Kiran
We are all fucking useless. Utterly pathetic as mates and undeserving of Aly. We are standing around with barely any ideas and no usable ones.
We have no idea how to get her back, where she might be or what to do.
For the millionth time, Jay’s anger ignites, and he says, “we should have added her to the pack bond! We would be able to talk to her right now!”
He’s staring at Nic like it’s all his fault. I know he feels the pain and guilt like it is. But we all decided to give her time. We thought we had it.
“It’s not anyone’s fault, we wanted to ease her into everything,” Jax defends, voicing my thoughts.
We keep having this argument over and over and it keeps going the exact same way. Everyone goes back to racking their brain for anything helpful.
“What about a tracing spell!” Nic suggests, jumping up to gather the ingredients.
“We already tried that!” I snap. Is he losing his mind? Just what we need.
He barely spares me a glance as he pulls open one of his spell books. He flips to a different page than last time.
“They were blocking a regular tracing spell but what about this one,” he points to his book, “it’s based on a mating bond.”
I would like to blame him for not thinking of it sooner but if it works I’ll be too grateful to care. All I care about is getting to Aly. I need to see her to know she’s okay.
I’m cursing our lack of mating bond right now because I would give anything for the smallest connection to her.
“I’m going to need help, extra power from you guys. Hopefully they aren’t blocking this spell as well,” he says as he sets ingredients on the table.
“I wouldn’t get too excited,” Jax speaks up and I want to punch him for not believing in this, “they will see her mate bonds and know we are searching for her.”
We all ignore his reason and focus on Nic preparing the spell. He’s mixing ingredients with a mortar and pestle, smashing them together into a thin paste. He spreads out a map of North America, hoping she’s here. If not, we will have to do it again with a world map. I don’t want to think about her being that far from me.
“Okay, I need some of everyone’s blood.” Nic holds up the bowl waiting for our offering.
I use the wisps of darkness that have been surrounding me since she was taken to cut open my hand and drip blood into the bowl. I do it even though I know it’s practically worthless. I don’t have the mating bond with her, he really needs Jay, Jeremy or his own blood to be successful.
But if it gives the spell even an ounce more strength than it’s worth it. Jax does the same, though I can feel the pain pouring off him.
I’ve kept my empathy on, so I can try to feel Aly through Nic, Jeremy and Jay. I bet you anything Jax did too, although I’m sure he’s run out of juice at this point. It’s draining and exhausting to keep it on but I’m being fed a constant stream of anguish, loss and worry to keep me strong.
I would give anything to feel some hope or happiness come from them, from Aly.
Nic starts chanting over the bowl once he’s mixed all his ingredients. I don’t know the magic language mages use, so I have no idea what he’s saying. All I know is I might lose my mind if it doesn’t work. More than I already have.
The liquid in the bowl comes together and hovers over the rim, my heart starts pounding harder in anticipation. This is it, we are going to find her.
It slithers though the air but as soon as it touches the map, it explodes, covering the entire map in the substance and ruining any hope I had of finding her.
I lose my mind, darkness leeches from me until the entire room is swallowed by it. I can’t see or hear anyone and I have no idea how they’re reacting. In the dark, I take a moment to collapse to the ground, feeling the loss of my mate down to my core. After expelling my pain, determination takes its place. We will find our Aly, bring her home, and keep her safe from anyone who would harm her again.
I suck the darkness back into myself to see the others haven’t fared much better. The table is flipped over with a raging Nicoli standing over it. Jeremy has gone full demon as he punches the drywall. Jay has shifted and his wolf is shredding the floor. And my twin is collapsed, much like I was, with a lost look on his face.
“Get it together!” I shout, “we need to be on our A game to find her.”
At my words, they all stop and slowly pull themselves together like I had to do. No matter what, if Aly is still alive and waiting for me to find her, then I will keep looking.
“Nic, what does that exactly mean?” I ask, bringing us around to problem solving.
“It means they’re blocking my magic from tracking her, any magic I’m sure,” he answers, gritting his teeth in frustration.
