But when I reached her side, she merely waved me away. “I’m happy to see you, too, sweetheart, but we don’t have time at this moment for a loving reunion. You’ve got to close the veil before more mages die on that battlefield. It’ll force all the demons back into their realm, effectively ending the fight. I’ve tried to do it, but I’m just not strong enough.”
In the distance, the clash of blades and bodies exploded through the night. Grams was right. Wagner might be dead, but the war still raged on. The demons wanted this realm as theirs, and they were fighting to take it. I dropped back down beside Wagner’s body and found the Witch’s Blade strapped to his waist. He’d been carrying it all this time, forcing Grams to use it to cut holes in the veil. And now I would finally end this, once and for all.
“How do I do it?” I asked, holding the blade before my eyes. It flashed a light onto my face, singing as I curled my hands around the leather handle. And, as crazy as it sounded, I swore I felt it pulse, as if it were happy that I was using it for good.
“Like you do all your spells, Zoe.” She walked to my side and rested a hand on my shoulder. “Just close your eyes and ask your powers to do what you need them to do. You are strong enough that they’ll respond.”
With a deep breath, I nodded and closed my eyes, searching for the truth within my magic. It answered my call, rising up within me with a strength so fierce that it made my head spin. I tightened my grip on the blade and focused on what I wanted most. To close the veil. To save humanity. To banish the demons out of this world forever. Permanently. It was time for this to end.
Magic shot up from my core and into the sky, tumbling around me in a whirlwind of electricity. I clenched my jaw and held my ground, letting the intoxicating power wash over me. It was everywhere. Within my bones, within my heart, and within the very depths of my soul. And it exploded out of me with a force so strong that it almost knocked me sideways, filling the world with darkness and shadows. The kind of shadows that would save us all.
Something shook my shoulder. With a groan, I rolled onto my back as mud soaked into my shirt. I squinted my eyes and looked up at a bright new day, Grams hovering over me. My mouth was dry, and my head throbbed. But my bones sung with happiness and pride.
“What’s going on?” I asked, scanning my eyes across the cemetery-turned-battlefield. Chaos still surrounded us, but the fighting had stopped. Survivors milled amongst the fallen bodies, and the perfectly-trimmed bushes had been ripped from the ground. The grass had morphed into mud. The strangest thing, though, was that the sun had risen high in the sky. It was no longer night. “Did that spell knock me out for hours or something?”
“No.” Grams knelt beside me and smiled. “That’s not the sun. It’s the remnants of the closing of the veil. Your shadows chased the darkness away, and the light should fade in time. You did it, Zoe. You’ve closed the veil and saved us all. I never doubted you could do it.”
“Oh, Grams.” I started to cry as total exhaustion and relief poured through me. Not just because of the veil but because Grams was here beside me now. She hadn’t succumbed to the darkness. She hadn’t fallen prey to her worst instincts. And she hadn’t been the one, not truly, to stab me in the heart. And, best of all, we’d both come out on the other side alive. Together.
“I know, Zoe. I know.” She squeezed me tight, her vanilla perfume filling up my head and making me think of home, of safety, of love. “I am so sorry for everything that’s happened. And I am so sorry for everything I did to you.”
“I know you didn’t want to kill me, Grams,” I said, pulling back to see her eyes welling with tears. “That was just Wagner controlling you.”
“I don’t mean that.” She sniffled and glanced away. “I’m talking about the curse. That was me. In that moment in the cottage, I was so terrified and angry. I thought you would die, Zoe. I had to do whatever it took to stop that. So, I called upon an old rune I’d seen one day, a long time ago, and I put a curse on you so that any wound I inflicted would not be fatal.”
My mouth dropped open as I stared at my Grams. I could scarcely believe what I’d heard. In all my moments of wondering, I’d never suspected that she’d been the one to turn me into an Unbound, especially not as a way to save me. “I was convinced it was Wagner, even though it seemed like a stupid thing for him to do.”
“Because it only made you stronger,” she said with a smile. “Faster. Fiercer.”
“Oh, but Grams,” I said, voice breaking. “It’s so horrible.”
“I know, dear,” she said, squeezing my hand as tears dripped down her cheeks. “But I can undo the curse for you. I can return you to your mortal life now that the war has been won and Wagner is dead.”
My heart thundered in my ears as I stared into her bright eyes. This was something I’d never even entertained as a possibility. Dorian and I were cursed—together—and now we had the opportunity to live our eternal days side by side. It almost made the pain inside my chest bearable. The constant haunting cravings. The worry that one day I would snap.
“Let me talk to Dorian first,” I said in a whisper.
Epilogue
“Good morning, Magister,” Dorian murmured into my hair as I rolled toward him, our limbs tangled in sheets. The morning sun beamed down on us from the window, highlighting his sculpted jaw and the hair that curled around his ears. My heart sang at the look in his eye. It had been three months since the battle against the demons, and every day had been better than the last.
“Morning, handsome.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and slid my body on top of his. We’d spent the entire night wrapped in each other’s arms, but I wasn’t the slightest bit tired. And I was more than ready for round two, though by this point, it was more like round fifty.
“You ready for this big meeting of yours?” he asked.
“More than ready,” I said with a sigh. “I know everyone has wanted us to take things slow now that humans know about our existence, but it’s about time we get council members appointed. Once we do, we can finally get the coven back up and running at full capacity, starting with a training program for young witches and warlocks.”
“You are so sexy when you talk that way,” he murmured against my shoulder. I let out a laugh, a lighthearted sound that I’d rarely made until recently. Not only were the demons permanently gone from our realm, but Dorian and I were closer than ever, something I’d been terrified would change after we’d cleared the battlefield. Laura and Anastasia had made it through, as well as most of the fae and the werewolves. But many others had fallen, and the following days had been ones full of grief.
“Well, get used to it. Because that’s what I’m going to be talking about all the damn time from now on,” I said, my smile faltering for a moment. “Dorian, are you glad we made the decision we did? Do you ever wish you could change it?”
“Of course I’m glad,” he said. “Look at us. We’re happy and in love. I wouldn’t want our lives to be any other way.”
“Short and fleeting and without that intense bond we shared?” I asked. I didn’t know why, but I just needed to hear him say it one last time.
When Grams had offered me the chance to go back to my mortal form, I’d been so unsure. A part of me knew I’d be miserable if I had to live endless days as a vampire, but another part didn’t want to give up a long and happy life with Dorian. In the end, he’d been the one to make the sacrifice, joining me in my mortal choice. Our bond had been broken when Dorian became mortal, but it had done nothing but make us stronger.
“We share a new bond now, and it’s better than anything magic could give us,” he said with a smile as he tucked a finger underneath my chin. “I love you, Zoe. And this is the life I want.”
“I love you, too,” I said, my heart singing with hope.
“Now,” he said, wrapping his arms around my body. “Come here and give me a taste of that bond of ours before you head off to your coven duties.”
And with that, I pressed my mouth
onto his and smiled.
Thank you so much for reading! This was the final chapter in the Bone Coven Chronicles, so I hope you enjoyed Zoe’s tale. This isn’t the end of stories from this world. In 2018, I’m releasing two series focusing on both the Blood Coven and the Shadow Coven, and some familiar characters will be making an appearance.
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About the Author
Jenna Wolfhart is a Buffy-wannabe who lives vicariously through the kick-ass heroines in urban fantasy. After completing a PhD in Librarianship, she became a full-time author and now spends her days typing the fantastical stories in her head. When she's not writing, she loves to stargaze, binge Netflix, and drink copious amounts of coffee.
Born and raised in America, Jenna now lives in England with her husband, her dog, and her four ratties.
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Find her online at:
jennawolfhart.com
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Witch's Fury (The Bone Coven Chronicles Book 4) Page 16