Hell's Bell (Lizzie Grace 2)

All souls but his.

“But she didn’t want to move on. She wanted to remain here, with her family, for all eternity.”

I frowned. “Why would she give up the chance of rebirth and future lives to remain in this life—in this place—forever?”

“Katie was a pretty special lady.” Just for a moment, Belle’s silvery gaze glittered with tears—both his and hers, given she was very connected to his emotions right now. “It’s unusual for werewolves to have any type of psychic ability, so she was never tested, but I swear to every god out there she had at least some precognitive skill.”

“Is that why she was so sure she would die?”

“I believe so.” He paused, and again tears rose. “It is also why she wanted to remain here. She said it was her destiny to protect this place.”

“What made you believe her? It could have been nothing more than the ramblings of a sick—”

“No,” he cut in. “I did a scrying. It confirmed what she saw.”

“So what sort of magic did you raise that she ended up in a pentagram with your athame stuck in her heart?”

Belle’s fingers twitched again, and the flow of strength from my body to hers began. We needed to end this soon—it took a lot of energy to maintain two souls in one body, and while it was extremely rare, if she was drained too far, it could lead to death.

And if she drained me too far, we’d both die.

“I found the remnants of a spell,” he said. “A very old spell—one that, if the notes were to be believed, could bind a soul to a place of power.”

“Such as a wellspring?”

“Yes. There was no guarantee it would work, of course, and I told Katie that, but she was adamant.” Belle paused again, and again her fingers twitched.

“Gabe, you need to hurry. Belle can’t take much more.”

“I’m aware of her strength, and I will not push her beyond her boundaries, I can assure you of that.”

I wasn’t assured, and frustration stirred, but there was little I could do to speed things along. Little except cast him out of her body, and I knew from her thoughts she didn’t want that to happen yet.

After a moment, he continued, “I studied the spell, prepared as much as I could, and we came to this place. This wellspring had only broken to the surface a few days before, and I hadn’t reported its presence because the binding spell could only be used when the power was very new and raw.”

“Did it involve a ritual sacrifice?” Because if it did, it could stain this place for eternity, even if neither Belle nor I could feel the slightest tendril of darkness within the clearing.

“Not as such, no. I raised the spell; she spoke the words of binding and commitment, and then the three of us—me, Katie, and the wild magic—picked up my athame, pressed it to her heart, and finished the binding.”

“Then why were your prints the only ones on your athame?”

“Because Katie placed her hands over mine, and, of course, wild magic has no prints. But I daresay its power resonates on the steel even today.”

That I couldn’t say, given it was undoubtedly still locked up in an evidence box somewhere. “What happened then? Why are you dead?” I hesitated. “Did you take your own life?”

It would certainly account for his ghost being here, but not for the lack of a body.

“No. Not deliberately, anyway.” Belle’s smile was full of sadness. “Both the spell and the wild magic were far more powerful than I’d expected. The binding consumed both my strength and my flesh, but I do not mind, given I now live in this place alongside my love, even if we can never be together as we once were.”

“So the spell was successful? She’s the presence we can sense in the wild magic?”

“Only in some of it. The protections I’d put around the old wellspring were in place when we unleashed the magic here, and it prevented a total fusion.”

“Meaning the wild magic from the old wellspring is now unprotected?” I already knew it was, but given he was here—if only in spirit form—I couldn’t help the vague hope that at least some of his magic remained to protect it.

Belle nodded. “The spells I placed around that area to protect it died when I did.”

I frowned. “So why does your magic linger here?”