Chapter 21 - Hector

The evening after our dinner with Adrian, I stood next to Faye outside of our home. I kept patting my right pocket, thinking about how I'd spent all day yesterday trying to find the right fit. If this ritual produced the result I knew it would produce—that we were mates—then I wanted to do something spectacular for her in celebration.

She was shakily preparing all the ingredients. The simplicity of the ritual meant that it wouldn't take very long to do. The worst part would be the two-hour wait. The skies above appeared foreboding like something was out there waiting for us—watching us closely.

"Will it still work if there aren't any other names added to the pot?"

Faye bent over the large cauldron. The water was starting to boil. A seafoam green was lighting up the surface, illuminating some of the ritual components. The turmeric had already dissolved. Tiny specks of rosemary were floating along the surface. The lemon balm leaves glided between the rosemary bits, attracting the specks like giant magnets. The massive clumps danced and wiggled over the boiling bubbles. Bobbing, dipping, swaying—but never sinking.

My girlfriend looked over her shoulder at me. "The worksheet says to add all eligible names."

I snorted. "I don't want anyone else."

She turned around and looked up at me with round eyes, curious eyes. They reminded me of golden sand in the morning, grains of gold sitting in the hazel hues. They were like scattered glass, multi-colored beads that enhanced the sand of her irises. "You have to add the other names. It's the only way to do it."

I reached for the tome that sat next to the pot on a small table that Adrian had loaned me. I tore a page out of the book and grabbed a pen. "I guess we're adding every woman who's single."

Faye gave me a shaky smirk. "That counts for me as well."

I gaped at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you should add the single men, too."

I scoffed. "Like hell!"

She wiggled her fingers over the cauldron. "Because those are the eligible ones for me to get matched with. Don't you realize that?"

I stared at the paper in my hand, clinging to the pen that I had grabbed. I didn't like how this was going. I didn't like the idea of anyone else being paired with her. The anger was so great that I ended up snapping the pen in half.

Faye took the pen from my fingers and cleaned up some of the ink from my palm. She delicately held my hand between her hands. She raised my knuckles to her mouth, breathing steadily on my skin in confident bursts. In this position, I felt like we were bound in silent prayer, both of us trying to think of the same thing. How were we going to make this ritual turn up with our names paired? Because if they didn't—

She kissed my hand. "Everything's going to be fine."

I stared down at her. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because everything is always fine in the end."

The sudden spark of confidence made me think about what could have possibly happened in the past two weeks to change her mind. There was a point where all she wanted to do was go home, where all she could do was lay on the couch and stare at the ceiling in longing.

Over the past few days, her dedication had grown stronger. Her touch became firm. She seemed to never want to leave my side, choosing to cling to me in the night while she slept. Every time I was with her, I wanted to press my hand to her stomach, to protect her very core.

It didn't make sense, but it didn't need to make sense for me to take care of her. I made sure that she was fed, hydrated, and rested. I carried her up to bed if she needed it, and I carried her down for breakfast, if she needed it. There wasn't anything that I wouldn't do for her. I would stay by her side, no matter what, no matter who she became.

That was the vow that I had made by biting her throat. If my hand was forced to reject her, then I would have to reject myself and scurry away with her.

Lightning lit up the tops of the trees, casting shadows into the sky that appeared grotesque. Were those claws or just clouds? I shook my head, getting rid of the image instantly.

I had to get a hold of myself.

Faye frowned at the sky. "We have to hurry up. If a storm comes…"

I squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna blame you."

Her smile was grateful as she turned back to the cauldron. "Just write the names. I'll help you if you give me a list."

It took several minutes to tear the paper and write names down. But we were able to add at least nineteen names along with ours. It was a mixture of men and women. All of them were eligible to be matched as mates. I just didn't want them to be matched with either of us.

Once the pot was really boiling, Faye added two red rose petals and watched as the petals buoyed on the surface of the water. Within seconds, the pedals were sucked down into the center by a vortex. The water turned a rich forest green and then darkened to obsidian. It looks like mud or some kind of peat. I stared at the concoction, feeling like something was going wrong.

I touched Faye's shoulder. "Do you feel that?"

She shuddered. "I don't like the look of those clouds."

I moved my hand to her upper back to rub the area. "It's okay if you're nervous about this."

"It's not me, I swear." She held her hands over the pot, searching the thick fluid for something. "It feels like someone's trying to interfere."

I tried to figure out what she meant by looking into the pot, but I couldn't see anything. I wasn't even sure how this was supposed to look. "How can you tell?"

"It just feels like something's wrong. Do you feel that?"

I nodded solemnly. "Do you think someone's trying to mess with us?"

"I don't know. I don't know anybody else who knows magic like this. It feels stronger, like it's perverted somehow," she cringed while holding her temples as she cowered into herself and stumbled back. "Ow, my head…"

I caught her by the waist. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

She cried out as she buried her face in my chest. "It feels like there's an ice pick going through my head. Oh, Goddess, make it stop !"

I pushed her hair out of her face, trying to look into her eyes. "Is it a headache? What is it? Is it the magic?"

Tears flooded the edges of her eyes as she scrunched up her features. "No, stop talking. Don't show me that. Not my baby!"

Her teeth chattered as her skin turned so pale it was practically translucent. Shadows grew around us, gaping faces, hollow eyes—the demons were here.

The demons were trying to interfere.

I shook my mate. "Faye, Faye! "

Her eyelids shot open, revealing cloudy white eyes and a blank expression with a grin that bordered on sinister. There was no trace of color in her. It was like there was a sheer white curtain hanging over the irises and pupils. "You'll never have me."

I squeezed her shoulders. "What are you talking about?"

Her voice split off in different directions, going high and going low at the same time. More shadows grew, engulfing us, a hurricane of dreadful faces I didn't want to describe. "You'll never have me because it's not meant to be."

I squeezed her shoulders again, giving her a quick shake. "Snap out of it, Faye."

Something had gone terribly wrong with the ritual. Above us, the barrier had broken, invisible holes allowing these wretched creatures into our space. As they swirled around us, her hair began to float. It was a lot like that hurricane she made in my living room.

Was she possessed? Did she have a secret dark side that hated me? Feeling helpless, I tried to crush her into a hug, tried to soothe her, rub her back, and run my fingers through her hair. I tried my best to ground her, to keep her in this dimension and on this earth.

"Whatever's going on, just fight it, okay?" I ran my fingers through her hair. "Fight it, Faye. Fight it because I love you—and I know you love me, too."

She gasped while she dug her fingers into my chest. "No, it can't… Hector, I'm trying. I can't fight this!"

"Yes, you can!" I embraced her, closing my eyes while using my alpha connection to tap into our bond—and then I released the valve that had been holding everything back. "You can because you're my mate. You can because you want to. I believe in you."

She whimpered. Despite the horrifying sound of the wind whipping around us, I heard that shaky whimper. It broke my heart to hear her nervously admit, "I'll fail…"

I hugged her fiercely. "You'll never fail at loving me. I promise."

It felt like we stood there for ages. I kept hanging onto her, kept her in my arms, kept her wrapped up as much as I could. I protected her from the whirling storm, the sea of faces. Though they never lashed out at us physically, I could tell by the radiant tide of sinister smiles that they were doing something to her mentally.

She went quiet, so I stepped away to check her face. Another sinister smile. Her eyes were still glossed over. I gritted my teeth and crushed her into another hug.

"You'll never have her," I boomed at the demons surrounding us, "because you'll never love her like I do!"

She gasped as she clawed at my shoulders. "Please, don't let me go. You're helping. It's helping me fight—Don't let me go, Hector!"

"If that's what it takes, I'll be your boa constrictor."

She laughed and then cried out and then chuckled nervously. "I'm so sorry. I need to tell you if I don't make it—I really need to tell you—"

I shushed her as I bowed over her. "Just keep fighting. I'll keep an eye on everything here. You can tell me when you win."

After the vampire-wolf wars ended, I'd seen many men suffer from the invisible sickness inside their brains. I'd watched men go from their usual sunny selves to some kind of depleted mechanical form that couldn't even shift into a wolf. I'd watched women turn in on themselves. I'd watched spouses lose each other to the silent war that raged inside their minds and bodies. Sometimes, their kids or their pets would get abandoned.

I felt helpless to help. And I felt that feeling again right now as I pressed my mate flush to my chest, hoping that holding her would be enough. I closed my eyes and focused on her peaches and cream scent, on the patchouli oil in her hair, on everything that made her so distinctly her .

I felt her shiver. I felt her shake. I felt the way her body tensed and relaxed, and tensed and relaxed again. I kept her tight in my arms until her head fell back and she went limp. The hurricane intensified. It smacked the back of my neck, burned my shoulders, and tried to rip through my skull. I cried out as I clutched my mate to my chest, solidified by my dedication.

"You'll never have her," I grumbled, "on my life, you'll never have her!"

Electricity coursed through me, a sudden bolt of energy flashing through my center and bulging my muscles. I threw my head back and howled viciously at the midnight gray sky. Around us, the demons shrieked, their ghastly faces stretching toward the sphere above and then poofing out of existence. My battle cry echoed through the universe, sending a sonic flash of light to the edge of existence and back again.

Then, the sky emptied. The night was quiet. The wind died down.

Everything was silent.

I gently lowered Faye to the ground and pushed her hair from her face. I grabbed the extra cloak that I had brought with us and wrapped it around her body, noticing how the tips of my fingers were scorched. I brushed my fingers through her hair, feeling little zaps here and there when my flesh contacted her scalp.

Her eyes opened. "That was…"

I cried out with triumph, cupping her face, mumbling incoherently as I looked into her eyes. "Fuck, I thought I lost you. I thought I—"

She sat up with a gasp and pointed at the cauldron. "There should be two petals on the surface."

"I don't care about that. I only care about—"

She pointed harder. "Look, Hector. Just look!"

I did as she instructed. The water was clear, with only two petals floating on the surface. I hesitantly reached for them.

"Yes, take them out. The water should not be hot."

I frowned with doubt. Though the fire was licking the bottom of the cauldron, the water was still. No boiling bubbles. No heat. I reached for the petals and took them out, noticing that the water felt spongy and dry while somehow being wet.

I sat next to her on the ground and then helped her sit up. The petals were free of script, resting neatly in my palm. She reached for one and said, "On three, we'll turn them over."

I sucked air into my lungs. "Three."

"Hector!"

I flipped my petal, staring headlong at it like it was a poisonous animal ready to bite me. It took a moment for me to focus on the letters, for them to come through the blurry tears that were in my eyes.

Faye. Hector.

I wheezed, "We've done it." I yanked Faye into my arms. " We've done it! "

Hot tears streaked my face. I cried into her neck, nuzzling the mark on her throat, loving the texture of it against my mouth.

"I'm so sorry," I blubbered. "I'm so sorry about everything. That prank proposal was so stupid. So sorry, I rejected you. I will always protect you, always . I'll never doubt you again."

Faye sobbed with relief. Her arms circled my neck as she planted kisses on my cheek. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you. I'm sorry I wanted to leave. I'm sorry that I never told you that I love you…"

Several minutes went by with us clinging to each other, kissing, crying, laughing. Eventually, the fire under the cauldron started to die out. The cold October breeze lunged for us, making me shiver. I held Faye like I never wanted to let her—because I never wanted to let her go.

That meant I had one last thing to do. As I reached into my pocket, Faye touched my cheek "There's still one problem: my parents."

I smiled. "Don't worry. I'm gonna take care of it." I held up the ring. "But first, I think I need to do this. I need to do it for real this time."

Her expression went blank. Her body tensed up, going frigid. The chilly air didn't seem to help either. I watched her studying the ring, a very simple silver band with a blue and hazel-brown gem. I had gone to a very special jeweler who made the stone into the combined colors of our eyes.

More tears fell from her eyes. She looked between me, the ring, and me again. Then looked at the ring, plucked it from my fingers, and whispered, "Yes."

I practically tackled her to the ground. She giggled while trying to put on the ring, trying to fight me off at the same time. It was the most darling kind of sound to hear her giggle like that. To hear such sweetness come out of her when she had just been sobbing. We both stood from the ground and kissed repeatedly. Soft and quick pecs that led to giggles and hugs.

I held her shoulders steady. "Didn't you say you had something to tell me?"

She paused with her hands on my chest. "When we met, I was a virgin."

I stared at her. "Is that it?"

She blushed. "I mean…"

"Honey, I don't even care." I kissed her forehead. "In fact, you didn't seem like it." I grinned mischievously. "We should go do that again. To celebrate."

"I absolutely want to bang you again into oblivion, but first, I need to make a call to my alphas—I mean, my old alphas."

I scooped her up into my arms. "As long as I can carry you back home, do whatever you need."