Chapter 27

Kylen

"Is Addie in here with you?" Lindsay's voice jolted me out of my thoughts as I sat in front of the plant I'd been searching for my entire life while thinking about the life of a certain lightning witch that was under threat.

We shouldn't have let her go off alone. My gut churned at the idea of her taking on an entire MC by herself, even with her powers. I was a lover, not a fighter, so I'd have been no help, but maybe Bruin could, if he didn't turn around and follow through with his threats to kill her.

I sighed, dropping my head in my hands as Ranto said goodbye to his friend.

"They're two hours away, but with lights and sirens, they might get here faster."

Two hours was too long to wait. Anxiety itched at the back of my mind as I turned back to my plant. Could I harvest the pollen and use it against the entire club? How would we get Harlow out before we did it? I had full faith in Harlow's ability to look after herself, but she shouldn't have had to. It was why we were here. I was sure of it.

A deep cough pulled my wayward mind back to the doorway.

"Addie?" Lindsay asked, propping a hand on his hip.

"We thought she was with you," Ranto said, frowning over at me as my gut dropped through the floor.

"No, she went for candy a little while ago and didn't come back. She's probably found some kind of trouble to get into."

A chiming filled the wary silence in the room following that statement, and Lindsay retrieved his cell, answering as though he hadn't felt the energy shift.

"Hey, sexy. Did you predict I'd be thirsty for a little phone session today?" The teasing look dropped from his eyes in an instant as a deep voice murmured through the phone. Whatever the caller was saying, it was serious.

Beneath our feet, the earth rumbled in a way it shouldn't have so far from a fault line.

That couldn't be good.

"Fuck it. She can fry my balls all she wants, as long as she's alive to do it," Hendrix muttered as he dove for the door.

Ranto followed, with Lindsay close behind, talking a mile a minute to whoever the caller was. I paused, then backtracked to the other room.

"Harlow's facing your crew, and we think she's in trouble. Are there going to be questions about your allegiance? Or should I tie you up right now?"

Bruin leaped to his feet, closing the distance between us until the length of his body pressed against mine.

"The only time you ever need to tie me up is when you're planning on pounding my prostate again, lover."

I let my mouth stretch into a sharp grin and reached around to take his ass in a possessive hold.

"Good boy."

His whole body shuddered, and I wished I had time to enjoy the reaction, but we had work to do. Hitting the parking lot at a sprint, we put on a burst of speed to catch up to Lindsay and Hendrix.

"Kedron said we need to hurry," Lindsay panted.

"Who the fuck is Kedron?" Bruin growled, passing Lindsay easily.

"He's my boss-turned-fuck-buddy-maybe-love who refuses to label what we have even though he'll never do better than—"

"Lindsay, focus. Why are we listening to some dude who isn't here?"

"Oh! He's psychic. Basically, he said it's time for you bitches to step up and help break the curse."

I stumbled over my own feet, gaping at Lindsay for a moment before kicking back into a sprint.

The intersection to the highway was two hundred feet away. One hundred feet. Fifty.

A scream tore through the air. I skidded to a halt beside Hendrix and watched in horror as a pulse of energy ripped from Harlow's skin in a crackling circle of blue. Leather clad bikers fell all around her as she sobbed, her body appearing to pulse with electricity.

"Addie." Lindsay's voice cracked as he stumbled up behind us and crashed to his knees.

"What—?" I followed his line of sight and felt my heart stop as I noticed the small blonde body lying far too still at the edge of Harlow's raging lightning.

"Shit." I lunged for her body, lashing out when I was pulled up short by a firm hand.

"We have to get to Harlow," Bruin growled, eyes set on the center of the electrical storm.

"She's my sister!" I screamed, throwing my weight around in an attempt to break his grip.

"They'll both die if we don't help her stop." Bruin shook me, turning us both toward where Harlow had collapsed to her knees.

A body knocked me from the side, and Ranto strode past me, straight into the eye of the storm. Bruin's grip tightened for a moment before he stepped away and followed Ranto's lead.

"As soon as you can, get Addie clear. We'll do what we have to to get Harlow out of this," I yelled to Lindsay, then locked eyes with Hendrix. His lips ticked up in an almost smile, which I returned immediately. We were doing this.

Passing through the electrical field was like being hit with a taser, and I gritted my teeth, willing my muscles not to seize as the simple act of walking became a challenge. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and painful jolts licked at my skin. Beside me, Hendrix wasn't faring much better. His lip was curled in a pain-filled snarl as his hands curled into claws. After a few seconds, which seemed to stretch for decades, there was a hiccup in the howling energy. I lurched forward to find Ranto wrapped around Harlow's body. His white hair sparked with energy while his eyes, pinched at the corners with pain, glowed neon blue.

"He's absorbing the energy," I muttered.

Bruin stepped up next and placed his hands on her temples. Her face rippled, a serene mask slipping over her features as her body lost some of its rigidity.

"Are you going to help us? Or just watch?" Ranto growled, his voice nothing more than a strained rasp.

I shook my head and stepped in to place a hand over Harlow's stomach. The solar plexus was the center of emotion and was posited to be the source of a witch's magic. With a deep breath for focus, I pulled at the jagged pieces of power I could feel in her and channeled it in through my body and out through my feet into the ground.

"Thank God," Ranto breathed beside me, and I noticed the cyclone of energy had begun to dissipate.

"Harlow?" Bruin's voice held a note of panic.

Her face was ashen, the lightning pulsing out of her in fits and spurts that Ranto and I fought to contain, but there was something wrong. We were losing her.

"Shit. Harlow!" I pressed my hand hard into her stomach, feeding my magic back into her in hopes it could revive her, but she only slumped further into Ranto's hold.

"You were right. She does need us all. This is…" Hendrix trailed off, still not quite able to say the word fate.

I didn't particularly care about his beliefs, only that as he placed a hand over her heart, a golden glow lit up at their point of connection.

"Come back to us, Treasure. We need you."

A hard tug on my magic startled me. The trickle I'd been feeding into her became a stream, and as I looked at the men around me, I got the distinct impression we were all having the same experience.

An eerie silence hung in the air, sparking like dust motes as time ground to a halt. Beyond the circle of devastation, Lindsay kneeled with Addie unconscious in his lap, their bodies a tableau vivant of grief. Behind them stood two figures, almost transparent and unnervingly familiar. Their likeness hung in the study of Harlow's ancestor's house, a reminder of the original owners. I turned my attention back to Harlow, terrified the shades had come to witness the curse finish her off.

The golden light burned brighter under Hendrix's hand until I was forced to shield my eyes.

And then it was gone.

A cool breeze swept over my heated skin, carrying the lingering scent of ozone.

My skin buzzed as the last of the power funneled into the earth, and my sight blurred with tears at the sight of still, blue lips… that opened on a heavy gasp.