by Sammie Joyce
“A magical contract. You sign it, and I’ll heal Jagger.”
“Then what?”
“Then you have six months to release me from hell, or you die.”
Annabelle was making frantic abort signals at Rose, but Rose ignored her. Six months. Her pregnancy was progressing at a dragon rate rather than a witch rate. In six months, her baby would be born.
She knew that she could never release Hellith. Even if Hellith did keep her word and leave Rose, Annabelle, and their dragons alone, Rose couldn’t let the rest of the world burn. Maybe if it was for Jagger, but she wouldn’t trade her own life for everyone else’s.
When she didn’t follow through and release Hellith, she would die. But her baby would live. Her dragons would live. Jagger would live.
“I’ll do it.”
“Rose, no!” Annabelle grabbed Rose’s arm, trying to pull her out of the ritual circle, but Rose resisted.
“This is the only way I can save Jagger. Do you seriously expect me to let him die?”
“Jagger will go crazy when he finds out! So will Asher, Mace, and Gavin. You know they would do anything to protect you. This is their worst nightmare.”
Rose knew that. But Jagger dying was her worst nightmare. Perhaps it was selfish or her, but she couldn’t lose him. “That’s why we’re not going to tell them. We’re not ruining the last six months they get to spend with me. If they know, they will be in anguish. Let them have six months of happiness.”
“No. You can’t do this!”
“It’s not your choice to make, Annabelle. It’s mine. I hope to have your support in this, but if I don’t, that won’t stop me from doing it. It will only ensure that my dragons are in pain for the next six months.”
“Please, Rose… I don’t want to lose you.”
Rose blinked back tears. Now was not the time. “I know.” She pulled Annabelle into a hug. “But I have to do this. What if it was Dane? How could you ever forgive yourself if you didn’t do everything you possibly could to save him?”
“I couldn’t,” Annabelle whispered. “That doesn’t make this any easier, though.”
“I know this is unfair to ask of you. You’ll have to keep it secret from Dane too, because he’ll surely tell Asher if he knows. It’s… it’s the only thing I can ask of you. Please, Annabelle.”
Hellith was silent, which was a wise decision from her. Rose could see a dozen emotions play across Annabelle’s face. Finally, she hung her head. “Okay. Okay, I’ll keep it secret. But know that when you die, Asher will kill me too.”
“He won’t. I’ll make sure of it. I’ll leave him a letter. No matter how angry he is, he’ll never deny my last request.”
Annabelle didn’t look convinced, but Rose was sure. She wouldn’t let her best friend die alongside her.
“Hellith, I’ll do it.”
The radio pulsed loudly, emitting a wave of bright red light. When Rose blinked her eyes into normal vision again, there were three things on the ground: a piece of paper and two bottles, one filled with a red liquid, one filled with a green one.
“Sign the contract. The green bottle will heal Jagger. The red one will take you to hell, to free me. You have six months to take it, or the contract will kill you. Once you are in hell, you have a week to get me out of my cage, or the contract will kill you.”
Annabelle lunged for the green bottle. Rose flexed her shield, expecting retaliation from Hellith, but there was nothing.
Hellith laughed, the sound all the more sinister over the radio. “You think I’m foolish enough to trust you? There will be no getting out of this circle until you sign the contract. Hold onto that bottle all you like; you will not be able to get it to Jagger until you sign. And in case you are thinking of rolling it out to the others waiting, think again. Passing through the barrier I’ve placed will destroy it.”
Annabelle’s chest was heaving. Rose understood, but they didn’t have time to waste. Jagger was dying.
She knelt down, picking up the pen that lay on top of the contract. Maybe if she destroyed the contract once Jagger was healed, it wouldn’t be able to kill her if she failed to free Hellith.
She glanced at the wording, even though every instinct in her was screaming to hurry up and get to Jagger. It was simply phrased, and just as Hellith said. The potion would heal Jagger. Rose had six months to use the red potion to come into hell and free Hellith, or her life would be forfeit.
With a shaking hand, Rose signed the bottom of the paper.
Chapter Eleven
The moment she finished, the paper disappeared with a pop. “I’ll keep hold of that.” Hellith sounded smug, and Rose didn’t blame her.
She thought she had won. Hellith probably wouldn’t even think of Rose sacrificing herself to keep the world safe. Hellith thought only of evil and domination. She knew nothing of sacrificing herself for love. Rose felt a grim satisfaction at imagining Hellith’s horror when the six-month mark came, and Rose still wasn’t there. Rose would be dead, but Hellith would still be trapped.
“Until we meet again,” Hellith hissed.
The circle around them wavered, then the blackness vanished. Asher, Gavin, and Mace tumbled into the ritual circle. Rose snatched up the red potion and pushed it into her pocket before any of them could see it.
“Rose! Are you okay?” Asher grabbed her shoulders, looking her up and down, checking for any injury. There was none, at least externally.
“I’m fine, Asher. We have a potion that will heal Jagger.”
Annabelle handed over the green potion, her lips pressed together. She was clearly trying hard to compose herself, but not doing a very good job of it. Fortunately, Rose’s dragons were too preoccupied with her to pay much attention to Annabelle.
Annabelle would have to pull herself together by the time they met up with Dane, but Rose trusted her. If she’d just found out that she would be losing her best friend in six months, she would also need a minute to get herself together.
“What happened?” Mace stared around the ritual circle. “How did you convince her to do it?”
“I can explain everything later. For now, we need to get to Jagger.”
There was no argument there. The dragons shifted, and they all set off. Rose clutched the green bottle tightly. She shoved all thoughts of the meeting with Hellith to the back of her mind, creating a wall, as Gavin had taught her.
They tumbled out of the taxi and into the hospital, sprinting straight to Jagger’s room. They got a couple of funny looks from hospital staff, but Rose was beyond caring. If they were too late…
Dane stood as they ran into the room.
“Is he—is he still—?” Rose’s heart was in her throat as her eyes sought Jagger beneath all the tubes and machines.
“He’s alive, but barely. Please tell me you brought a cure.”
“We did.” Rose thrust the bottle into Dane’s hand. “He needs to drink it.”
“Too risky, he might vomit it up. I’ll put it in his IV.”
Dane rummaged around in the drawers until he found a needle. Rose clutched Gavin’s hand as Dane injected the potion into one of the bags attached to Jagger.
Nothing happened.
“How long will it take to work?” Asher was staring at the IV bag like it was his last salvation, which, of course, it was.
“Maybe an hour or so. I’m going to increase this IV speed so that it gets into him as quickly as possible.”
“What if it doesn’t work? What if he has to drink it?” Rose didn’t want to question Dane’s knowledge as a healer, but she was terrified that something would go wrong, and the sacrifice she had made would be for nothing.
“Trust me, this will get it into his bloodstream much faster than if he’d swallowed it. If this really is a cure, it’ll work.”
Rose sank into a chair by Jagger’s bed, prepared for the longest hour of her life.
It seemed Asher wasn’t prepared to wait. “Tell us what happened.” He sat down beside Rose, ta
king her hand.
Rose spoke slowly, coming up with her story on the fly. She’d hoped to have more time, but Asher clearly needed to know now that everything was okay.
“Hellith spoke to us through the radio. She put Annabelle and me in a bubble so that we could speak privately—I think she wanted to make sure you didn’t interfere. We made our offer, and she agreed, but she wanted me to sign a magical contract that would force me to release her.
“I agreed, but as soon as she sent the contract and the potion, Annabelle grabbed the potion. I shielded us while Annabelle ended the ritual. Hellith tried to stop us, but she didn’t have enough power from hell to influence what we did in this world.”
Rose kept her eyes on Jagger. She was terrified that if she looked at Asher, he would be able to read the lie on her face. She checked the barriers in her mind. They were holding strong. None of her dragons should be able to see the lie.
Asher didn’t sigh in relief, as Rose had been hoping. He fixed her with a suspicious glare, one that was mirrored on Mace’s and Gavin’s faces. “There’s something you’re not telling us. Why are you shielding a portion of your thoughts?”
Rose did her best not to wince. “Talking to Hellith again was difficult for me, Asher. The last time I had contact with her, she killed Gavin.”
“All the more reason to let us help.” Gavin sat down on the other side of her, taking Rose’s free hand. “You don’t have to go through this alone.”
“I know. I just—this is something I need to deal with on my own, for now. I will let you in, I promise. I just need a bit of time. Give me some space?”
Rose knew her dragons wouldn’t deny her, and she was right. Asher nodded. “You’ll have it. Just promise that you’ll say something if it gets bad?”
“I will.” Rose promised herself that this, at least, wouldn’t be a lie. She would tell them… just not now. She’d check her calendar. One day should be enough time for them to say goodbye. She’d tell them the day before her time expired.
Jagger moaned, instantly drawing attention off Rose. Dane checked his vitals, but didn’t seem concerned. They all crowded around his bedside, waiting.
Just over an hour passed, and Jagger didn’t look much different. He was still as pale as death. Rose could probably take an evaluation of his condition from the numbers on his monitors, but she couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from his face.
Jagger’s eyelids fluttered. Rose clutched his hand tightly before realizing she might be hurting him, and loosened her grip. “Jagger?”
“Rose?” His voice was scratchy, and he winced as he talked, but he turned his head toward her.
“I’m here. Everything is going to be alright now.”
The lie burned coming out, but Rose ignored it. It was something she’d need to get used to in the coming months.
“What… how?” Jagger’s gaze moved blearily around. Rose wasn’t sure how well he could see at the moment, given how disoriented he was. She put a hand on his cheek.
“We managed to get a cure. It’s a long story, but we’re all here. We’re all safe.”
“The baby?”
“The baby is fine.” Rose forced a smile for Jagger. “We’re all going to be alright.”
Chapter Twelve
Jagger’s memories were patchy, but his brothers and Rose filled him in on everything. It sounded like those were memories he would rather do without, so he wasn’t really bothered.
What did bother him was Rose. Ever since he’d woken up in the hospital, she had been different. She was sad, cold, and withdrawn. It wasn’t like her. Even worse, she was shielding her thoughts from them. Asher was trying to give her space, but Jagger worried that would be more harmful than helpful.
Keeping secrets never came to any good end. Jagger was determined to get it out of her. Whenever he asked, her reason for not disclosing everything was that she was still upset and shaken by recent events, and needed time to process it.
If that was true, then making her feel less upset and shaken should go a long way toward helping her open up. It was like there was a festering wound inside her, and she wouldn’t let anyone tend to it.
“How about we do something tomorrow, just the two of us?”
Rose looked up from her book. Jagger knew she was studying possible ways to reverse the hold Hellith had over the other witches. “I’d love that. But are you sure you’re strong enough? Dane said no strenuous activity for a week, and it’s only been five days…”
“I’ll be fine.” Asher opened his mouth to speak, and Jagger quickly talked over him. “It’s just a short way. No more than a half hour flight. Happy?” His last question was directed at Asher, who nodded.
“Perfect.” Rose’s smile lit up the entire room. “I’ll sort out some food—we can have a picnic.”
Her smile didn’t last long. All too soon, she lapsed back into her melancholy. Jagger exchanged a worried look with Gavin. He knew that him almost dying must have been rough on Rose, but she’d been through worse. Gavin had actually died, and she’d coped much better with the aftermath of that event than she was with this.
Asher went with Rose to do some grocery shopping. They’d mostly been relying on hotel room service, but for a picnic, they would need more than that.
Jagger turned to Mace and Gavin. “We have a bit of time before they get back. Let’s do something to cheer Rose up.”
“I’m with you there, but what will work?” Gavin got up and started pacing. “I’ve been trying for days. She just seems to get sadder and more withdrawn every day.”
“We need something that’ll make her laugh.”
“Of course you’d say that. What if she needs comfort?”
“No, she needs laughter,” Jagger decided. “How about we do a strip tease for her?”
Mace chuckled. “That’ll make her breathless alright, but not with laughter.”
“Not if we do it in her underwear.”
Gavin and Mace stared at him in disbelief.
“Come on, guys! What’s a bit of humiliation in the face of Rose’s happiness?”
Mace pursed his lips. “Do you really think it’ll work?”
“Absolutely! It’ll crack her up.”
“Fine, but we need to get some proper lingerie for the correct effect.”
“Excellent point! Gavin will get it.”
“I most certainly will not!” Gavin spluttered.
“Hurry up, brother, or you won’t get back before Rose and Asher.”
“I—not—don’t—”
Gavin was still protesting as Jagger shoved him out of the door.
Ten minutes later, he returned, red in the face. “I can’t believe you talked me into this,” he muttered.
“Hurry up, let’s get dressed! Rose and Asher will be home soon.”
“Do you know how difficult it is to find women’s lingerie in men’s sizes?” Gavin grouched as he undressed.
Jagger just rolled his eyes. By the time Rose and Asher returned, they were ready.
“Rose, we have a surprise for you.” Jagger’s voice was shaking with suppressed laughter. He was in the bathroom with Mace and Gavin.
“What is it?” She still sounded sad, but that wouldn’t be for long.
“We’re doing a strip tease for you. Get ready.”
“I’m ready!” She certainly sounded ready, though she had no idea what she was in for.
“I’m going to kill you,” Gavin hissed in Jagger’s ear.
“I love you too. You can go first.”
The three of them stepped out of the bathroom. Jagger led the show, pulling off the lace nightdress, bra, and underwear in the most seductive manner possible. Mace and Gavin followed suit, somewhat reluctantly.
By the time they were done, both Rose and Asher were on the floor, howling with laughter. Jagger flopped down on the floor next to her. “You like?”
“Oh Jagger… I’ll never forgive you for not filming that. It was utterly priceless!”
&n
bsp; “I’ll never stop thanking you for not filming it,” Gavin muttered, but even he was smiling. It was impossible to be unhappy when Rose looked so joyful. Jagger knew that would fade, but hopefully the effect wouldn’t be fully gone by tomorrow, when he would get to work on her in earnest.
“Come here, all of you.”
Rose grabbed Jagger’s hand and pulled him to the bed. Mace, Gavin, and Asher followed.
“Jagger, it’s beautiful.” Rose stared around at the lake and surrounding trees. “How did you find this place?”
“Google maps. I was lucky to come across it. I was sure I was going to have to stretch that ten minutes or less I promised Asher.”
“Lucky you didn’t—Gavin would never have let you hear the end of it.”
“You’re telling me. He’s been worse than Dane about this whole rest nonsense.”
Rose gave him a reproving look. “He’s worried about you. When we thought you were going to die… well, none of us took it well, but Gavin was one of the worst.”
Jagger sighed dramatically. “If you make it all understandable like that, how am I supposed to tease him properly?”
“Maybe give it a rest?”
“Over my dead body.”
Rose winced, and Jagger reminded himself that Gavin wasn’t the only one who needed to be treated gently at the moment.
“Let’s eat.”
Jagger tried to take her mind off things by goofing around, as he always did. While he was able to draw a few precious smiles out of Rose, she was still far from happy. If he really wanted to help her, he needed to get her to confide in him.
How exactly he was going to do that, though, he wasn’t entirely sure.
The way she was leaning toward him gave him a perfect view of her breasts down her top, which completely distracted him from his goal. Jagger ogled her, which wasn’t lost on Rose.
“Like what you see, hm? Maybe it’s time I return the favor and do a strip show for you.”
“I bet your lingerie isn’t halfway as awesome as Gavin’s.”