She tied some in knots, untied others that had become a tangled mess, and repaired ones that had been broken.
There were thousands of threads that needed attention, and the minutes turned to hours as she quietly worked.
Shem grew increasingly bored as we waited, and I knew he was itching to bitch at Hecate to hurry up. I gave him a stern look, and he sighed, leaning against the wall with a dramatic roll of his eyes.
My lip twitched at his quiet obedience.
Things had certainly changed between us, and I couldn’t wait to get this threat under control so we could focus on exploring the new dynamic that was our relationship.
After several long hours, there was a rush of magic—like a metaphysical dam had been broken—and all of a sudden, Willow’s dull, haphazard energy seemed to finally align into a more healthy flow.
Hecate braided a few more strings together, and before our very eyes, Willow’s broken body righted itself, and all of her chakras flared back to life.
“Holy shit. She did it,” Shem breathed as Willow slowly sat up, her brown eyes wide with surprise.
“The pain is… gone.”She looked absolutely shocked. The little witch flexed her hands before her and crawled to her knees as if testing to see if her legs worked.
“Harper…” she breathed, her eyes filling with tears.
Hecate wasglowing.Her white hair was floating in a silvery curtain around her waist, and her face was shining with so muchloveand tenderness. Willow reached for her with shaking fingers, and I saw a shimmering golden chain that seemed to connect the two of them.
It glistened in the evening light, wrapping around them and drawing them into a tight hug.
“Thank you,”Willow whispered as Hecate embraced her.
“No need to thank me, Will. I’ll always be here to be your strength when you find yourself too tired to carry on. That’s what friends are for.”
I watched Luna break away from the circle to join them. She got to her knees, and Hecate and Willow opened their arms to welcome her back into their now-healed circle of three.
I glanced at Shemhazai, who was watching them with a look on his face I couldn’t quite place.
“He fucking corrupts everything he touches,” Shem whispered, watching the witches hold and console each other. Their bond burned strongly between them. Losing Willow would have been the equivalent of us losing Ram or Lilith. It would have been like breaking apart a family. From the look on Shemhazai’s face, he was thinking the same thing I was.
Willow had survived, but what if Raz turned his attention to our family next?
A determination like I’d never felt before brewed in my gut.
I would never let that happen.
No one was taking Shem from me.
I held my hand out to him, and he glanced down at it, his jaw flexing.
After a long moment, he slid his hand into mine and squeezed my fingers.
“I’m going to kill him,” I promised him, and his lips pursed as my vow hung heavily in the air between us.
“I’m going to kill him, and then I’m going to take you home.”
Shem’s eyes welled, and he gave me a curt nod before leaning in to brush his lips against mine.
“I trust you,” he whispered, and my heart swelled.
I trust you.
He might not have said I love you, but those words from Shemhazai almost felt like they meant more.
He trusted me.
