“I can’t do this,” I sob, the words torn from me. “Losing her, it hurts so bad. I love her so much.”
“Go back to your time,” he says urgently. “Send her someplace safe. Then come to me and open the Glen. No harm will come to her.”
“You may not believe it,” he continues, his voice rough, “and I’ve given you every right not to. But please, Aaron. I beg you.”
I look up. Something moves at the tree line and my magic snaps tight against my palms before I’ve placed it. Then she steps through. Tiana.
She steps out from the shadows, her eyes wide, tears streaming down her face. She has a hand over her mouth, her expression twisted in shock and horror.
Eric looks at her.
A grin crosses his face.
“Looks like she was sneaking to the Glen with your sister,” he says, his tone light, mocking.
My face contorts with rage. I want to kill her. I want to rip her apart for this. The fury is so intense it threatens to consume me.
I shake my head, trying to shake off the irrational thought. Trying to get control.
I look down at Mara, the sight of her like this carving new wounds in me.
“I love you,” I whisper, my voice breaking, pouring all my heart into the words. “Please, baby. Please don’t leave me.”
Then I hear her voice.
Aaron? Aaron, wake up! I’m here, I’m right here. Aaron, you’re scaring me.
Her voice cuts through my grief, hope flaring painfully bright.
I sniffle, wiping my nose. I stand up, looking around wildly, desperate to follow her voice back to her. “I don’t know how to get back to you,” I call out, my voice raw with emotion.
Where are you? Where did you go?
I look down at Mara’s lifeless naked body and swallow hard. The Wintermoon alarms start to blaze, loud and shrill, cutting through the night. Tiana disappears into the forest, taking off running.
“You fucking coward!” I snarl after her, rage and betrayal burning through me.
I hear Mara’s voice again, through the blaring sirens.
You have to wake up! Wake up!
Eric stands. “You can change this,” he says. “Just listen to me. Come to the Glen and open it. I’ll be waiting for you.”
He lifts his hand. Blue-gold cracks the air along a clean vertical line.
Through the opening I can see a street. Dark windows three stories up. A bus stop with the bench tagged in red marker. The corner where my mother used to wait for the 53 with all three of us hanging off her. Downtown Detroit.
Eric steps through and the portal closes behind him.
I hear Mara again, her voice pulling at me.
You have to wake up! Aaron!
I look down at Mara’s body. The sight burns itself into my memory, a nightmare I know I’ll never forget.
“I’m going to find a way to keep you alive,” I whisper. “No one is taking you from me. No one.”
I close my eyes and take slow breaths, focusing on her voice, on the pull of our bond.
