Savage Magic (26 page)

"Don't," I said, struggling to control myself. "Just don't."

He nodded and trudged to the desk to help his sister get Dr. Barrett to his feet. A moment later, they closed the door behind them. Mistress Raevinne and I were alone in the infirmary.

"I'm sorry." She released a long, heavy sigh, her gaze unwavering when I spun to face her, hatred scalding my throat.

"You have a funny way of showing it." I paced down the length of the aisle between the two rows of beds, restless and wanting to fight.

"A world of vampires and their human slaves. He has not given up on his plans."

"And I'm the only one who can stop him?" I slapped the back of the chair were Dr. Barrett had been sitting. "I find that hard to believe."

"Yes. And it will take all of you to do it."
 

"All of what part?" I clenched my fists. "My Were half? No, I didn't think so. Then nothing you have to say interests me because the only answer I want is how to fix what Aedodra broke."

"That riddle has no solution," she said gently.
 

I stared at her, my rage, fear and heartache choking me. I grabbed Dr. Barrett's chair and threw it as hard as I could. It hit the wall above the beds and exploded, showering broken metal, plastic and chunks of stone across the mattresses and floor.

Mistress Raevinne watched me, never flinching.

"Don't look at me like that," I yelled at her. "I don't want your pity!"

"You cannot ask me to feel nothing for one who has lost everything."

I balled my fists in my hair and fell to my knees, screaming. I didn't want to face this. I couldn't. I wanted to wake up and find it had never happened. That all of it had been nothing. A horrible nightmare.
 

I wanted my happy ending.

I fell forward, my face in my hands, crying uncontrollably. "I can't..."

Her hand touched my head and then she kneeled down beside me and wrapped her arms around me. "Yet you must."

I drowned in the anguish tearing me apart, sobbing into her shoulder as she rocked gently back and forth, her fingers stroking my hair. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but finally the tears slowed and then stopped. The loneliness that saturated my soul never would.
 

Mistress Raevinne eased me away and brushed the wet strands of hair from my cheek. Her eyes were soft with understanding, her expression touched with pride. "Joy widens our heart, but loss deepens it. Someday, when the suffering has dimmed, you will see the gift that loving someone has given you."
 

I was too spent to tell her I didn't believe her.
 

"You must be whole to be strong. You will go with my grandson and discover what gifts your mother has given you. Do you understand?"

My shoulders slumped as I bowed my head and nodded.

*
 
*
 
*

I stood at the gate, a backpack full of supplies slung across my shoulder, my Browning strapped to my thigh, my arsenal of anti-Were and vampire formula fully restocked. Miller had already said his goodbyes to Erika and Mistress Raevinne, who were staying until Dr. Barrett was on his feet. Then he and I had agreed to meet down the trail in a few minutes and he'd gone on ahead.

I watched Cooper coming across the empty compound alone.

He stopped in front of me, and I drank in the sight of him. His brown and black hair had more silver in it than before and I wondered what his Were form would look like now. "Maybe I should stay here and have Mistress Raevinne try to teach me," I said to him, not able to stop myself from grasping for that last scrap of hope.
 

"We can't be together." His silver-green wolf eyes reflected the deep mourning of the same loss pounding in the middle of my chest, but he held his back straight, his broad shoulders tense as if carrying the weight of a thousand lifetimes of tragedy. "But when the time comes, you won't fight Aedodra alone. Know that."

I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing my cheek to his chest. His arms came around me and we held each other as his heart beat strong and steady beneath my ear. How could I live without Cooper?

I pulled in the scent of him, of moonlight and meadows and love, and held it within me for a moment. Then I released my breath slowly. "I'll never forget you," I whispered.

His arms tightened around me. "I'll never stop loving you."

I stepped away and nodded, sniffing back tears. Turning, I strode through the shattered gate and into the woods. I didn't look back.
 

We'd done what we had to do to protect the people we cared about. That's who we were and always would be. And it was worth something. What we'd had together was worth something too.

Because
loving Cooper hadn't weakened me like I'd once feared. It had made me stronger. And like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of our sacrifice, my purpose flared into focus and sharpened into burning resolve in my heart.

Wherever I had to go, whatever I had to do, I would find a way to stop Aedodra.

And when I did, I would kill him.

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I hope you had fun reading
Savage Magic
.

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Thank you!

All the best,
 

Judy Teel

Book 4,
Dark Magic

In the works!