Chapter 25
Victor
I’m myself again, now that the frenzy is gone, but that just makes me want to protect my mate more than ever.
Things are taking hold inside me I don’t want to fight; feelings, emotions, and instincts that have been dormant my entire life.
They were waiting for a mate, but I guess they didn’t give up like the rest of me did.
They still lingered, hoping Mother Fate had a plan.
Except I didn’t expect to get caught up in Ishtar’s ancient plan in the process.
It takes Ingrid and Saul time to track down the ingredients.
Most of it is easy, except the aura root and fire manna.
Ingrid found enough information in old legends to figure out where to look for the aura root.
Saul tracked down a scholar who provided the recipe for fire manna.
I expected manna to be some sort of bread, but it’s just a weird paste.
I wouldn’t want to eat it. Finally, after a tense few days, we were ready.
Seven rituals to reincarnate Mother Nature.
Sure, that sounds like a fun way to spend my spare fucking time.
But everyone is invested in this, including my mate.
I’m not sure what the universe looks like when it’s balanced.
I suppose, I hope, it means there will be no wolves longing for mates if Mother Fate has more time available.
And time definitely seems to be at her disposal.
That’s one part of this I don’t understand.
Finn froze time, then manipulated it in some way to get rid of the silver.
If Mother Fate’s emissary can do that, she should be able to do a lot more.
Maybe doing both jobs is too taxing. I don’t fucking know.
“Okay, we have everything now,” Taryn says, biting her lip and lifting her eyes to mine. “All we have to do is light a fire and add a drop of my blood.”
“You’re still sure you want to light up an old cave? That’s where you think eternal sunshine should go?” I ask curiously, glancing at her.
“Just a cavern,” she replies. “I’ll tell you more about it on the way. It’s got some natural light already, but a little more wouldn’t hurt. And if this creates some kind of giant fireball, it’s best we contain it underground, right?”
“I suppose so,” I mutter. “I can’t think of anywhere I’d want to light up permanently like that. It could cause public confusion and even get the government involved.”
“Yeah well, we don’t have a Garden of Eden around here,” she laughs, gathering her things. “Ready to go?”
“Not really, but we have to do this,” I sigh, sliding on my shirt.
I’d much rather drag Taryn back to the bedroom and tear her clothes off. Fuck every hole while she screams my name. That’s what a wolf is supposed to do when he finds his mate. Instead, we’re caught up in something way bigger than us.
We leave the penthouse and Taryn gives me directions while I drive us to the old cavern. She said she would tell me more about it, and we’ve got plenty of time.
“So, you used to spend a lot of time in this cave when you were young?” I ask, looking over at her.
“Shana and Madison didn’t come to my grandmother’s house often, but when they did, we always used to sneak away,” she says, smiling a little at the memory. “I couldn’t get away with anything at her house, and she wasn’t afraid to cut a switch if I tried.”
“Ah, so you’ve always been a naughty girl?” I chuckle.
“Sometimes,” she says, laughing under her breath, then she leans forward and points. “Next right. That should take us past my grandmother’s house and the cave isn’t far from there.”
“What happened to your grandmother’s place anyway?” I ask, glancing over at her. “Do you still own it?”
“Me? No,” she sighs. “My grandmother left everything to her son… my uncle. He sold the property to some developers, I think. I’m not sure.”
I notice Taryn’s demeanor change as we get closer to her grandmother’s house. There aren’t many houses out this way. I’m not sure what a developer would want with the property, unless it was a steal. They’d want the land more than the house if they were planning to build something out here.
Taryn’s scent changes enough for me to notice. I’m not as attuned to it as I was during the mating bond and the frenzy, though. Now it’s just more of an awareness.
“Are you okay?” I ask quietly, my voice laced with concern.
“Yeah, just lots of memories,” she replies, wiping her eyes. “That’s my grandmother’s house.”
I slow down as we approach, partially because I want to get a better look, and partially because I notice there’s a real estate sign in the front yard.
“Looks like it’s for sale,” I observe.
“It looks… exactly the same,” she murmurs. “I thought they were going to flip it or something. They didn’t even paint it.”
“Do you want to get a closer look?” I ask, bringing the SUV to a stop. “I doubt anyone will ask, but if they do, we can just say we’re potential buyers.”
Taryn stares out the window for a long moment. “Um, yeah. I may never get a chance to see it again.”
I’m already texting Saul the name of the realtor and the address.
This place means something to my mate. We don’t have to live here, but it should be hers.
I’m sure her grandmother expected her uncle to do more than just sell it.
I’m sure she also expected him to do more for Taryn, too.
Instead, he acted like a fucking snake before he had the good sense to die.
We get out of the Land Rover and walk up the gravel path that leads from the road to the house. Taryn seems to be both excited and somber. When we get to the door and she peers in a window, excitement seems to win out.
“What? It doesn’t look like anything has changed,” she exclaims, then she moves to a window near the door, cupping her hands. “No! All the furniture and everything else is exactly the same!”
“Your uncle didn’t even take the personal stuff?” I ask incredulously, walking up to the door and looking in the window. What an asshole that guy was.
“He took all her jewelry and everything valuable,” she says. “I watched him do that. I never saw this place again after that. He said he sold it, and… didn’t really mention her things. I didn’t ask.”
“If he sold it to a developer, they must have changed their mind,” I say, shrugging slightly. “It’s been years. This place is out of the way, but someone’s taking care of the property.”
The lawn has been cut. The garden doesn’t have any weeds. They haven’t painted the house or done anything to fix it up recently that I can see, and it could use some repairs, but they aren’t letting it rot.
“One second, Saul is calling me,” I excuse myself, walking away as I slide my finger across the screen. “Hey, find out anything?”
“I offered double the asking price if the realtor faxed me the contract within five minutes. I’m faxing it back to her right now,” he says. “I’m going to text you the code to the lockbox.”
“Damn! Thanks Saul. I didn’t expect you to do that. I would have bought it!” Classic Saul.
“I know. I just saved you a step,” he chuckles. “Realtor said they’ve been trying to get rid of it for years. They bought it as-is, but the seller didn’t tell them about a lot of the issues it has. It was too expensive to flip.”
“Good,” I say. “I’ll transfer you the money.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he retorts.
When I turn back around, Taryn has moved further down along the side of house. She’s trying to look in every single window. I get the text from Saul, so I step up and open the lockbox. There’s a set of keys inside and I have the door open less than a minute later.
I walk through the house until I spot Taryn peering through a window and walk up to it. I can’t help smiling when she jumps back with shock.
“What the hell?” she yells.
“Come inside,” I call back, holding up the keys.
She stares at the keys for a moment before dashing around the house. I meet her at the door to see a very confused look on her face. I’m actually smiling. She’s making me smile more than ever. Maybe that’s just part of having a mate. Part of being… happy?
“Where did you get the keys?” she shrieks incredulously, looking at the door. “You opened the realtor box thing?”
“Yeah, I used the code Saul got after he bought the property,” I say nonchalantly, tossing her the keys. She barely catches them. “It’s yours now, Taryn. You can do whatever you want with it.”
She looks at the keys, then up at me. “Victor,” she whispers, eyes welling as she shakes her head. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to. Now you can come back anytime you want. But first, why don’t you give me the grand tour? Show me what I bought you.”
“The grand tour? This place is smaller than the hotel penthouse,” she laughs, squeezing the keys tight in her hand. Tears dampen her lashes. “Thank you. Seriously, thank you. I don’t know what happened, or why everything is still here, but…”
“Your uncle was a lying asshole. Apparently, this place needs a lot of repairs; too many for a flipper.” I shrug. “Doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“No,” she sighs, walking toward me. She looks down, smiles and takes my hand. “Okay, let me show you around.”
Her uncle didn’t just abandon everything he couldn’t sell; he didn’t even bother to take the pictures off the wall. I get to see Taryn grow up, one photo at a time as we walk down the hallway.
It’s a small house. There’s a living room where Taryn used to watch television with her grandmother. Two tiny bedrooms. One bathroom that I’d never be able to use comfortably with a shower so small I’d rather just be dirty than ever have to use it.
“This is my room,” Taryn says, swallowing hard as she walks inside. “Was my room, I guess.”
“Is. Was. Is again,” I remind her, following her inside.