Shadow Mated(44)
Adira shook her head. “Nothing you can fix, Doc. She’s battling the darkness. Inside, where her soul is. When she’s fought it as long as she can stand, she’ll sleep. And when she wakes again, she’ll fight.”
“But I thought she had until the September equinox,” Layna said.
Mirena glanced to the sky before answering. “She invited it in.”
“Why?” Thames snapped. “Why would she do that?”
The two Sorcera shared a look.
“She killed the were-panther on your back to save you and draw the darkness to her so we could harness its power for the spell.”
Thames’s jaw went tight and silence fell over the group.
Gash knew the weight of taking a life. None of the ones that bloodied his hands had been innocent—and neither was the one Nastia had taken—but the worth or lack thereof didn’t lesson the guilt.
“She killed to save the clan,” Thames shot out.
“Yes. To save us all… while bringing danger to herself.”
“But…” Eagan reasoned. “If she hadn’t, we wouldn’t have gotten Bailey out of Felix’s sights. And the rest of the clan for that matter. She helped us eliminate a danger. Helped us secure our family. No foul in that. Nothing dark in that.”
Gash agreed, and so did the others if their nodding was any indication.
Adira cocked her head. “There was another way. She gave in before I could tell her. But it matters not. She channeled dark magic to cast a spell, and took a life to do it.” Her lip trembled when she spoke the next words. “She will go dark before the equinox.”
Tears streaked Mirena’s cheeks. “We must lock her away or she will endanger us all. She won’t be herself. She won’t realize what she’s doing.”
“Lock her away?” Bailey said, aghast. “Surely that isn’t necessary. We can talk to her. It will be all right.”
“You don’t understand,” Adira pleaded. “She made us promise we’d keep her from hurting anyone else. She would be distraught if she caused any of you harm after she defended you so fiercely. She would never come back from it.”
Bailey snapped her mouth shut on whatever argument she’d been preparing.
“Come back from it,” Thames murmured, his expression thunderous. “So this isn’t all. This isn’t the end. She can still fight it. And if she can still fight it, she can still win.”
Mirena dashed her tears away. “There might be a chance. If we can find her anchor.”
“I’ll find it,” he said, no hesitation.
“It’s not so easy,” Adira cautioned.
“I’ll find it. I won’t stop until I do.”
Mirena eyed him. “You mean it.”
Thames nodded.
“We’ll all help,” Magic pledged.
Gash agreed, “We owe her a life.”
The rest of the clan nodded their promise.
Mirena’s gaze went around the circle, touching on each person. “I dare you.”
Adira stared sadly at Nastia where she lay in Theron’s arms. “We need a place to keep her. Somewhere safe where we can spell her to remain inside.”
Thames stepped toward his brother, arms outstretched. “Give her to me. I’ll take care of her. I’ll keep her in my cave. She’ll be safe.”
Theron frowned. “Thames, no. I don’t think that’s—”
“I said, give her to me. She saved me, so she’s mine. That’s how it works.”
Theron stared at Thames, his jaw ticking wildly.
“Brother, I will bleed you if I have to, but that female is mine.”
“Goddamn it, Thames. I know. I know. I just don’t want you fucking this up.”
Adira’s wide-eyed gaze followed the two men.
“I won’t,” Thames spoke quietly.
Whatever was happening between the two brothers was over Gash’s head. Some bear thing. But he knew what it meant when a man called a woman mine.
Reluctantly, Theron passed Nastia to his brother. Thames turned to stalk into the forest, but Adira stopped him.
“Wait. Where are you taking her?”
“My cave. It’s safe. I secured it when I took possession.”
Gash caught Theron rolling his eyes. Apparently they weren’t sharing the cave after all.
“At least let me come with you so I can spell it.”
Thames eyed her and then bent his head to stare at Nastia before answering. “Yeah, okay. Let’s go.”
Mirena gasped, staring up at the sky where it was clearing to reveal the almost-full moon. The rain had stopped. The wind had stalled. And arching over the sky in the opposite direction of the moon, was a pale multi-colored rainbow. So faint Gash could barely see it.