Page 102

Because Jasmine was here, her life force, right there in the center of my chest, burning bright.

I rolled her to her back and cupped her beautiful face. Her skin was pale, had lost all color, all life. I didn’t know how long this thing could last, but I was seriously starting to freak out. “Jaz, please, I need you to come back to me.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead, her cheek. “Come on, butterfly, wake up.” My eyes stung, and my chest felt as if there was a boulder on it. “Come back to me, Jazzy.”

There was a tapping at the window. The curtains were still open and early morning sun filtered through, backlighting tiny flappy wings. Butterflies, so many of them, trying to get in, to get to her. I got off the bed and opened the window. Maybe they could reach her when nothing else could. They flew to her instantly, a multitude of color surrounding her, covering her, pouring their love into her, calling her back.

A witch needed her familiar. They needed each other. If anyone could get through to her, they could. I dragged a chair to the side of the bed and sat, taking her hand in mine, and then I prayed. I prayed to the goddess to bring her back to me.

Her hand jolted in mine. My head shot up.

She blinked several times, and the butterflies covering her all took flight, fluttering and dancing above her. “Ren?”

My eyes closed and I bent my head over her hand again, pressing my mouth to her skin, feeling it warming beneath my lips. Her other hand brushed the back of my head.

“Ren?”

Relief pumped through me with such force, I shook. Her fingers flexed against mine, and I lifted my head.

“W-we did it, didn’t we? We freed the souls. It’s over,” she said, a small smile curling her lips.

I nodded and released a shuddering breath. “For a minute there…” I tried to calm my pounding heart. “I thought…I thought I might lose you.”

“I’m sorry… I—”

“I love you,” I choked out, unable to hold in those words another day, another moment. “I’m in love with you, Jasmine.”

She stared at me, her eyes wide, then she started to shake her head.

“Don’t tell me I’m wrong or that it’s because you’ve been helping me and I’m confused. I know what I’m feeling. I fucking know. You are mine. You’re fucking mine, Jasmine.” There were a lot of reasons why I should keep this to myself, that I should let her go, but I needed her. I’d tried to fight it, but I couldn’t do it anymore. Living without her wasn’t an option. It just wasn’t. And whether she would admit it or not, she needed me as well.

Her lower lip quivered. “I don’t…I can’t—”

“You loved me, you did.” I held her tighter. “I’ll make you love me again.”

“You can’t,” she said, her voice filled with anguish. “You can’t fix it. I don’t…” Her throat worked. “I care about you, so much. You’re my friend, but I can’t…I can’t love you the way you want me to.”

Why the fuck was she saying this? My fox paced, confused. He didn’t know why our mate didn’t want us. He wanted us to take her home to our den. He wanted to claim her, bite her, mark her. She was ours, but she was denying us. “I know I hurt you, but I’ll fix it. I can fix it.”

Her fingers curled around mine. “You did nothing wrong. It’s me. It was me. I wish it was different, Ren, I do, but I can never love you—”

The door flew open and Mags rushed in. “I got here as fast as I could. I had to deliver the souls. I was there, you were on the floor…thank the goddess you’re okay.”

Mags ran to Jaz, and I stepped back, retreating. Shaking so fucking hard my legs felt unsteady under me. She couldn’t mean that, but she did. I saw it in her eyes. I felt it. I fucking felt it through the bond she was denying.

She could never love me.

She didn’t want us.

Jasmine

* * *

Ren walked out the door, and I stared after him, utterly frozen.

“Jazzy?”

“Ren said he loves me,” I whispered as my tiny familiars settled around me.

Magnolia stared down at me, her eyes wide, filled with things I didn’t want to see right then. “Oh, Jaz.”