CHAPTER 19
Clio sat in her car as the teen ballerinas exited Tera’s dance studio. Once all the cars had left the parking lot, Clio got out with the wolf in tow. He followed her inside. Tera turned around and smiled as she came toward them with a long, graceful stride. Dressed in a leotard and dance pants with her hair in a bun, she oozed natural poise.
“Can I help with anything?” she asked.
“No. I need to do this alone.” Clio sighed, hoping that hadn’t come off bitchy. “Is there any way you can leave me the keys? I can lock up and bring them back to you.”
Tera didn’t seem ruffled. She bent down to grab her dance bag. “Sure.” She fished through the duffel and pulled out a key ring. “The alarm code is written on the back of the ballet slipper charm.” She slung her bag over her shoulder and crossed to give Clio a hug. She met her eyes and smiled. “I hope whatever you’re planning works.”
“Thanks. Me too.”
Clio waited for Tera to leave before walking over to lock the door and turn off most of the lights. When she turned back around, the wolf was sitting facing her, panting. She knelt in front of him. “You have to trust me, okay?”
He licked her cheek with a playful spark in his eyes. Maybe Mason was in there someplace, after all. She walked to the mirror and sat down in front of it. The wolf did the same beside her.
Meeting his eyes in the mirror, she whispered, “Thank you for saving us from Pamela.” The wolf didn’t move, his gaze locked on hers. “You kept me safe, but now, I need Mason, just like in the fire.”
The wolf’s head tilted.
Clio said it again. “I need you both. Can you help Mason come back like you did before?”
Something flickered in the wolf’s reflection, like the glass had warped for a split second, but nothing changed. Clio opened her duffel bag, and the scent of Mason’s shirt brought tears to her eyes. She rubbed the fabric against her face and held it up for the wolf. He sniffed the shirt, his eyes on hers.
“Mason is a part of you, and you’re a part of him. It’s not either-or.” The wolf chuffed. She put the shirt aside and took out Mason’s hammer. “This is the hammer Mason used to break down the door of the theater after you allowed him to come back during the fire.”
She set it in front of the wolf. He bent to smell it, nudging it around on the floor with his snout. When he lifted his head and met her eyes, he tilted his head, and her heart exploded with emotion. His devotion was clear, but he didn’t understand what she was asking.
She held his face in both hands. “You saved me during the fire because you and Mason worked together. He stepped back so you could face Pamela. Now I need him to come forward again. Do you understand?”
The wolf raised his head out of her grasp and stared at the mirrored wall. Again, his image in the mirror shimmered, longer and slower than the last time.
Clio’s pulse raced. “Mason, if you can hear me, please don’t give up.”
Something was happening. The darkness in the void was lifting. Mason could see through the wolf’s eyes and he could hear Clio’s voice. He had no idea how long he’d been gone, but the wolf was…not weakening, but compromising. It gave him strength.
The wolf licked her cheek before dropping his gaze to the floor with a whimper. Mason’s entire body tingled as if he’d been asleep for far too long. The shift. It was coming.
He gripped the chance with both hands, his will like iron against the magic keeping him in animal form. The room around him became a reality instead of a vision through an animal’s eyes. The wood floor was cool under his hands and hard against his knees. He had knees! Human. Clio had done it.
Mason lifted his head and smiled at Clio’s reflection in the mirror. He was wearing the same clothes he’d worn to go save Maggie, restored exactly as he had been when the wolf had taken over. Clio scrambled into his arms, and he held her as tight as he could without cracking her ribs. He kissed her hair, her ear, her neck, her shoulder, and when she turned her head, he caught her lips, tasting them again and again.
He laid her back on the floor, his elbows on either side of her head as he rested on top of her. “How did you break the curse?”
She cupped his cheek, a warm smile lit her face and stole his breath. He’d never leave her again. Never.
“It’s not a curse, Mason. It’s a gift.”
He blinked, frowning. “I was trapped inside a wolf, darlin’. That’s hardly a gift.”
“Because you believe it has to be either-or, wolf or man. But what if you two can work together? What if you can become two halves of one whole?”
Mason’s pulse raced at the thought as he shook his head. “No. I’m never surrendering to the wolf again.”
She sighed, searching his eyes. “The wolf protected me just like you said he would, and he allowed you to come forward again because I told him I needed you.”
Mason got up, sitting beside her. “I’m glad he was good to you, but telling you good-bye was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’m not going to risk doing it again.”
“The wolf killed Pamela.”
Mason nodded. “I don’t know how I know that, but I do. I guess what he understands sinks into me, too.”
“He had the strength because she threatened me. Your inhuman strength carried over into the wolf.”
Mason pondered her words. “He was immune to her magic, and when she came after you, he also had my gift?”
“Yes.” Clio nodded. “The day after she died, Zack told me he sensed her leaving this mortal world and that any other immortals would have felt it, too.” Her eyes searched his. “Kronos could try to take revenge on us.”
Mason rubbed his forehead. “Damn.” He lifted his gaze to her face, his gut twisting into a tight knot. “You’re saying if Kronos or any other immortal comes after you, the wolf is the only one they won’t be able to fight with magic.”
Clio reached for his hand. “Exactly.”
“I just got here.” He laced his fingers with hers, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. “I’m not ready to give you up. I’ll never be ready for that again.”
She scooted closer to him, stretching up to kiss his cheek. “I’m never giving you up, Mason.”
He shook his head. “But you’re asking me to shift back.”
“Because I know you can return to me again. The wolf is part of you, not your enemy. He loves me like you do.”
“You don’t understand. I cease to exist. There’s this rush, a primal freedom, and then the man is gone.” He squeezed her hand. “I love you. I never thought I’d see you again.”
She stared into his eyes. “You already know how to surrender, so let’s practice stepping forward again.”
“This isn’t a game, Clio.” He got up and paced the length of the mirrored wall. “I’m not sure how I got back. I heard your voice.” He turned to look at her. “I can protect you.” He lifted his arm to expose the birthmark under his bicep. “The gods marked me for this. I don’t need the wolf.”
“Unless they marked you because of the wolf.” She got to her feet. “None of this is random, don’t you see?”
Shit. Could she be right? He was born into his curse, and if the gods marked him at birth to be Clio’s protector, could part of it have been because he was Lycan?
He ground his teeth. “What if I can’t come back?”
“You can, or I wouldn’t ask you to try.” She came to him and placed her hand over his heart. “You had the answer in the fire. When you told me that the wolf let you come back because he knew he wouldn’t be able to get me out of the building? That’s the key. I’m his mate. He wants me to be safe, just as you do.” She rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him. Staring up into his eyes, she whispered, “I love you, Mason. I just want you to be whole. You’re not cursed. You’re powerful.”
He heaved a sigh and turned away, noticing his surroundings for the first time. “Where are we?”
“Tera’s dance studio. I was hoping the mirrored wall would help.” She went over and sat on the floor next to her bag. “I brought some of your things. I think the wolf finally understood I was asking for you to come back.”
He came over and knelt beside her, watching his reflection in the mirror. “Sorry if I was an asshole. I forgot to thank you for not giving up on me.”
“I’m too stubborn to give up.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. The disappointment was impossible to miss. But she didn’t understand the terror of ceasing to exist. How could she?
Except what if she was right about the immortals seeking to avenge Pamela’s death? How would he live with himself if Clio was hurt because he was unwilling to shift?
Not unwilling. Afraid.
The truth hit him like a truck. The real curse would be to keep living in fear.
Fuck that.
He bent over to pick up his hammer and gripped it tightly in his hand. “How did this bring me back?”
“I let the wolf smell your shirt, and I showed him the hammer you used to get me out of the burning theater.”
He sat beside her, placing his hammer on the wood floor. “You think it’ll work again?”
“I do, but you’re the one shifting.” She rested her hand on his thigh. “You told me you thought I had a lion inside me, and I didn’t buy it, but when the wolf ran into the water park, I could have waited like you told me to but I surprised myself and followed the wolf inside. We’re a team, Mason. I wasn’t going to let you face her alone.”
He leaned in to kiss Clio’s cheek, his heart galloping like a damned racehorse. “See you soon.”
Before she could answer, he caught a glimpse of his form in the mirror. The air rippled and his vision blurred, but instead of sinking into never-ending darkness, he could see the giant wolf in the mirror. He had no idea his wolf was so big. Clio looked like a child sitting beside him.
“Welcome back.” She ran her fingers down the wolf’s neck, and Mason could almost feel the sensation. “Is Mason there with you?”
He wanted to answer her, but the wolf didn’t understand. Instead, Mason thought about her laughter, her books, and his love for her, and suddenly, the wolf licked her face over and over until she giggled. She hugged him and then scooted back.
“Mason, can you hear me? Can you find your way back?”
The wolf faced the mirror, and his image wavered like a mirage, his body shifting back into a man.
Mason pulled in a deep breath and grinned at her. “It worked.”
“Are you tired?” she asked, concern lacing her tone. “Is shifting back and forth physically draining?”
“No. I feel great.” He opened and closed his hands, then met her eyes. “It was different this time. I could see through the wolf’s eyes.”
“Could you hear me?”
“Yeah.” He drew her into his arms. “I think you may be right. The wolf is a part of me.”
She pressed long, slow kisses up his neck, whispering, “I love you, Mason. All of you.”
And for the first time since he found out about his Lycan curse, he did, too.