Chapter 28

TWENTY-EIGHT

BASH

When we charged through the doors of the infirmary, I tried not to expect a change from Collins, but when I found her lying exactly as she had been, my breath was knocked right out of my lungs. I swayed and stumbled, then collapsed into a chair beside her bed.

“Any change?” Sandra hurried to my side, her blue eyes scanning her daughter up and down.

Nickel sighed and shook her head. “The same.”

“No one has been in here besides us,” Weston added, anticipating my next question.

Shylock looked at his watch. “It’s still within the first twenty-four hours. Healing from this is going to take more time, so do not lose hope yet.”

I nodded. His words were logical. Rational. But still utterly heartbreaking to hear.

Stellan ran his hand through his disheveled sandy-blond hair. “What—and I mean this with every ounce of sincerity— the fuck was that?”

Weston scowled. “Tephine?”

“ MoVaun, ” Ellie, Stellan, and Savina all said at once.

“What is she?” Ellie pressed her fingers to her temples. “I don’t understand what she is. That was . . . I’ve never seen magic like that from her. But I’m new here.”

Savina’s green eyes were distant. “I’m not, but I’ve never seen her perform magic like that.”

“Sandra?” Stellan turned to her with both eyebrows raised. “Clearly you have.”

“Jada is the one who knew to summon her,” I heard myself say. “ Time to deal with the devil. ”

Jada shuddered. “I meant that figuratively, because a deal with MoVaun always costs a steep price—one you are never willing to pay but sometimes must.”

“Because that’s the kind of situation we’re in.” Sandra pulled a cellphone out of her pocket. She cried and then wiped her tears. “I have to call Philip and tell him what I’ve done, that I’ve put our boys’ lives on the line . . .”

Savina wrapped her arm around Sandra’s shoulders. “That could not have been easy as a mother. None of us are confused about the sacrifice your family has made.”

I sat forward and met Sandra’s teary gaze. “If we don’t stop my mother, there won’t be a world for your sons to live in. I will protect them with my life once this fight is over.”

Weston pushed his shoulders back. “I will protect them until then.”

Everyone turned to him.

He kept his eyes on Sandra. “Your daughter needs you here, by her side, so I will go to your boys.”

“I’ll go with him.” Shylock nodded. “Call Philip. Tell him what has happened and that we’re coming.”

Sandra sniffled and jumped to her feet. She kissed each of them on the cheek, then raced out the doors. “Philip, I have to talk to you . . .” her voice cut off as the doors closed.

Savina took a shaky breath. “You two being on the Island is a good idea anyways. We cannot leave them to sit in terror.”

“And Philip may need to leave soon.”

I frowned and looked to Nickel. “What do you mean?”

“He may be called to Fifth Realm sooner than we expect.” Nickel cleared her throat. “But let us not worry about that. Their problems are contained.”

“We’ll burn that bridge when we get there.”

She nodded.

For a moment, we were all silent, just sitting there in the room around Collins. Everyone’s auras were tense and afraid.

“What happened after we left?” Ellie stared at the ground. “By the time Jada and I got to the portal, that tarp was gone and the villagers were dead. Tephine and Venus were already loose in Seattle.”

“They fly fast.” I scrubbed my face with my hands.

Savina cleared her throat. “We killed the King. Or I did. But Bash was asking him about the bond. What did he say to you?”

I frowned. “He said—and I quote— ask Violette. ”

Ellie gasped.

Stellan scowled at her, then back at me. “That’s it?”

“And then he died with a smile on his face.”

Savina cocked her head to the side. “Do you know what he meant?”

“I wish, but no.”

Ellie wrapped her arms around her stomach and groaned. “I do.”

We all turned and looked at her with matching expressions of confusion.

“When Stellan and I were on our grand tour of the other realms, I went into Fourth by myself because Tephine had thrown Stellan into Fifth. Remember?”

“Yes,” Stellan and I said at the same time.

Stellan spun on me and arched one eyebrow. “ You remember?”

“I’m the reason you wound up in Fifth and not Third with us. ”

Stellan’s jaw dropped.

Ellie’s eyes were wide. “How did you manage that without her realizing you were betraying her?”

I smirked and shrugged one shoulder. “She asked me to take both your senses. I pretended to mess up and take hers with yours and which made her miss her target. Granted, she couldn’t see to know I didn’t take yours at all.”

Stellan just stared at me.

“Did you get punished for that?” Savina narrowed her eyes on me.

I nodded. “Worth it though. You would not have survived had I not.”

Ellie gagged, then covered her mouth.

Savina still watched me with sharp eyes. “You threw him into a locked realm?”

“You still consider that realm locked?”

She chuckled softly and shook her head.

“Besides, my mother had the intel that Ellie was granted access to each of the realms once so I knew she would wind up in Fifth Realm to retrieve her prince. In Fifth, you had a chance . . . especially since I know the King there is a Wentworth.”

Stellan whistled. “Thank you, Bash.”

“We’re all in this together, or we’ll all go down together.” I shrugged. “And you’re welcome. I think we’ve all saved each other’s asses at this point.”

Shylock cleared his throat. “So, back to this Violette thing?”

“Well, that was the pet name Prince Riven gave me when I met him.” She cringed and looked up to her soulmate, and I remembered a time not too long ago when they’d been fighting over her interactions with the Vampire Prince.

“So, Violette is you.” Weston nodded. “Okay, Ellie has to go back to Third Realm to look around then?”

Shylock shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

Ellie grimaced. “It means we have to ask Prince Riven .”