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My wolf charged forward, likeIwas preventing her from shifting.
I gasped and reeled backward. I barely registered the fact that I smacked my head on the wall, too distracted by the sudden agony that came alongside a forcibly aborted shift. I couldn’t breathe. The spark of arousal gathering in my belly was doused by a cold wave of pain.
Fenris’s expression morphed from one of desire to concern as he got close, carefully smoothing the back of my skull with his hands as he checked for signs of injury. “Take a deep breath,” he said, his voice calm. Firm. I found it easy to follow his directions and do exactly as he said.
As I exhaled, some of the rising panic ebbed, replaced by dull pain.
“Are you alright?” he asked once I caught my breath, giving my knee a gentle squeeze. His voice remained controlled, but I suspected he was on the brink of outright rage.
“Yes,” I sighed. “Well, no, I’m not. But at the moment, yes.”
Fenris pressed his lips together. “I assume you’re unable to explain what happened, strictly speaking. But is there anything we can do that’d allow you to shift again?”
My shoulders sank, and I looked down at my knees, fiddling with my hands. “No.” As far as I knew, the only way I’d be able to shift again was when Zyanya gave mepermissionto do so, and I wasn’t going to see the Solar Sovereign again until the eclipse.
I took a deep breath and looked back up at Fenris. “I finished putting some ingredients together. I’d like to try finding Lyka’s mate now, if that’s alright with you.”
Fenris gave me a concerned look, and for a moment, I was afraid he’d deny that idea. However, the moment passed, and he gave a nod, offering me a hand as I got down, my feet back on the floor. “Of course.”
Lyka was quiet when we arrived at his cell, but I knew it wouldn’t last long. I sat on the cold, cement floor in front of the reinforced room, placing the mortar holding the herbal mixture in front of me before closing my eyes. If there was one thing particularly useful about being a wolf shifteranda witch, it was my heightened senses. I inhaled the aroma of basil, rose, and dill, allowing the medley to permeate my thoughts. It would’ve been best if Lyka had consumed ginger as well, but at best he’d be despondent, and at worst, actively hostile.
Fenris stood behind me, one hand on my shoulder as he offered his silent support. I drew from his strength before I reached out to Lyka’s mind, ready for his violent rejection of my presence this time. I was stronger than I’d been a few days ago. I was also able to work more quickly, combining elements of psychic magic and conjuring as I looked for the unsevered sign of a fated mate.
As I tugged on it, a distant image appeared in my mind’s eye, as if I were looking at a photo through dark water. The more I focused, the sharper the image became, until the shapes became not a person, but an entire vision. I didn’t have time to wonder if I was viewing a memory; instead, I fixated on a blond woman, on a beach, walking in the gentle surf despite the late hour. The stretch of sand and scraggly trees felt familiar right away, and I had to wonder if this person was somewhere in Florida or the Gulf Coast.
She bent over, scooping something up out of the sand. As she stood, she turned, smiling as she handed it to…
My eyes flew open. “Oh my god!”
“What is it?” Fenris demanded, fingers gripping my shoulder. “Did he hurt you?”
I glanced at the door, only just realizing that Lyka was snarling and hissing, clearly infuriated that I was in his mind. I blinked as I tried to contain my shock, then I took Fenris’s hand and got to my feet. “No, I—I saw his mate. Iknowhis fated mate,” I said, barely able to believe what I’d seen. This was no memory. There was no way Lyka was in Florida any time in the past century, much less the past few years.
“You are sure?” Fenris asked with some trepidation. “This isn’t a memory of yours?”
I shook my head. “No. I haven’t been to Shell Point Beach in a few years, and the last time I went, I was with Abi.” I frowned. “Actually, I’ve never been with Liana alone. The last time I went with her, it was a big group of people.”
“Who?” Fenris said, pursing his lips. “Wait…isn’t that who I paid for the dress?” He wrinkled his nose at the reminder that I’d been engaged to someone else once upon a time.
“Yes!” I exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down. “Yes! That’s her. Liana Edgington. We all went to college together. She spent the summers working at a dress boutique and really fell in love with it, so she switched to a business major. She opened her own shop about two years ago now.” I grabbed Fenris’s hand and squeezed his fingers. “She lives in Tallahassee, Fenris! We can go get her. She can meet Lyka, and that’ll help him with recovery.”
Fenris looked thoughtful for a moment. “We can bring her to Isla Lobo to at least see how it goes,” he said, licking his lips. “But not for a few more days. I want to send people ahead to meet her to make sure she hasn’t been found by someone else.” His expression went dark, and I knew he was thinking of Sabine. She’d gotten to Abi before my friend came to Isla Lobo, so I could hardly blame him for his concern.
“Of course,” I said, nodding. As my shock waned, my left brain suggested Liana might not want to come to the island at all. She had a business to run, and that was just one mundane reason. Liana had always been more superstitious than Abi or me, avoiding black cats and believing whole-heartedly in jinxes, karma, and horoscopes, but that was a stretch when it came to wolf shifters or vampires.
Still, Liana told us a story one night. She’d said that her godfather was a powerful shaman who had healed her broken foot when she stayed with him one summer. When she told other people, she’d said no one had believed her. At the time, I’d dismissed it as drunk rambling. Now I wondered if it was just a silly story or much more.
I guess I’ll find out soon, I thought.
Over the next two and a half days, I debriefed Abi and Cody before Walter escorted them to Tallahassee to meet up with Liana. I hoped Abi would be able to ease Liana into the reality of the situation, while Cody would be the more “paranormal” of the pair. If anything odd was going on with Liana, he’d sense it. If nothing else, Fenris was quite confident in Cody’s loyalty, much as I was in Abi’s.
Despite my friend’s departure, Grant agreed to keep training me, which helped when it came to the awful, restless feeling I woke up to every morning. Knowing it wasn’t anxiety, but my wolf, helped me control my thoughts. But there was only so much physical exercise one could do before reaching outright exhaustion.
I also had to research during the afternoon and work with Val and Morgan under the moon as we continued to try easing Esme’s pain. The spell work I’d managed to fit in between had had no effect on my death mark so far.
However, I had foundonepotential key while studying my mother’s grimoire. Roa, a witch who’d owned it before her, noted that Handmaiden witches are the most powerful during the total solar eclipse, as the moon blocks out the sun. This was likely the reason our ancestors gave the Lunar Lord his power all those centuries ago. But if Roa was right, Aurora witches, totally cut off from the sun, were equally at their weakest.
Maybe during those seven minutes, I could cast a spell that’d allow me to block or otherwise remove the death mark, though I had no way to know for sure.
