Quale and Louis had been separated for most of their lives. I’d heard the stories, plenty of times. Louis’s family had been rich and powerful, but also cold. It was why he’d spent so much of his life at our house, because he craved the simple love of our family. Money and power definitely didn’t give you happiness, not when there was nothing else behind it. It always broke my heart that the brother he should have had in his corner had been so brutally stolen away from him.
I hoped now they would have a chance to develop a stronger relationship.
“He has us now too,” Jessa whispered. She was staring at me with a knowing expression. Damn me for never being able to hide my facial expression.
“I’m grateful for that,” I told her.
Louis’s energy surrounded me, and my body burned as he pressed his lips to mine. The others moved off the stage, but he stayed there, holding me tightly. “The truth is, I love my family, but you’re the only one I need to survive.” He said this so softly no one else could have heard it, not even those with extra-acute hearing.
I wanted to cry, but I’d done that a lot lately, and I felt like now was not the time to lose it. I had to be strong for what was about to come. For the huge risk Louis was taking to try to save our world.
“I really wish you didn’t have to do this,” I said just as softly, and despite my best intentions, my voice cracked.
Regret burned in his eyes. “Me too, love. But you have no idea how determined I am to make it back alive. We deserve a lifetime together, and I will not be robbed of that again.”
I needed to hear him call me love at least a billion more times, so I was holding him to that vow.
“Let’s do it,” I said, swinging around and dragging him off the stage. We got down to where everyone waited, and Louis did his thing and opened a doorway. On the other side, there was a veritable snowstorm going on, winds howling and temperatures at dangerous levels, even for supes.
Louis couldn’t waste any more of his energy, so I quickly whipped up a barrier, giving everyone a reprieve from the storm. It was immediately warmer as well, mostly because supes threw off a lot of heat. Especially the Compasses and their dragon souls.
Speaking of…
“Everyone step back,” Braxton said, and I could feel the shifter energy washing over him. He shucked off his clothes. Jacob, Tyson, and Maximus followed suit, and suddenly we were surrounded by naked guys.
“People would pay good money for this.” Jessa snorted in amusement. “Seriously. I could probably—”
She was cut off by her mate’s hand over her mouth, and even though he was smiling, his eyes were flashing heat. Jessa laughed so hard then, and when he released her she actually doubled over.
Her pack watched her with amusement before all four Compasses shifted into their dragons. I managed to widen my barrier just in time, because suddenly it was a tight squeeze inside.
“I’ll never get used to that,” Justice breathed, her eyes resting on the green-scaled beast closest to her. “I mean, look at them. Have you ever seen something so magnificent?”
Even for those of us raised in this world, dragons were not common, and to see four of them together like this… I understood her awe. I felt it myself.
“I’m going to start now,” Louis explained as the dragons lined up behind him. “I will use the dragon energy here to anchor my vessel. No matter what you do or see or feel”—he looked at me on that last word—“you have to promise that you won’t touch me. Or any of the Compasses. This is vital. You could be sucked into the spell, and then we’ll all be in trouble.”
Jessa snarled, but she didn’t argue. “Fine,” she said. “I promise not to touch you, no matter what.”
The others agreed, and then Louis rounded on me. “Tee? Love, I’m going to need to hear you say it.”
I shook my head. “Can’t promise you that, Louis. And before you say anything, you already knew I wouldn’t promise. If you need my help, I’m coming down that timeline.”
He wanted to be mad at me—I could see the worry and fear burning in the back of his eyes—but he didn’t bother. He knew me well enough to know I could be a stubborn asshole when I dug my feet in.
He just wrapped that hand around my neck again, like he had on the dance floor, possessively taking hold of me. “Worst-case scenario only, you got it? I mean … you wait until there is absolutely no other option and every possibility has been exhausted.”
“That I can promise,” I said softly.
He captured my mouth then, the kiss hard and unyielding. Our bond thrummed between us, tinged with desperation.Trust me.I swear the words hovered in the air between us, and it calmed me just a fraction. Enough that I could let him go and step back to stand with the girls. I magicked us all coats then, even though it was pretty warm in the barrier, mostly because I needed something to do while Louis started his spell.
I had no idea how he even knew the words that would shift timelines, but I was going to guess he’d studied it in the same book he’d used to bring the human and supe worlds together. I was going to burn that godsdamned book the next time I caught sight of it.
“He can do this,” Jessa said, her hand snaking out to hold mine. I could see she held Mischa’s on the other side, and Mischa held Grace’s. Justice had been a little away, but now she crossed over to me and with barely any hesitation took my other hand. The five of us remained in that line of support as we watched our mates. Our family.
This was going to be a battle for all of their souls, because the dragons were anchoring Louis, which meant if they slipped there was a chance they’d be dragged into the sea of the past, just like Louis.
All of their lives were at risk, and it was going to be a long wait to find out if they were strong enough.
