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IVY

MATE…

The word felt so foreign in my mind, and yet the weight behind it was right. Powerful. Real. It echoed in my head and although I wanted to throw the concept away and never hear the term again, I knew it for what it really meant.

Fate. Destiny. A force so powerful it could bring entire worlds to their knees.

And my mate, the holder of my heart, the other part of my soul, was dying in my arms.

The fighting around me faded to a distant hum, a pounding that was drowned out by the gentle beat of Adrian’s slowing heart. His bright green eyes, still ringed with gold, were focused on mine, but the life that gave him his soft smiles and charming personality seeped out of him. Blood clouded his natural scent of mint and rain, clogging my nose as I tried to calm the thundering beat of my own heart.

He will not die. He can’t, I thought, pressing my hand into his abdomen. As his mouth opened again, blood trickled down the corner of his lips.

We’re running out of time…

I leaned down and softly pressed my lips to his forehead. “I’ll fix this,” I whispered, swallowing the burn of tears, “I promise.”

The warmth blooming in my hands turned into an unbearable fire that scorched my insides. It raced up my forearms and towards my chest, splintering across the rest of my body like a strike of lightning.

It was all-consuming, powerful, and dangerous. And it was all mine.

As the fire crackled across my skin like shattered glass, I fell into the overwhelming sensation of life that crashed through me. It started in my chest, winding around my pounding heart, before slithering its way down my arms. My muscles clenched painfully, tightening with the magic pouring through me and into my mate.

I gritted my teeth against the sudden agony and closed my eyes tight against a flash of violet light.

Darkness and pain crept along the edges of my vision. I fought against the dizzying urge to pass out, but a wave of nausea swept over me, almost as hard and fast as the fire-like power burning through me.

I barely managed to open my eyes and take in Adrian’s awe and fear before darkness claimed me, and swallowed me whole.

~

Voices garbled by my lack of complete consciousness sounded around me. Some were close to my muffled ears and others seemed far off in the distance. Warmth, comfortable and peaceful, wrapped around me like a blanket, so unlike the painful fire that erupted within me and continued to throb like a day-old bruise.

My eyelids felt heavy, and despite being cocooned in darkness, I started to detangle the voices around me.

“She’s waking up.” The soft Irish lilt belonged to Maeve. Her voice sounded a bit further away, but her scent drifted closer to me, a delicate perfume that tickled my nose. I could almost see her clearly; the sharp arch of her brows and the streak of silver in her otherwise obsidian hair.

A snort sounded somewhere behind me. “How can you be sure?” Thea. There was a slight tremble in her voice, but otherwise she seemed calm. A whisper of spun sugar and cookies drifted over me. “She looks asleep to me.”

“Her heartbeat.” Gruff and to the point. Elias. “She’s just not opening her eyes.”

Because I don’t think I can, I wanted to reply, but my mouth was stuffed with cotton and tasted stale, dry. I tried to open my eyes, but they remained heavy, glued together with exhaustion and the remnants of sleep.

A hand brushed across my cheek, and that comfortable warmth turned into something else. Something more. It pooled in my belly, wetting the fabric between my legs. Holy shit. It was potent and burning but not unpleasant.

Definitely not unpleasant. I could feel each stroke of his hand down my entire body, shivers of desire coursing over my tender flesh.

“How long until we reach the safe house?” Adrian. I could feel the rumble of his voice beneath my cheek. He’s okay.

His scent wrapped around me, and I breathed it in greedily. Warm mint, like his favourite drink and the rain that came with a storm, tucked me into a gentle embrace. I sighed, and the rumble of the car’s engine lulled me back into the darkness. This time, I didn’t resist.

~

I wasn’t sure how much time passed before I was able to open my eyes. Darkness greeted me as I blinked away sleep, the only light coming from the dashboard of the SUV. Otherwise, night consumed the lonely highway we drove along, with only the occasional blip of headlights to break up the never-ending darkness.

Sitting up, I rubbed a hand over my face. My eyes and cheeks were crusty with tears I didn’t realise I’d shed. When I pulled my hand back, the flash of a memory appeared, of my hands coated in blood, of the copper scent clogging my nose.

But when I sucked in a deep breath and blinked down at my fingers, I didn’t see blood, nor did the smell of it fill the car. My hands were clean. Even the beds of my nails had been scrubbed.

Tears burned behind my eyes as I finally looked around me. Beside me, Adrian had his arm wrapped around my shoulders, a weight I hadn’t noticed at first but now couldn’t help but smile at. His chest moved evenly with each breath; sleep softened his features, even with the night casting harsh shadows across his face.

He’s alive. Tears clogged the back of my throat as I sucked in a sharp breath. He’s here. I dragged my gaze over his body to his stomach. Where blood should have stained his shirt and death should have clung to his body, there was only life; a steady heartbeat beneath my hand; deep breaths unburdened by blood filling his lungs, nothing to indicate he’d been hurt.

At some point, he’d changed out of his tactical gear into a basic tee that smelled like mint and fabric softener. He still wore his tactical pants and boots, which seemed like a strange combo—but one he awkwardly rocked.

I shifted, my body stiff, and realised I’d been changed, too. My cheeks burned as I took in the sweats and oversized hoodie I’d been tucked into. They weren’t mine, but a quick sniff told me the hoodie belonged to Elias. I was shoeless once more.

I froze at the realisation her shoes were gone. Kerry. My throat tightened as the image of her limp body and the feel of her stuttering heartbeat invaded my mind. The words ‘she’s dying, boss’ echoing in my ears.

Panic expanded in my chest. The person on my other side shifted, and a warm hand rested on my thigh.

I forced myself to look away from my bare feet and breathe. My eyes widened as I took in Elias, squeezed into the backseat beside me, his dark green eyes glowing. When our gazes met, he tightened his grip on my thigh, not enough to hurt but rather to stabilise me as I worked through my breathing. His touch anchored me to the present, keeping me from skipping into a past that threatened to consume me.

“What’s going on?” I asked. Hesitantly, I rested my hand atop his, drawing strength from him.

Elias’s eyes flashed as another car passed us. “We’re still heading to the safe house.”

I released a shuddering breath. “How long have we been…?”

“Nearly twenty-four hours.” He looked away then, his gaze resting on the thick forest we drove through. Jaw clenched, he didn’t say anything for a moment, but I could feel the tension thicken around him. Before I could ask if he was okay, though, he spoke again. “We were worried you wouldn’t wake up for some time. We wanted to get you as far away from them as possible.”

“I understand.” My gaze drifted over the rest of the SUV. Rowan was driving, and although I wanted to say something to him, he didn’t look as if he wanted to chat. His jaw ticked, and our eyes met briefly in the rear-view mirror before he returned his attention to the road.

Thea snored softly in the passenger seat beside him, leaning her head against the window with a coat draped over her lap. I checked over my shoulder and found Maeve in the back, her head thrown back and eyes closed, though I wasn’t entirely sure if she was asleep.

I returned my attention to Elias. “How long until we make it to the safe house?”

The shifter tensed, jaw clicking. “Another hour at least. We needed to put as much distance between us and the others as possible.”

I was almost too afraid to ask, to hear an answer, but I forced the words out. “And my family?”

Elias softened. “Already made it. Ivy—”

I shook my head. “I don’t—I can’t know yet.”

He searched my eyes before sighing. “Jay is going to handle packing up your apartment, so I don’t want you worrying about that. Same with your mother’s house.”

My throat tightened with tears again as I offered him a soft smile. “Thanks.”

The last thing I wanted to hear was that everything in my life had to be packed up and taken to…Avalon. To the palace, where I would have to start my training to become the next Queen of Nyx. Gone were pizza and wine nights with Thea, and watching Outlander or Grey’s Anatomy. No more coffee shop writing sessions where I simply unplugged from life and focused on my work. No more Camilla Hotel, and Kacie, Moe, and night shifts with drunk bar crawlers and stale coffee. No more Ivy, romance author and hotel receptionist.

She was gone and would be replaced with a Queen.

My heart stuttered to a crawl in my chest as I sat back and squeezed my eyes shut. You there? I asked, calling out to the calming voice. I desperately wanted to know if I had gone insane during the kidnapping. If maybe I’d hallucinated the voice to get me through the whole ordeal.

When I didn’t get an answer, I sighed. A product of stress then, I thought, cringing. A very helpful product of stress, though.

The next hour passed in silence; I couldn’t bring myself to risk the nightmares. I was sure they would be waiting for me if I gave in, and instead I focused on the passing forest. I had no idea where we were, or which state we could even be in.

The forest eventually gave way to a small, remote town on the outskirts of civilisation. As we passed a large ‘Welcome’ sign, I sat up a bit straighter to take in our surroundings; the main street we drove through held a few storefronts, nothing flashy, while side streets led towards houses and more forest. Most stores I caught glimpses of looked like they could be ‘Mom and Pop’ businesses.

We continued until the main street thinned out, and passed over a small, one-lane bridge. The road that followed looked mostly unused and uncared for, so I held onto Elias as we drove over potholes that made the SUV rattle.

Now, everyone was awake. Adrian’s arm tightened around my shoulders for a moment before receding. From the front, Thea yawned loudly.

“Are we there yet?” she asked, voice thick with sleep.

Rowan turned down a narrow road that I almost missed. “Yeah, a couple more minutes,” he replied, voice tight.

A lump formed in my throat, and I tried swallowing around it. Finally, I released Elias’s hand. I gave him an apologetic smile as I settled back in my seat, no longer pulled into Adrian’s side, though I tried to ignore how I missed his warmth. My heart gave a strange twist that I pushed aside.

I didn’t have time to deal with mates or anything like that. Not after everything that just happened. I was kidnapped, my sisters and mother were held captive and poisoned. Kerry wasn’t going to make it, but magic could save her, couldn’t it? Mine had saved Adrian…

From the corner of my eye, I watched the mage. He didn’t seem hurt at all now. But I’d seen the dagger go through his body. Felt the blood pouring from his abdomen. He’d been close to death—I was certain of that—but now he was sitting up beside me and looked like it never happened.

But I kept my mouth shut and didn’t voice any of that as we continued down the dark, lonely road towards safety.