by Aileen Erin
From the second I first saw him I’d wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anything. I’d fought our bond when I first became a Were—because the whole biting thing hadn’t gone over well—but I was done with that. Long done.
He leaned forward, patiently waiting for me to take his hand. “Come on,” he said again. When he smiled, his dimples made deep dents in his cheeks.
Damn it. He knew exactly what he was doing to me, but I couldn’t deny that face. Maybe one day I’d get used to him and I’d be able to get my own way once in a while.
I put my hand in his and instantly our bond strengthened. “I’m glad you’re enjoying this.”
His grin got even bigger. “You can’t lie to me. I know you’re having fun, too.”
“I’d rather do a different kind of wrestling on the mat.” I raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t try to tempt me with your wiles.”
I shook my head. “Wiles? Seriously?” Sometimes he acted way older than twenty.
“Let’s try it again. This time you try and take me to the mat.”
“But I don’t know what I’m doing.” A piece of my long, brown hair fell in my eyes, and I pulled my hair out of its rubber band.
“Just do whatever feels right. This is good for you, beyond helping with the visions. We’re going to be fighting for our lives. Maybe tonight. You have to be ready. I don’t—”
“Want to lose you.” I finished for him. I’d heard this speech a lot the past few days. When Luciana stripped me of my powers, it had affected Dastien in a big way. He kept worrying about losing me or losing our bond. Honestly, I wasn’t sure which of us it had hurt more. But it didn’t matter. We were dealing with the fallout together.
This was Dastien’s way. Preparing me for next time. Making sure there wasn’t a next time.
I met his amber gaze. “You’re not going to lose me.”
He pressed his lips together. “Of course I’m not. Because we’re going to be ready. I know you’re frustrated—”
“I’m not frustrated.” I tried to stay calm. Mornings weren’t my most rational part of the day.
“Don’t try to deny it, cherie. I can feel your frustration—at your visions, your lack of ability when sparing, and most of all, at what Luciana did. That’s okay. I understand what you’re going through, but you don’t get how scared I am. How hard it was being away from you, not knowing if you were okay. Then you came back, and you weren’t okay. I feel like I failed you. I should’ve stopped you from going. I knew it was a bad idea. I knew nothing good would come of you going to the coven, but I agreed for the sake of the pack. Now, you have to let me protect you. Please.”
My lip started to tremble and I bit it, trying to get it to stop the embarrassing fluttering. Those jars… It had been hard, but I’d gotten through it. I was getting through it. “I’m not broken.”
“You’re not broken, but you’re fragile right now.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that statement. If I was honest with myself, I might agree, but that didn’t make hearing it from him any easier. It made it more real. And that kind of sucked.
He moved toward me. “I know it was awful. I can’t imagine… But I feel your fear when you sleep. I hear you yelling out during your nightmares and there’s nothing I can do. Nothing but this.” He spread his hands out wide, motioning around the gym.
I couldn’t look at him. Not if I didn’t want to cry.
I’d done that enough. It was stupid. I had my powers back. I was okay magically—sort of. Physically. But being in that evil circle—where Luciana called the demon to take away everything that made me me… It had changed me. Knocked me off balance.
Maybe this whole exhausting-me-until-the-vision-came plan wasn’t going to work. Maybe my visions would always be different from here on out, and I’d just see glimpses in my dreams.
“It’s not your fault. It was my choice to go to the coven. Please, don’t…” I didn’t know what else to say. I’d told him before, but he wasn’t hearing me.
He closed the distance, wrapping his arms around me. “I never should’ve let you go.”
“Stop it.” I pressed my cheek into his chest. “I had to.” I laughed and the sound was muffled against his chest. “We’re quite the pair. Each making ourselves sick over something that we can’t change.”
He ran his fingers through my hair. “The best pair ever.”
“I’m going to be okay. It’s really only been a few days.” He sighed, and then his bond opened wider. All his worry and fear—terror—flooded me. The pain of being apart.
I nearly gasped. I hadn’t realized how closed off he’d been. I squeezed him tighter, fisting the back of his shirt.
God. I’d been messed up because of what Luciana did, but he’d been a wreck. I’d ignored that. Ignored my own mate’s pain.
“I’m—” My voice wobbled and I stopped. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” I couldn’t help it now. A tear ran down my cheek.
He pulled back. “Hey. What’s this?”
“You messed with our bond so I wouldn’t know how bad you’re hurting.” His bond started to close again, and I shoved him. “Don’t you dare shut me out again.”
His mouth dropped. “I didn’t know I opened it.”
Why would he close it off in the first place?
“Because you were dealing with enough. You didn’t need me adding to it.”
“Well stop it. I never asked you to protect me.”
“It’s my job.”
Now he was pissing me off. The caveman needed to put down his club before he hurt himself. “Screw a bunch of that noise.”
He gently cupped my face, wiping my tears away with a brush of his thumbs. “Hey now. I take my job very seriously.”
Two could play at this game. “Same here.” If being my mate was his job, then the reverse was true.
“All right. Let’s give it one more shot.”
I crossed my arms. “Seriously? Can’t we just go get breakfast now?”
“One more round and then we eat. I feel like we’re finally getting somewhere. I can feel it. You’re more open. I know you’re getting there. One more time.”
“Fine. But after breakfast, I’m grabbing a nap.” Between my nightmares and his patrols, we weren’t getting much sleep. “And we’re going to my dorm. It’s closer.”
“Deal.”
Fine. He wanted me to go on the offensive, then I’d give it my best. I’d be back on the mat in five seconds. And then we could go back to sleep.
Or not.
I lunged at him, and he moved faster than I could follow. I felt him through the bond and twisted before he could snag his arms around me.
I lasted all of ten seconds—double what I’d guessed—before wind brushed against my face.
The world turned as I flipped through the air.
Then it started. The tingling. Dastien was right. A vision was coming, and I had a choice. A split second to decide whether I relaxed into it or shut it out.
Whatever the powers that be wanted to show me had to be big.
I took solace in what Dastien said.
“Let go!”
I almost didn’t understand his words, but then I did. As my shoulder hit the mat, I let go.
A flash of white filled my eyes and the gym disappeared.
Chapter Six
I stood in the cafeteria. The smell of food told me it was lunch—pizza day. Baked ziti. Warm garlic bread.
What the hell?
It was like I’d been sucked into a different place. It wasn’t at all like the last time I saw into the future, mostly because I was aware that this was a vision. Maybe Luciana’s magic really had changed my abilities for good?
I couldn’t worry about it now. The vision was happening, and I surrendered to it.
I walked with Dastien, weaving through the tables to our friends. He balanced his tray piled with more food than I could eat—which was a lot—on one hand and held a
bottle of Orangina in the other. He seemed to drink more of them when he was stressed. It must be a comfort thing.
This wasn’t so bad. Not bad at all. Definitely not what was giving me nightmares.
Dastien looked back at me over his shoulder. “Don’t worry so much, cherie. We will stop this, okay?”
While he was focusing on me, someone bumped him. The bottle slipped from his fingers.
Usually, if someone dropped something, it was caught before ever hitting the ground. Were reflexes were good. And Dastien’s were extremely good.
Instead, we both stood there, watching the bottle as it fell to the floor and shattered in a mess of soda and glass. His eyes met mine and his panic washed over me.
The vision shifted. I was sitting between Dastien and Mr. Dawson in the conference room of St. Ailbe’s main building. Twelve chairs surrounded the long oval table. Each one was taken. People stood behind the chairs, filling the room past capacity.
Everyone was arguing. Voices rose until they were impossible to differentiate.
Mr. Dawson’s voice cut above the rest. “Yes, Tessa. Do you have something to add?”
The room went quiet as everyone turned to me.
I didn’t have anything to add. What was everyone even arguing about? My heart rate picked up as I searched for what to say, but the vision shifted again.
I held hands with Dastien as we gazed over the lake. The sun hit the water in just the right way, making it shimmer in the sunset. I glanced behind us at the surrounding forest. We were on the land that Dastien had given to me. Someday we’d build a home here.
“Are you ready for this?”
I wasn’t sure what he meant, but whatever it was, I was willing. He was wearing a white button down, rolled up to the elbows, and a pair of khaki pants. Definitely not what he usually wore. He was more a T-shirt and jeans kind of guy.
Something fluttered against my legs, and I looked down. I was wearing a white dress.
Dastien leaned in and pressed his mouth to mine. I closed my eyes.
The feel of his lips disappeared before it even registered.
The sound of shouting—human, wolf, and something I didn’t have a name for—filled my ears. I was almost too scared to open my eyes.
The smell was my second tip off. Sulfur so strong my nostrils burned.
Demons. The other sound was demons. The scuttling of nails. Hissing. And a deep, guttural roar.
My mouth went dry as gunshots rang out, nearly deafening me… But not quite. I could still hear the shouts as people cried out in pain. Something made an awful gurgling sound next to me and I gagged as the scent of blood filled the air.
This. This was what I didn’t want to see. This was what had me waking up in sweats. Crying my eyes out.
I said a little prayer and opened my eyes. Instantly, I wished I were anywhere else.
I stood in an old, decrepit church. It had cream-colored adobe walls with exposed beams. Pews were torn apart and thrown everywhere. Moonlight shone through shattered stained glass windows. Flares were lit randomly along the ground. They gave off a smoky red light, casting a hue of evil over the room.
But what caught my attention were the humans fighting alongside the wolves. They were dressed in riot gear—policemen.
God. They didn’t belong here. They weren’t strong enough to fight this.
Silver flashed at the corner of my eye. I spun and spotted Cosette fighting back to back with a guy I’d never seen before. His long, white hair was clipped back in a low ponytail. Both of them glowed like moonlight, and every time they swung their swords, demons cried out.
I’d thought the Weres were graceful. But no. The fey. They were the definition of grace as they moved as one.
An explosion rocked the floor. Luciana stood at the front of the church. The ragged, yawning hole at her feet took up the space where the altar used to be.
Demons crawled out of it.
Big ones. Little ones. Some looked human, but their eyes glowed red. Definitely not human. The rest were the stuff of nightmares. Their gray faces, pointed teeth, and noseless faces would haunt me from this moment on.
I stood there, horrified by the scuttling bodies that kept climbing up from the hole.
Something was wrong. More wrong than just this.
And then it hit me.
Where was Dastien?
My skin chilled.
I turned in a full circle—scanning the people pressing against the horde of demons. Searching for Dastien in wolf or human form. But I couldn’t find him.
Meredith and Donovan fought as wolves. A demon tore through Donovan’s leg, and they both howled. Three more demons lunged at them, and I saw them both fall before I lost them in the pile.
No. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t happening.
Dastien! I screamed through our bond, but I wasn’t really here.
Where was Dastien? Why wasn’t he by my side?
Finally, I spotted him. Not far away. Just out of sight. I sprang over the few remaining pews and found him in the chaos. He stood alone, fighting three demons at once and holding his own.
But he couldn’t see what I saw.
There was another. A fourth demon. It was crawling from the hole, nails scratching along the stone floor. Heading for him.
A jolt of adrenaline hit me, and I started running.
“Dastien!” I screamed so violently my throated ached. I was going to be too late. There wasn’t enough time. Nothing was going to stop the demon. Not my Were powers. Not my magic.
My heart tore as panic gripped me. I pushed myself to move faster, but the demon scuttled closer to my mate.
Dastien killed one, and turned—finally hearing the larger demon behind him—but it was too late.
I was too late. I was going to fail him. Fail myself. This was it. The end.
The demon ripped its long nails across Dastien’s neck, and his body jolted.
I screamed as Dastien’s head rolled into the hole, falling into hell. His body stayed in place, slowly crumpling to the ground.
No. No. This can’t happen. I can’t—I won’t survive it.
Luciana’s laugh cut across the numbness in my head. She stood glowing with power at the edge of the ragged hole and hate filled every inch of me.
All of this came back to her. I was moving before I could think.
I threw myself at Luciana. We hit the ground hard. She sat on me, her hands around my throat. I was strong enough to get her off, but there were too many demons surrounding her. I couldn’t fight them all.
I had to stop this.
The portal she’d opened was just to the right. My life was over.
Dastien was dead.
The only thing left for me to do was end this fight.
I grabbed hold of her, and rolled us into the hell mouth. It closed above me and fire licked along my skin as I fell.
And fell.
The heat burned as I plummeted to my death.
Chapter Seven
I sat up, roaring with terror. My throat burned, but I couldn’t stop. Someone shook my shoulders, but I couldn’t register anything but fear. Heartbreak. The burning fire. Dastien being dead.
Everything being over before it had a chance to begin.
Then ice-cold water crashed over my head. I coughed as it lodged in my airways.
“Tessa. Answer me. Are you okay?”
Dastien. My sight cleared and I saw him crouching in front of me. I leaped at him, tackling him to the ground, and started sobbing. I couldn’t help it. My vision hadn’t happened yet, but it would. I was going to watch him die, and then I was going to die.
I just…
No. My heart ached. I knew he wasn’t dead. He was here. But I couldn’t help feeling the loss.
He wrapped his arms around me as he cradled me in his lap, running one hand up and down my back. “Shhhh. You’re here. You’re safe. Everything is okay.”
I shook my head, but didn’t pull back from him. “It�
�s not okay. Everything is not okay. I can’t—” I started crying again. Harder this time. The fear was too much. I couldn’t lose him. It was too soon. We were too young. I was supposed to have a lifetime with him. A Were lifetime. And now I was going to get what? Weeks at best?
I didn’t know how long we had, but Luciana was coming.
“You have to calm down. You’re going to make yourself sick.” He tried to pull away, but I clung to him. “Cherie, please. I can feel your fear and anger, but I don’t know what any of it means. You’re scaring me. Tell me what you saw. Whatever it is, we can fix it. We can change it. I know we can. But you have to talk to me.”
“How do you know we can change it?”
“I don’t know, but I can try. With everything that I am, I will try to stop whatever has made you so upset. But I can’t do that until you talk to me. So calm down. Talk to me.”
It was horrible. I said through our bond.
Cherie. Tell me.
I slowly described everything I’d seen—from the Orangina breaking to how I ended the fight with Luciana.
He stayed quiet for a long moment when I was done, and then sucked in a big breath. “Okay.”
I pulled back from him. “Okay? What about that was okay?”
“Nothing. Nothing about that was okay. But okay—now we can work to change it. If you hadn’t seen that, then it probably would’ve happened, but now—we prepare. That gives us something to watch for. And there are markers along the way. So, as long as I never drink that Orangina, then none of this will happen.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay. So no more Oranginas for you.”
“Hate the stuff. Never touching it again. Especially on pizza day.”
I huffed a small laugh. It was pitiful, but something. “I can’t do it. Watching you die… It was the worst thing ever.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. “It’s not going to happen.”
“It can’t.” I thought for a second. I needed someone who knew more about magic and visions to tell me that this could be changed. Going to the brujos that were still here seemed the most obvious choice, but Claudia was in Peru and I didn’t know the rest well enough to tell if they’d blow steam up my ass or tell me the truth.