by Luna Pierce
I go to throw my magic, but instead, a ripple of green envelopes the beast and holds it in mid-air.
The wolf tries to wriggle free to no success. It’s stuck in a sludge of green magic that can only be one person.
I turn to see him with his left arm extended forward and an emerald wave of power surging from it.
His expression is saddened. “It didn’t work.”
“What?” And then it dawns on me.
The Reperio stone. It didn’t charge. The one thing that was going to help me find my mother.
The thing that’s ripping Silas away from me.
“Give it to me.” I hold out my hands.
Sydney shakes his head. “Willow, there won’t be another one.” He glances to make sure his connection to the wolf is still strong.
I shift my attention to Silas and find his arm rising to his face.
The red flower just inches from his mouth. A frightened stare. A whisper of goodbye in his eyes.
“Sydney, NOW.”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the glistening stone. He tosses it through the air, and it’s like the whole world has gone into slow fucking motion.
I clasp the rock at the same moment the flower touches Silas’s lips.
I realize all too late that I have no fucking clue how to destroy this thing.
Come on, Willow, get it together.
This can’t be the end of him. Because the end of Silas Harlow would, sure enough, kill me even if I’m left alive.
I hold the stone firmly between my hands and invoke every single last ounce of strength I have from my body. Bubbling power flows through me, my arms erupt with an icy-pink and blindingly bright magic. I focus it all into the stone, willing it to do what I want.
I take one last breath and let out the biggest scream that nearly tears apart my vocal cords.
Leaves and branches whip around my face and trees creak, but I don’t dare break my concentration from this stone.
I grip it tighter, so snug that my hands bleed.
And then suddenly, it’s gone. Like a puff of dust, the rock disintegrates into nothing.
My body grows weak, and once again, I fall to my knees. I shove whatever remaining strength I have into my arms and drag myself to Silas’s side.
His mutilated hand lays limp in his lap, the flower nowhere in sight.
A choking sound gurgles out of his chest, and when my gaze lands on his face, a red petal is hanging from his mouth.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
No.
This can’t be happening.
There has to be something I can do.
Sydney’s voice rings through. “Willow, I can’t hold on much longer.”
What do I do?
Please, Universe, tell me what to do.
A strange image of angel wings comes into my line of sight. It hovers above a nearby fallen tree, but upon further inspection, the beautiful flowy white is tainted a bright red.
The color of blood.
Angel blood.
Another rustle of leaves, and a second wolf, only this one a familiar shade of brown.
Deghan towers over the smaller wolf, despite it being held in mid-air by Sydney’s magic.
The light wolf cries out and then is lowered to the ground.
Deghan snarls at it and nips its rear, sending the foul creature running away from us. He chases it and keeps it from coming back.
I turn my bloody hand over and do the only thing that comes to mind.
I press it to Silas’s mouth, dripping whatever I can inside.
One drop, two… then another.
Tears ripple down my cheeks. Why isn’t this working? This has to work.
Sydney comes to my side. He digs his fingers through Silas’s mouth and pulls out any remnants of the flower he can find.
It’s not much, meaning Silas consumed most of the deadly-to-him thing.
I push my palm into his mouth again, rubbing it along his fangs, desperate for him to latch out and come back to me.
“Silas, please,” I whimper.
Sydney fumbles with something. “Try this.” He holds out a small pocketknife.
I hurriedly take it from him and slice into my already cut hand, drawing more blood. I tilt Silas’s head back and squeeze my fist just an inch above him.
The warm liquid rolls across his lips and down the back of his throat.
“I’m so sorry, Willow,” Sydney mutters.
It’s genuine but does nothing to repair the gaping wound to my chest. It’s as though someone ripped my heart out and left me there to die a slow and antagonizing death.
I drag my gaze away from Silas’s face, not wanting him to see me, even in death, in the state I’m in. To call me a mess would be a fucking understatement.
A gasp.
A hand.
Cold and familiar.
Slowly, I look up… those piercing violet and gray eyes stare back at me.
With what little energy I have left, I jump on him, tackling him to the ground.
Like I’m being brought back to life, too, my heart beats again.
The infinite weight is off my chest, and I can finally breathe.
I could never live in a world without Silas. Of that much I’m absolutely sure.
Although now, I may have lost my chance at finding my parents forever.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“I hate to break up this beautiful reunion, but we need to get the hell out of here. It’s still very much a full moon, and I’m not sure how long Deghan can hold that little asshole off.”
Silas stands, pulling me into his arms with him. A new sense of vigor courses through him.
I don’t have the strength to walk, so it’s a damn good thing Silas has enough for both of us.
“Are you good?” Sydney studies Silas.
Silas narrows his eyes. “Better than ever.”
That naturally cocky attitude is back. My Silas is here.
Collectively, we rush out of the wolf territory and onto the school’s grounds where it’s safe. But we don’t stop there, the guys make their way inside, through the dining hall and up the north wing stairs to Sydney’s room.
Silas lowers me onto Syd’s bed but doesn’t leave my side. He bites into his palm and rubs the wounds on my hands, healing me within an instant.
“Hold on, let me get this straight.” Sydney grabs a few crystals from his desk. He places them all over the bed in some strategic pattern. “She can repair you, too. But bringing you back from the brink… that was no ordinary thing. There’s nothing about that concerning the text on Malachis. So, if that’s not the case… it had to be something else. There is literally nothing that will bring a vampire back from middlemist.”
Silas and I exchange a glance.
I push myself up onto my elbows and wrap my arms around his waist. I never want to let him go ever again. “You had me scared to fucking death.”
Silas takes my face into his hands. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“It’s her blood, that has to be it. She was so insistent on using it. I only went along because what else do you do when the girl you care about is freaking out about her dying vampire boyfriend?” Sydney continues to reason his way through the situation. “What could be special about that, though?”
I squeeze Silas tighter and ignore Sydney.
If he figures it out, he figures it out. But I’m not going to volunteer the information. At this point, I think it’s safe to say we can trust him, but it’s hard to be completely sure.
Sydney did sort of consume his glitch to paralyze himself to prove to me that he wasn’t a threat.
I should probably trust him, considering everything he’s done to show his true allegiance.
“The only thing that would trump everything else… it couldn’t be. It’s not possible.” Sydney suddenly stops, and his stare bores into me. “But then, it would make sense. All of this would.”
I bite at my bottom lip t
o keep from saying anything.
“You’re…” Sydney lowers his voice. “Descended from the angels.” His eyes go wide. “It’s no wonder you’re cursed and your magic is suppressed and stolen. You’re the most powerful bloodline in existence.” He hands me a small bag of herbs. “Hold on to these, they’ll help you gain your strength back.”
Silas stiffens. “You can’t tell anyone.”
“Wait a minute, you knew?” Sydney gawks at him then at me. “Did you?”
“I wasn’t sure, no. But I stumbled on it a while back.” I look at Silas. “We both did. And we agreed to keep it a secret.”
Sydney nods. “For obvious reasons. Wow. This is…”
Energy steadily trickles its way into me but at an annoyingly slow pace.
“Take some of mine.” Silas holds out his arm.
I press my hand against him and soak it up. Something that I’ve only ever done with him. Further proving our one-of-a-kind connection.
“Willow, I…” Sydney fumbles for his words. “I’m pretty sure I can help you figure out your curse.”
I sit straight, letting go of Silas in the process. “How?”
“I think I know who is cursing you.” Sydney’s eyes glisten.
“Who?” Silas’s voice is firm and demanding.
Angels, I’ve missed him. The real him.
“I’m not completely sure, but I’m almost positive my parents have something to do with it.” Sydney holds up his hands. “I promise I wasn’t aware. I would have put a stop to it a long time ago. But now, knowing what I do now, it all makes sense.”
Dumbfounded and unable to find words, I scoot closer to Silas.
“Explain.” Silas puts his arm around me.
“My folks have always been super cryptic, so the bits and pieces I put together were just from paying attention and overhearing things. They’ve always tried to… how do I say it… prime me for some big change. Like a sacred rite of passage type thing. I always thought it was them being weird and claiming we had this all-mighty bloodline, but the real shocker is I’ve heard them refer to us having dark magic.” He paces back and forth. “Now, duh, you might say. Because we’re all made up of either light or dark, but to think about it in the sense of one side of the spectrum to the other…” Sydney points to me. “If you have angel blood, then maybe I have demonic blood.”
Tremont sort of implied the same thing.
Sydney’s face goes pale, and he sits in the chair at his desk.
“Go on,” Silas insists.
“What if the only reason my family is powerful, the way they claim to be, is because they’ve stolen the Oliver magic all along. Because that sure as shit makes sense. And whatever they were trying to prep me for was to make sure the curse lived on.” Sydney lowers his head. “They always told me I wouldn’t have the stomach for it. That I was weak. Pathetic. I heard them whispering late at night how I would never be able to follow in their footsteps. How I’d never be strong enough to do what needed to be done.” He raises his head. “What else could that all possibly mean?”
“Is that all?” Silas rubs my hand with his thumb.
Always gentle and sweet with me, and harsh and callous with everyone else.
“I read something about this actually,” I speak up. “About demonic witches stealing others’ power. I… I sort of had a hunch that’s what it was. Even that it was an angel versus demon type thing. But never could I have imagined the coven cursing us would be your family.”
“That explains why we’re so powerful together.” Sydney rubs his temple.
“Similar to a yin-yang,” I confirm.
“Exactly.” He shifts his gaze like he’s lost in thought. “If we were able to create the kind of magic to do that… we have to be able to break the curse.”
“I have no idea where to go from here.” I caress Silas’s hand.
I can’t begin to process how thankful I am that he’s alive.
Well, sort of. As much as a vampire can be.
“We’ve been studying your family this whole time, though. We’ve been looking in all the wrong places. Now we need to research mine.” Sydney looks over at his cluttered workspace. “But first, we need to get both of you better.”
Sydney insists we both hold, breathe in, touch, and consume various herbs.
He swears he knows what he’s doing, and for once, I don’t question that.
Within a matter of minutes, a new sense of life is breathed into me. I’m refreshed, like I spent a day at the spa. But not a day where you end up more tired than when you went there, one that actually rejuvenated you the way it’s supposed to.
“Can we talk about the elephant in the room?” I set the cup of a random concoction down on the table.
“Uh, which one?” Sydney glances from Silas to me.
“The freaking vicious werewolf that attacked us. Who the hell was that? It’s someone at this school, right?” Not that I have any clue what I’ll do with the information. Putting a flaming bag of shit on their doorstep sounds ideal, but honestly, I’d rather avoid the asshole and watch my back knowing that someone really wants us dead.
“I wasn’t familiar with that one. If they’re randomly attacking in the way they were, it’s probably a newly turned wolf. Unable to control their urges. We shouldn’t have been on their property during a full moon, but it also shouldn’t have attacked the way it did.” Sydney stuffs a few supplies into his backpack.
Are the new vampires brutal like the new wolves? I haven’t been at this school long and I’ve been attacked on numerous occasions. Maybe it’s my own fault for being where I shouldn’t, but these can’t be isolated incidents.
“Going somewhere?” Silas growls.
“Hear me out. If you’re both up for it. Not today, but maybe tomorrow when we’re done with class. What are your thoughts on going for a little field trip?” Sydney tosses the bag into the corner by the door. “I have numerous family grimoires at my place. Let’s sneak over there and grab them. It could be huge in helping us figure out what to do.”
Silas huffs. “How can we be sure this isn’t another one of your traps?”
Sydney shakes his head. “What do you want me to do to prove it to you?”
I push some calming energy into Silas. “I trust him.”
“That’s what worries me.”
I smile up at Silas and study his still dirty face. “You’re gross.”
“Wow.” He grins devilishly. “You really know how to kick a man while he’s down, don’t you?” He pokes my side.
I force a smile despite how broken I am inside.
I’d destroy the stone again in a heartbeat if it meant saving Silas, but that doesn’t make the repercussions any easier to swallow.
I have Silas back, and we’re all okay, but I may have lost my mother and father forever.
“Tomorrow?” Sydney asks.
“Tomorrow.”
Chapter Thirty
The amount of dirt and nasty stuff that rinses off me and Silas is super gross.
We stand, facing each other, in my shower, hot water pouring all over us.
He reaches out and caresses my cheek. “You saved me,” he whispers.
“Always.” I close my eyes and lean into his palm. “I’m sorry I let it go on for so long.”
“We’re going to find her. I promise you. I won’t let your sacrifice be wasted.” Silas smooths the wet hair out of my face and pulls me to his chest.
Our bare skin touches, and it’s magnificent.
Not too long ago we were both convinced that we’d never be able to do this. And now, we can’t seem to get close enough.
“Did you mean any of the things you said?” I mutter with my face against his skin.
He sighs. “Some of it.”
Agony rips through me.
My Silas was in there after all.
Maybe I was wrong, and I lost him, too.
“You’re the best thing in the world to ever happen to me.” He exhales agai
n. “But I really don’t deserve you. You’re far too good. You should be able to choose.”
The last word strikes a nerve. I break away to stare into his eyes. “But I did. You think that I’m with you for any other reason than me wanting to be?”
He swallows and nods ever so slightly.
“Well, you’re wrong.” I wipe at his dirty tear-stained face with my thumbs.
“It was dishonest of me to not tell you about the Malachi destiny. I thought that I was protecting you by keeping it from you. That maybe you’d be able to make your decision regardless of knowing the truth.” His face is tense, like he’s forcing himself to speak these words.
“I’m not afraid, Silas. Nothing will make me change my mind about you, about us.” Unless he kicked a puppy. Who in their right mind would do such a thing?
“Some time ago, vampires were randomly selected to be paired with their one true mate. The coupling was named Malachi, meaning that of an angel. A divine being that would fit perfectly with said vampire. The occurrences are rare, but in the Harlow bloodline, they’re almost always certain. I’ve gone my whole life thinking something was missing from it, but I had no idea what or who until fate brought me to you.” He studies my face. “I’ve tried to leave Harper countless times, but I’ve never gotten far, this strange pull always kept me coming back. And then finally, the moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew it was you. I had been searching tirelessly, and, in that moment, everything clicked into place.”
“Why wouldn’t you tell me this, though?”
“Because I was worried you would feel you didn’t have a choice. That you were stuck with me. That the angels didn’t care what you wanted, and that maybe you wouldn’t choose me strictly out of spite to them. I was selfish. I realize that now. Because regardless of whether or not you know, there’s nothing that can be done. Our fates have already decided.”
I shake my head. “No, I refuse to accept that. Despite what you think, we decide our future. And I consciously choose you. I always will. Now, and forever. The angels may have given us a path to each other, but we are the ones who either take the opportunity they’ve given us or not. I will choose you a million times over. In any lifetime. Fated or not.” I press my hand to his chest, where his beating heart should be. “I swear it.”