Chapter 4
Ipace up and down in front of the fireplace and try not to think of the million ways this could go wrong and instead think of the ways it could go right. I could be with my bonded by the end of the day, and they are worth any risk. I know they are in trouble—I can feel it.
I stop mid-step, closing my eyes and letting myself think of what they’d tell me to do right now.
Maz and Black would tell me to go for it, that I know what I’m doing and they believe in me.
Black would tell me that we can fix anything that goes wrong.
Vale would complain about my self-doubt and tease me that I couldn’t do it, and therefore I’d have to get the spell right to prove him wrong.
Kane would hold my hand, be my best friend, and never let me down.
Maz would somehow make me smile and laugh, even when I’m freaking out.
I knew a long time ago there wouldn’t be a limit to what I’d do to be with them or to what I can do when they are at my side.
The Umbral Authority was right to try to keep us apart because together we can stop them.
We have been forbidden since the beginning, but that has never stopped us. It never will.
Lyra clears her throat and puts down the glass of water she was holding.
She keeps looking around the room as if a Nexus is going to pop up and attempt to kill her.
She doesn’t trust them, and I’m not sure I do either.
The leaders, Gwenieve and her mates, are not exactly the hero types, but I do believe her mates love Gwenieve something fierce.
Zeph is seated on one side of Lyra, and on the other is Mellach, her other mate, who looks at me like he is only seeing the ghost of my dead father.
The three of them turned up yesterday evening after we got back from a trip to another city in a helicopter, a very noisy flying contraption that hurt my ears.
Gwen’s aunt had all the herbs that I could possibly need, plus a few more I have shoved into my pocket for home.
Gwen’s blood is in a vial in my hand, and it is the final ingredient.
I run my eyes over the spell one more time.
“You’ve read it twenty times now, daughter,” Lyra soothes. “It’s going to work or it’s not. We are here for all eventualities.”
“I know, it’s just risky.” I gnaw on my lip.
“I have been making spells up since I was a little girl, but dammit, this is one I’m not sure is safe.
The Latin is broken, and one slip of a word and I could send us crashing into another world altogether with no way back. Or worse, we could end up dead.”
Mell and Lyra look at each other. Mell looks like he has lived in the deep woodland for years, with his oversized brown jacket, combat trousers, heavy boots and long brown hair that mixes in with his lengthy beard.
He does not say much, and I’m not sure what animal he shifts into.
Despite his rugged appearance, he makes me feel calmer than Zeph or Lyra.
I’m surprised when Mell turns to me, his hazel eyes watching.
“I have known your mother for many years, and I know exactly how powerful she is. You are more. In you lies the blood of not only the most powerful witch that there has ever been in that world, but also the power of the dragon too, the strongest line of shifters to exist. Your father was an incredible, brave man, and he would have told you to fuck caution and get on with that spell. He would have loved you, but as he can’t, Zeph and I are here.
You’re not alone, and whatever happens, your family is with you, Juniper. ”
My mother rests her hand on Mell’s arm, giving him a look that seems both happy and sad before turning to me.
“I named you Juniper after the trees that grew around the house I lived in as a child. They are the most resilient trees, and they thrive even in the worst environments. I knew you were born into a world where you’d need to thrive to survive it, and you did.
Look at you, my Juniper.” She smiles softly at me.
“A powerful witch, with four bonded dragons and a mission to save the very world that tried to break you.” Tears fall down her cheeks.
They match mine. “Mell is right. You are with us and we are with you. It’s what family does, and I have believed in you from the very beginning. ”
I’m with my family and I am not alone. “I can do this.”
“Yeah, you can!” Zeph claps loudly and Mell elbows him.
I smile at them all and straighten up. Gwen and one of her mates, Finn, stand at the back of the room, watching us and talking quietly.
They are secretive and keep to themselves, but I appreciate their help.
“Thank you for everything, but you should leave. Just in case.”
“It’s our living room,” Gwen points out.
“Do you want to get sucked into a portal to another world?” Zeph sharply questions. Finn growls at his tone.
“Nope.” Gwen grabs Finn’s hand and forces him to stop death-staring down Zeph.
“Time to leave.” She pauses by the door and looks back.
“It’s good to meet you. Remember my offer for your people.
We want to rebuild Starlight City and make it a haven for supernaturals of any type. Even we monsters are welcome.”
“I won’t forget.” I nod once.
Gwen slips out the door with her mate, leaving me alone with my mother and her mates. I glance at them, realizing this is the first time they will be able to go home too. They have been stuck here for years, unable to return.
I go over to the cauldron, gently touching the stone.
It’s a Halloween prop that Gwen’s friend managed to find quickly, but it does the job.
I’m not sure why her friend also brought me a big black hat and a wooden broom.
Must be an Earth thing. “What should I use? Minnie or the tarot cards?” I ask Lyra.
“The tarot cards are for time, and they would be risky because they could send us back in time. The watch is for strength and healing; it would have been perfect. Minnie, the small creature she is, is known for something more than that. Something that lies in all of us. Loyalty and love. As you are aiming for your bonded, it is love we need magic for. Minnie is perfect.” Lyra nods once.
Zeph cracks his knuckles. “When we are back, we know somewhere safe near Bloodstone Academy. It is warded to only our bonded and our blood.”
“My bonded might not be anywhere near Bloodstone,” I gently remind him.
Lyra touches my shoulder. “I doubt your bonded will stray far from where they last saw you, just in hopes you will come back to them.”
I nod once and turn back to the cauldron, straightening my shoulders.
I look straight ahead, willing all the gods in the world to make this work.
“Minnie.” I whisper her name, pushing up my sleeve.
She blinks up at me with her cute big eyes.
“I know you’re not just a small creature, and I know you didn’t make friends with me just because you wanted to.
I need you to help me with this spell, using whatever magical part of you there is.
We need to get back to my bonded and to help the witches. We can’t leave them.”
Minnie stretches up and brushes her head against mine.
It’s the closest I’m getting to an agreement.
I begin chanting the Latin words, fast and thick under my tongue.
Minnie’s eyes begin to glow right along with my chant, and goose bumps burst out across my skin as I feel her power.
Minnie’s eyes glow the most beautiful blue color, radiating around us in a soft wash of light.
Power swirls into the potion, twirling around in the air and making it thick with a power like no other.
I continue the chant, feeling my power drain from me bit by bit. I wonder if Minnie is feeling the same.
I focus on the words, on getting every single one of them right.
Slowly but surely, it begins to work. I sense the portal slowly snapping open right in front of me, just above the coffee table.
It glimmers in the air, shimmering and circular and very blue.
Just as I finish the last word, a boom echoes in the air, and every bit of furniture slams into the walls, shattering to pieces.
In the dust, I shakily step forward as Minnie wraps herself around my wrist. I tug my sleeve over her.
“Thank you.” It worked. The portal hovers in the middle of the room, and it is big enough to walk straight through.
I do not hesitate. My bonded are on the other side.
I climb up onto the coffee table and jump straight through the portal.
This spell is going to take me home. It feels like nothing, like blinking.
Then for a second, it’s like walking through a cold storm, with snow and rain pounding at my skin, before I land in a mound of leaves.
I glance up at the thick, dark trees hanging above me, the familiar chill and smell to the air.
I grin as I turn around and look for it.
I can always see Bloodstone Academy’s towers, even in the dead of night.
The gray clouds hover around the sharp tips of the gothic castle, and my shoulders drop in relief.
I’m home. A familiar feeling echoes in my chest, in my heart, and I cover it with my hand. My bonded are close by.
I reach for Black in my mind, but he must be too far, or something is blocking us.
Lyra, Zeph and Mell jump through the portal after me.
A second later, it snaps shut, and I nearly sway with relief from the drain of magic cutting off.
Lyra manages to walk almost effortlessly instead of falling into the leaves like me, and tears fill her eyes as she presses her hand to a nearby tree.
I stand up, brushing leaves out of my hair. We are finally back.
Lyra looks at me and nods. “Well done. I’m proud of you.”
Warmth fills my chest as I nod back. The small moment is all we get before the Mindless surround us, the moon making their pale skin glow.
They swarm us with a buzz of growls, their jaws red with bloodstained teeth and eyes gone.
Their sharp nails scratch into the trees as they pass them, and most have rotten clothes limply hanging off them.
Lyra slides a dagger into my hand before nodding at me.
Magic explodes out of her chest, all green and powerful enough to make the ground shake.
She rips apart a hundred Mindless in the blink of an eye, all of them exploding into green dust.
I barely manage to turn around and defend myself as one jumps straight on me.
I slash at its throat, blood spraying over my clothes, and wince as I stand up while two more surround me.
I whisper a spell, freezing ten of them in place.
I quickly stab the dagger into their chests, watching them fall.
I whisper more spells, burning and destroying any that get near, but for every one that falls, ten more appear.
They relentlessly attack us, and everything is a blur of spells and blood.
I’m not looking as one of them slams into my back, and I hit the ground face first. Blood sprays from my nose, and I scream as the Mindless jumps on my back and drags its nails right down my spine, ripping me open.
I try to get a spell out, but I cough on my blood.
Suddenly the weight of the Mindless is off me, and Zeph falls to his knees at my side, picking me up before he shifts into a huge black panther.
Guess he’s not a snake shifter like I thought he was.
I am splayed across his back, looking at the chaos as Lyra and a brown wolf, who I assume is Mell, keep the Mindless away from us.
“We will not let you fall,” Lyra shouts to us. “When you get a chance, run with our daughter and make sure she doesn’t die!”
Zeph’s panther snarls and nods his head. The world is blurring, but I hear something else. A roar. The smell of fire. A shake to the earth that can only be made by one shifter.
A dragon.
I look up as a huge dragon flies across the sky, its silver scales glowing brighter than the moon, and I feel knee-buckling relief for the first time in weeks.
This is a dragon I know very well. Maz. My bonded swirls around before heading straight towards me, crashing into trees and flattening them along with Mindless.
“I’ve missed you. Don’t move, my mate.” Black.
The relief of hearing his voice makes me sob.
Another dragon swoops low, all silver scales like steel armor, burning a circle of fire around us and stopping the Mindless.
Maz’s dragon might not have any eyes, but he can see me.
Wait, he won’t see Lyra and her bonded. We can’t leave them.
Maz’s claws reach down, grabbing me in one go, lifting me up into the air.
“Black!” I shout back into his mind, hoping he hears me with how weak I feel. I’ve lost too much blood now. “A witch and two shifters are down there. Save them!”
Black’s dragon roars once, flying back down as the wind whips round, and lands with a thud.
Lyra and Zeph quickly climb onto his back as he breathes fire around them.
Mindless climb up his legs, and I cry out a warning, reaching for him even with half a mile between us.
Mell jumps on them, ripping the Mindless off Black’s dragon wings before he takes off into the sky and the rest fall into the forest, dripping with Black’s blood. “Thank you.”
“You’re hurt,” Black snarls behind me, his dragon flying faster to get to Maz and me.
I go to tell him I’m fine, just as the blood loss takes over and I pass out in the sky, knowing they won’t let me fall.