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“We don't know what state she is in, or if she'll even wake up. Kora never returned to her vessel; Marabella has no wolf now.” I pause, thinking about that. “What if she is rabid? What if I am forced to kill my daughter?” I choke.
“We'll cross that bridge when we get to it; for now, we hold on to hope that Kaif can anchor her here,” he tells me.
“You say that like there is any hope left. I've seen the world from every angle, and it has shown me how cruel fate is. How cruel life is,” I say, my voice a mere whisper, brittle like the last leaf clinging to a forsaken tree in the dead of winter.
Bain grips my face, forcing me to meet his gaze over my shoulder, his eyes haunted by shadows of loss I can scarcely comprehend. “But it's also shown you beauty, Kat. Your mates are proof of that. If you can't find hope anywhere else, find it in them. Love breaks, recreates, and resolves,” he says, his voice trembles.
“Don't tell me you've lost hope with your mates still by your side. Because if you have, what chance do I have of ever seeing Seline again, of ever knowing her love?” His voice cracks. “Hope is all I have, Kat. It's the only thing that reminds me that I accepted this hell for a reason, that my love for her makes it worth it, that my love for my daughter is worth it.”
I swallow guiltily at his torment. He's been here a lot longer than me, yet he endured it for Seline and Kora. “Because if it wasn't worth it, why am I wasting away here? Why didn't I just die with her?”
I stare frozen, caught in the reflection of his torment, seeing in him the echo of my own soul's cries. “Bain, I—” But words fail me; what comfort can I possibly offer when my own faith is in tatters?
“Love, it’s not just a memory. It's a promise, a vow that stretches beyond the confines of this cruel world. It's the reason I stand beside you now, why we endure these agonies. It's the belief that love is a force that even death cannot claim victory over. Love gives life to hope, and in turn, hope breathes life back into us.” he tells me, and I nod. Bain kisses my forehead.
“It hurts, but it's not the end, it can't be. Or what is the point of all this?” he whispers, and I nod, turning back to stare at the fountains. He's right; if I give up on Marabella now, what chance does she have if her mother doesn't believe in her?
“Go home, Kat, go back to your mates,” Bain tells me, and I nod, now I have to deliver the news to Rose, Jonah, and Sage. Getting up, I move toward the fountains. No doubt she is breaking down somewhere, and I now need answers: why is my brother dead? And where is Sage? Moving toward the fountains, I run my fingers through the water. Kora's little blob of light swims between my fingers, stuck in limbo, just like my daughter.
Only her tie to Marabella is completely severed, so even if Marabella comes back to us, Kora never will until Marabella's lifetime is over. That saddens me, knowing she is a big part of who Marabbella is. I am about to pull my hand out of the water when Donnie's blob of light blinks. At first, I thought I imagined it. Then it blinks again, flashing like an SOS beacon.
“Bain?” I call out, and he instantly appears at my side.
“What's going on?” he murmurs, also puzzled. I remember Dominic's wolf doing that for years, his way of telling me Dominic was right there, clinging to life. Moving to the fountain of the past, I sift through the water, looking for Andrei's body. Some part of me thinks Donnie managed to shift to get them out of whatever trouble they found themselves in. Yet, I gasp when I see Andrei floating inside his car, his leg bleeding and filling the cab of the car with his blood.
I speed the time loop up to the present to watch Andrei be pulled from the car by someone or something, and he is brought to the surface when hands from on land are pulling him from the water. A man climbs out of the river, or at first, I thought a man, until the moon's silver light hits him, revealing a bear. I glance at Bain, who seems just as shocked.
The bear shifts back and starts compressions on Andrei's chest. My brows furrow, confused. “How are the were-bears there?” I ask aloud. “They're confined to the forest.”
“Yes, the original one, you need to remember Katya. Back then, all this was one forest,” Bain tells me. I peer up at him. “Never give up hope, sometimes it's all we got,” he tells me before turning me to the other fountain to see Donnie gone. I gasp, turning back to the present to see Andrei take a breath.
“Now, get home. You're no longer needed here,” Bain tells me.
ChapterNinety-Six
Sage
I let out a resounding scream as I hear the heavy crunch of metal, peering past the man who has tossed me in the van. I watch in horror as the car backs up and plows into our car again. Sienna screams in my head, and my heart nearly stops as I hear a resounding splash of water. The car is no longer next to the bridge, and I feel agony tear through my chest as the bond goes frantic. Sienna lunges forward, attacking the man as we fight to get free of the van, but it tears out of there. Two other men in the van help my captor, wrangling us to the ground before slamming my head into the floor. I see darkness momentarily when I suddenly feel like I can't breathe. I gasp for air, choking on it.
Pain rattles me, Sienna howling as we feel our bond cracking. Splinters of my soul slowly break apart when I hear his voice filter through my head. “I'm sorry, my Love,” he murmurs, and I can feel the deep ache of his guilt like he wronged me, but all that man ever did was save and love me. Before I can respond, he is gone, the bond shatters as it obliterates. Death would have been kinder than the torturous pain that slices through my chest.
In that singular, shattering moment, loss engulfs me, a tidal wave so devastating that it leaves nothing but an echoing void. It's as if the world, once vivid and teeming with life, has suddenly turned monochrome, stripped of its color and warmth. I lay there, an empty vessel, devoid of the essence that once made me whole. I see, feel, and hear nothing as they move my pliable body back to the seat. My world has turned gray and time moves slower than ever.
I'm lost in that haunting feeling, stunned into blinding and deafening silence. Life ceases to exist around me. Unfortunately, my surroundings don't remain obscured, I feel detached as my vision returns, and I peer around at the three men in the van with me. I hear them hollering and laughing at my anguish. One man clicks his fingers in front of my face, yet I don't react, I just stare off vacantly. The van travels fast, yet my surroundings move impossibly slow. My hearing soon returns, and I can hear the voices of the men, mocking and taunting me when a man slaps my face trying to get my attention. My eyes move to his cold gray ones, a smirk on his lips.
“Satish said to tell you, he can't wait to see you!” the man tells me. Yet, his words seem to echo in the void that is my brain.
I feel absolutely nothing until the bond begins as a mere flicker, a distant and almost unrecognizable sensation that wakes something within me. My heart pumps a hard thud, and I don't recognize it at first until it starts racing.
“Did you hear me, bitch?!” he asks, and I feel Sienna shove forward.
“I can't wait to see him too!” The words sound foreign leaving my mouth, not my own or Sienna's. The man seems taken aback, clearly not getting the reaction he hoped for. With each thud, I feel the bond trickle back to me, like the pitter-patter of the rain after a drought, gradually returning. It fills me slowly until I audibly gasp, like the first breath after being submerged in water for a long time.
“Andrei?!” I shove the mindlink open, feeling him returning. I'm met with silence at first. “Andrei?!”
“I'm here,” he rasps. I can almost feel the wheeze in his chest, as if my own lungs are screaming for air.
“Where are you?!” his voice echoes.
