Page 3 of We Steal The Flight

Gwen nods. “Seems so.” Finn kisses her forehead before leaving, while Boba keeps brushing her head against my legs.

“Aunt?” I question.

“Lucky for you, my aunt has an amazing greenery, full of probably every rare plant that you would ever need. If not, she specializes in things like that. I’m sure she can find anything.” Gwen stands up. “We can get a helicopter and get back here within a day, Juniper.”

I stare at her. “Why are you really helping me? Not the bullshit about your cat.”

Something dark echoes in her eyes. “I’d do anything for my mates and anything to get back to them. We have been split up several times, and I know the pain in your voice. Call it whatever you want, but I don’t like mates being kept apart. It’s a form of torture.”

“It is,” I whisper. I don’t think my heart will stop hurting until I see them again. I left them in Bloodstone Academy, surrounded by Mindless, and I have no idea if they even made it out. If they did, where would they go? I push down the pain and focus. I am a good witch, and I can make a spell to get back to them.

I feel Minnie sleeping on my arm, her crazy long tail wrapped tightly around my wrist. The tarot cards are in my new denim coat pocket, and I’m worried about using either one of them for this. They are heirlooms of the goddess, and who knows what they could do with a spell? I know Lyra would be able to help me with this, but I think there is a reason Hell sent me alone to meet Gwen. “Thank you.”

“Thank me with information. You said there were shifters like us?” she asks, watching me in an eerie way that I’m beginning to think is probably normal for her.

“Yep.” I look out at the sea. “Shifters have two forms, one like us and one as an animal. My bonded are all dragons.”

“Dragons?” Gwen’s eyebrows rise. “I’ve always wanted to see a dragon.”

“They are terrifying,” I mutter. “I screamed and ran away when I saw one for the first time.”

She laughs. “Fair reaction. What happens when you go back, Juniper? What’s your plan?”

I cock my head to the side. “I’m going to kill the remaining members of the Umbral Authority, and then I’m going to get my people back to this world, where they have a chance of being safe. The final plan is to destroy the pocket world, leaving all the Mindless monsters in it.”

“Our city is open to new people. We lost too many in the war.” She offers me a solution, but she doesn’t push it. “You hungry? One of my mates is cooking lunch.”

“Sure.” I nod, following her into the cozy apartment. I only stop when I feel a stabbing in my chest, and I look back at the sea. The pain is gone within a second, but the feeling of dread that came with it? That doesn’t leave, and I pray to the goddess my bonded are safe.

Chapter 3

KANE

Ihear a door slam shut as I groggily open my eyes and the room blurs. What the fuck happened? My blood feels like it’s on fire; maybe it is quite literally burning me inside out. Memories rush back to me in a storm, of that creature in my blood, in my soul, draining me. Of a spell gone wrong and Juniper… Oh god, Juniper. She was sucked into some kind of portal, and I can’t feel her nearby. I’ve always been able to feel her near me.

Painfully, I pull myself up to sit against the wall with a grunt and look around. It’s a student’s room I’ve never seen, and Vale is currently barricading the door. Roars echo from outside and they are a distinctive enough sound for me to know exactly what army is waiting—Mindless. The Umbral Authority sent the Mindless to attack the academy and shifters. Fuck. My dragon rattles in my head, still groggy, but he is mad. Juniper isn’t near…and something has changed. I can feel it.

“Vale!” I shout at him once, but he doesn’t listen. He continues to shove everything against the door, from cabinets to wardrobes. We both know it is pointless. One spell, and our enemies will be in here. “Vale, where is she? Where is Juniper?”

At the sound of her name, his eyes snap to mine. His thick, damp silver hair falls into his black eyes, and his chest heaves as he pauses. Blood is splattered all over his white shirt and cloak. He looks sweaty and generally a mess of injuries, but his leg looks more fucked than anything else. It looks broken. He steps towards me, limping harshly, and I can’t see what he has done to it, but it is dripping blood even now. His voice is hoarse. “I don’t know.”

Panic swarms in my chest, and my dragon snarls. “How do you not know where Juniper is?” I demand. I could ask a dozen questions about our current situation, but I only care that she is okay. It’s the sole question that matters. I don’t give a shit if I’m nearly dying; Vale is a mess and we are both clearly too weak to fight off the Mindless. I don’t give a shit if anybody is okay other than her. I swapped places with that thing that was draining her of blood and power. It latched onto me like a virus, sinking deep into my bloodstream and fucking me up with fake visions of a world where Juniper is the villain. I won’t let that happen to her. Ever. I’m pretty sure I felt my heart stop at one point. How am I alive?

Something in Vale’s eyes makes me question whether my heart did stop. He grunts in pain as he limps over to me. Mindless continue to roar, loud, echoing like drums. There must be thousands of them outside. Vale walks over, sits down next to me, and drops his head back, slamming it against the brick wall behind us. “She went through a portal somewhere, and I’m certain she’s not in this world anymore. Not dead…just somewhere else. The spell must have been hijacked, because it was flawless and our bonded witch does not make mistakes. That’s all I know. Black can’t sense her at all, but she’s alive. I think you and I would both know if she was dead.” Vale’s words are clipped as he pushes through the pain.

I would know if Juniper died, because I’d stop fighting and go into death to find her. I’d burn the afterlife to the ground to make sure we were together again. She is mine. “Well, fuck, brother…” I grunt. “That thing drained me of my magic. I can’t shift and something feels wrong…” I see nothing but guilt on his face. “What did you do?”

“I was cursed when I was younger, just like you were. Just like all of us were apparently.” All the anger in my blood settles at the admission. Vale is cursed? Like Black, Maz and I? I knew something had happened to him when we were kids, but he would never open up. He just sunk into himself and shut the world out. I was tempted to do the same several times, but in the end, I knew it wasn’t best.

“You should have shared this knowledge sooner, Vale. You know all of our curses and how fucked they are. We wouldn’t ever judge you.” I touch his shoulder. “Vale, how bad is your curse and why are you telling me it now?”

“I didn’t want to tell anyone,” he murmurs, staring at the floor. The muscles clench as he links his fingers together. “Mine is so much fucking worse.”

“What’s your curse?” I demand.

“If anyone falls in love with me, they die. I’m cursed to kill my mate.” His words are like a calm storm. Juniper. I knew there was something between them, underneath all the hate. She walked into a room full of death magic to save his life, and I knew she didn’t do that for any other reason than the thing between them. It can’t be love, or she would be dead. “So I pushed her away. I made her fucking hate me. Even when I desperately craved her from the second we met, and now, she’s gone. Maybe it is for the best I die here, and then she is never at risk.”

“Fuck. You should’ve said something.” I rub my face. “And you’re not dying here.”