in the dark for whatever this was to show itself. I couldn’t run. I wouldn’t give it the satisfaction of knowing that I was getting scared. I was going to face whatever was messing with me. I was going to get the hell out of here. I was—
“You’re mine!” The voice suddenly yelled so loud my ears rang. Evil magic hit my skin. It was like I’d been dropped into a pool of ice-cold slime. It coated my body—my soul. Dread tip-toed up my spine, and I knew I was majorly screwed.
I didn’t care about not having a direction to run anymore. I didn’t care about not showing my fear. And screw fighting.
I moved—hauling ass as far and as fast as I could.
Everything in me screamed to keeping running until I couldn’t run anymore. And then I was going to have to run some more. I didn’t want to see this thing’s face. I never wanted to see whatever that was. I only wanted to get out. Away. Now.
My breath came in pants as the panic that I’d been holding back ripped free. I hadn’t reached for Dastien yet because I wasn’t sure the fragile connection would hold, but I reached now. I grasped the tiny little thread of our bond and screamed, Dastien! Get me out of here! I shoved the words through the bond, hoping that by some miracle he’d hear me and be able to do something about it.
Then there was light. Too much light. I skidded to a stop, closing my eyes, but it burned through my eyelids.
I covered my eyes. “Stop! Stop this!” My legs gave out, and I fell to my hands and knees. Dastien! I called out and a faint scent of pine and dirt and home hit me. I hadn’t gotten any power, but his scent was there. I breathed it deep into my lungs and remembered who I was. Where I was.
I’d forgotten that. In my panicked run, I’d forgotten who I was.
Witch. Werewolf. Alpha. Mate.
Strong.
I was stronger than this. I didn’t need to let myself be trapped. I could find a way out. If I could smell Dastien, then he was near, even if our bond made it feel like we were far away. Which meant I was in my own mind, under mental and spiritual attack. But it wasn’t physical.
If I was in my own mind, then I just had to kick whoever this was out of my head.
That switch in perspective was enough to shake me free from the panic.
First things first. I kept my eyes squeezed shut against the burning light and started building up my mental barriers one by one. I pictured a brick wall, but that wasn’t enough. I could still feel this thing’s magic slithering up my arms like a thousand oil-slicked snakes.
I built a second barrier outside the wall, forming an igloo made of concrete bricks laid three thick. I made sure to keep my tie to Dastien present in my mind so that I wouldn’t accidentally cut off my lifeline to him.
Slowly, the light started to fade to a normal level. I blinked my eyes open, revealing Dastien standing in front of me.
“You okay?” Dastien was wearing a pair of green scrubs that I’d never seen before. A little worry line appeared between his brows, but I couldn’t feel his worry. “Need help with that?”
I looked down to find myself on one knee tying the laces of my white canvas shoes. The laminate floor glistened like it’d just been cleaned, but I couldn’t smell any disinfectant.
Couldn’t sense Dastien’s feelings? No smells? White canvas shoes?
This was all kinds of wrong.
Dastien squatted in front of me. “Everything okay?” One of his dark curls fell across his forehead, and he brushed it back. A move so familiar that I questioned my gut for a second.
This was my Dastien, but the rest of it… “I don’t know.” I looked around as I stood, but I didn’t recognize the place.
We were i
n the entryway of a large building. Behind me was a desk with a security guard. Three hallways branched off from where we stood, but everything was white. There were no signs to give me a clue. “Where are we?” The best I could come up with was some kind of office building, but that didn’t explain why Dastien was wearing scrubs.
“You don’t know?”
I licked my lips. “No.” If I was still in my head, then maybe I’d switched into a vision. Was I seeing a future possibility? No. That didn’t quite fit. I didn’t think Dastien had any desire to be a doctor. Did he?
What the hell was this?
“Are you having one of your episodes?” His condescending tone made my hackles rise.
“Episodes?” What the hell was he talking about?
“Maybe it’s time to get you back to your room.”
My room? Was I supposed to be a patient in a hospital? I didn’t feel sick.
And then I almost laughed. I stood and pushed past Dastien into the courtyard outside. The sun hit my face, but it didn’t have any heat.
Dastien and I once had a conversation about this exact fear. I’d woken up one morning in Dastien’s house in France and despite everything that had happened, I was so thankful with how my life had turned out. Even if I’d almost been killed multiple times, I’d survived and was on the most perfect honeymoon. I’d wondered offhandedly if my life was really just a dream. If maybe I was Freaky Tessa and was having a mental break in a psychiatric facility.
If the thing that was attacking me had bothered to look a little deeper in my mind, they’d know this wasn’t a valid fear of mine. If anything, it was more like a joke Dastien and I had shared than a fear that I spent any real time worrying about.
“Nice try, fucker!” I screamed at the too perfectly blue sky. “Show me something scary, you miserable piece of—”
Everything went black again. The only sound was my breath rushing in and out too fast. “Shit.” I wasn’t in control yet. I was in my head but somehow this asshole had the upper hand. I needed to gain it back.
