But this time—this time—I felt the zing of magic along my soul. I felt it reaching out—reaching toward her. I saw her past—bits I’d never seen before. I saw her with her brother dancing around her room in California like an idiot.
I saw her jogging down a path.
And then I saw her in class with Cosette’s sister beside her.
I saw the doctor. Her mother—Helen. I saw witches, and I knew what coven they were from.
New York. The same coven Claudia had trouble with.
“Finish the words! She’s passing over to the other realm. Do it now!”
Samantha’s words brought me back to myself.
“Knowing what I have to offer, will you accept me and this bond?” This time I didn’t wait for an answer. “With these words, the bond is complete. I share all my power with my mate.”
The bond slammed into place, and it hurt—my soul was back and so was hers and it was taking up way too much space. It was too heavy, too hot, and if it grew much more, I knew I would explode. There wasn’t enough of me to hold it inside.
I was screaming. I thought I was screaming, but then I realized it wasn’t me.
It was Tessa.
She was screaming.
Her heart was thumping hard—slow at first, but then speeding up. Her breath was coming harder, faster, and she was alive.
Oh thank God. She was alive.
I pressed my forehead to hers. She was still screaming, but I had to find a way to fix this. “Tessa? Please. How can I help? How—”
“God. Damn. It. That fucking burned. Felt like I was going to explode for a second.” Her hand came up, touching my cheek. “Dastien?”
A sob came out before I could stop it. “Do you remember—”
“Everything.” She slid out of my arms and tried to stand, but her legs couldn’t hold her yet.
She was moving too fast. She was too weak for this. “Wait.” I stood, wrapping my arm around her waist to give her some support while I poured power through her bond.
She jerked in my arms and then blinked up at me. “God. That’s like guzzling a twenty-four pack of Diet Coke all at once.”
I didn’t care. I would give her everything I had, and then I’d give her more. But I never wanted to be apart from her again. I brushed a kiss against her lips because she was here and alive and I could.
“Hey.” Her hand cupped my cheek. “It’s going to be okay. I love you, you know? I’m glad you figured my plan.”
I pulled away just enough to see her face. She had to be joking.
Her plan? This was her plan?
If that were true, then we were going to have a long talk about discussing plans before enacting them.
Steadier now, she stepped away from me. “Oh, good. Ev
eryone’s here. I love it when my plans work out.”
“What?” I screamed at her, but it wasn’t just me screaming—it was half the council.
She gave a little shrug as if telling us all it wasn’t a big deal. Which was complete garbage.
It was a very big deal. The hell I’d been through—that we’d all been through—she knew?