Chapter nineteen

I send up my prayer to Hecate, and my palms alight, flames engulfing me completely. Black swallows my vision, and all I can feel—all I can see—is the fire surrounding me… and Monique, standing like a blazing target before me.

Kill her,a voice echoes in my head. It is time.

I hesitate, knowing that it isn't my wolf that's speaking because she's still trapped within that horrible cage in my chest. The voice is different… but still, I trust it.

My power surges, and I've never felt so alive. So powerful. Fire flies from my palms, heating my whole body with its warmth, with my rage. Someone screams for me in the back of my mind, but I can't grasp the words they say or how I recognize their voice. All I can focus on is the witch before me with the lifeless body of my familiar clutched in her grasp, the life force between us severed so I can never share my life and energy with him… so I can never revive him.

Fury blinds me when she throws Kaylus to the ground, and I'm beyond ready to drain every ounce of life from her. When she spews her hatred for me as an infant—a defenseless child reliant on her for every aspect of survival—Batya's prophecy comes back to me, and I smile, knowing I'm fulfilling it in every way.

The new world has no room for her evil and selfishness. The world we all deserve has no suffering at the hands of Monique Morrow ever again. The voice in my mind is right—it's time. It's beyond time to be done with this suffering.

"Adara, wait!"

I blink a few times at the sound of Gideon's voice, almost as if waking from a deep, heavy sleep. I barely recognize my own voice when I respond to him, but as he speaks, my rage dwindles, and sorrow swells in its place.

"...but you don't deserve to carry the weight of being the one that takes her life."

My breath hitches in my throat, my heart torn. I know she needs to die, but I don't know how to carry the guilt of taking another life with my own hands. Raymond's face, frozen and burnt, comes to my mind, and nausea roils in my gut.

"You are the light within my darkness, little witch. A beacon that guides me home to your pure heart when the world becomes too dark. When I become too dark."

My heart aches, and the mate bond clenches my chest so tightly it blinds me.

"I know you," he whispers, his voice thick. "I love you. Come back to me."

Closing my eyes, I force my flames to extinguish, and my legs give out. Gideon's arms wrap around me, catching me against his chest. Cackling causes my mouth to go dry, and I pry my eyes open to find Monique sprawled on the ground before us.

"That's it?" she asks, hysterical laughter pouring from her mouth. "That's all it takes to get you to surrender? Just him asking you to please be a good little girl?" She pouts, mocking.

Gideon growls, the vibrations rumbling through his chest as my cheek rests against him. His hands tighten around me, and he shifts, moving to shield more of me from her.

Shoving herself onto unsteady legs, Monique teeters back and forth. Her hair is a wild mass around her head, leaves and twigs and burnt ends leaving it in disarray. Ash and dirt are smeared across her cheeks, and her eyes are… wild. Unhinged and unpredictable. It's the complete opposite of the woman I grew up with who put so much emphasis on appearance. Who stressed the value—the expectation—of putting forth the effort to always look put together and pristine and beautiful, the arrogance that poured off her each moment unbearable. Even the poised scent of her magic is missing.

My brows cinch, studying her. She hasn't healed her wounds or cast a spell since I hit the tree. Could she… Could she have no magic energy left?

"You're out of magic," I say, stare straight into her eyes—emerald eyes that will forever haunt my nightmares. "You've used it all, haven't you? Pushed yourself to the very edge, and now it'll take ages for it to restore itself to full power within you." I shake my head, pity filling my voice. "You have nothing and no one. You are the one who is weak and useless, Monique."

Her laughter dies, and she stares at me, eyes wide, mouth agape.

My gaze travels over her burnt, melted, and disgusting clothing down to the ground. A gasp rips through me when I see Kaylus laying on the ground before my feet. Tears burning at the backs of my eyes, I crouch down on weak legs and reach for him, my hands shaking uncontrollably as I gently scoop him up. Bringing him to my chest, I try to focus on the life force shared between us, and my chin quivers when I realize again his is gone entirely.

"No!" Gideon snarls, twisting his body to cover me and Kaylus as he shoves me to the ground. He grunts as Monique hits him from behind, a large rock falling to the dirt beside him.

"Gideon!" I cry out.

"That will be enough of your nonsense, Monique Morrow."

Ice snakes down my spine at the sound of Celeste's voice. The high priestess is here?

Gideon gives me a small smile, still laying over me, his arms bearing his weight on either side of my head. I use my free hand to roam his back, and relief floods through me, knowing he's okay. He lifts his head to look over at Celeste, who stares beyond us into the forest, and shifting my head in that direction, I see Monique frozen mid-sprint. Looking back toward the high priestess, all the destruction around us finally sinks in.

"The bar," I whisper. The walls have crumbled into ash, the roof collapsed onto itself. The two metal front doors are still standing, though melted and bent at odd angles. The neon wolf sign is gone. "I did that… Gideon, I—"

Looking back down at me, he presses his forehead to mine. "Darling, I'd burn that bar down myself if it meant keeping you alive. How did you do that?"

Tears race from my eyes down my temples, dripping into my hair. "I-I prayed for help from Hecate. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to destroy—Oh my gods, is Jules okay? Wren and Jaz? Is… Is Ruya with you? H-how did the coven—"

Gideon chuckles, kissing the tip of my nose before sliding his weight to the side and laying on the ground beside me. "Everyone is going to be fine." He glances at my chest where I still have Kaylus clutched to me and grimaces. "Is he…"

"We have a life force between us," I choke on the words as they pour from me, my heart splintering inside my chest, "but she… she killed him, and the tether is gone. I… I can't bring him back without draining mine completely now."

"Even with your immortality?"

I shake my head. "Immortality won't repair the connection between us."

"Can you use the mate bond?" he asks gently, raising his hand to stroke the back of my arm. "If you can access it, like you did to use my strength at the lake, you can try to use it to tie us all together."

It could work… but he's likely to die if you do this, my wolf says, her voice tight. A wolf doesn't react to witch's magic the same.

My lips part as I stare at him. "I… I could kill you, Gideon. You won't survive. Even being an immortal, you're still a wolf, and this is witch's magic."

"When are you going to realize I would do anything for you," he asks, pulling me tight against him and closing his eyes. "Do it."

"N-no… I can't lose you. I—"

"Do it, Adara. You won't lose me. I promise." His hand comes up to cup my cheek, and he presses his face into the crook of my neck. "Let me help you save him after I've failed to protect what's ours."

Forcing myself to push the thoughts of what could happen from my head, I close my eyes and bite my lower lip. Blood coats my tongue, and my broken heart throbs as I think of all the guilt Gideon carries—the same guilt I hold within myself for how I failed to protect everyone I love from all of this pain.

I reach inside me, scouring for the mate bond that ties us together, then I find the untethered life force thread between me and Kaylus. "You didn't fail us, Gideon," I whisper, keeping my eyes shut. "I love you." Shoving the two bonds together, I cry out—the sensation of a hundred knife points piercing through my chest.

Beside me, Gideon stiffens, groaning, his arm like a vice around my waist and bruising against my hips.

I take a few deep breaths, then slide my eyes open. They burn as air greets me. I turn to my side, grasping Gideon's face with one hand as I hold Kaylus in the other. "Gideon. Gideon, wake up. Please, please wake up." I gently kiss his lips, lingering for a moment. Tears of relief pour from me when his breath brushes against my skin. I look down at the raven in my hand held tight against me, my hope skyrocketing and shattering all within an instant when Kaylus doesn't move, no breath raising his chest.

"Adara," Celeste says from behind Gideon.

Sliding Gideon's arm off me, I slowly sit up to face the high priestess and try to keep my voice from shaking. "Yes, High Priestess Celeste?"

She glances between us with narrowed eyes before looking over her shoulder to ask, "Do you see this?"

"I do," Batya answers, stepping up beside her with one brow cocked and a faint smile on her lips. She gazes down at us. "The unpredicted pairing… how strange it is to—"

"Addy!"

Whirling around, I find Eri crashing through the foliage. She stumbles to the ground beside me.

"Addy, she's here! Mon—" Eri stops, slowly taking in the scene before her.

"Explain, stranger," Celeste demands, the icy tone back in her voice.

Eri sighs, then bows her head. "I assume you are the high priestesses of the coven. I am Eri, lycan witch, Abel Morrow's sister."

Surprise dawns over both high priestesses' faces.

"I guard… I live in the forest." Eri raises a narrowed glare at the witches before her. "Monique came to me to steal an ancient power. She used a double's spell, so I could not defeat her without defeating the main body, which…" She glances around.

"Is here," Batya supplies, gesturing to Monique, frozen by Celeste's magic.

Eri nods, then tilts her head slightly. "Did you…" She looks sharply at me. "Did you do that to her?"

Pressing my lips into a firm line, I shrug one shoulder. "The freezing, no. The… rest, yes."

Cupping my face with her hands, she kisses the top of my head. "I am so proud of you, niece."

"What happened with the… um…" I ask, not sure how to ask about the well without naming it.

"I destroyed it." She gives a small smile. "It was the only way once she found it." Standing, Eri raises her chin and gestures toward Monique. "What will become of her?"

Batya and Celeste exchange a glance before Batya dips her head toward me. "That is for you to decide, young witch."

"M-me?" I stutter, sure I've misheard.

Batya raises her brow. "You have captured a rogue witch and defeated her despite familial bond. You have risked and sacrificed. You have saved two young witches…" She looks around the growing crowd of witches who move around the bar's ashes, gaze touching on Ruya, "Three young witches. We are in your debt, Adara Morrow."

"Did that hurt?" Gideon mutters, rolling onto his back. He moans when I throw myself onto him with a screech, then huffs a laugh.

"Of course it hurt," I say. "You felt it when the bonds reformed, but—"

"I was talking to the ice queen," he says, flicking his gaze to Batya. "Admitting failure isn't something I ever dreamed I'd hear coming from a witch."

"I admitted nothing of the sort, wolf," Batya snaps.

Gideon shakes his head, staring up at the sky above us. "Monique needs to die. That's the only repayment we need."

Batya lifts her chin slightly, studying Gideon for a few moments, then nods.

"Burned at the stake," he says slowly, turning his head to make eye contact with the high priestess.

"Adara?" Celeste asks.

"I… agree." My hand tightens on Kaylus's still limp body. I refuse to allow her another chance to hurt the ones I love. We've suffered enough. This needs to end.

Celeste bows her head. "As you wish."