Chapter 76 No Longer Mine
No Longer Mine
JESSICA
Six Years Ago
Anders picks up a gun on the floor and aims it at Tyler. I push him back with wind magic, but I'm not fast enough. Gunshots fire in the tiny room. A bullet hits me in the shoulder. Another one hits me in the side.
I pull a dagger from my vest and throw it at Byron, infusing magic to forcefully embed it in his throat, pinning him to the wall behind him. I fall to the ground.
The sound of a roaring ocean fills my ears, and a disoriented feeling warps my vision. I fight my way through it and army crawl over to Tyler. There is so much blood, his blood, covering his entire body. I slap my hand over a wound in his abdomen and scream for Skunk and Sodie.
His eyes glaze over, staring at the ceiling. “Princess,” he whispers.
“You’re okay. We’re here. I’m here.”
“Princess.”
Skunk arrives first. He hovers over Tyler. Sodie crouches over Anders, and I immediately see the soft glow of his healing magic. Their faces are both grim in concentration.
Tyler tries to raise his arm. I reach for it and place his palm against my cheek. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here.”
His lips twitch. He exhales a single shuddering breath. His limp hand slips out of my grasp.
“No!” I scream. “No!” Large hands grab me from behind, pulling me away. Bodies push past Sodie. I squirm against the restraints. “I need to be there! I need to help!” I cry.
“Give them space. They’re helping him,” Chris murmurs in my ear from behind me.
Sodie hovers over his body and pumps his chest.
I shake my head. “He can’t die.”
Chris pulls me close into his strong frame, and I bury my face into his chest. Uncontrollable sobs rack my body. His arms tighten around me. I hear his own sobs as his tears fall on my skin.
Time moves infinitely slow and fast in the same stretch. Chris brings me over to sit next to Anders, and I wrap my arms around him. He’s shaking, barely able to hold himself upright.
“I had to do it. I had to,” he whimpers. “It was you or him.”
“Come on, dammit! Come on!” Skunk shouts as he pumps Tyler’s chest.
“He can’t leave me,” I whisper.
“Switch!” someone shouts.
Liam resumes chest compressions. It feels like an eternity without any change. I see the looks that they give one another. Chris hangs his head. Elias slams his fist into a wall.
A glimmer of movement above the group trying to save Tyler catches my eye. “No!” I shriek. Everyone jumps and turns to me. I rush forward and drop next to Tyler. “No! You can’t leave me, not like this!” I shout up to the ceiling.
Toby’s soul looks down at me. His face no longer has the burns that once marred the side of his face. His dark blue eyes fill with sadness. His head swivels to the side, where Tyler’s soul hovers over his body. A chain tethers his ethereal body to his physical one.
“No! You promised me we had time. You promised me!” I raise my hand, summoning the electricity in my palm. Someone grabs my wrist.
“That’s too much. You'll kill him,” Reggie exclaims. “Let me do it.” Everyone steps back. Once again, arms pull me away. Reggie kneels on the floor and slams a jolt directly into Tyler’s chest.
Liam immediately resumes chest compressions. Liam lifts his hands after a full round. Sodie checks his pulse and grimly shakes his head.
“Do it again!” I order Reggie. “Now!” I demand.
Reggie lifts his palm, gathering electricity.
“More!”
He hesitates before conjuring more power and slams his hand down on his chest again. Tyler’s body jerks off the ground. Nothing. Chest compressions continue.
I look around the room at everyone who came to save him. Sixes and Emily cling to each other, crying.
“You can’t leave us. Please, Tyler.” I gaze up to the ceiling. Both Toby and Tyler’s souls are gone. I want to scream and kick, but I don’t have the strength to fight anymore. I let them drag me back.
Sodie stops his chest compressions. Skunk checks Tyler’s pulse and shakes his head slowly. “We did everything we could,” Sodie mumbles.
Emily wails.
“No,” Liam says quietly. “We didn’t try everything. Reggie, do it again. This time, Sodie, you and Skunk channel your healing magic into Reggie’s magic. All of you, channel your energy and magic into Sodie and Skunk.” He looks around the room. “We’ve done it before.”
Sodie hesitates.
Please, I silently plead. Please. He doesn’t look at me but nods his head.
Liam’s eyes connect with mine. “I promise you we will do everything we can to bring him back to you.”
I swipe at my tears with the back of my hand.
Reggie holds his hand in the air, collecting electricity. Every guard and our newfound friends squeeze themselves into the apartment. We all pour our magic into Sodie and Skunk, and they transfer their healing magic into Reggie.
He delivers the shock. Tyler’s entire body jolts off the floor and lands with a hard thump. Sodie and Skunk hold their hands above Tyler, infusing him with their healing magic. We all hold our breaths, waiting…
Tyler gasps for air. I almost don’t believe that sweet sound of him taking a breath.
Sodie checks his pulse and nods to Liam.
Tyler groans but remains unconscious. He’s alive. That’s all that matters.
It has been nine days, and Tyler is still unconscious. He is still breathing, and the heart monitor continues to beep steadily. Most of his wounds closed. Only a few remain. His many scars now serve as a reminder of what he endured.
Anders is also on the mend. I catch him pacing in his room, frustrated with the nurses and physicians who won’t allow him to leave. Although his body is healed, his magic and the ability to shift have not returned. Despite his annoyance with me, I toggle between his room and Tyler’s.
“Anders is still pretty mad at me for venturing into the rough part of the city to rescue you. He said he’s going to lock me up in the dungeon when we return home.
I don’t really think there is a dungeon, though.
I think that’s just Anders speak for ‘I will keep you in lockdown for the rest of your life.’” I brush Tyler’s hair off his forehead and run my hand down his bearded jaw.
The truth is Anders is mad at me for another reason.
He’s mad at me for being in this room alone with Tyler.
Anders is convinced that those Resistance bastards brainwashed him, and I’m risking my life staying in here alone.
But he’s wrong. I heard him. He called for me on his last breath and reached out for me.
He’s in there, and I will not give up on him because he didn’t give up on me.
I promised him that we would face any obstacle together.
Sighing, I wring out a washcloth. “I’m just going to wash your face and the rest of your body. When the nurse gets back from her break, we’ll freshen you up with a clean shave. I know how you hate the bearded look.”
Leaning forward, I place a soft kiss on his lip. I miss the tingling sensation along my scalp whenever he touched me. I hope it returns. I blink back the tears that threaten to fall.
“I love you,” I whisper and begin to hum our song. Carefully, I wipe his face. An idea strikes. Tyler told me once that it was my magic that realigned their souls. What if they’re trapped in his mind and body again? I could try…
I take in a deep breath, slowly release it, and place one hand over his heart. Envisioning the yellow-white orb, I place my other hand over my solar plexus. The energy flows from me into Tyler. Come back to me.
“Princess?” Jumping at the sound of my title, I drop both hands and hastily reach for the washcloth.
Alpha Larson’s Beta, Wade Dydrian, stands in the doorway of Tyler’s hospital room.
He points a thumb over his shoulder. “I didn’t see your guards at their usual post. I assumed you went home to get some rest.”
“Hello, Beta Dydrian. I told my guards to take a break and get some food. Any word from Alpha Larson and the rest of the family?”
He offers me a soft smile. “No, not yet. I’m sure, wherever they are, they’re safe.” He clasps his hands behind his back and approaches the side of the bed.
I don’t know what my father told Beta Dydrian about Tyler’s condition.
No one really knows where Tyler took his family or how to contact them.
I don’t even know the full story of why he felt the need to relocate them.
Whatever the story is, Beta Dydrian visits Tyler almost every day.
“Speaking of breaks, have you gotten any rest?” he asks.
I return my attention back to Tyler and continue to wipe his face.
Here we go again. Every time he visits, he wants to be alone with him.
I don’t understand why. I can’t read him through my mind link, and Odyssey hasn’t discovered anything suspicious either.
I wish Emily was here. Maybe she could compel him to stay in his Territory and focus on Alpha Larson and the rest of his family.
“I’m fine. I’ll rest when he wakes up.” I start to hum again, politely dismissing him by turning my back. I rinse the washcloth, and a tingling sensation ghosts up my scalp. I glance down at Tyler. He hasn’t moved, and there are no signs of him regaining consciousness.
Beta Dydrian stands closer to me—too close. The tingling on my scalp intensifies. Guys, I think I need you in Tyler’s room. Now!
“I’ve always wanted to ask how you got that scar on your pretty face.” He’s standing so close I can feel the heat of his body against my own.
“Hey, Je—” Alexis enters the room and freezes. He clears his throat and straightens his spine. “Uh, Princess, I just wanted to let you know that Odyssey and I are back from our break. Is there anything you need?”
My eyes shift to the side and back down at Tyler. I rinse out the washcloth in the basin. Peeking back up at Alexis through my lashes, I reply, “Actually, I could use your help to turn Tyler over. Maybe yell for Sodie to come in here, too.”
Alexis’s eyes dart around the room before landing on Beta Dydrian, then narrow. “Yeah. Sure. Not a problem.”
Beta Dydrian sidles closer to me. “No need to bother your guards. I can help you with that,” he says, feigning sincerity. His hand grazes the small of my back.
Tyler bolts upright in bed. The basin of water splashes Beta Dydrian, and he stumbles away from me. A deafening roar fills the room, and Tyler’s body crashes into mine, pinning me to the floor. His hands wrap around my neck, cutting off my air supply.
I grab both of his wrists, trying to loosen his grasp.
“I’m going to fucking kill you!” he screams.
I dig my nails into his skin, desperate to break his hold.
His grip tightens.
Black dots dance in my vision as pressure builds behind my eyes. With one last thread of hope, I whisper with my mind link, I love you.
“Stay out of my fucking head!” His grip around my neck tightens, and he thrashes me about violently.
I take one last look at the man I love. The color of his eyes flash between sapphire blue and obsidian black. Rage distorts his handsome face. This isn’t Tyler. It’s not Toby, either. This man who returned from death is no longer mine.