Chapter Forty-Four
~Leo~
One thing I’d always appreciated about my pack was that once we made a decision, we acted on it.
Less than an hour later, after we’d all had something to eat and prepared ourselves as much as possible for what came next, we were back in Kalo’s room, all except for Vaughan who went to his office to make some calls.
Tension still remained in the room, given all the uncertainty that lingered around how our plan might play out, but hope had joined it, and the overall atmosphere was one of anticipation. After a week on the defensive, we were finally taking charge, and I couldn’t wait to get going.
Visenya’s glowing eyes followed each of us as we entered. Evalina stepped forward, the iron hoop cradled carefully in her hands as she approached the edge of the carpet that concealed the trap’s markings underneath.
“Be careful,” Felix said softly, unable to keep the concern from his voice.
“I will,” she replied, not looking away from Visenya as she crossed into the circle.
Silo went unnaturally still inside my head, as though bracing for something to go wrong, and my weight shifted onto my back foot, ready to spring into action if needed.
Felix and Darius did the same, out of instinct more than conscious thought, but to everyone’s relief, the trap held steady.
Its hum didn’t falter as Evalina moved towards Visenya, and the reaper herself didn’t react either as Evalina lifted the hoop and slid it carefully over her arm, settling it just above the elbow.
For a moment, the two of them stood in close proximity, and the contrast between Evalina’s warmth and Visenya’s cool control was striking.
In less than a second, the reaper could reach out and touch the fairy, ending her life, and from the way Felix’s face had turned almost grey as he watched them, I knew he was well aware of that fact.
Evalina raised her hands, her fingers beginning to glow as her magic came to life, and the metal responded immediately.
It softened under her touch, reshaping itself as though it were something far more malleable than solid iron should ever be, flowing and shifting until it conformed perfectly to Visenya’s arm.
The edges fused seamlessly, smoothing into place until the band no longer looked like a constructed object, but something that belonged there, as though it had always been part of her.
After a moment, Evalina stepped back.
“That should do it.”
She retraced her steps just as carefully as she had entered, leaving the circle without disturbing the markings.
Still, Visenya didn’t move, and after a few seconds, Calista stepped forward.
“Let’s see if it works,” she said, crouching near the edge of the rug. She lifted it just enough to expose the pattern beneath, then reached down and, with deliberate care, drew her finger through one of the lines.
The effect was immediate.
The hum that had filled the room since Visenya’s arrival vanished, and with it came a subtle but undeniable shift in the air, as though something unseen had been released.
All of our attention snapped back to Visenya, who stiffened just enough to signal that something had changed. Her glowing eyes flickered and her expression tightened in a way I hadn’t seen before.
“The connection is back,” she whispered, wincing in a mix of pain and fear. “I can feel him.”
A cold sensation slid down my spine at the words, and Calista reacted instantly, restoring the broken line and smoothing the pattern back into place with practiced precision. The hum returned, and whatever presence had brushed against the room receded just as quickly.
Visenya exhaled slowly, her posture easing once more.
“Why didn’t that work?” Felix asked, glancing down at the notepad full of calculations he held.
“It should have,” Evalina agreed, peering at the band still wrapped around Visenya’s arm.
“The calculations were correct,” Calista added, still kneeling beside the markings. “We must have miscounted.”
They began working through the problem together, discussing ratios and materials and retracing every step of the process in careful detail, but I only half-listened, because Visenya’s gaze had settled on Darius, her glowing eyes watching him with a quiet, intent curiosity that was impossible to ignore.
“What are you?” she asked.
Darius blinked, clearly thrown by the question, or perhaps just from being addressed directly by his mate for the first time. “I’m the pack Delta,” he stuttered out. “I handle security.”
“That is not what I meant,” she said, her tone unchanged. “What species are you?”
“Werewolf,” he answered with a frown, gesturing towards the rest of us. “The same as them.”
Visenya’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “No, not the same. There’s something else.”
I reached out to him through our mind-link. She can feel the bond.
How? he wondered. Evalina couldn’t, and Kalo couldn’t either. Only werewolves feel it.
Not necessarily. Remember when Felix and Evalina went to the elf territory?
The man they met there could sense their bond.
I’d read the reports in detail, as I read every report filed in the pack.
Maybe elves have a sensitivity to it that other species don’t have.
She senses it, but doesn’t know what it means.
Darius thought about that for a moment, his gaze still holding Visenya’s. Should I tell her?
Before we could decide, Felix let out a small whoop. “I’ve got it!”
Everyone turned to him as he jabbed his finger down at a drawing on the page. “When you melded the iron ends together, it must have altered the proportions a tiny bit. We need to add a little more salt to the ends.”
Kalo looked over at me, his eyebrows raised in a silent question, but I could only shrug. I had no idea if that was right, but I trusted them to figure it out.
Felix carefully counted out three grains of salt, placing them onto Evalina’s fingertip. Carefully, she tiptoed back into the trap and used her magic to melt the metal just enough to place the salt inside. This time, Calista didn’t wait for her to come back out before breaking the line once more.
Again, the hum disappeared, and we all looked to Visenya. She remained completely still, not flinching like she had before, or reacting in any way.
“Nothing,” she confirmed after a moment. “I can’t feel him at all.”
A wave of relief rolled through the room, and Evalina’s face lit up. “It worked!”
Felix let out a pleased laugh. “That’s what I like to hear.”
“Let’s not assume too much yet,” Calista cautioned, though she was smiling too. “We still need to test whether she can move freely.”
Evalina turned back to Visenya. “Would you mind walking over to the door?”
Visenya took a step forward, moving in that strange, almost-gliding rhythm of hers. She took another step, and another, until she crossed the boundary of the trap, her feet touching the floor beyond the rug with no repercussions.
It truly had worked, then. She was free to move, but the connection with Death remained dampened until Evalina removed the hoop from her arm.
Felix said what we were all thinking. “That’s the first step, then.”
Only Visenya looked confused, her gaze sweeping the room with a new alertness before returning to Felix. “What’s the next step?”
The Beta grinned with genuine enthusiasm. “Now, we go and have a conversation with some dragons.”