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“No. It just cemented what was there, rather than being the source. Does that make sense?”
“Kind of.” This was way more complicated than I wanted and it was making my head hurt trying to wrap my head around it.
“You’re going to need a power source to fuel the bond, and I don’t have any suggestions on how you could accomplish that. But I figure if you understand the problem a little better, maybe you can find a solution that I can’t.”
“Thank you. I appreciate the explanation.” I hated to go back to Eli, but there was a reason he’d shown up on la Aquelarre’s land. I couldn’t rule him out. Maybe this new bond was what he had in mind when he was talking about making a deal. “Eli might be able to help with the bond. He—”
“There’s not much information on archons, but from what I understand, they wouldn’t want to be the power source,” Mr. Dawson said. “That would take too much personal power from him. And even if he would agree to it, you’re not going to want to pay the price.”
I refused to believe that this was impossible just because it’d never been done before. If I needed a power source, then I’d just have to find one. “How much power do you think we actually need?”
“To seal this plane from the next? You need something with the equivalent of ten magical nuclear bombs going off,” Mr. Dawson said. “That’s why it was done the way that it was—with a lunar eclipse and fey magic—working to unite seven of the strongest werewolves alive.”
I looked around the cabin of the plane. My friends all wore grim faces, but I wasn’t going to stop, especially not when we were finally getting somewhere. “This mega nuclear bomb going off will create the bond, but are we going to need more power to keep the bonds going strong? I don’t want to have them break on me once I find a way to make them.”
“You’re making this from scratch, so you could build it however you want it.” Lucas was quiet for a second, but the way his lips pressed together, I had a feeling more was coming.
“What?”
He looked at Claudia, an apology clear on his face, and I knew what he was going to say. “I hate to say it, but—”
“I’m going to have to go back through Luciana’s things.”
Claudia hissed. “No. She can’t!”
Claudia wasn’t the only one pissed at that idea. Even though Dastien was still sitting in his chair, I felt him fighting the urge to smash his fist into Lucas’ face for suggesting it.
Calm down. It might be—
You said you died in your vision when you went to the compound. Multiple times. You can’t go back there. That’s not just dumb, it’s insane, and I…
Dastien kept ranting in my head while Adrian and Chris jumped on board. Claudia was silent but from the way she was looking at her mate, he was getting the what-for through their bond. I could almost see the steam coming out of her ears.
I took a breath before I waded into the fight. “With how quickly Astaroth got to me and the demon attacks that are popping up every night there, I have to assume there’s an active circle at the compound,” I said loud enough for everyone to stop talking. “I think that means that something didn’t burn in Luciana’s house. And if something didn’t burn, then that means she might have some magic there that could help strengthen the bond. You said it yourself, that the books on magic at St. Ailbe’s aren’t amazing. What if Luciana has a stash somewhere? A room that didn’t burn? Even a storage shed somewhere in the woods? If it’s there, we need to find it.”
“I don’t want to use anything that she did,” Claudia said. “She—”
“Luciana was evil.” That was a given. I wasn’t about to argue about how bad she was. “But that doesn’t mean that we can’t find something of hers that could help us. Magic isn’t inherently bad or good. It’s all about how you use it, right? That’s what Tía Rosa told me.”
Claudia s
hrugged. “Some things. But there is dark magic and—”
“I won’t use anything black. Or even gray.” Probably. Maybe. “But if there’s power that I can use? Something that allowed Astaroth to come through? Then we have to figure out what it is. Especially if we can use it to fuel the bond.” I sighed. My next statement was going to get me in even more trouble with my friends. “But we need some fey. What about the ones who didn’t clear out with the courts?”
“I’ve been fighting those assholes for the past few weeks. No way are we asking any of them for help,” Chris said as he pulled out his phone. “I’m emailing Cosette again.”
“Donovan is trying to get through to the Lunar Court, but he’s gotten no answer yet,” Mr. Dawson said. “At this point, I think you have to count them out.”
“Then what we have left is a bunch of Alpha werewolves, some witches, possibly a few rouge fey if we can find them, and one archon. We’ll make it work.” At least I hoped we would, but honestly, I wasn’t sure it’d work.
I wasn’t sure we had enough magical power—even with whatever had survived the fires at the compound.
I wasn’t sure if any of this would be enough to stop Astaroth.
I wasn’t really sure of anything anymore. My plan was insane and suicidal, but I had to try.
Fifteen
