by Eve, Jaymin
Almost.
22
Elizabeth Teresa Montgomery II
My heart had not stopped pounding like a drum in my chest. From the moment Louis had explained his insane plan, I’d been in adrenaline overload. I couldn’t quite handle the reality of what he was saying. Shifting the timelines was basically a lesson in ways you should never use magic. We were warned about it from a young age, almost as much as we were warned about embracing our darkness or making deals with demons. A few had ignored these rules over the years, of course, and most of them had died.
It was Louis, though, and I felt deep inside my aching, pounding-too-hard heart that I needed to support him. This was who he was. This was my mate. If there was a way he could save everyone, he was going to take it. I had to just trust in him. He would not leave me easily. I knew that truth more than any other.
“So how can you shift the timeline without shifting everything?” Mischa asked, her arms wrapping tightly around herself like she was chilled.
Louis’s gaze flickered to mine for a beat, before he turned back to his family. “That’s the part that is difficult. I can’t change too many strings of the world’s timelines or I could risk affecting a lot more than just this part of the past. I have to specifically find the line where the spell was cast, and I have to change its story only.”
“So you don’t actually go back in time?” Tyson asked eagerly, wanting more information about this forbidden task.
Louis shrugged. “My … energy goes back, if you will, and I will possess my past self. I should be able to halt the spell if I take him by surprise. After that, I will return to my vessel … in the future.”
“But changing that could still change everything. Like, will you still be Lizzie’s mate?” Grace asked, her hand pressed to her mouth.
Louis pulled me closer, and I could tell her question bothered him. “Yes, we’ll still be mates. If all of you are with me when I cast the spell, you should be spared from consequences. And my aim will be to keep all other timelines the same, outside of a few small changes.”
He was guessing. There was no exact science to shifting timelines, and there was a reason why this never ended well for anyone who tried it.
“Do the council members know that this is your only option?” Justice moved forward then, less attitude on her face than usual. If anything, she looked a little beaten down, and I hoped everything was okay for her. Outside of this drama.
“They know,” he said simply.
Justice shuddered, shaking her head. “I couldn’t do it. You’re one brave dude, Louis, and I have no regrets saving you from that demon realm.”
He chuckled, and I wondered if it affected everyone else the way it did me, sending tingles across my skin and through my energy. “I appreciate that. But the reality is, this is a mistake I made, and I have to set it right. I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t.”
Jessa surged forward and wrapped her arms around him. Well, around us both really, because I was still firmly held against his side. “Don’t forget how much you have to live for,” she said with force and emotion. “I mean it, Louis. Don’t forget for even a second, because I bet this spell messes with your mind, putting you back in the world and body where you were dark.”
His eyes met mine over her head and I almost drowned in the swirling purple depths. “I will never forget,” he said to her, still staring at me.
My heartbeat picked up again, and I sucked air in deeply, trying not to freak out. Trust. I had to trust him. It was going to be okay.
“Where are you going to try to shift the timelines?” Braxton asked. “And is there any way for me to help you?”
Louis and Braxton exchanged a look and I saw the same closeness between them that I’d noticed the dragon shifter share with the other Compass quads. I wasn’t sure when it had happened, but Braxton had accepted Louis as one of his brothers.
“The dragon might be able to help ground my vessel here,” Louis said slowly. I could tell he didn’t want to pull any of them into a dangerous situation, and for some reason that calmed me even more. He was taking this really seriously; he was not going to leave without a huge fight. I was finally starting to believe it.
“Done,” Braxton rumbled. “I will be by your side the entire time.”
“We’re going to need to go to the strongest ley line,” I said softly. “Louis will need that energy if he’s going to stand a chance.”
“And where is that?” Jessa asked, looking at me. Then her eyes flicked to Louis. “Please don’t say—”
“Antarctica.”
“That,” Jessa finished. “Ugh, I only just got warm from our last time there, and there is no way those bastards will let us in a second time.”
A low voice drifted from across the now almost empty stage; most of the leaders were back on the ground with their people. “You don’t need to go into the prisons, so there’s no reason for us to say or do anything.”
The old supe strolled toward us, his tiny frame hidden under long, thick cloaks. He stood about five feet tall and had tufts of white hair on his head. Most of it had fallen out at some stage. This was a supe at the end of his life, but he still walked upright with strength.
Louis released me and stepped lightly toward the powerful sorcerer. “Lochlan,” he said, bowing his head respectfully.
Lochlan waved him away. “Enough of that. We are far past that, my friend.”
Louis straightened, towering over his friend—I had no idea he knew the famous mage.
“You’re the representative from Antarctica?” Louis asked him.
The others wouldn’t have been able to leave. That prison required constant power renewal to stay active, and there were too many dangerous criminals in there to take the risk.
Lochlan crossed his arms, the cloak hiding them from view. “Yes, I relayed the vote back to them and the magic recognized that I was speaking for each of our leaders there.”
There was a pause, and then he added, “We all voted no. Even before the compelling display from your mate.”
His eyes met mine, and it was uncomfortable being locked in his gaze. Not only was he filled with power, but there was so much age and experience in those dark brown eyes, and it made me feel things I wasn’t quite ready to deal with.
As if he could sense my discomfort, Louis cleared his throat to bring Lochlan’s attention back to him. “I’ll be heading straight to the ley line there,” Louis said to him. “Please warn the council. I don’t want them to lose it like last time.”
Lochlan actually chuckled, a raspy sound. “Trust me, Louis, when someone of your power gets close to us and we have no reason to expect it, it’s definitely time to worry. We hold the fate of the world in our hands, just like you do, young mage.”
Louis didn’t argue, he just returned his smile.
Lochlan bade us farewell then, and just like Louis he could circumvent the securities in the sanctuary; he took a step-through back to his prison. Anyone else would have had to leave the walls of this sanctuary to be able to perform magic like that.
No wonder they were good friends.
“We should go now,” Louis said, breaking through the silence. “Every minute we wait is another minute I have to go back along the timelines.”
Which was why he’d been so angry about them delaying this vote.
Everyone moved forward, and he shook his head. “There’s no reason for all of us to freeze our asses off. Braxton and Tee are stuck with me for now, but the rest of you are more than welcome to wait here.”
Jessa wasn’t the only one glaring, but she was the only one arguing. “No way in this world are you going there without me,” she snarled. “I’m going.”
Maximus spoke up. “And I’ll be there, of course, because Braxton might need the strength of the quad bond. Not to mention, we’re all dragons too.”
“Right,” Tyson and Jacob said at the same time.
Grace’s voice was quiet but firm. “Where
Tyson goes, I go.”
“You all know I’ll be there,” Mischa added softly. “Max and I are a team.”
Louis almost looked like he was going to argue, but he just let out a low breath. “I should have expected that.” He turned to the only one who hadn’t spoken: Justice.
She was silent for a moment before letting out a long sigh. “Honestly, I don’t have anywhere else to be. My jeweled land … well, let’s just say I didn’t take to it as quickly as Cam and Gretley took to theirs. They never want to leave. They’re already delving into the life and politics and learning their roles. I’m … at a crossroads.”
“It could be dangerous,” Jacob warned her, his expression unreadable. He was wearing the fey mask, that perfect shell that hid everything he was really feeling.
I waited for Justice’s snap back, because Jacob seemed to rub her the wrong way no matter what he did. Instead, she swallowed hard. “I’m not scared of danger. There are worse things in the world than death. At least that’s final, and there’s no more suffering to be had. Besides, going out saving the world doesn’t sound like a bad way to finish this life.”
Jacob’s mask finally cracked, just for a split second, but I saw it then, a fury so pure that it was almost scary in its intensity. Flames danced in his eyes, and wind howled across the land. He shut it down almost as quickly, but we’d all seen the loss of control. “You’ll come with us,” he said coldly. “I need to keep a fucking eye on you, because I don’t like your headspace.”
Justice flipped him off. “You can get fucked, Jacob. You don’t get to worry about my headspace.”
He moved so fast that another gust of wind whipped around us, and I couldn’t tear my eyes from the pair. Holy hell. The intensity was off the charts. Despite Justice’s height, Jacob still towered over her, making her look small. “Getting fucked is definitely a priority of mine,” he whispered, leaning even closer to her. Justice sucked in a deep breath, but I heard the small whimper she made. “Even more important is making sure that my pack stays safe. You’re part of it now. You will keep yourself a-fucking-live or I will not be held responsible for my actions.”
He turned away, releasing her from whatever hold he’d had over her in that moment. She started to frantically suck air in, her eyes wide and unfocused. I felt amusement through our bond and knew Louis and I were thinking the same thing. There was too much tension between those two. Their attraction was intense, and I had no doubt that Jacob and Justice were going to find themselves in a tangle of naked limbs soon. Here was hoping they both survived the encounter.
Everyone gathered close, and I laughed as Justice moved to stand near Grace, putting a wide space between Jacob and her. It didn’t matter though; Jacob never took his eyes off the sapphire princess, his expression heated.
“All right, I will open the step-through again. I need you all to move faster than you ever have. The sanctuary immediately tries to shut me down as soon as I start, and I can’t be wasting power. Not now.”
“What about Quale?” Jessa asked, her expression guarded. “Should we tell him what’s happening?”
Louis shook his head. “He already knows. He can’t leave because he’s the last mystic in the sanctuary. He’s needed here to keep everything running smoothly.”
Quale and Louis had been separated for most of their lives. I’d heard the stories, plenty of times. Louis’s family had been rich and powerful, but also cold. It was why he’d spent so much of his life at our house, because he craved the simple love of our family. Money and power definitely didn’t give you happiness, not when there was nothing else behind it. It always broke my heart that the brother he should have had in his corner had been so brutally stolen away from him.
I hoped now they would have a chance to develop a stronger relationship.
“He has us now too,” Jessa whispered. She was staring at me with a knowing expression. Damn me for never being able to hide my facial expression.
“I’m grateful for that,” I told her.
Louis’s energy surrounded me, and my body burned as he pressed his lips to mine. The others moved off the stage, but he stayed there, holding me tightly. “The truth is, I love my family, but you’re the only one I need to survive.” He said this so softly no one else could have heard it, not even those with extra-acute hearing.
I wanted to cry, but I’d done that a lot lately, and I felt like now was not the time to lose it. I had to be strong for what was about to come. For the huge risk Louis was taking to try to save our world.
“I really wish you didn’t have to do this,” I said just as softly, and despite my best intentions, my voice cracked.
Regret burned in his eyes. “Me too, love. But you have no idea how determined I am to make it back alive. We deserve a lifetime together, and I will not be robbed of that again.”
I needed to hear him call me love at least a billion more times, so I was holding him to that vow.
“Let’s do it,” I said, swinging around and dragging him off the stage. We got down to where everyone waited, and Louis did his thing and opened a doorway. On the other side, there was a veritable snowstorm going on, winds howling and temperatures at dangerous levels, even for supes.
Louis couldn’t waste any more of his energy, so I quickly whipped up a barrier, giving everyone a reprieve from the storm. It was immediately warmer as well, mostly because supes threw off a lot of heat. Especially the Compasses and their dragon souls.
Speaking of…
“Everyone step back,” Braxton said, and I could feel the shifter energy washing over him. He shucked off his clothes. Jacob, Tyson, and Maximus followed suit, and suddenly we were surrounded by naked guys.
“People would pay good money for this.” Jessa snorted in amusement. “Seriously. I could probably—”
She was cut off by her mate’s hand over her mouth, and even though he was smiling, his eyes were flashing heat. Jessa laughed so hard then, and when he released her she actually doubled over.
Her pack watched her with amusement before all four Compasses shifted into their dragons. I managed to widen my barrier just in time, because suddenly it was a tight squeeze inside.
“I’ll never get used to that,” Justice breathed, her eyes resting on the green-scaled beast closest to her. “I mean, look at them. Have you ever seen something so magnificent?”
Even for those of us raised in this world, dragons were not common, and to see four of them together like this… I understood her awe. I felt it myself.
“I’m going to start now,” Louis explained as the dragons lined up behind him. “I will use the dragon energy here to anchor my vessel. No matter what you do or see or feel”—he looked at me on that last word—“you have to promise that you won’t touch me. Or any of the Compasses. This is vital. You could be sucked into the spell, and then we’ll all be in trouble.”
Jessa snarled, but she didn’t argue. “Fine,” she said. “I promise not to touch you, no matter what.”
The others agreed, and then Louis rounded on me. “Tee? Love, I’m going to need to hear you say it.”
I shook my head. “Can’t promise you that, Louis. And before you say anything, you already knew I wouldn’t promise. If you need my help, I’m coming down that timeline.”
He wanted to be mad at me—I could see the worry and fear burning in the back of his eyes—but he didn’t bother. He knew me well enough to know I could be a stubborn asshole when I dug my feet in.
He just wrapped that hand around my neck again, like he had on the dance floor, possessively taking hold of me. “Worst-case scenario only, you got it? I mean … you wait until there is absolutely no other option and every possibility has been exhausted.”
“That I can promise,” I said softly.
He captured my mouth then, the kiss hard and unyielding. Our bond thrummed between us, tinged with desperation. Trust me. I swear the words hovered in the air between us, and it calmed me just a fraction. Enough that I could let him go and step b
ack to stand with the girls. I magicked us all coats then, even though it was pretty warm in the barrier, mostly because I needed something to do while Louis started his spell.
I had no idea how he even knew the words that would shift timelines, but I was going to guess he’d studied it in the same book he’d used to bring the human and supe worlds together. I was going to burn that godsdamned book the next time I caught sight of it.
“He can do this,” Jessa said, her hand snaking out to hold mine. I could see she held Mischa’s on the other side, and Mischa held Grace’s. Justice had been a little away, but now she crossed over to me and with barely any hesitation took my other hand. The five of us remained in that line of support as we watched our mates. Our family.
This was going to be a battle for all of their souls, because the dragons were anchoring Louis, which meant if they slipped there was a chance they’d be dragged into the sea of the past, just like Louis.
All of their lives were at risk, and it was going to be a long wait to find out if they were strong enough.
23
Louis
Confidence. Not something I’d ever lacked, which wasn’t surprising given my background. My parents had been the worst kind of magic users, arrogant and used to flaunting their supremacy around. Which meant I was raised to believe I was better than everyone else, that nothing I did had any consequences because I was above consequences. If I hadn’t met Tee and her family when I was young, I had no doubt I would have been a complete and total asshole as an adult.