The anger in his voice shook me to the core. I’d never in all my time heard Drew yell. It was generally Nicholas who threw his authority around, and many times Lysander, but never Drew. I gulped back the angry retort I would have said. No matter how mad I was at them, they were trying to help.
“Now, if you’ll quit throwing a temper tantrum and help us clean up this mess, we can sort out what happened.” Drew sounded a little calmer now, but the authority was still there in his voice.
“Fine. I’ll grab a broom for the glass,” I said.
Ariana’s phone rang, playing
Black Magic Woman
as her ring tone.
Fitting
, I thought as I started heading up the stairs to the kitchen.
When I came back down, broom in hand, she looked very excited.
“I’ll tell them right now. Full moon is only a few days away… That’s why they call you the High Priestess.” She snapped the phone shut and that moment, all eyes were on her. “That was Mysti, high priestess of our coven. She’s been through all of our magical library and thinks she has located a spell that should free Lysander from the crystal and return him to his body.”
“Wonderful news!” Crystal turned to me. Her face clearly said “See, I told you we’d do it!”
“Do you really think it will work?” I asked, my voice wavering with cautious happiness.
“She said it will take a majority of the coven, lots of magic. And it will have to be done under the full moon since that was when he was originally trapped, but it’s the best chance we have. Trust me, she knows her stuff. If she thinks this will work, it will.”
“That’s good enough for me. What do we need to do to prepare?” Drew asked.
“Nothing yet. She’s going to gather the necessary items and find the location to perform the ceremony. Once she has that, then she’ll tell us and all we have to do is bring the body and the crystal. You should have your leader back by the end of the week!” Ariana turned to me and smiled. “And your boyfriend too.”
Do I dare hope that this will work?
My whole body shook with excitement. I dropped the broom to the ground.
My Lysander. I’ll finally get him back!
“You okay, Lyssa?” Fallon asked me.
“Yeah… yeah… fine. Just a little jittery. Excitement.”
“I understand.” She hugged me tight. “If this works, everything will be good again. Well, almost everything.” She turned toward Nicholas and gave him a silent nod.
“Yes, it would be good to have my brother back,” Nicholas said but his voice didn’t carry the same level of excitement.
I knew why. We might be able to save Lysander, but Rozaline could never return to him. No one has power over death.
The overall mood of the room became awkward, and Ariana must have sensed it. “Okay, well, lots to get ready for. I’ll call you guys when Mysti gives me the location,” Ariana rushed up the stairs. “Be ready. Full moon is in a few days.”
CHAPTER 5
Three days later, Fallon dropped the bomb on me, saying she wouldn’t be with us for the full moon.
“What do you mean you won’t be there?” I shot Fallon an angry glare, but I was more hurt than anything else.
She stood in the parlor, arms crossed, looking as if she wanted to cry. “I would go under any other circumstance. Believe me, I want to go, but I’d already promised Aiden I’d be there for this full moon.”
I let out a growl. “Aiden, Aiden, Aiden. That’s all I ever hear these days. I’m getting really fucking sick of him.”
“Hey. I didn’t give you this kind of crap when you ran off with Lysander,” she shot back at me.
“That was different. I was supposed to be dead to the world. I couldn’t come back and just hang out. And if you don’t remember, I risked everything to get you back as my friend.”
“And I am not discrediting that. I just made a promise, and I have to be there for Aiden and the pack.” Fallon snatched her thick coat off of the back of the couch and tossed it on. She pulled the faux-fur-lined hood up over her head covering her short blond hair.
I turned away. “Fine. Just go.”
“Lyssa, don’t be like that,” she pleaded.
“You have your thing, and I have mine. Just go.”
“Everything will be fine, you’ll see. And I promise I’ll make it up to you later.”
The front door opened, sending in a frigid rush of air. Then, just as quickly, it closed. Fallon was off with her werewolf boyfriend to celebrate the full moon and be introduced as his mate for all intents and purposes. Meanwhile, it was time for the rest of my clan to head out with Lysander’s body and the crystal to the witches’ circle. I wanted so much to believe things were going to work out. I wanted to hold Lysander in my arms again, but deep in the pit of my stomach, I felt uneasy. Perhaps it was just my nerves getting the better of me. Not having Fallon there with me really hurt. I had a feeling that things were not going to be as easy as Ariana had said. And if they went wrong, Lysander could be lost forever. I wasn’t ready to face that possibility alone.
“Open up,” Nicholas’s voice boomed from behind the basement door.
I rushed over and pulled it open just in time for Nicholas and Drew to walk up the final steps with the large coffin in their arms.
“Thanks,” Drew said as he passed me by. “Grab something to toss over the box and then get the front door, too.”
I did as he said, pulling a large blanket out of a chest next to the fireplace in the parlor. I hoped Zuri had been able to grab a parking spot in front of the house. It would look pretty odd to have two men carrying a coffin, covered or not, out of the house and down the street.
As I opened the front door, the cold air rushed in along with flakes of snow. It wasn’t a heavy fall, but there was enough coming down to make driving an adventure.
Zuri had a large van she borrowed from the wolf pack. It was parked just a few car lengths away from the house.
“Careful on those steps, they look icy,” I cautioned the men as they carefully walked the coffin down the few steps to the sidewalk.
“Hope the full moon makes an appearance soon,” Zuri said as she walked up to the front door. “I think that’s part of the ritual.”
“Great, something else that could go wrong. Weather related screw-ups!” I groaned.
“We’ll be fine, girl. Seriously, you need to chill.” She turned and walked inside.
I shivered; the icy wind was starting to chill me to the bone. My poor circulation, a curse of being a vampire, made winter extremely annoying. It felt as if my blood would freeze under my skin. I turned and called after Zuri, as I followed her inside. “What else do we need before we load up?”
“That’s it. Ian and the rest of the boys are in the car. Just grab a coat, get Fallon and Crystal, and get in the van.”
“Fallon isn’t coming.” I didn’t bother hiding my aggravation.
She stopped in her tracks. “What? Why?”
“She has to go with Aiden.”
“That’s right.” She nodded and took another step toward the coat closet. “I completely forgot the monthly revelry. Big night for her.”
I huffed. “She’s just being paraded around the pack. She could do that any other full moon. Tonight is important. Lysander’s life could be at stake here.”
“Wolf politics are different than most. They’re a different animal, literally. This isn’t just her meeting the family. Aiden is second in the pack. He’s the one to take over if something were to happen to Connor. His choice in mate is important. By introducing Fallon tonight, he’s making a formal commitment to her and solidifying her place in the pack.”
After hearing that, I felt bad. Sure I wanted her to be with me for moral support, but it hadn’t even crossed my mind that she might have needed me to be there for her.
“I probably shouldn’t have given her crap then,” I mumbled.
“Girl, you shouldn’t be doing a lot of things lately. I’m not trying to be a bitch, but you’ve had a serious attitude problem. I know you lost handsome and all, but you have to snap out of this crybaby bullshit. There are other people here besides you.”
Zuri was right; they all were. I’d been moody and selfish lately, and everyone around me had suffered for it. “Sorry.”
“Don’t say sorry to me. Just quit with the pity party, everyone-is-against-me attitude, okay?” She opened the closet by the front door and pulled out a heavy navy blue winter coat.
I nodded, not really having anything else to add.
Zuri tossed me the coat.
Crystal came up from the basement, carrying Lysander’s crystal in her hands. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Boys are in the car. They’re just waiting on us,” Zuri said. “Let’s get moving.”
***
With the snow and heavy traffic, our trip took longer than we had planned. The witches had picked an area close to the wildlife preserve the wolves used. I recognized the long stretch of road that seemed to go nowhere. However, just before we would have turned to enter the wolves’ sanctuary, we made a sharp left and took a small dirt path deeper into the forest.
“Is it safe to be so close to the pack during their full moon revelry?” I asked.
“Don’t see why not,” Zuri answered. “We’ll be just outside of their borders. They’re pretty good about keeping the party in their safety zone. Connor runs a tight pack.”
“Yeah, you don’t break Connor’s rules,” Ian chuckled. “He’ll break your face.”
“Sounds like someone has personal experience,” I said.
“Me? Never.” Ian shrugged and flashed me his best innocent smile.
“We’re here,” Zuri said as she turned the van and drove it into a small clearing. Other vehicles had been parked in no particular order; however, we only saw two people huddled around a small fire.
One by one, we hopped out of the van.
Nicholas took the lead and headed straight for the two people who were warming their hands by the small blaze. “Where is the rest of the coven?”
A man looked up and pushed back his hood. He met Nicholas’s eyes with no apprehension, which surprised me. The witches knew about vampires, and almost every human we’d met had some level of healthy fear upon learning what we were, even if they knew we posed them no threat. There was no hint of anxiety in the air at all. He was either brave or stupid, or maybe both.
“We were wondering when you’d show,” the man said gruffly. “They’re all assembled in the circle. Follow us.” He stood, and so did the woman beside him.
Not waiting to see if we would follow, they hurried into the tree line. Ian and Drew unloaded Lysander’s coffin and carried it carefully into the forest behind Nicholas. I walked behind the men with Crystal and Zuri.
In the distance, I heard chanting and smelled the burning of wood and spices. My stomach felt queasy, but it wasn’t the pungent aroma turning it. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but things just felt… off.
I looked above at the patches of sky that could be seen through the skeletons of snow-covered tree branches. The snow had stopped falling, and bits of sky were becoming visible through the hazy clouds.
At least now we might see moonlight
.
Our trek into the forest seemed to go on forever. And as we walked deeper into the darkest parts of the forest, I felt the eerie sensation of unseen eyes on me. Unlike the feeling that accompanied a strange vampire nearby, this felt more ominous and less supernatural. I took fleeting glances around but couldn’t spot the person or persons who might be setting off my internal panic alarm. I did, however, see what I thought was blinking red light, though it was not coming from the direction we were heading. It was then that the scent of fresh blood hit me. Tangy and sweet, it called out to my more beastly senses. I hadn’t hunted in a few days, and instinctively my mouth watered in anticipation. I had to push back the urges. We had more important purposes. If this worked out, Lysander and I could hunt together. That pleasant thought helped soothe the beast.
“It’s going to be okay,” Crystal said. “I know you are worried, but try to relax.”
I wondered if she had read my thoughts or just knew instinctively how
on the edge
I felt. “Thank you.” I wanted to let out all the worries I had been feeling, but I’d done plenty of that these last few weeks. They’d put up with enough of my whining and complaining and worrying.
Ahead, the glow of a large fire lit our path, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“Welcome,” a female voice called to us. I spotted the blonde woman, wearing a floor-length white robe tied at the waist. She stood in the center of a large circle that had been marked on the ground. At four points, a different colored candle had been placed. In the center where she stood was a large table covered with dark fabric, candles, a knife, and a large bowl. To her left were two sawhorses, presumably to hold up Lysander’s coffin.
Ariana walked to us with two men trailing behind her. “These guys will take the coffin. I will take the crystal. Unfortunately I can’t let you into the circle. I hope you understand.”
That sent my nerves on high alert. “Why not?”
“You are supernatural beings. Your presence inside the protected circle might cause problems with the spell.”
I eyed her suspiciously, but before I could respond, Crystal nodded and handed the crystal to Ariana.
“Relax. They’re on our side,” Zuri whispered in my ear.
“I’m sorry, Alyssa.” Ariana feigned a smile. “But this is how it must be. You’ll see, things will work out.”
I let out an exasperated sigh, reminded myself that I was supposed to stop being such a whiny baby, and returned her smile. “Go ahead. Do what you have to. I trust you.”
“Thank you,” Ariana said, and turned toward the altar.
The blonde woman flicked a lighter and began pacing the circle, stopping at each point to light the candle and mumble a few words. When she finished she looked to the assembled crowd. “The circle is cast, enter now with open minds and open hearts.”
Upon hearing this, the gathered assembly began to enter one by one. As each passed the woman inside, she mumbled a few words and they responded with, “In the light and love of the goddess.”
Once the crowd entered, the two men carried Lysander’s coffin in and set it upon the sawhorses.