The manor is gone. The witches are gone. Darkhaven is gone.
There is only Will and his blood inside my veins.
A wave of magic assaults me, and I nearly jolt upright from where I sit. Breathless, I struggle to maintain my hold. He digs his fingers into my flesh, and the pain grounds me.
I want to go back to that place where nothing exists. There was no pain, no pleasure—just eternal nothingness. I wasn’t a disappointment, my friend wasn’t missing, and I could just be still.
But I know I will find no answers in that place. I sway from side to side as I fight the urge to float away again. My aura, my mind, my entire essence wants to leave this place, this physical plane. But I need to focus. I need to stay here. I have to find Liv.
I open my eyes. With a heaving chest and glossy eyes, Will stares at me. I think he’s speaking to me, mumbling words I can’t understand. His voice is barely a whisper, and it pains me to focus on what he says, but I do it anyway.
By the time I recognize the Latin incantation, the air is already hot around us. The elements are strengthening as they prepare to locate Liv. When I look into Will’s eyes, our surroundings begin to fade away, and our magic regains the control it needs to lead me to her.
The world becomes dark, with nothing but Will’s piercing crimson gaze rooting me.
Once again, there is only me and Will and the unfamiliar feeling of his essence coursing through my veins.
This time, I don’t float away. I stay rooted in the present, on the physical plane, and I clear my mind. I focus on our intention, understanding that Will and I can only hold on to this magic for so long.
My skin is slick, and I ignore the overwhelming urge to reach up and wipe away the sweat that dribbles down my temple. It tickles my skin, and I shake as I shiver.
“Use our magic to locate her,” Will says. He whispers when he speaks.
Silently, I call to spirit, using Will’s power and my memory to focus on Liv. I remember all the times we shared. I picture her, seeing her as clearly as I see Will before me now. I imagine she’s beside me, leading me to her body on this physical plane.
I see her dark hair, her brown eyes, her pale skin. She smiles at me, and it feels like it used to. We’re friends again, and I’m just a witch. We laugh and keep secrets. We have our whole lives ahead of us. I’m not dead—and neither is she.
The wind around us grows stronger, the air heating as we connect with Liv. I close my eyes, desperately trying to maintain my control over our combined magic.
“Will…I feel her,” I whisper.
I sway again, fighting the urge to topple over. Will reaches out, guiding a hand to steady me.
I see flashes of images—all things Liv must have seen. I don’t know what’s real and what’s her imagination. Can I use these pictures to piece together where she is now? I try to, but my mind begins to wander as I tire. Exhaustion is sneaking up quickly, and soon, I’ll be too weak to connect at all.
“Stay focused,” Will warns.
I nod, my head heavy. I slump over, resting against Will. He wraps his arms around me, and I lean against his chest. His pulse is pounding against my ear. I can’t hear anything but his breath and the steady, strong beat of his heart. If I don’t pull away from him, I’m certain I’ll lose my connection to Liv.
Will must understand because he pushes away, setting me upright. With slick wrists, I nearly break our connection when we move. I dig my fingers into his flesh, desperately trying to grip his arm. Will does the same, and I wince. Our bleeding wrists must stay bound together. The wound tingles as my vampire blood attempts to heal it, but this ritual is meant to maintain this vulnerability. Until we separate, we will continue to bleed into each other.
With both hands, we hold on to each other’s wrist. Each second I harness this magic, I feel my energy draining. I’m weakening. My body was never meant to harness the magic of two hybrids. With heavy eyes and a sleepy gaze, Will doesn’t seem to be handling the power any better than I am. He continues to whisper the incantation, only breaking when he speaks to me.
“Tell me what you see,” Will whispers. He sounds pained, and I fight to keep my eyes open so I can look at him.
“I see…trees. A lot of trees. It’s…remote, very rural. Very cold.”
I shiver as if what I envision can actually affect me here, now. I know it cannot—and not because the undead don’t experience things like the cold the way the living does. I know what I see is through Liv’s eyes. She may be experiencing pain, but it will not transfer to me. I just need to see enough to be able to locate her.
I focus intently on the task at hand, becoming breathless from my exertion. My arm aches, and my stomach grumbles. I’m growing weaker by the minute. I need to see something worthwhile soon, or I’ll never find her.
“What else?” Will asks softly.
“She feels close,” I say.
“Good,” Will says. “Maybe she’s still in Darkhaven.”
I squeeze my eyes closed as tightly as I can, trying to see through Liv’s eyes. I fear what I might witness. She’s alive, but is she still mortal? Is she rogue? What will be expected of me if she’s a vampire? Will I have to hunt her too?
“I see…” I squeeze Will’s hands so tight, my nails puncture skin. He sucks in a sharp breath, and the sound of hissing air pierces my ears. I shiver but don’t ask if he’s okay.
“Keep going,” Will says. “Try harder.”
Sweat beads down my forehead and pools in the crevice of my eyes. It stings, and I shake my head to whisk it away.
“Focus, Ava,” Will warns. “We haven’t much time.”
“I see…”
I open my eyes, sucking in a sharp breath. I pull away from Will, yanking my arms free to break our connection. I don’t want to see Liv anymore. I don’t want to be inside her head or experience what she sees. Will is so surprised by my abrupt disconnect, he releases me with little fight.
I stare at my fellow hybrid, unable to speak. I know my shock is evident on my face, because Will frowns at me. He opens his mouth to speak before quickly snapping it shut again. He’s not sure if he should ask, and I’m not sure I want to admit what I saw.
Because what I witnessed changes everything.
“The locater spell worked,” I say. “The ritual worked. I connected with Liv and saw through her eyes. I watched her life unfolding as if I were her. But I can’t believe what I saw.”
“What did you see?” Will asks.
“It can’t be true,” I whisper, shaking my head.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Will asks, confused.
My wrist tingles, and I glance down at it. My flesh is healing, removing any evidence of our spell. It’s as if it never happened. And internally, I wish it hadn’t. I wish I’d never cast the spell. I wish I’d never seen what I saw, and I wish I’d never risked my life to save hers.
“What did you see?” Will asks. He swallows, and I stare at his throat. I’m hungry, but the desire to feed is masked by something else. Another emotion rages within me, and it’s all I can feel. Never in my life have I felt so betrayed, so furious, so…malicious.
“Ava, tell me!” Will shouts.
“I found her,” I say quietly, still unbelieving of what I saw.