Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Three

Quentin sat on the bed, eyes closed, with Everest's head in his lap and his hands on Everest's temples. Everest looked dead, but he still had a pulse. Cadel kept his fingers over Everest's wrist as he sat next to him. His heartbeat was growing weaker with each passing minute.

Kaine sat only a few meters away, close enough to help Quentin if he needed to. It was too quiet.

"What's going on in there?" Cadel asked.

Kaine kept his eyes closed as if watching what was happening. Maybe he could see inside Everest's mind, too. "They've gone back to a specific memory. The one with the mind reader."

Cadel winced. Everest's body twitched. This time, he didn't stop.

Kaine sprung up, but Cadel was already rolling Everest onto his side. Quentin's hands fell away, but he didn't need to be touching Everest to be inside his mind.

"He's not going to survive." Everest's pulse became uneven and thready. He was too exhausted to fight for his life. He'd used too much magic, and he had nothing left. "We have to do something…"

"Give Quentin a chance." Kaine put one hand on the wall.

"How much is he pulling from you?"

Kaine frowned, his eyebrows knitting together. "They've dropped into that memory, and he's trying to close the doors to the memories within it."

"Destroy the memory of that life. Then the ones inside will be gone, too." It was like a Russian doll made memories. Except they weren't getting smaller with each opening; they got bigger.

Kaine grunted. He'd pull Quentin out, and then it would be over. Everest's life would be over.

"Come on, Everest. You planned all of this out, but you didn't plan your survival? I don't believe that. You're too smart to quit like this." Cadel frowned.

He had planned his survival—not consciously, though.

That memory that had kept trying to get his attention. The answer was in that life. It was in everything else Everest had said. Cadel just needed to put the pieces together.

"Your fated mate is a witch, so that makes you a shifter," Cadel said. "Everest said he was a fire witch with the ability to shift. That he is both. The witch in that lifetime tried to bind with him. The Shadow Board bound shifters?—"

"What's your point, McKeon?"

"Can I bind with him and give him my strength?" It might work if Everest was witch enough to be bound to a shifter. And a shifter binding a witch was much rarer.

"You might die."

"How much longer can you take Quentin drawing on you before you pass out? And if you pass out, you can't pull him out."

Kaine swallowed. "He's in deep. They both are. "

Great, so Kaine may not be able to pull Quentin out if needed. "It's worth a shot, right?"

Kaine grunted.

"If we wait much longer, it's going to be too late." For Everest and Quentin.

Kaine sat, looking exhausted. "I can't help you."

"No." He lifted Everest's hand and pressed a kiss to his knuckles, not caring that his boss was witnessing what would be considered an inappropriate attachment. Wrapped inside Everest's fingers was the chess piece. He hadn't been able to pry the queen out of Everest's hand. "Someone has to know…ask the Board." If anything remained of it. "Or the Coven. Anyone."

"You're willing to try this for him?"

"Yes. Please, there must be a way. Otherwise, pull Quentin out now and…" His voice cracked, and the words wouldn't form.

Kaine nodded and pulled out his phone. "I know someone who has been bound and can tell you what to do."