“Be careful with her. Don’t let the stitches tear.” What was Laurel growling about? It didn’t make any sense.
“Stitch-es?”
“They were a quick fix to keep you steady, but we need to take you to the bookshop or maybe the magic shop. I don’t know where we should go.” I’d never heard Laurel sound so panicked before, and it worried me more than the pain in my side and the agony flaring through my heart.
Rowen cursed. “To the magic shop. We may need herbs that Penelope doesn’t have.”
Hearing Penelope’s name sent pain through me. I wanted to cry out, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything. I hated feeling helpless. That was not who I was—not the woman I’d been before, and sure as hell not the woman I’d become. And yet, I couldn’t do anything.
“What do we do with Penelope?” Trace asked. I could hear him close to me and knew he was the one holding me. I could scent his bear, detect the barest hint of forest, but it wasn’t my bear. It wasn’t my Rome. It was his brother.
This wasn’t Rome. Where was my mate?
My thoughts moved in circles, and I knew I was panicking, trying not to think of my aunt or the pain making me want to throw up.
“Come on. We’re going to go to the magic shop. It’s the best place,” Rowen ordered everyone. Rowen would help. She had to. She was so bright. She knew everything. She was my friend.
Someone set me on a bench inside Rowen’s magic shop, and I realized that I must have passed out again because I didn’t remember anyone moving me or taking me outside. I didn’t remember anything. I did remember Penelope. I remembered her blood. I remembered death. And I remembered Faith.
“She killed Rupert,” I whispered. My lips were chapped. Someone gave me water, and I could finally breathe a bit better.
“What about Rupert?” Laurel asked, her voice sharp.
“Faith. She killed Rupert and cursed his family. She did everything. I don’t know, but she killed my husband, and I think she wants to kill Rome and the rest of you.” I didn’t know where my sudden strength came from. Still, I didn’t know how much I could do just then. The others needed to know, though. I had to speak. I had to tell them what had happened and what I had learned.
“Where’s my aunt?” I asked, my voice shaky. She couldn’t be gone. She was, wasn’t she?
“Come on. We need to get you asleep,” Rowen soothed.
“No, I can’t. I need something. Someone help me. Please. Where’s Rome?”
“He’ll be back,” a familiar voice said, and I looked up as Jaxton appeared above me. “I need to go on patrol, but he will be back. You’re safe, Sage. We will take care of Penelope. Trust me. We will take care of her with dignity and respect.”
And then Jaxton was gone. I looked around at the others—Laurel, Trace, Rowen, and Ash. I didn’t really know Ash, but he stood there, anger on his face, his eyes dark as if waiting to protect all those in his charge. But who was in his charge? Who was this man, really?
“We need to fix the rest of you,” Rowen said after a moment and then hovered over me before whispering words I could barely understand.
“Lord and Lady working for me and through me, heal this witch in her time of need. Bolster her strength, plant the seed. By air and water, earth and fire, banish the dark in these times most dire. Bring her peace, bathe her in light, make her whole this very night. With the power of the coven and blessings times three, this is my will, so mote it be.”
I woke as if I had been asleep for centuries. And yet, my head ached as if I hadn’t gotten even a moment’s rest. My chest hurt, but not from an injury, from the loss of something that screamed at me. And my side burned. Yet, I was alive.
At least, I thought so.
“Sage, you’re awake.” Laurel walked into the room, a frown on her face as she studied a piece of parchment. “Rowen gave me a list of what I’m supposed to give you. I hope it’s right.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice dry.
The other woman looked up at me and raised the brow with the scar as she smirked. “It seems the first thing I’m going to give you is water. Because you need it.” Her voice was light as if she were afraid to hurt me, scared to say anything that might set me off.
I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand anything.
“It wasn’t a dream. Aunt Penelope is gone, isn’t she?” I asked, my voice a breath.
Laurel raised her chin, her eyes filling. I’d never seen her look like this, as if she were in pain, as if she had lost someone close to her. But she had worked with Penelope for a long time; she had been with her day in and day out. I might be Penelope’s blood, but Laurel was just as much her daughter as I was her niece.
“She’s gone. Faith killed her. She bled out. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to help. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to kill Faith for you.”
Tears fell, and I sucked in a sharp breath, my soul bleeding. The bond I knew was there yet couldn’t hold pushed at me, a very bear move where it seemed to butt its large head against me almost if to reassure me that I would be okay. “She threw her body in front of me. Why did she do that? Why did she think that it was okay for her to do that? It wasn’t, Laurel. She shouldn’t have done that. She shouldn’t have risked everything and sacrificed herself for me. Who am I? Who am I to deserve her death?” Tears fell freely now, and suddenly Laurel was there, pressing water to my mouth, her lips pressed into a tight line as she fought for control.
I chugged it quickly, letting the comfort seep into me. My body pulsed, my magic quickening at the first taste of the healing liquid. I was dehydrated. My body needed water. But my magic needed it more.
“Faith is a strong witch with a water affinity, even though she’s a necromancer. She can make weapons that I can only dream of. I tried to do so much, but I couldn’t do enough.”
Laurel nodded and pushed her hair back. “She put a ward around the entire building so we couldn’t even get to you.”
“How did you get in?” I asked, frowning.
Laurel sighed. “My brother helped Rowen and me with a spell. One I had forgotten long ago. We chanted and weakened the barrier. Then Rome barreled his way through, practically bleeding and burning himself in the boiling water to reach you.”
I nearly shot out of bed, and Laurel grabbed the water before it fell to the floor. “What? Is he okay? Where is he? I haven’t seen him since…since I think I was dying.”
Because I had been dying, I knew that much.
Laurel didn’t look at me, and I knew something was wrong. “He should be fine. Everybody healed soon after we cleaned up your shop. It’s as good as new. You know what I mean. But they burned themselves in the boiling water that surrounded the building. That was something I have never seen before, by the way.”
I tried to keep up as she told me everything that had happened, going over the details. I sat back again, thinking. “What does this all mean now?”
“It means that we’re at war. Faith and her master want us dead for some reason. They orchestrated this all, and I still don’t understand it. But, hopefully, we will figure it out soon because they killed someone we love. And we will have vengeance.”