Chapter 43
Cal isn’t at the fire station, his house, his parents’ home. Lyric can’t reach him either.
It’s well past midnight, and I’m emotionally and physically done.
I understand he’s mad, but I need to find him and explain. I need to know why he didn’t come into the Hex after the fight.
My feet drag through the gate into my complex, and I freeze when a figure steps out of the shadows at the bottom of my stairs.
I’d know that backwards baseball cap anywhere. I should act cool, but I can’t. I sprint. When I’m three feet away, I launch myself against his chest, and he catches me as easily as a football.
“I’m sorry.” My tears are thick, and my voice breaks. “I should have believed you.”
He holds me and lets me cry, never uttering a word.
My heart is in my throat, and nerves churn until I might throw up from not knowing what he’s thinking. His silence is loud and absolute in a way that feels final.
Did I finally push him too far? Is that why he left the Hex earlier?
But if I did, why is he here?
When I can gather myself enough to look at him, I slip from his grip and face him, back straight, heart open.
“Cal, I love you too, and I will never be able to make this up to you. You deserve better than the hell I put you through. Because I love you, but I’m scared—terrified.
I can’t bear it if I learn something will happen to you and I can’t do anything about it, so I’ve kept you at arm’s length.
I don’t want to do that anymore, but I don’t know how to break my curse. ”
He cradles my face in his rough hands and swipes his thumbs under my eyes, drawing more tears to my lashes over his gentleness, which I don’t deserve.
“What happened before I found you with Dane?” he whispers.
“I told him I couldn’t perform the bond.”
“So he hurt you.”
I nod. “Somehow, he drained my magic. I think because he originally got his power from the Hex, he was able to bend the rules. All he wanted was to use me as a conduit between him and the earth. To steal power.”
“The bastard is a tick.”
“Thank you for saving me.”
He kisses my temple. “I will always protect you.”
“I know. That’s part of why I love you, but I shouldn’t have made the deal with Dane in the first place. Please forgive me.”
His thumb drags across my lips. “I want to be the man in your dream.”
“I want you to be too, but yesterday, your beer triggered another vision.”
He drops his forehead to mine. “Bond with me. Be my soulmate.”
“But I’m a mess.”
He lifts me behind the thighs, and my legs instinctively wrap around his waist. He climbs the stairs with me in his arms. “Don’t you realize yet that when I say I love you, I mean all of you?”
I fumble my keys out of my purse, and he unlocks the door. “Why are you so good to me? After asking you to be my fake boyfriend and then that back rub. Why did you agree to any of it?”
A smile flickers at the corner of his mouth.
“Because I finally got to hold you like I’ve wanted to since we were teenagers.
I got to kiss your neck and touch your skin without worrying you’d realize how much I love you.
” He sets me on my sofa, snuggles between my legs, and tucks my hair behind my ear.
“Because Lyric convinced me that if I acted on what I felt, maybe you’d feel it too. ”
“I’m sorry I didn’t see it.”
“You felt it. You chugged my beer, remember? You always double check a glass before you take a sip.”
“Your touch. I thought I was going to orgasm from you kissing my neck.”
A wicked, mischievous grin spreads across his scruffy face. “I’d love to make that a reality for you.”
My cheeks flame crimson, and I bury my face in my hands. “Cal.”
His hands knead my thighs, and the ache in my pussy returns. Flashes of my vision flicker in my awareness. My core clenching. Bodies slapping together with reckless abandon. I want that with him.
“Come on, JR. Julia breaks her rule for Edward. Bond with me, and we’ll break your curse.”
“What makes you think it will work?”
“I can’t be sure. I hope it will. I hope you love me enough to try.”
“Dane said our souls are tethered. I cast a love spell when we were in high school. What if you only think you love me because I cast that spell? What if it’s not real?”
He interlocks our fingers and presses them to his chest. “A tether holds us together, but it can’t force us to make choices. I love you. Bond with me.”
“If it doesn’t work, if we don’t break my curse, are you okay with a lifetime of never kissing me?”
“I can use my mouth in other ways, JR.” His thumb scrapes across the zipper on my jeans. “I don’t have to kiss your mouth to show you how much I love you.”
“You really want to marry me?”
“For eternity, my soul is yours. Where’s your spell?”
I collect the grimoire from my mantle. On the page after my love spell is the second half. The Soulmate Bond I created to cement true love into eternity by fusing two souls into one. One magical entity so my curse won’t recognize Cal as foreign. That’s the plan, at least.
I blink up at him. “This spell can never be reversed.”
“Good. What do we need?”
We gather the ingredients—rose petals, lavender, jasmine—and place them in the cauldron in my fireplace.
Cross-legged on the floor, I point to the spell. “We have to say this together and then add three drops of blood each.” I hold out the needle. “Are you sure?”
“Are you? If this doesn’t work and you still have visions, will you regret—”
I cover his mouth with my hand. “I want you. I want this. I love you. It shouldn’t have taken me this long to realize it, but I do. For eternity, you are mine and I am yours.”
“Goddess, let’s get this over with so I can kiss you.”
We stare into each other’s eyes as we chant the spell.
“Our bond we seal with blood and true love. Never parted. Never divided. Always bound. My heart and soul are yours. Evermore, we are one.” We prick our fingers and drop the blood into the pot, then drop a lit herb bundle on top.
The flowers catch fire, and the smoke drifts over us. A hum buzzes in my ears.
“How long do you think it takes to work?” he asks.
“It should be immediate.”
He pulls me into his lap, chest to chest, and my arms wrap around his shoulders. “Are you ready?”
I lick my lips and fight the fear that wants to claw up my throat.
I might still see him die and not be able to stop it, but he is who I want for eternity. My soul recognizes him as my other half.
He cups my cheek. “If you want to give the spell more time…”
I shake my head and slam my lips to his. This kiss isn’t sweet or delicate. If I’m going to trigger a vision, I’m not going to tiptoe into it.
My mouth presses to Cal’s. His hand weaves into my hair and angles my head so our lips meet more fully.
It’s a small shift, but he sucks my bottom lip gently, and we hold that position for one heartbeat, two, three, four, five. My shoulders tense, waiting for his death to flash in my mind.
But nothing.
Our future is the mystery it’s supposed to be.
I pull back and gasp. I thought after the last twenty-four hours, I wouldn’t have any salt left in my body, but tears flood my eyes. “It worked.”
We slam back together. Frenetic. He plunges his tongue into my mouth, and I swoon at the taste of cloves on his tongue.
My fingers tug his hair and angle his head for another kiss. “Why do you taste so good? You never smell like cloves. What’s different?”
“I cast a spell yesterday so I’d hear you when you called.”
“Sage and cloves?”
“Yeah. Why?”
More tears fall.
“The man in my vision smelled like you. It was you all along. I should have known.”
“Tell me more about this vision. Where were we?”
“My bed.”
He rises and holds his hand out to me. “Let’s go, wife.”