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When I wake up, I feelgreat.
A part of me can't believe I'm even still alive, but not only am I alive, I feelfantasticand am completely healed. I know I owe my miraculous recovery to the witches.
I sit up in bed and look around to orient myself. I have no idea how long I've been asleep for or how I got back to my apartment. The last thing I remember is blacking out at the coven building.
I was hoping to wake up and find Elspeth lying beside me when I opened my eyes. I swear I heard her whispering to me in my dream state, and I could have sworn I felt her curl up beside me. But now I can't smell or hear her. I'm alone.
I get out of bed and get dressed, anxious to see people and reassure myself that all of it wasn't just a bad dream. But when I run into Gregory, Renna, and a few of the other wolves out in the streets, I am assured that it was all very real.
"It's amazing how much better you look." Renna smiles when she sees me walking toward them.
Gregory gives me a solid pat on the shoulder and nods in agreement.
"Those witches are worth every ounce of their weight in magic," he says with a grin. "Glad to see you up and about again."
"Thanks," I say. "But I can't remember how I got back here. The last thing I remember is being in the coven building. Any idea what happened after that?"
"We chased after Mickael," he answers. "Renna took a solid bite out of that bastard. We tried to catch him, but he managed to slip away and run back to the vampire clan. Word has it he's dying from the bite. The witches saved you, especially Elspeth, from what we've heard. She worked some kind of intense magic and saved your life. After that, they brought you back to your apartment to rest."
"We've been checking up on you," Renna adds. "Just to make sure you were doing okay. I had a feeling you'd wake soon."
"Thank you for everything you did," I say with great appreciation. "I owe you both. I hoped I'd see Elspeth when I woke up, but she wasn't at my apartment. Do you know where she is?"
They shake their heads in unison.
"We haven't seen her since the witches brought you back here," Renna answers. "And she's not on pack territory. We've been keeping close watch over our street borders to ensure no vampires try anything."
I'm disappointed that she isn't here, but she probably had to go back and help the coven with something. Besides, I'm awake now so I can just walk over to the coven building to see her. And if she isn't there, I'll swing by her apartment. I have no doubt she'll be ecstatic to see me.
I head straight to the coven building first. If what Gregory and Renna said is true, then it sounds like the witches performed the equivalent of a miracle to save me and they are probably all still talking and trying to figure out what they are going to do next. Maybe they have a fresh idea about how to handle the vampire problem. And as much I want to hear about it, I'm mostly excited just to hold Elspeth in my arms and tell her once more that I love her. I want to hear her say it back again. My heart pounds with happiness as I step up to the coven door and bang on it a bit too zealously.
Isla opens it.
"Isla," I say, trying not to sound as disappointed as I feel. "Is Elspeth here?"
I expect either a yes or a no—a simple answer to let me know whether I should come in to see her or head over to her apartment. But instead, Isla's face falls. And her answer is much more convoluted and vaguer than it should be.
"Hello, Lucian," she says as she forces a small smile. "I'm glad to see you're awake and well. I'm sorry, but Elspeth can't see you right now."
My brow wrinkles in confusion.
"What do you mean she can't see me? Isn't she here?"
Isla hesitates for a moment and looks over her shoulder. I try to look over her shoulder too, but it's just Sybil.
"Hello, Lucian!" Sybil says. The two of them take up the space in the doorway, so when Blair arrives a second later, she lingers behind them. I couldn't slip by them if I tried.
I'm starting to get a very bad feeling about all of this.
"What's going on?" I ask. "Where is Elspeth and why can't she see me? Did something happen? I demand you tell me what this is all about."
This isn't the way I wanted this moment to go. I planned on throwing my arms around Elspeth in a warm embrace and thanking the coven witches for helping to save my life. I didnotplan on yelling at them on the doorstep of the coven building. But I can tell something is wrong, and it makes my nerves jump to the point of agitated overreaction.
"Lucian," Sybil starts calmly. This is the tone the witches use when they are tryingnotto be emotional, and that just makes me worry even more. "Elspeth used a dark magic spell to save your life. And dark magic has, well—it has some serious repercussions when used."
"What does that mean? What happened to her? If she's here, I need to see her," I say in a raised voice. "Let me inside!"
But none of the three witches budges.
