Chapter Twenty-One #2
The forest is alive tonight, every shadow thick with magic, every howl echoing sharper than usual.
The pack is far larger than I expected for such a small town, but they all have welcomed me with open arms and put me right in the center as we take our Midnight Run.
My paws pound against the cool dirt, the wind breezes through my fur, while lungs burn.
There’s nothing more freeing than being in my wolf form and running through the woods.
It’s moments like this that truly feel peaceful. When Milo runs, I just enjoy the ride.
But something is tugging at me, somewhere deep in my soul. I can’t seem to let go tonight like I normally would. Something is holding me in this moment, not allowing me to relax.
Through the haze of the run, it hits me like a blade between the ribs. Her fear. Her pain. She’s shattering.
The bond that I’ve tried so hard to not spook her with seizes me by the throat, ripping me out of the run. I can’t stop it when a howl rips from my throat and my body lurches out of the pack. A howl comes from the front, my Alpha hearing my plea.
I run as fast as my legs can carry me, almost floating across the ground.
My heart is beating hard against my chest as she continues to scream in pain and fear.
I sprint harder, what could be hurting her inside the protection of the barrier?
She said she would be reinforcing it in the thirteenth hour!
My eyes shoot up, checking the full moon's position, and it’s exactly where it needs to be.
Did she not make it in time? Did something come through?
So many thoughts and possibilities are racing through my mind when I slide to a stop. A thick black and purple fog stands between me and where I know my mate is. I can feel her, right there in the middle of this.
I hear it, “Take me instead,” and I don’t think, I lurch through the fog. Immediately recognizing it as her own magic as it caresses me, instead of fighting me. But I wasn’t prepared for what I saw on the other side of it, when the fog cleared and all that was left was her.
I wasn’t prepared for her to be on her knees, her power, the living embodiment of her soul pouring out in this thick heavy fog that surrounds us.
Or her eyes being solid white as tears streamed down her face.
Both her and Elora are wrapped in so much magic that you can taste its acidity along your tongue, feel it, and hear it humming.
But that smile on Elora’s face…that isn’t her. She looks almost maniacal, evil even. Her sinister smile as she almost revels in the power Bellamy is displaying. Is that what’s causing all of this? I don’t have a chance before Bellamy screams, the sound loud and full of pure fear.
“I’ll pay the price!” she roars into the sky.
“Take me, curse me, kill me—” What does she mean?
Who is she talking to? “Not him. You can’t have him!
The world deserves a person like him; he lights up everyone’s world.
Don’t take a sweet, beautiful soul because of me. I’m willingly giving myself to you!”
Nobody is taking me, I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. What is she talking about? She doesn’t need to sacrifice herself for me! I know how to break the curse!
The ground begins to tremble under my feet as even more power rushes out of her, spreading across the ground, seeking something or someone. It wraps around my legs, moving slowly up them as if it also needs to know I’m alive.
I watch in equal feelings of horror and fascination as the trees bow to the will of her power. As the barrier shrieks in protest against the pressure as tiny fractures crack along it.
I have to stop her, even I know this is too much power. Too much is happening. She can’t die on me.
I drag my foot forward, feeling as though it’s weighed down with stone as her magic tries to stop me.
I manage three steps, almost within the main circle when Elora’s head snaps in my direction.
Like a demon possessing a human, a creepy smile spreads across her face, showing all her teeth. She doesn’t blink. Doesn’t move.
“You know exactly what has to happen wolf,” she says in a voice that is definitely not her own. “Break the curse or doom the Sinclair line to another round of reincarnation.”
She doesn’t say another word, but I know the thing is gone. Elora gasps, blinking her eyes several times as she looks around. But Bellamy? She is still being plagued by whatever she is seeing.
Elora shakes her sister but nothing happens. Bellamy is screaming and thrashing, begging someone to take her.
“Miles, it’s got to be you. Call to her, bring her back.”
“Bellamy!” I shout with all my soul, praying to the Goddess that it will be enough.
My throat burns with the force of it, my chest constricting like I’ve shifted mid-sprint.
My voice whips through the fog, and her face snaps to mine, just like her sister’s did, but I can see that she isn’t seeing me.
Her magic howls louder, swirling around us as it picks up speed and leaves.
I feel as if I’m inside the eye of a hurricane pushing against the entire force of nature as I take another step towards her.
I reach for her, my fingers flicking against her magic as I push my way through. I’m almost there when her magic surges one last time, as if it doesn’t want me to stop her. As if it is determined to destroy the world damning everyone in its wake.
“Bellamy, whatever you’re seeing, it isn’t real. I’m real. Elora is real. Come back to me,” I plead, unsure if she can even hear me.
Sobs rack her body as her white eyes blink at me, her tears a long black streak down her cheeks. “Miles, I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. Can you forgive me?”
My hand caresses her face. My poor, beautiful mate.
If there was ever a moment where I was sure she loved me, through all her deflections and snarky comments, it would be right here, right now.
I have no idea what she’s seeing, but she’s willing to sacrifice herself in place of me.
Someone she’s never even confessed any affection for.
“Bellamy, my love, my soul, please come back to me.” My words whisper across her skin. “I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.”
She hiccups, her skin splotchy from crying as she blinks a few times.
“There you go, come back to me, Trouble. I need to see those beautiful green eyes as you glare at me.”
She chuckles mid-sob. Blinking a few times rapidly, I see the white begin to fade as I squat down in front of her.
Elora’s sob breaks against my back. “It’s not enough,” she whispers, voice shredded. “You have to tell her, Miles. Tell her what you know. It’s the only way.”
My heart lodges in my throat. Because I know the cost. I’ve known since I read the diary over and over. But it wasn’t until I was sleeping on top of the diary after my tenth time through, that I was given the key to unlock it. Scared the shit out of me, but I knew exactly who it came from.
Her eyes clear and she sucks in a breath as she lurches forward, wrapping her arms around my neck.
Her body shakes as she cries into my shoulder.
I just hold her, my arms wrapped tightly around her.
This is the first time I’ve been gifted this, and even with the situation being less than ideal, I can’t help but revel in the moment.
“They can’t have you Miles. They just can’t. It’s not fair. I’ve always known I would die, but I am unwilling to accept your death.”
I squeeze her a little tighter, my hand rubbing small circles across her back.
“Nobody is taking me, Bellamy. I’m right here. I know what you saw had to be scary, but it wasn’t real.”
She cries harder. “You don’t understand…”
“But…I do.”
“What…” She tilts her head back, her eyes scanning my face.
“I know all about your family curse and what started it.”
“How…how can you know?”
“The how isn’t important right now. I know how to break the curse. If you break the curse…it won’t take you or me.” Her eyes flick back and forth rapidly as my voice cracks. “You have to sacrifice Nyx. It’s the only way.”
Her scream rips through the air, shattering the last of the barrier. The raw, wounded sound causes my wolf to howl inside my mind, pleads with me to take her pain away.
“No.” She shakes her head violently, hair whipping against her face. “No, I won’t—don’t you dare ask me to—”
“It’s not me asking,” I whisper, forehead pressed against hers, trying to anchor her. “It’s him. It’s always been him. He’s known since the moment he was gifted to you and he looked into your eyes. The same eyes he loved all those years ago. He didn’t want to believe it, didn’t want to hope.”
She sucks in a sob. “How can you know all this? He doesn’t even talk to you.”
I give her a sad smile. “You aren’t the only one who was gifted visions lately. Nyx knew that one day your powers would manifest and it would be just like hers.”
She shakes her head again slowly, as if she can’t believe me. “Like whose?”
I tilt my head. “You know who. You saw it in the drawing, even if you wanted to deny it and claim it was something I did. But, deep down, you knew. We are the reincarnation of Ivora and Elias. We are, in fact, destined to break the curse. But, if we fail? It will only happen again and again. Until one version of us finally takes the leap.”
The fog thickens, her power fighting, denying, breaking against itself. “I can’t! He’s—he’s my best friend, Miles. My only constant. The only one who never turned their back on me.”
“I know.” My tears fall into her hair. “I wish I could take this burden for you. I wish I could give you some different answer. But, I can’t.”
Her sobs turn into broken pleas. “Please, don’t ask me to do this. I’ll give anything else.”
As if summoned, Nyx’s voice floats through the magic, softer than I’ve ever heard it.
“Bells you’ve always had me, and I’ve been honored to have these years with you.
You are so much like her, but in so many ways you aren’t.
But, it’s time. Time to set the course of fate back to where it was supposed to always be.
Where you finally get everything I’ve always wanted for you. It’s time to let me go.”
“I can’t Nyx. It’s not fair. Don’t ask me to do this, please.” The last word is broken as she sobs harder.
He walks over to where we are kneeling, ducking his head under my arm, and climbing into my lap.
He nuzzles his head under her chin, her tears immediately wetting his black fur.
She wraps her arms around him, squeezing him to her.
It’s in this moment that all I can see is a broken little girl who wants to be loved.
Who needed someone to sit with her, and fate gave it to her in the form of a snarky fox with stars across his fur.
But it’s more than that. I also see the familiar who was scorned by the one person who was supposed to be his, finally having that person in Bellamy.
All I want to do is wrap my arms around both of them, hold them tight, and tell them they both were given to each other because they both needed the same thing.
“Please don’t leave me,” she whispers against his ear.
“You have to let me go. You have to live, for me. I’ll always be with you, even if it’s only in your dreams. Fate can’t keep me from you there. Anytime you need me, just call for me and I’ll come.”
“How am I supposed to…” she whimpered, tears streaming down her face. “Live without you?”
His eyes flick up to mine, winking with a nod of his head. “You have this big, goofy dog boy over here now. He isn’t half bad if you can get past the hugs and invasion of personal space.”
She huffs out a laugh.
"Weaver, I..." she wailed, and I could feel her pain, a raw, bitter taste that flooded my senses. “I willingly give you my familiar.”
Nyx sighs, as if he’s waited for the moment for too long.
He purrs, fading already, the bond unraveling like starlight.
“I’ll always love you Bellamy. See you very soon.
Take care of her Dog Boy, I’ll be watching.
” He fades out completely, his sullen eyes the last thing I see as he stares into her green ones.
And then—silence.
The fog collapses. The trees right themselves and the noises of the forest come back as the magic fades. Bellamy screams into my chest, clinging to me as if holding me will stitch her familiar back together or maybe her heart.
The clouds clear in the sky, the fog fades out of existence, and the world feels lighter. But I feel it, even I sense it. The hollow where Nyx used to be. I can’t imagine the profound loss she’s experiencing right now.
All I can do is hold her through it. Be the rock to anchor her to this world. Clarissa was right, Bellamy doesn’t need someone to save her. Just someone to weather the storm with her.
Elora gasps as her head falls back, staring into the sky. We hold our breaths, unsure what’s going to happen.
When her eyes come down, they are fully white, no pupil in sight as that same sinister smile spreads across her face. The one she gave me when I broke through the fog.
In a voice entirely not her own, she says, “You did it. You broke the curse and finally, after three hundred years, the course of fate is corrected. You are both free.”
“At what cost,” Bellamy shouts, her voice raw and shredded.
The thing inhabiting Elora tuts. “Tsk, you know magic has a cost. Especially for a dark witch like yourself. There had to be a steep cost for the magic Ivora demanded. When she chose to defy fate and demand to live, magic gave her a choice, and told her the cost. She did it anyways.”
Its smile widens, too many teeth, too much hunger glowing in those white orbs. When its gaze snaps–straight through Elora, straight into us, I know that we are talking with The Weaver. When it speaks again, the sound slithers across our skin like ice.
“Ivora. Elias. Pleasure spending time with you.”
The words hang in the air like smoke billowing over a dying fire before a shadow tears out of Elora’s body, leaving her convulsing, gasping like she’s drowning on air.
There’s only one thing it could have been…
The Weaver.