“Give her to me, cousin, and dress yourself. We will take her back to Sebastian to heal her.”
I peel her body from mine as gently as I can even as she grasps at me and begs.
“And Luca! Take me back to Luca. I need him!”
I nod woodenly at her, ready to give her anything she needs to save her from the broken creature she’s become as I pass her to Finn and pull on my clothes.
“No, lass. You have ta stop doing that. You’ve shredded your arms!” Finn tells her when she keeps snapping the band against the bloody skin on her arm.
“C-can’t…need to…think! Need…the pain…to think.” She tells him and tries to pull away.
He pulls her closer and rips the band from her arm, dropping it to the ground.
“No, sweetheart, we have you now. You dinnae need it any longer. I promise we will take care of you and give you all you need.”
Fingers of one hand curl into claws, bunching the fabric of his shirt but she’s still holding something in the other with a white-knuckled grip.
“I need to go back, back to him. He needs me to go back!”
As soon as I’m dressed I move to them and try and pry her fingers from the object she’s holding without hurting her. She shrieks at me and struggles to pull away.
“NO! No, you can’t have it! It’s mine. She gave it to me so I can come back on the right day! It’s mine!”
Finn shoves me away with one arm, keeping Eden secured in the other.
“Of course it’s yours. We willna take it from you, lass. Cade only meant ta look at it.”
He soothes her in a calm voice that has some of the mania dimming from her eyes. He looks down at her clutched hand with a frown.
“Does it help you work the mirror? Is that why you managed to return so soon?”
A wide smile filled with madness crosses her face. “Yes! Yes, I can control the time now. I can come back to any day I want. I can come back to Luca.”
He nods at her encouragingly with a tight smile. “That’s so good, lass. And who was the one who gave it ta you, then?”
Her laugh rings of insanity, causing shivers to run down my spine.
“My aunt! She sent it to me to find my way.” Her mad smile dims and a look of confusion crosses her face and her voice lowers to a whisper. “She…she said…something, something about a sacrifice…to fix…to fix…”
Finn’s worried eyes clash with mine. We need to get her back to Sebastian so he can heal her but the way she seems fixated on getting to Luca and now hearing about a sacrifice, I’m starting to believe she may be a danger to us after all.
Eden
I’m going back to him. My wolves are taking me back to Luca. I’ll be okay, everything will be better as soon as I’m back with him. My tense body slowly relaxes back against Finn who holds me tightly against his chest with one arm as we ride. His other arm holds my hand to keep me from scratching at my welts but I don’t feel the same urge to snap my wrists now that they are taking me back to Luca. My other hand holds tightly to the compass that I can’t seem to let go of. When the road we are traveling on leaves the trees and crests a hill, I recognize the field of flowers and the lake they brought me to when I came here on my second trip except it now has a huge house built next to it. A house I dreamed of where we could spend our lives together and I know they built it for me. Finn brings our horse to a stop and jerks his head forward at Cade. When he rides down the hill without us I surge forward in the saddle to try and get us moving. Luca is down in that house, I know it. I need to go there. I need to get back to him!
“Easy, lass. We’re going ta them, I promise. Cade’s just riding ahead to let them know so they’ll be ready ta greet you.” He tells me in a soothing tone.
My head nods with a wobble. “K, need, need to go back to him,” I whine in a tired voice and let my head fall back against him as he nudges the horse forward. I’m so tired and I feel so weak. I just know everything will be better when I get back to Luca.
We ride into the cleared yard and Finn helps me down from the horse but still keeps a tight hold on me. My head swims with dizziness and my ankle throbs so I know without his support I would topple to the ground. A tall man with shockingly bright red hair accepts the horse’s reins to lead it away but pauses in surprise when he catches sight of my face. Something about him triggers a memory and I realize that the man is young Aiden all grown up.
“Aiden! It’s so nice to see you. Please tell Flora I’ll be there soon to help with the chores. I just need to get back to Luca first.”
His eyes widen a fraction in surprise and then fill with sadness. I catch Finn shaking his head quickly at him with a look I don’t understand but Aiden just nods at me and leads the horse away. I mean to question Finn to see what that was all about but then my feet turn to the house. I need to get back to Luca. I manage two steps when my knees give out on me but Finn is there scooping me up into his arms and carrying me the rest of the way to the door. Cade holds it open for us and right away I hear Luca screaming my name deeper in the house. My body stiffens and I cry out in need to go to him but Finn and Cade go in a different direction than where his voice is coming from. I fight against Finn’s hold as best I can but my body has no strength to get away.
“Quickly! Bring her here.”
They take me to a room and I see Sebastian waiting for us.
