“Bro? Are you hurt?” Donovan looks as stricken as I feel as he tries to run his hands over Wes's body.
Wes knocks him away. “Get off me.”
For a moment, I can’t breathe. My love. What can have happened to him?
“You’re safe now, Wes.” I take another step forward. “We’re all back together.” Tears flow down my face, I’m still so confused about his state.
Maximus comes and stands next to me. “Did you get fucked up down there, bro? It’s alright to freak out. We understand.”
Donovan frowns and waves Maximus away. “Give us a minute. Now, listen to me, brother,” he says quietly. “Whatever you’ve been through, it’s over now. We’re all together. Theo found us! Can you believe it? I know it’s been fucking shit, but we’re safe, you understand me?”
I take a few more steps forward, then put out a hand and gently touch Wes on the arm. He flinches, like my touch hurts him.
“Donovan,” he hisses between his teeth, “who’s this girl and why is she pawing me?”
This can’t be real. I move my hand back, it’s shaking.
Alexis pulls me back. “This is wrong,” he mutters under his breath. “Step away, Theo.”
Panic rises in my chest at his words
“Wes? My name is Alexis.” His voice sounds strained but gentle. “What’s the last thing you remember, Wes?”
“And what day is it?” Cosmo adds. “What year?”
Confusion crosses Wes's face. He looks at Cosmo, then at the trees, then back at his twin. “It's...it’s…” He trails off, his eyes narrowing at Donovan’s beard. “Is this a prank? Why do you have a beard? What’s going on?”
Donovan looks at me like the sky is falling.
My stomach muscles clench. “Do you truly not remember me?” I ask, my voice trembling.
Wes looks at me. Really looks at me.
There is zero recognition in his eyes. Just irritation.
“I’ve never seen you before in my life,” he says flatly. “Now, if you’re done being weird, I’m going back to the apartment.”
“Bro, no wait. Fuck…” Donovan looks desperate. “What are we going to do?”
“We keep going forward with the plan,” Alexis replies.
Shit, the plan. I was supposed to be taking the wards down. How can I worry about that when my Wes doesn’t even know me?
“The wards,pulu. Can you affect them?”
I pull my attention away from what’s going on, and start to concentrate on the wards instead. It’s complicated and sucks in all my focus, which is a relief.
After a while I can actuallyfeelthe spell that goes around the academy’s perimeter; amazingly, it’s interlaced with the molecules of air. Huh; taking the ward apart is like moving through a maze full of boobie traps.
It doesn’t take any spell work though, so I guess this is innate magic. “I can, but…it’s complicated. I’m not sure…”
Alexis pulls me close, holding me against his body. “Breathe with me. Let me help if I can.” His warmth calms my frantic mental motion. I can do this. “That’s it, beautiful,” he murmurs in my ear. “Just like dancing.”
He’s right! My hips begin to sway and I allow myself to fall deeply into the work. All the time aware of Alexis’s heat and firm hold on my body. “Good girl,” he says softly into the shell of my ear. “You’re doing so well.”
Time passes. I don’t know how long, until finally, sweaty and exhausted, the job is done.
“They’re down!” I gasp, eyes snapping open. “But I tripped a timer. We have five minutes before an alert goes out.”
