“I’m taking you,” Arianna notes.
“I’ll wait here for Sin,” Morgana adds.
Every motion feels like it’s slowing as I nod at Morgana. Arianna takes my hand, squeezing it tightly, and I look at my new friends one more time.
“Thank you, for everything,” I whisper.
And then we’re gone.
Chapter 46
Rule forty-six:Never give in.
I’m too overtaken with dread to feel any pleasure at being back in my old home. The cool Atlantic breeze whips at the tendrils of hair that have snaked loose from my braid, and my fighting leathers aren’t nearly warm enough to stop the frigid air. Or maybe that’s just me. I haven’t stopped having cold chills since Morgana sent away Sin.
Arianna and I wait on the beach, just below the surf shack. I tried to convince Arianna to return to the Shadow Realm after we arrived, and she plunged the beach into darkness in response.
It feels like a lifetime since I was here, tentatively hoping I wouldn’t fail miserably at surfing. I can barely recognize that girl, even though I know it’s only been a few weeks. I guess learning magic is real, being controlled by a corrupt magical government, andregaining all your memories from a past life will do that for you.
Or maybe the years of guided meditations finally kicked in, and this is me finding enlightenment.
Who knows?
We wait silently, each of us lost in our thoughts and listening for any possible sound. My hands rest on the hilts of my daggers, ready to spring at any sign of danger.
Need said she wants only me, but I’m not putting it past her to try something else.
We’re on edge.
We wait for a painstaking ten minutes before they come. Need, Leon and Rydon apparate before us. Need has Sarah bound before her, and Rydon drops an unconscious Conner while holding Isaac at knifepoint.
The bond flares to life and a sharp burst of heat spears through me. I gasp but stay standing. Arianna notices and links her arm with mine.
“What did you do to him?” I accuse, trying to see if Conner is okay.
Rydon rolls his eyes. “That one speaks too much. We knocked him out to shut him up.”
Sarah screams at seeing me, “Oh my god! Vivian! I’m so happy you’re okay!”
“Christ, Vivian. We’ve been terrified for you,” Isaac adds.
My heart swells. My friends have literally been kidnapped, and they’ve probably just learned magic is real, all because of me. But instead of being angry, they’re concerned.
Rydon slaps Isaac over the head, ordering him to shut up and Need places a hand on Sarah’s head before ordering her to sleep. Sarah collapses to the ground in a heap.
I swallow, knowing they’re ready to make the exchange. Small tendrils of fog lick at the corners of my mind. I don’t have long.
“Vivian, it’s time to end this charade. You are my fated. We have loved each other for millennia. You’re fighting an impossible battle. You can’t fight fate. You are mine,” Leon orders, not moving from beside Need.
It feels like the air is crackling from the tension until I realize it’s the energy from the mate bond buzzing against me. If there was any way to tell that Sin realized I’ve left, I’m guessing this is it.
We need to hurry.
“Leon, I remember everything. You loved a lie. Cassandra was never who you thought she was. I’m sorry she deceived you, but this love you are clinging to – it isn’t real. It never was.”
Leon’s eyes narrow, and he looks murderous as he steps forward. His tattoos start to glow a faint blue.
He did not like hearing that.
