I closed my eyes and conjured the image immediately. Kaden in my arms, his skin burned and blackened. Jordan was only a few steps away, and Zodiac Wolves and Sun Witches fought a deadly battle all around us in the woods outside my father's cabin. The smell of blood and sweat had choked the air, while the sound of snarls, shouts, and cries of despair had filled my ears.
With the moment solidified in my mind, I opened my eyes and nodded to my mother. Larkin squeezed my hand and tilted her head back to let the moon cast its light down on her face, as Celeste's chanting got louder and louder, the words crackling with power. The moon seemed brighter all of a sudden, nearly blinding me, bathing us in Selene's light. Then there was a loud crack, as if time itself was splitting apart
And then I was back on Earth.
I stood over Kaden's body with Larkin at my side and the battle raging on around us. Daylight, bright and hot, shone down on me instead of moonlight, and at first, I was too stunned by it all to move. Even my sharpest memories hadn't captured the sheer pandemonium at the moment I'd left, but worst of all was Kaden, lying there on the forest floor. My mind had dulled the pain of this moment to keep me sane, but now I faced the reality of it again, and doubt and horror crept back in. How could I possibly save him?
I quickly threw up a shield and Larkin did the same, right as a sunbeam flashed toward us. It hit my shield and fizzled out, just as I dropped to my knees beside Kaden.
"I'll cover you!" Larkin said as she conjured her own moonbeam.
I gave her a quick nod, then gathered Kaden in my arms. His burnt body was so much worse off than I'd remembered, and there was no heartbeat, no breath, no life left in him. What if this didn't work and I'd trained for nothing? My hands shook as I cradled his face in my palms, trying to find some sign he was still in there. Kaden, I'm here. I've returned. Come back for me too.
I reached out to the moon and drew power from it, though it felt sluggish here compared to in Lunatera, especially with the sun still out. With the magic bursting inside of me, I used my Ophiuchus healing powers and ran my tongue along Kaden's cheek. Celeste had told me that my moon magic could boost my wolf abilities, and that's what I was hoping for now.
The magic poured into Kaden until we were both glowing softly, and slowly his skin began to heal, his burns fading away until his tanned skin remained. My breath caught as hope fluttered inside me at the sight, but when it was done, he still didn't move. His body was healed...but he was still gone.
No, I thought, I'm not leaving here until you come back to me, you stubborn alpha. Please, Kaden. I pushed more power into him, while tears streaked down my face. Some ancient Greek words suddenly spilled out of my lips, though I wasn't sure what exactly I was saying. A prayer to Selene, begging her to lend me her power for one small, impossible miracle. Selene, if you care for us at all, please help me save him.
Moonlight lit up the entire forest in a flash and a sudden rush of power that didn't feel like mine washed through me. It blasted into Kaden's body like a freight train and he jerked with the force of it. Then he drew in one, deep breath that was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard.
I let out a sob and held his face, waiting for him to open his eyes. The glow faded from both of us, just as I heard the soft, steady sound of his heart beating again. I dared not hope it was real, not until I knew for sure.
Then he opened his eyes.
CHAPTER NINE
"Kaden," I exhaled with another sob, almost delirious with relief. I pressed my forehead against his, breathing in his scent, feeling his chest rise and fall with each breath. The battle raged on around us, but I didn't even care. I just needed to prove to myself that he was alive again.
"Ayla?" he asked, his voice rough.
The sound of his voice healed something inside me. I let out a wild laugh and kissed his face all over, while his brows drew down into a confused frown. I pulled back just enough to check his body for any injuries, but he was completely healed. Through some miracle that I wasn't going to look too closely at, Selene had helped me save him. She'd brought him back from death, like some kind of magical CPR, and now I was never letting him go again.
I pressed my lips into Kaden's skin, warm once again. I moved to his neck, dragging my lips against his pulse point repeatedly. It quickened under my touch before Kaden drew back and pressed his lips to mine. I closed my eyes and let myself melt into him. I'd missed him so much, and I hadn't been sure if I'd ever see him again, but now that he was here, whole and hale, I found myself shivering. I was crying, so overwhelmed with joy and gratitude that it filled me to the brim. I tried to convey how happy I was to see Kaden in my kiss, and from the way his hands tightened around my body, I'd managed it just fine.
A sunbeam fizzling against my shield brought me back to my senses. As much as I wanted to simply sit here and bask in the feel of my mate, we were still in the middle of a battlefield.
Kaden's hands came up to cup my face. “Ayla?” he asked again. His eyes skimmed over me, taking in my new hooded purple robe. “What happened?"
“I'll explain everything,” I said. “But let's get out of here first. We're not safe, and the Sun Witches are really going to want my head now.”
As if to punctuate my words, a beam of Sun Witch magic hit the tree next to us, sending splinters everywhere. The branches instantly caught fire, and I shot a blast of frozen moonlight to put it out, muttering the spell in ancient Greek. Kaden's jaw dropped when he saw me use the magic, but I didn't have time to worry about what he thought, because Larkin was fighting three Sun Witches under the tree and needed help.
I jumped up and shot a few beams of moonlight into the fray. One caught a Sun Witch in the shoulder and she stumbled back. I let loose more magic, dividing the Sun Witches' attention between Larkin and myself. Despite all her talk about how she wasn't a fighter, Larkin brought down the two witches she was battling, and then together we took out the last one.
“What the fuck?” Kaden asked, slowly standing beside me. He looked at me like he didn't recognize me anymore. “When did you learn to shoot magic out of your hands? And who is that girl?”
“Later,” I said. “I have a lot to catch you up on, but we need to find Jordan first. We might be able to break the mate bond if we can take him back with us.”
At the thought of Jordan, the mate bond rose up in me like bile in my throat, that heady mix of desire and disgust with a tug on my gut that told me exactly where he was. While I'd been in Lunatera the bond had been completely cut off, further proof it was all Sun Witch magic fueling it. Now that I was back on Earth the heavy weight of the mate bond came back like boulders crashing down on my shoulders. I couldn't wait to be rid of it.
"Just take me to him, and I'll handle it," Kaden said, eyes narrowing as he searched for my half-brother in the crowd.
Cocky alpha, I thought with a smile. Kaden shifted into his giant black wolf in an instant, and then raised his nose in the air and inhaled sharply, no doubt trying to find Jordan's scent trail. Jordan had been only a few feet away when Kaden had fallen, but he must have escaped while I was healing him—but I sensed him easily with the mate bond.
North. I gazed at the clearing in front of the cabin and saw that the battle had started to wind down, with many shifters either defeated or already fleeing from the chaos and death. The woods around us were smoking, and some trees were on fire from the Sun Witches' magic. I searched for any familiar faces, but saw no one I recognized, and prayed everyone else I loved had managed to escape.