“Wow.” Mac whistled low under her breath. “That’s some responsibility.”

  “You’re telling me.” And the journey to the crown wouldn’t be easy. “Will you guys come with me?”

  “Duh.” Carrow looked at me like I was insane, and Mac just rolled her eyes. “But first, you need to rest.”

  I nodded. “You’re right. I’m too tired to face the Maker now, and we can guarantee he’ll follow us to the crown. This is his best shot to steal my power.”

  “We won’t let him,” Mac said.

  “Not a chance in hell,” Beatrix added.

  I thanked them and headed up to my room. I could hear Lachlan following me and didn’t turn around to stop him. I wanted him to follow me. Ralph, however, did not. Clever raccoon. He’d been a huge help to me, but I wanted to talk to Lachlan alone without my candy thief familiar eavesdropping on our conversation.

  Lachlan appeared in the doorway to my room. “I can leave, if you want.”

  “Not a chance in hell.” I walked over to him, taking in his strong features and broad shoulders. It was nearly dark in my room, but there was just enough glow from the streetlamps outside that I could see the strong edge of his jaw and the fullness of his lips. The dark gleam of his eyes. “I can’t believe we’re together again. And that I can remember.”

  “Neither can I.” He cupped my face and my waist, drawing me to him. “I knew there had to be more between us than just the mate bond. I could feel it.”

  “So could I.” The past was a distant memory for me, but at least I could feel it now. Those old emotions gave depth to the ones that I currently sensed. They were so strong that they threatened to drag the madness to the front of my mind. I could feel the dark moon curse pushing at the edges of my thoughts, trying to take over.

  I focused on Lachlan, whose face filled my vision and whose scent filled my head. He grounded me, keeping me here with him instead of trapped with the madness.

  “I love you, Eve. I did then, and I do now. I wanted to say it before, but—”

  “I wouldn’t let you. It was stupid, but I was afraid.”

  “I understand. But whatever the prophecy says is going to happen to you as a result of our love, I’m going to stop it.”

  I wished that he could. His confidence almost made me believe it. Lachlan was the strongest person I knew, but no one was stronger than fate. And I believed what the Witches of Strathclyde had said—this fate had been put into motion a thousand years ago. I had no idea if it was possible to stop it, but right now, I didn’t want to think about it. The moment was too precious to tarnish with those worries.

  So instead of dwelling on my fear of the future, I leaned up and kissed Lachlan. If I was damned if I did and damned if I didn’t, then I was going to be with him tonight.

  He groaned low in his throat and pulled me to him, kissing me deeply. His touch brought back memories that swirled through my mind—us kissing in so many different places in the past. Under a waterfall, on the edge of a cliff, in a cave. We’d stolen every minute we could, until there were no longer any minutes left to steal.

  The thought nearly made me gasp with sadness, but I shoved it aside and focused on him. No matter what happened tomorrow, we had tonight.

  He swept me up into his arms with skillful grace, then carried me to the bed. When he followed me down, I pulled him on top of me, welcoming the weight that I hadn’t remembered I’d missed.

  But oh, how I’d missed it. To have this last day where we remembered each other was more than I could have ever hoped.

  Carefully, he removed my top and bra, pressing kisses to my shoulders and breasts. Trails of fire followed his lips, and I arched up as he reached my stomach.

  “So beautiful,” he murmured, unzipping my jeans and pulling them down.

  He pressed a kiss to the front of my panties, making me cry out. When he pulled them down and pressed more hot kisses to my center, I sunk my hands into his hair and rode a wave of pleasure that carried me for an eternity.

  As it tapered off, I tugged him up. “Please, Lachlan, I want to feel more of you.”

  He pulled off his shirt, revealing the broad planes of muscles that were now so familiar and beloved to me. I ran my palms over his chest and down the ridges of his stomach, reaching for the placket at the front of his jeans. As quickly as I could, I tugged down the zipper and took him into my hand.

  He groaned, a low rasp that sent shivers over my skin and made my heart race. As I stroked him, he propped himself over me on his elbows, his body shuddering with pleasure.

  Finally, it was too much. I couldn’t wait anymore. “Now, Lachlan.”

  He stripped off the rest of his clothes and moved over me, sinking into me with perfect grace. Pleasure overtook me, controlling my body as I found a rhythm that matched his. Time and space hadn’t been able to keep us apart, and the beauty of it made tears spring to my eyes.

  As the ecstasy coiled tight within me, I wrapped my legs around his waist and clutched him to me, never wanting to let him go.

  15

  Eve

  * * *

  The next morning, Lachlan and I woke tangled in each other’s arms. We didn’t talk of the night before because there was no need for words. What had been so difficult between us no longer was—except for the bone-deep knowledge that I would die today.

  “Why do you have that look on your face?” he murmured.

  I had a dream that the seer visited me.

  In fact, I think she really had visited me, using some of her magic to make contact through my dreams. But I didn’t say it. There was no need to confirm for him that the prophecy would come true. It was just depressing.

  In the last twenty-four hours, I’d learned so much. There was far more at stake than I’d realized in the beginning—not just my life and the Maker’s threat of growing so powerful that he could cause untold damage, but the lives of the dire wolves.

  Not to mention the past with Lachlan. I didn’t want to waste his sacrifice by failing now.

  “Nothing,” I murmured. “Just thinking about our past. How happy and sad it was.”

  He nodded, believing my story. It was mostly true, anyway. I was thinking about those things. “We should get up. Time to go.”

  As much as I wanted to linger in bed all day, it wasn’t going to happen. I had important work to do, and it had waited far too long. Over a thousand years too long.

  I gave him one last kiss, then climbed from the bed and took a quick shower. When I was finished, I dressed quickly and found Ralph in the kitchen. He’d created some kind of monstrosity of chocolate and eggs that made me grimace.

  What? They complement each other perfectly.

  “You’ve got no idea what you’re talking about,” I replied, but fretted to myself. Who would take care of Ralph when I was gone? Surely Carrow would, having a raccoon familiar of her own. Ralph and Cordelia had been sneaking off into corners lately, whispering to each other. I wasn’t sure if they were committing crimes or falling in love. Probably both.

  I made you some.

  “Um.”

  Without chocolate, because you’re a heathen. He pointed to the pan on the stove, and I spotted a pile of scrambled eggs that nearly overflowed. I made a dozen and a half, just like you like them. Some for Lachlan, too.

  I was pretty sure I could eat all eighteen, but I saved some for him anyway. What was love if not sharing half the eggs?

  He joined us a minute later, and after eating, we rose to get started on the day.

  We’d agreed that we would begin our ascent of the mountain at midafternoon, shortly before the moon was meant to rise. It would be stupid to attempt the greatest challenge of my life without the moon in the sky to provide me with extra power. Fortunately, it was going to rise early tonight—several hours before sunset.

  Lachlan joined me as I spent the next hours crafting potion bombs for my friends and whoever accompanied us. Ours would be a dangerous journey, and making potions was the only thing I could think to do that would help us. Maybe our companions wouldn’t need the bombs at all, but I needed something to do with my hands, and this made me feel useful.

  “Can I help?” Lachlan asked.

  I gave him sets of empty glass bombs and told him to fill them up with the potions I created. Together, we made a good team. I was able to make more bombs than I would have otherwise, and it just made me appreciate how much we’d worked together in our past life, and now in this one.

  He was the perfect partner.

  And it broke my heart that I might be leaving him soon. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced away the sad thought, focusing my attention on the work ahead. It kept my mind blessedly occupied, thank fates, because I couldn’t allow those thoughts to drag me to madness with the curse.

  When it was time to go, I handed off some of the packed bags of potions to Lachlan, and then we went down to the main sitting room. Ralph and Cordelia shared a chair by the fire, and I smiled at them. Carrow was already with them, and Mac and Beatrix came barreling in the door a moment later.

  “Quinn’s right behind us. So is Seraphia,” Beatrix said.

  “Thank you.” I prayed my friends would be okay today. I didn’t mind risking my own life, but I hated to risk theirs.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Mac said.

  “You can read my mind without touching me now?”

  “I can’t quite do that even with touching you. But I don’t need to be a psychic to tell that you’re worried about us. I know you.”

  “Yeah, well, the Maker is dangerous.”

  “So are we.”

  I huffed a small laugh and handed out the bags of potion bombs that I’d brought down. I even gave Ralph and Cordelia two each, and the delight on their faces brought on another small laugh.

  “Can I join?” A masculine voice sounded from the door, and I looked up to see Garreth. What was Lachlan’s brother doing here? “I’d like to help.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  Garreth nodded and walked in. “I owe Eve, after all.”

  “You don’t.” I’d saved him from the curse, but that didn’t mean he owed me. I didn’t want anyone to owe me for fixing something that was my responsibility in the first place.

  But just the thought of the curse made pain stab through my head. I cried out and reached up to my temple, feeling the fuzzy thoughts that accompanied a bad bout.

  Lachlan hurried to my side and gripped my shoulders. “You’re okay. It’ll pass.”

  I clung to him, trying to breathe deeply as I felt my mind go in and out. The faces of those that I’d fought to save drifted to the front of my thoughts, making agony rise in my chest.

  I’ll save you.

  Fates, this was terrible.

  Gasping, I looked up. “Are my eyes black?”

  He nodded.

  I looked at Carrow. “Have the witches dropped off another potion?”

  “Yeah. I’ll get it.”

  As she ran from the room, I worked on my breathing, trying to slow it as I focused on good things—how I felt about my dire wolves. My friends. Lachlan.

  But those were strong emotions, too, and they just made the madness sink its claws in even deeper. A dark rage began to rise in my chest, and I clutched at it, digging my fingernails in over my heart, hoping that the pain would focus my mind.

  It helped, but only a little. The nearly overwhelming rage still seethed within me, making me want to go on a rampage through the tower, destroying everyone I saw.

  The thoughts were so strange and foreign that they made my stomach lurch. My soul rejected the idea of attacking my friends, so much so that I choked, nearly retching on Lachlan.

  “Here!” Carrow raced into the room and shoved the potion into my hands.

  I took it and gulped it down, sucking in a grateful breath as I felt the rage and fuzziness recede. “Thank you. That really helps.”

  “Your eyes are normal again,” Lachlan said.

  “Thank fates.” I turned to the others in the room. Quinn and Seraphia had arrived while I’d been having my attack, so everyone was here. “I think we should go before this wears off. The last one didn’t work as long as the first did.”

  The others nodded, and Carrow drew two transport charms out of her pocket. Garreth nodded at us, then said, “I’ll transport with the others outside.”

  “Others?” I asked.

  “The pack, of course.”

  I walked to the window and looked out at the massive group of people standing in our courtyard. “Holy fates.”

  “You’re part of our pack,” Lachlan explained. “Even if you’ve got your own now.”

  “Thank you.” My heart swelled. I recognized some of the people from my childhood, but others I’d never seen before. It appeared to be the entire population of the Guild City pack that was old enough to fight. There were even some alphas from the other packs here to support me. Wow. “Hopefully, the Maker will be more interested in me and won’t have his demon army.” In a perfect world, the shifters wouldn’t have to risk their lives at all.

  “It’s fine if they’re there, we can handle them,” Lachlan said.

  “Thank you.”

  “Of course. I’ll go with you to the mountain, and then I’ll return to help establish a portal to the correct place.”

  I nodded, then turned to Carrow. She handed me a transport charm and kept one for herself. “I’ll come with you, too, so I know how to bring the others back.”

  I nodded and hurled the charm to the ground, then took their hands. Together, the three of us stepped into the portal. The ether sucked us in and spun us around, spitting us out partway up the ridge known as the Sleeping Warrior.

  The late-afternoon sun gleamed brightly on the mountain above, far too cheery a scene for the task that awaited us. We were at the more barren part of the mountain, as high up as I dared take us. As I recalled, the area above was fraught with challenges meant to test my worthiness to reach the highest point of the mountain—the folded hands of the warrior that rested over her heart.

  “Got it.” Carrow looked at Lachlan. “Shall we go back and lead the others here?”

  He nodded and gave me one last quick, hard kiss before following her through another charm. I waited for the briefest moment alone on the mountainside before Ralph arrived, and together, we stared up at the peak.

  Can’t believe your crown is there.

  “Were you not with me in my first life?” I asked. “I don’t remember you.”

  Nope. I’m a modern-day gift.

  “A gift?”

  I call it like I see it.

  “I can’t argue with you there.”

  A moment later, people began to appear. Lachlan came through first, along with Garreth. They’d established a more permanent portal, and the shifters were able to walk through quickly. I had vague memories of dangerous challenges, and I didn’t want them to face them if they didn’t have to.

  Once everyone had arrived, I climbed up on a small outcropping to address my army. “Thank you for coming. I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me.”

  There was a low murmurer of sound, and I caught snippets of phrases like of course and you’re pack.

  “There will be challenges ahead,” I said. “They’re meant to keep me from getting to the crown. I need to pass through them, but you don’t have to. As long as you follow as close as you safely can, you’ll be greatly appreciated backup in case the Maker brings more of his demon army.”

  “Miserable bastard,” Mac muttered.

  I cracked a smile, then turned to look up at the mountain. It was steep and somehow appeared even darker at the top.

  One last time, I turned back to the crowd. “Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart.”

  With murmurs and nods of agreement from the crowd, I turned to begin my ascent, looking toward the horizon when I felt the pull of the moon. The pale moon was beginning to rise in the blue sky, and I welcomed its comforting presence. Strength flowed into my soul, giving me an extra bounce to my step.

  The wind rustled softly across the slope as we climbed the narrow, nearly non-existent path between boulders and rock outcroppings. We’d left the trees behind long ago, and eventually, even the grass faded away.

  The mountain became so steep that it was nearly impossible to walk upright. Soon, I had to use my hands and knees. When the Maker’s dark magic cracked around us, I stumbled.

  “He’s here.” I whirled around, searching for him.

  Though the Maker himself was nowhere to be found, more than a hundred demons had appeared. They were all different species, with skin tones ranging from burnished orange to a dull, pale gray, and their magic lit the air as they began to hurl smoke bombs and other blasts of magic at us.

  The shifters, who had nearly all transformed into their animal selves to make the journey easier, charged the demons. Throwing themselves between the horde and me, they provided me with a chance to keep going toward the top. Eleanor, the leader of the Shifters’ Council, turned to me and jerked her head up the mountain, indicating that I should continue on.

  I hated to leave them to the battle alone—just watching them charge the demons and take hits of smoke bombs was enough to twist my heart—but Lachlan grabbed my arm and pulled. “Come on,” he said. “This is what they signed up for. They knew their job was to fight the Maker’s army to give you a chance to get the crown. Let them do it.”

  I drew in a ragged breath and nodded.

  My own guild had stayed at my side, and Carrow met my gaze. “Do we stay and fight or accompany you?”

  “Come with me,” I said, remembering the challenges from the past. I’d need their help to make it the last half-mile.

  She nodded, and the five other members of the Shadow Guild followed me up. I led the way, with Lachlan bringing up the rear. Carrow, Mac, Beatrix, Seraphia, and Quinn stuck to the middle. As we climbed, I kept looking behind to watch the shifters in their fight. Every time one of them took a hit from a demon’s magic, it felt like my heart would tear in two.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17