Chapter 42

T he seance proves less than fruitful. Iris looks pissed and Ember looks like she’s about to cry as I wince, and clamp a hand over my neck.

“What the fuck?” I hiss, and Ember approaches me with her head cocked to the side.

“Move your hand,” she tells me, and I do.

She gasps and clamps a hand over her mouth, looking at me with tear-filled eyes.

“Your mark. Your mark with Violet. It looks like it’s been burned off.”

I stare at her a moment before going to the powder room. I click the gold plated light and look into the oval filigree mirror and my mouth drops. It looks just like someone took a hot rod and removed my mating mark.

I search deep into myself, and I don’t feel her at all. The connection has been severed.

My grip on the porcelain sink is so tight I worry that I’ll break the lip of it. What is she doing to Violet?

What has she done to my mate? Who is no longer my mate? My hands shake against the white sink, as I tremble with fear, Thorin whining in the back of my mind. I look into the mirror and the man staring back at me is a disheveled mess.

My neck looks burned and a harrowing sense of dread fills me.

What if Aster is capable of more than we thought? What if… no, I can’t think like that. I splash water on my face, but it doesn’t clear my thoughts. Violet can’t be gone, her wolf can’t be gone.

Thorin is crying and the reality starts to hit me. I can’t live without Violet. What if she’s suffering? Hurt? And I’m not there for her?

I stare back at my face, my eyes red from tears I didn’t know I was shedding. I can’t lose her, not after finally having her. Falling into a pit of despair isn’t what she needs, I need to be strong and bring her home.

There’s a loud crack that sounds like lightning hitting the backyard as I pull myself together and head through the back door.

It’s not just Violet’s mom standing in the yard, it’s nearly a dozen people. Iris’ grandmother, Violet’s father. The three witches who gave us access to Lavender’s home, and other witches I’ve never seen before. They’re all here to make things right, to save Violet.

Lavender looks different, and I can scent the wolf on Oberyn, who still seems a little uncomfortable with me, but he says nothing as Lavender approaches all of us.

A few of the witches seem less than enthused to be around Oberyn and me, but not scared, it’s almost like they know something we don’t.

“You found your wand,” Iris says to Lavender, who gives her a quick smile.

“I’m already a little spent helping Daisy and getting my wand back, but we need to act fast. We need to find where Aster is holding Violet.”

“Must the wolves be here?” An older redheaded woman says.

“Hush, Grandma,” Ember snaps at the woman, but surprisingly she does shut her mouth and shrug.

Lavender looks tired, and Oberyn seems worried for her, but she’s clearly committed to finding Violet. I’m watching this all happen trying to swallow down my own fear over the situation. Lavender gives me a small smile, it doesn’t mean much, but it also means everything.

These witches are gonna help me get my girl back.

“Witches in a circle,” Lavender says, not wanting to waste another moment, the other witches follow suit.

Oberyn and I stand to the side and watch as each of the witches uses a knife to cut their palm before holding hands and chanting. The wind in the backyard picks up, blowing branches and whipping the witch’s hair.

They chant repeatedly, all of them with their eyes closed, focusing on the task at hand and I just watch in awe. My experiences lately with witches have only proven that this feud has been superficial. No side is inherently bad or good, we’re all just people who want the best for those we care about the most.

I know that no matter what happens, the pack and coven will find a way to coexist after this, but the fact is, if I don’t get Violet back, I won’t be around to see it.

Suddenly, all the witches’ heads turn up, staring up into the evening’s sky, still continuing to chant. Until everything suddenly stops, the breeze dies immediately as the witches hush. They’re still holding hands as a whisper tickles my ear. I glance over at Oberyn, who clearly felt the sensation as well.

The witches part hands and almost bow before turning and looking at us.

“We know where they are,” Lavender says, her face crestfallen as she looks at the burn mark on my neck, her face full of pity and sadness. “She’s alive.”

The relief that fills me is cataclysmic as I take in a reassuring breath.

I swallow thickly as Ember and Iris each grab one of my arms and I’m quickly teleported to a garden. I have to clench my knees for a moment to shake off the nausea.

Oberyn claps my back and I pull myself together as we all stare at the shed before us. Lavender puts a finger over her lips as I watch as the Salvador coven use salt to circle around the shed.

They all stay stationed in a circle, chanting in a whisper as I follow Lavender, Oberyn, Iris, and Ember through the front door.

“You’re too late,” Aster croons. Her wand is fisted in her hand as she stares at Lavender. “She’s perfect. Just how she always should have been. Just like you were.”

I glance over at the table. Violet’s eyes are closed and her hair is now completely light blonde. The inky black color that matches her fathers, that makes her uniquely her, is gone.

“I couldn’t save you, Lavender, and you may hate me for it. But I did what had to be done. It was unnatural. It would get her killed. The coven needs to be strong.”

“What have you done?” Lavender asks, and as I go to approach Violet, Aster points her wand at me and her eyes narrow.

“She’s no longer yours. She’s mine,” Aster says and I pause for a moment as I look down at Violet’s neck, where her grandmother burned our connection from one another.

“ Kill her,” Thorin says, my body vibrating with the need for him to come out and seek vengeance.

Violet doesn’t feel like my mate anymore.

I look down at her and still love her, still need her. But that deep ache of possession is gone. She’s killed her wolf.

Thorin whimpers and cries in my mind and I don’t know what to do, how to soothe either one of us.

Aster goes to grab Violet’s wrist but Iris and Ember both point their wands at the older witch.

Aster laughs. “Just the two of you? Please,” she says, the idea of Iris and Ember being powerful enough to stop her is comical.

The door behind us creeks and Aster straightens her back.

“Daisy, go back in the house,” she says to her sister.

The older woman uses her cane, walking past me, and holding out a wand, giving it to Lavender.

“Go fuck yourself, Aster,” Daisy says, holding her own wand.

A united front of four witches stands against the High Priestess, yet I can barely look away from Violet. What has she done to her?

I stand next to her, keeping a grip on her wrist. Wherever she goes, I go too.

“I’m still the High Priestess. I did what had to be done, what was necessary.”

“You stole my baby from me, made me forget who I was, stole my magic, and had my daughter sit in an orphanage because you were afraid of what she would become,” Lavender says, her tone thick with sadness.

“You trapped me in myself,” Daisy says.

“It was for your own good,” Aster says and Daisy holds her wand higher, pointing it at her sister. “You’re the worst kind of witch, sister.” Aster laughs and sighs. “One day, you’ll realize what I did for this coven.”

She goes to teleport and then realizes she can’t; her face dropping, her thin lips forming a straight line when she realizes she’s been bested.

“What now? Tell me? How, even with the help from outside, do you plan on dealing with me?” she asks, like she has a plan.

“Undo what you’ve done to my daughter and we'll let you live,” Lavender says sternly.

A slow grin takes over Aster's face as she shakes her head. “That can’t be undone. I’ve made sure of it,” she says, holding up the chain of Violet’s necklace.

The anguish that floods through me on Thorin’s behalf nearly has me falling to my knees. I just hold on to Violet’s wrist, grounding myself to her, that she’s still physically here.

“What? None of you have the gall to kill me,” Aster says confidentially.

“No, far worse,” Lavender says.

A spell whips out of her wand and I watch as Aster falls to the ground, incapacitated.

“Get the rest of the coven here immediately. We need to do this now,” Lavender says.

I just hold on to Violet’s hand, feeling out of place and fucking helpless.

“What about Violet?” I ask.

“Stay with her, be there when she wakes up. We will have to run a diagnostic to see what Aster did to her so we can reverse it,” Lavender says, barely looking at her daughter, and I wonder if she blames herself like I do.

“What are you going to do with her?” I ask. Trying to push back how bad Thorin wants to kill that woman right now.

“Something far worse than death,” Lavender says.

Iris and Ember both stay in the shed with me for a short moment, touching their best friend. Ember wipes the tears away from her eyes.

“We’ll get her back,” Iris promises, all of us knowing when she wakes up she won’t be the same. “Take care of her, we’ll be back soon,” Iris says, holding Ember’s hand and leaving the shed.

It’s quiet in here, only the sound of the nearby bugs and Violet’s shallow breaths filling the space.

I rub small circles on her soft hand before kissing her palm.

“You’ll be okay. We’ll get through this. We get through everything.”

She doesn’t answer and I rest my head against her arm and consider praying to a being I don’t believe in.

“Violet. I need you to wake up, okay?”

Nothing, just silence. I just rub her hand and plead with any force that will listen to bring her back to me in whatever form they can.

“I don’t know if I can go on,” Thorin says to me. His anguish is deep and harrowing.

We don’t know that Azure is gone.

I can’t… I can’t feel her in any way.

Remember what Lavender said? Someone’s magical essence isn’t something that you can just destroy. She’s not gone, I don’t believe it. We’ll get your mate back.

If they’re both gone? Thorin asks.

Then we join them in whatever afterlife there is.

This appeases my wolf as I stand fully and push the blonde hair out of Violet’s face. I hate it. It’s not who she is.

“Baby, come on, wake up.”

Suddenly, two glacier blue eyes are staring back at me. No longer with the warm affection or teasing nature I’ve come to love.

No, Violet stares at me like she hates me.

She quickly sits up, pointing her wand at my neck.

“Get the fuck off me, wolf,” she grimaces.

“Violet?”

The cold tip of her wand presses harder into my neck as her head tilts and she stares at me, before looking around the shed.

“What have you done to me?”

“Nothing, it was your grandmother. I’m trying to get you out of here. Your mother is outside. Iris and Ember are outside.”

“I don’t have a mother,” Violet says and I take a deep breath.

“You had some darker magic cast on you. Let’s get you home where you can rest and we can figure this out.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she says, a look of disgust on her face.

She slowly stands from the bench, her wand pointed at me the whole time.

“Violet, it’s okay. I’m your husband, remember?”

She scoffs, her nose scrunching.

“Now I know you’re lying. Where is the High Priestess?”

“Outside. But I don’t think?—”

She cuts me off, swinging open the door as she watches the witches circling around her grandmother as the older woman’s eyes roll back into her head.

“What are you doing?” Violet yells. “Let her go. What the fuck is wrong with you all?”

The witches ignore her, continuing their magic as I stupidly grab Violet’s hand. Immediately, my hand wells with blisters as Violet turns and glares at me.

“Don’t you ever fucking touch me,” she says, nothing but malice in her eyes. “Let her go,” she yells again, staring at her coven.

Her mother breaks apart from the group, and Violet winces as Lavender approaches her.

She cups her daughter’s face.

“I’m sorry,” she says, before pulling out her wand, and Violet starts to pass out. I catch her before she hits the floor. “Take her home. It’s going to take some time to have enough strength to undo what’s been done,” Lavender says, pocketing her daughter’s wand.

“What if she never remembers?” I ask, emotion clogging in my throat.

Lavender does the same loving gesture to my face, something a motherly figure has never done.

“I lost thirty years. There’s no way in hell I’m losing any more. We’ll get her back, no matter the cost,” she promises me.

So, I do as she says, bringing her back to her home, lying her in her bed. I sit there, hoping for a miracle.