Fading Light

Footsteps thunder down the steps, and I turn in Haut's embrace as Tris jumps over the railing at the bottom to come barreling toward us.

Haut braces himself as Tris slams into us, joining our hug.

Levi comes down the stairs with more caution, Aspen limping behind him.

Tris buries his nose in my hair. "You seriously need to stop getting kidnapped."

"At least you weren't thrown off a balcony this time," I say, my throat tightening with the threat of tears now that it's all over.

"Ugh, that's not funny," Tris grumbles.

Haut chuckles, his moss-green eyes twinkling. "Actually, it's a little funny."

Tris rears back to glare at him. "I almost died."

"But you didn't. And neither did Rowe." Haut pulls him back into the hug. "Everyone is safe."

"How did you even find me?" I ask Haut. "Jacob said the charm he stole masked his scent."

Shoving Tris back a step, Haut gently touches the spot over my heart, sending a shiver through me. "We're mates, Rowe. I'll always be able to find you."

The low, tender timber of his voice makes my pulse skip a beat before I smack his chest. "Then why did it take so long? I had to encourage Jacob to give his villain monologue to buy time."

"It took a bit to realize you were gone." Tris turns a glare on Aspen, who leans against the stair railing. "Someone got caught up in the Rothaven grimoires."

"With the chaos caused by the fire, we almost missed the stench of the potion burning. Once we realized you were missing, Haut tracked you through your bond." Levi approaches and stares down at Jacob, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Why doesn't he register as a werewolf anymore?"

Unsure if I should reveal what transpired down here, I opt for a partial truth. "Right as he was about to attack me, he changed back into a human. The charm stopped working, and Haut knocked him out."

"Did the charm backfire?" Levi bends and yanks the little wolf necklace off his neck. "And it destroyed his werewolf side?"

"These kinds of magics are unpredictable." Aspen limps toward us, then pauses and winces as he kneels to pick up my wand. "Did he say why he did all this while you had him monologuing, Rowe?"

"He admitted to hiring someone on the outside to stop Levi from bringing us to Silver Hollow." My gaze drops to Jacob, and unwilling sympathy fills me. "He was behind everything. He found Aris's latest attempt to replicate the charm by accident, and it made him believe that Griffen had a whole hoard of charms hidden away, keeping the werewolves prisoner in Silver Hollow."

Levi's eyes narrow as he takes in this new information, his tall frame tense with anger and disbelief. "We've never told the pack about the charms, because it's unfair that we don't have enough for everyone. But we were too loose with our use of the amulets around the other werewolves."

I hesitate, studying Jacob's unconscious form on the floor. My thoughts make me sad, but I would be sadder to stay silent and find out later that he hurt more people.

"Jacob will always blame Griffen for what happened when his lover left town," I say quietly. "He might try to destroy the barrier again if he stays here."

Levi's eyes meet mine, understanding and acceptance on his face. "You're suggesting we send him through the barriers."

I nod. "The sooner the better, while it can still take his memories. Give him a new start as a human on the outside. It may be the only way his mind ever heals."

"Alright," Levi agrees, picking up Jacob with ease. "I'll do it tonight before he wakes up."

As he heads for the stairs, Aspen hobbles forward and holds out my wand.

With a grateful smile, I take it from him and slide it back into the sheath on my arm. "For your information, I didn't lose this. It was taken while I was unconscious."

"I believe you." He tucks his hands into his pockets. "I apologize that my distraction caused you harm."

I play with my little potion bottle charm. "Did you find a solution?"

He nods slowly. "I think I did, and it's far simpler than we were thinking."

Hope blooms in my chest. "So simple that we don't have to slather up in goo and dance naked?"

"Afraid not," he says, stomping all over my beautiful bloom. "We're going to cast the Hartford Cove barrier, and then we're going to attach the Silver Hollow one to it. The two barriers will laminate together, and the spells will transfer over, preserving the memory wiping and the protection from moon madness."

"That's wonderful. Yippee for us." Tris's gaze darts around the shadows created by all the cages. "Can we please get out of this creepy basement now?"

"I thought no one would ever ask." I offer my arm to Aspen, and we head toward the stairs.

As we cross the floor, Aspen's foot bumps against something hard that clatters, and he picks up two stone statues, one wolf-shaped and the other a diamond with a dark, flame-like engraving that makes me shiver.

My heart races as he looks at me, clearly recognizing the significance of the items.

"Aspen, I?—"

"Tell no one about this," he cuts me off with a whisper. "If the council were to find out, they wouldn't let you stay in Hartford Cove. Such gifts are too valuable."

Haut stiffens, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. "You're not going to tell them?"

"Yeah." Tris steps up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Haut. "Aren't you their spy?"

Aspen shakes his head, his gaze never leaving mine. "No, I'm Rowe's teacher, and it's my duty to do what's best for my apprentice. Being with her family is what's best."

Overwhelmed with gratitude, I hug him.

Aspen hesitates for a moment before wrapping his arms around me, patting my back with one hand.

"Thank you," I whisper.

"Of course." Stepping back, he passes me the statues. "You should destroy these."

Cradling the wolf statue in my palm, I feel a heartbeat pulsing from within, and deep down, I know that I could return the wolf to Jacob, that he could be a werewolf without the moon madness. My focus shifts to the diamond-shaped stone, where I sense anger and hunger, like a storm raging inside of it, threatening to swallow whole anyone who comes in contact with it.

Excitement bubbles through my veins like a shaken soda. "Hey, Aspen, remember when you said werewolves were created by a witch's curse?"

He nods. "Yes, that's one theory."

I hold up the diamond stone. "Well, I think you're wrong."

"I never said it was my theory." He raises an eyebrow. "But why do you think it's wrong?"

"See, this represents the moon madness, while this other one represents the wolf. They're two different creatures. I think it's more like… a witch twisted what nature had already created. If that's the case, then maybe we can undo it." My words tumble out faster than I can think them through, but something tells me I'm right. "The werewolves don't have to be dangerous. We could help them!"

Aspen's eyes widen, and as his nerd-brain thinks it through, his expression turns thoughtful. "You might be onto something."

I bounce on my toes. "I also think your theory about vampires is wrong."

Aspen sighs and repeats, "Again, it's not my theory."

I ignore him, too excited for semantics. "When I protected myself from Ros's dad and from Bryant, I only got one of these puppies, not two. Vampires aren't cursed. They're just bloodthirsty creatures with a bad sun allergy."

"Who make people horny by biting them," Tris adds. "Nothing cursed about that."

Aspen takes the diamond-shaped stone from me and considers it. "There's another theory that all werewolves come from a single curse, which means they're all connected by this magical virus. If we destroy the curse, it could set off a chain reaction and wipe out the moon madness."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" That damn hope blooms again.

"After we cast the new barrier, we should perform one more ritual before we leave Silver Hollow." He grins at me. "A super-secret one known only to the Wendall family."

I hold my hands to my mouth, my eyes wide with the possibilities. "Are you joining the misfits?"

He half-heartedly pumps his fist into the air. "Adventure?"

Snorting, Tris grabs his arm and pulls it over his shoulders. "That's a start."

The setting sun shimmers over the pack gathered in front of where I stand with Aspen, Tris, and Kaela, the Silver Hollow coven forming a semi-circle behind us.

A brazier crackles in the center of our group, and as I look out over the crowd, performance anxiety creeps in. And I thought dancing naked earlier with Tris in the middle of town was bad. The barrier resurrection spell had gone off without a hitch, so this one should go as smoothly, right?

"Remember," Aspen whispers, his voice steady, "let your instincts guide you."

"Someone's sure changed his tune," I mutter, resisting the urge to wipe my sweaty palms on my borrowed robe.

Elana had insisted that if we were going to perform a ritual, we needed to look the part. Which is great for everyone who's average height, but the white material of mine drags in the dirt. I look like a toddler playing at being a high priestess.

"Focus on the tingles," Tris adds.

"Let's begin." Aspen nods to the witches gathered behind us.

Elana stands tall at their center as her coven performs a basic blessing Aspen had worked up, their voices rising and falling in sync as they weave a tapestry of enchantments. I carefully place the curse stone on a grate over the brazier, and Tris, Aspen, and Kaela step forward, summoning fire.

Flames ignite the coals within the metal basin, turning red, then white, then blue. My heartbeat quickens, my mind flashing back to the fire in the meeting hall, and I take steadying breaths as the air heats, the fine strands of my hair lifting.

"Rowe." Aspen nods toward me. "It's time."

"Here goes nothing." Reaching into my mind, I open the door on my toaster, and the world washes out to silver.

I raise my wand, focusing on the magic that floats around us, carried on the wind, thrumming in the earth, snapping from the fire.

Prickles dance along my skin and gather on the tip of my wand, forming a crackling ball. I sweep my arm downward, releasing the bolt of lightning, and it strikes the curse stone, shattering it into pieces.

As the light fades, the fire disintegrates the pieces into ashes, and its dark power vanishes. A sudden sting in my stomach catches me off guard, but I push the pain aside, focused on completing the ritual.

"Is it done?" Kaela asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

Aspen's gaze sweeps over the gathered werewolves. "We'll know when the moon rises."

Smoke billows into the sky, curling and twisting through the crowd. I watch, my heart pounding, as the last of the sun's light disappears, and the full moon casts a shimmering glow upon the Silver Hollow pack.

"Here we go," Tris murmurs beside me, taking my hand.

Griffen steps forward, his eyes locked on the moon. Then his body breaks down on itself and reforms, his back lengthening and his legs shortening as his face pushes out into a muzzle.

It's not the easy shift from man to wolf that Haut goes through, but it's fast. And when Griffen rises, instead of the monstrous beast we've come to know as the cursed werewolf, a regular, majestic wolf stands in his place, free from the darkness.

"Wow," I breathe, unable to tear my eyes away.

One by one, the rest of the people follow suit, until a pack of wolves stands before us.

My gaze seeks Haut, and relief sweeps through me to find him still in his human form, the moon holding no sway over him. Jacob's bite didn't turn him into a werewolf.

"Look at them," Kaela says, her voice filled with awe. "They're beautiful."

"Damn right they are." Aspen grins at me over the dying fire. "And we made this happen."

I nod. "Teamwork makes the dream work."

And none of this would ever have happened if not for Jacob. He had accomplished what he wanted, and werewolves are now free of their drive to kill. Too bad he'll never know how much he helped the pack he tried to destroy.

With a howl that sends shivers down my spine, Griffen leads the werewolves away, their newfound freedom clear in the way they bound through the underbrush.

Before they disappear entirely, Levi trots over to us. His golden eyes meet mine, filled with gratitude.

"You're welcome," I say.

He rubs against us, warm fur brushing our legs, then with a final flick of his tail, he turns and races off to rejoin his people.