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‘I’m going to head into the Other,’ I said abruptly. ‘Maybe then I can pipe Ben awake.’
‘You might be best leaving him to come around in his own time,’ Greg counselled.
I shook my head. ‘Something is wrong, I’m sure of it. I need to see he’s okay before I can do anything else, so he has to wake up now. I need to see his eyes – his human ones – and then I’ll be okay.’ Plus, I needed Esme; her absence was like losing a limb. I missed her desperately, and though it made more sense to recharge overnight I’d had enough.
‘I’ll come with you,’ Jacob offered and stood up.
As I was in the Common realm, I couldn’t see his wings and I hated that because they were beautiful. ‘Thank you.’ I shot him a grateful smile.
I raced out of the apartment and down to the shop floor. A fire elemental guard gave me a nod as I strode towards the portal. I yanked open the door, walked in wholly ordinary and strolled out with a wolf in my head.
Esme! I greeted her desperately and gave her a giant hug. She nuzzled me. How are Ben and Roan? she asked urgently.
Still unconscious. I’m freaking out.
They were badly injured, but even so this is a long time for a wolf to heal. Let’s go and see them.
Yes, I agreed, relieved she was on the same page.
I looked at Jacob. ‘It’s good to see your wings,’ I said. ‘They’re glorious.’
He looked startled. ‘Thank you?’ he said, making the statement sound like a question. He obviously wasn’t comfortable accepting a compliment, but I believed in trying to make others acknowledge their own strengths and beauty – inner and outer.
We dashed back upstairs and burst into the apartment. Roan’s legs were moving like he was dreaming but he was whimpering; if he was dreaming, it was a nightmare. I knelt by his side and stroked his fur, then pulled up my piping magic and connected to him.
Against my will, I was pulled into a vision in which I was Ben.
There were bodies everywhere, human and lupine. The acrid scent of smoke hung heavy in the air and cries of agony were dancing on the breeze. The sun was baking down on us, sweat drifting into our human eyes, stinging us.
Time to shift, Roan said grimly.
Let’s do this, I agreed.
The shift rolled over us, pleasurable and full, and we ran to join our sister and our Queen. Another wolf ran towards us but we didn’t want to hurt them. They were misguided, not evil. We pulled our air magic forward and blasted them off their feet.
Stay down, pup, Roan growled to the younger wolf. He stayed down.
We raced forwards to Lucy where she was battling the asshole that had started all of this.
The vision re-started.
There were bodies everywhere, human and lupine. The acrid scent of smoke hung heavy in the air and cries of agony were dancing on the breeze. The sun was baking down on us, sweat drifting into our human eyes, stinging us.
Time to shift, Roan said grimly.
Let’s do this, I agreed.
I watched the same small loop over and over again, stuck in a vision I couldn’t get out of. Oh shit, this was bad.
Panic was rearing through me and I couldn’t feel Esme. I watched in despair as that same moment was repeated; I was trapped with my brother and Roan in a future memory loop that I couldn’t find my way out of. It was like being stuck in a maze, except that every direction led me along the same route.
Then I felt Esme desperately tugging me. I felt her teeth on my ankle and I cried out as she bit down into my flesh. Still she pulled at me and I didn’t resist, though I reached out and locked my arms around Roan. I would drag him out with me.
Esme gave another violent tug on my ankle and the agony of it made me cry out. Hot blood welled and ran down my foot as she somehow yanked me back to my body and I slammed into it. I lay there gasping, barely able to move. It felt like I’d been punched in the solar plexus and I struggled to haul oxygen into my lungs.
‘Holy shit,’ I choked out. My ankle was throbbing. Feeling wobbly, I sat up and pulled up my trouser legs to see Esme’s bite marks around my ankle. I blinked. The bites had happened in a vision so how the hell had they hurt me physically?
I’m sorry, Esme whimpered in my mind. For the first time I could recall, she was cringing, tail between her legs, ears flat. She lay down and exposed her belly to me.
