Tiana.
The memory slams through me. Tiana stepping out of the forest with her hand pressed over her mouth. The horror in her eyes. The way she turned and ran into the trees like a coward while my mate bled out on the ground.
A growl tears from my throat and the blue light explodes outward, electricity surging from my body and slamming intothe walls and the ceiling and every surface in the suite until the light fixtures flicker and the windows rattle in their frames.
Mara screams. A scream of horror that cuts through the blue light and hits me somewhere deep.
“Don’t hurt me, Aaron.” Her voice breaks apart, shaking, tears pouring down her face. “I’ll stay put. I’ll listen. Just please.”
I get in her face. My entire body is surging blue, the light pulsing off me in waves, and I can see my reflection in her wide, terrified eyes.
“I cannot lose you.” My hands find her face again and I hold her, my palms shaking against her cheeks. “I cannot lose our cub. Don’t you understand?”
She’s crying. Full, shaking sobs that rack her body against the magic holding her in place.
“I’m not going anywhere, Aaron,” she says through the tears. “I love you. I love you, please.”
I look around the room. The blue light is bouncing off every surface. The edges of the room warp, the weight of what I saw pressing against what’s real until I can’t tell where one ends and the other begins. I have to do something. I’m going to lose her if I don’t.
“I need you to take a nap, baby.” My voice comes out soft. Steady. “Just a short one. I’ll come back and explain everything.”
Mara goes rigid with horror. She starts to strain against the magical restraints, her muscles pulling, her body fighting.
I cup her face. She hisses at me, her lion pressing forward, desperate and furious.
“Aaron, please?—“
I crash my lips to hers.
The kiss is deep, desperate. The blue light softens around us, pulling inward and wrapping around us both until we’re glowing together. I pour everything into her—my shaking hands againsther face, the tightness in my throat, the words I can’t say out loud pressed against her mouth instead.
Mara’s tail goes limp and her ears fall flat. Her body softens against the restraints, drifting, and the spell takes hold as her lips slow against mine and then stop.
The restraints dissolve. She collapses forward and I catch her, one arm around her waist, the other cradling the back of her head. She’s deadweight against my chest, breathing slow and even, already deep under.
I scoop her into my arms, her head lolling against my shoulder and her tail hanging loose. I carry her across the suite to our bed and ease her down onto her back.
I smile down at her.
“It’s okay, baby.” I trace my thumb across her cheekbone. “I’m going to take care of you and our cub.”
I lean down and press my lips against her belly through her dress. Then I straighten and just look at her.
She’s so beautiful. Stubborn, but beautiful.
I double-check the spell around the room—windows, doors, every exit sealed tight with blue light that pulses. The sun has gone down and the suite glows with nothing but my magic now. She’ll stay contained until I come back.
I tear the air open. The portal splits and the other side shows the Market at night, the small cottage that marks one of the sealed entrances to the Witching Glen standing in the moonlight.
I step through and the portal snaps shut behind me. The cool night air hits my skin and the seal on the Glen hums against me, low and steady but weakening. I can feel how thin it’s gotten. How close it is to giving out.
The Market is winding down around me. Vendors are pulling tarps over their carts and snuffing out lanterns, voices fading asthe last few shoppers head home for the night. Nobody looks twice at me standing in front of the old cottage.
I lean my back against the cottage wall and wait. If Eric can help me change what I saw, then so be it.
18
Aaron
