She twisted her hands. “I did, but he still knew you were here.”
I lifted my eyes to my dresser’s mirror and gazed one last time at the exploding stars in my eyes. “He made his choice,” I said simply. “A clean break is the best way to deal with this.”
Tessa took a deep breath, pain evident on her face.
I knew that my heartache was written all over my expression. Despite trying to hide it and pretend that I was fine, she could see everything.
But it was, what it was.
After Klebus had taken me out of Jakub’s warehouse, Kaillen had returned to the fae lands to check on Barnabas and Fallon. Apparently, Jakub had been able to sense them in the forest, with whatever powers he’d harvested from his zombie supernaturals that had given him such extreme magic. He’d knocked all three of them unconscious with his stolen power, not an easy feat to do to someone such as Kaillen, but that was why their power had diminished in those final moments and I hadn’t been able to use it to see Jakub through his cloaking spell.
But the hunter had woken first, healing faster than his friends, so he’d transported back to earth to rally the SF before they’d stormed Jakub’s warehouse while Barnabas and Fallon remained unconscious in the fae lands.
I didn’t fault Kaillen for returning to check on his friends right after what had happened in that warehouse, not at all. But what hurt so damned much—what hurt so intensely that I couldn’t breathe every time I thought about it—was how he’d looked at me in that room. With such finality and grief. As if he agreed with his wolf and thought his mate was dead, even though I’d been standing right in front of him.
Not surprisingly, Kaillen had disappeared after returning to the fae lands, and I hadn’t heard from him in those first twenty-four hours. No response to my texts. No calls. I’d initially tried to reassure myself, telling myself that he was still in shock, that it would wear off and he’d realize that his wolf just needed to learn that I was still here. I wasn’t dead.
But then day two passed and nothing came. So I started telling myself that he’d gotten caught up with his friends’ care. Maybe something bad had happened to Barnabas and Fallon, and Kaillen was so consumed with ensuring they were safe that he couldn’t get in touch with me.
I’d managed to keep it together because I’d convinced myself of those beliefs, but then Commander Klebus had told me that Kaillen was back on earth and had been since only a few hours after leaving Jakub’s warehouse. She’d seemed surprised about my concern for Barnabas and Fallon, stating they’d been conscious and fine when Kaillen had returned to check on them.
And how had she gotten a hold of him? His phone. When she’d called him, he’d answered. In other words, he was responding to other people. Just not to me.
My throat closed up again just thinking about it. The rational side of me told me not to hate him. Because his wolf truly thought his mate was dead. I was no longer who his wolf craved, so of course, Kaillen no longer felt the same for me.
It was exactly as I’d always feared. His feelings had been manufactured by his wolf, and now that his wolf no longer wanted me, the hunter didn’t either.
That deep, unfathomable pain opened up inside me again. With trembling fingers, I grabbed my brush and tore it through my hair one last time before I faced my sister. Tessa and I were no strangers to loss. We’d lost our parents. We’d lost our distant relatives. We’d lost home upon home growing up. Yet we’d survived.
And I’d survive this too.
But one thing I couldn’t survive? Seeing that look on Kaillen’s face again. That look of anguish, grief, and confusion. No. That, I wouldn’t subject myself to again.
“Don’t you think you should talk to him?” Tessa asked gently as we walked into the living room toward the front door.
“Why, so he can reject me again?” I grabbed my purse off the table by the door. “His wolf thinks his mate is dead. You know what it’s like for male werewolves once their mate dies. They never love again.”
“But you’re still alive!”
“Try telling his wolf that.”
Her brow furrowed, sympathy clouding her expression. “Why would he stop by to see you last night, and then again this morning, if he didn’t care about you at least a little bit?”
My lip quivered, but I pulled it into my mouth and bit hard, using the pain to distract me so tears wouldn’t form in my eyes. “Didn’t you say that he had all of my bags with him this morning?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Then I think it’s pretty obvious why he came. He wanted to return my stuff.”
Tessa gave a single nod, sadness still evident on her features.
I sighed. “Let’s go. It’s gonna be another long day at the SF.”
She linked arms with me, and I leaned on her. Leaned on her so hard. Because for the first time in my life, I wasn’t the strong one. I was splintering apart inside, my inner soul shredding bit by bit, and I needed her to keep me together, to keep me from breaking until enough time had passed and my heart could heal.
She locked the door to our apartment behind us and pocketed her key. I whispered the spell to activate our new ward. True to his promise, Azad—Prisha’s father—had cast iron wards around our apartment’s entire perimeter while I’d been in Ontario.
In my purse, my cell phone buzzed, and I pulled it out to see a text from Prisha.
I’m swinging by as soon as you finish at the SF today. Just let me know when you’re done. I’m there.
My lip trembled again as I replied with a heart emoji. It was the only response I could muster as my soul tore a little bit more. Prisha knew how fragile I felt at the moment. The concern in her eyes, as she and Tessa had hovered around me last night when I’d learned that Kaillen had stopped by, had nearly undone me. I may no longer have a mate, but I had the most fiercely loyal friends and family that a girl could ever hope for, and I loved them so much it hurt.
The ward around our apartment settled into place, and we set out. Halfway down the stairs, Tessa’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out and frowned. “Archie just got in touch.”
My feet made loud stomps on each stair. Without my wolf, I was no longer a silent predator. A deep ache filled me again. My wolf was gone—dead—and I missed her so fucking much.
I shook my head as I tried to snap myself out of my grief. “Who’s Archie?”
“He’s the SF member from my safe house who was going to search in the libraries for me, remember?” She opened his text and began reading it, then stopped, a gasp escaping her. “Tala!”
She grabbed my arm and stopped me halfway down the last flight of stairs. “Read this.” She shoved her phone into my hand.
My brow furrowed as I read Archie’s text.
I have findings to report. I found a spellbook in the libraries that speaks of an ancient spell that can create glowing tattoos on a recipient that allows their magic to be siphoned.
And I also found two documents in the libraries about the Bone Eaters. They weren’t easy to find. I had to enlist the help of a gargoyle scholar, but apparently there are a few ancient documents that speak of a group called by that Bone Eaters name. They’re supposedly from a lost realm, an ancient civilization that once roamed earth yet heralded from a different universe, like the fae realm does. But several thousand years ago that realm was lost and their kind disappeared along with the terrible magic they commanded. Nobody has seen or heard of them since.