That had been what he needed after all. He felt a thousand times better and he and his wolf were back on the same page communicating and operating as the team they were. Things didn’t look so hopeless anymore either. He knew now that his mate wasn’t rejecting him. Jericho was simply saying he was sorry that he had left so soon and that he wasn’t sure if he’d make it out alive this time. Brogan knew with every fiber of his being that Jericho was fighting to hold on, just as he was fighting to bring him back.

“Cadence?” Rook called from her front porch where he stood pulling on his shirt he’d grabbed from the pile of clothes they all left there for such occasions.

“I was hoping you would come see me today.” Cadence called from somewhere inside. “I”ve got to talk to you both.”

Brogan took one more deep breath of the fresh forest scent before shifting back and getting dressed. He quickly pulled on the clothes and walked on rough wooden floors in his bare feet, hoping he didn’t get a splinter.

“You look like you need this.” Cadence handed Brogan a glass of pale blue liquid. “Drink quickly it will be better that way.” She turned and handed a small bottle to Rook. “This is for your mate. It’ll banish the last of the hangover and cure what ails him and his wolf.  Next time go easy with it. I’ve already given some to Deader so don’t worry about him.”

He listened with half his attention as he studied the odd liquid he was supposed to be drinking with the rest. How had she known the three of them would need this and how did she get some to Deader already? She scared the hell out of him sometimes.

“Rook what are you waiting for? Go your mate needs this now. Brogan stop analyzing it and drink it down. It’s better if you do it quickly, there can be quite a nasty after taste as well.”

She’s poisoning me he thought as he did as he was told and raised the glass to his lips. The smell almost made him gag. He squeezed his eyes closed, held his breath and drank it as quick as he could. It was lumpy, cold and thick. It took every ounce of his willpower not to throw it right back up, but after a moment his stomach settled and he relaxed.

“You did much better than Deader. He dry heaved when I gave it to him this morning.”

“Can I ask a stupid question that for some reason never occurred to me till right now?”

Cadence rolled her eyes, “Yes, I have similar powers to Jericho. I can move from place to place. I don’t do it often because it’s not one of my stronger powers, but I can and do use it upon occasion.” She moved to sit in an old rocker and nodded towards a chair opposite her. “Have a seat and tell me about your dream.”

Brogan didn’t even question it anymore, he resigned himself to the fact that the Priestess knew everything. It was much simpler that way. He sat down and spent the next few minutes once again explaining all that he remembered.

“It would seem that things are much worse than I had expected, but also much better as well.” Cadence rocked in her chair and stared off into space as she mumbled incoherently to herself for a few moments.

“I had an idea also. Tallulah Mae summoned a demon, why can’t we do the same thing and summon Jericho?”

“That would require a blood sacrifice of large amounts and depending on the broker other things as well. Tallulah had to give things you wouldn’t even imagine to have summoned the demon she did, especially with the amount of power he held.  To get Jericho would be even higher since who holds him won’t give him up easily.”

“There has to be a way. Jericho doesn’t think he’s going to make it out of there. I can’t leave him, I won’t leave him there. It’s not fair the fates gave me my mate just to take him away hours later. I won’t accept that there is nothing we can do.”

“Calm down, I didn’t say that. But I am pleased to know you are willing to fight for him and have accepted he is your mate.”

Brogan opened his mouth to reply, but she’d caught him off guard. Why wouldn’t he fight for Jericho and had she thought he’d reject him?

“I can see your thoughts. All I meant is that the signs were there for me to see he was your mate, but I did not know if you’d accept it without a fight. You have a connection that is unheard of, yet it’s there. I’ve no doubt you belong together and will be soon. I too won’t give up.”

“Was it a dream I had? It felt so real.”

Cadence shook her head no slowly and sighed, “I’m afraid not. Your defenses were down, you were able to connect through your bond and see.”

“We haven’t mated, how can we have that strong of a bond. For that matter, I’ve never heard of being able to see each other like that before.”

“He’s not a shifter, Brogan. You have to stop thinking of this in those terms. All you know is thrown out the window now. You are on a whole different playing field now. He’s half demon after all. You do have a bond already and it will only continue to grow over time, as soon as you admitted he was your other half the bond clicked into place.”

Brogan fell silent as he contemplated all that he’d learned from Cadence over the last half hour. He really wasn’t sure where to go from here. Every time he thought they were getting somewhere it failed. Now time was running out and here he sat with his thumb up his ass being useless.

“What do we do now?”

“We keep thinking. We’ll find a way. Don’t give up, keep your faith and believe we will. Until then we brainstorm and research same as we’ve been doing.”