Chapter 41
“No!” Bran cried out. He went to the ground with Evangeline, banding one arm around her, and threw the other out. He screamed a spell he never thought he’d use. One his mother told him he would have use to in order to save him and the one he loved, but he hadn’t believed because he never thought he’d leave his own world.
She taught it to him when he was young, told him it would only work in a realm that was long since dead. It would bind a creature there, make it impossible for it to escape.
The ancient words flowed from his mouth on compulsion, the memory of his mother crouched down next to him, helping him to memorize the spell.
A great power erupted from Bran and Zariha arched up, Merova’s sword still stuck in his ribs as black blood poured from his body.
Zariha screamed, his back bowing as the shadows at his feet fused into the very ground they stood on. Instead of him bursting into shadows, his skin grew denser, glossier. Then he solidified, the sound dying in his chest as Bran’s magic whooshed around him in a whirlwind of light.
The spell ended and Bran looked down at Evangeline, whose eyes barely stayed open as she stared up at him.
He felt her body dying and he gulped. “You can’t leave me, Eva.”
“Don’t want to,” she whispered. “Not gonna make it.” She let out a shuttered breath.
“No,” he cried out, placing his hand at the gaping hole in her side. He pushed every ounce of healing magic in her as he could muster. Another spell his mother taught him, but told him never to use without an emergency. That any magic used in front of the people of Silvertail Ridge would doom him. Sylvan magic only scared the werewolves.
Bran looked up at Nate. “Take her. Please.”
Nate scooped Evangeline into his arms and Bran stood, pulling the ax from his thigh. He swung it with his mind, a great arch through the air, biting deep into the statue Zariha had turned into.
He shattered, falling in pieces on the ground.
Preston rushed forward and shoved Bran back as he threw his other hand over the mess, sending fire so hot Bran had to back away. He took Evangeline into his arms as Robert and Tremaine both poured more magic at the remains.
In that moment, nothing else mattered. Evangeline was slipping away, and he knew he had only one chance to save her.
“I’m not letting you go,” he murmured, then started the spell. He only hoped Evangeline would be okay with such an extreme solution, but it was that or lose her. He fused their souls together, binding them further than mating could.
* * * *
Merova knelt across from Bran and moved to touch both him and Evangeline to offer more magic.
“Don’t touch them,” Halstien warned.
“Why not?” Robert asked. “We need to take them away from here.”
“Let him bind her to him. She’ll heal. It may be the only way,” Halstien offered.
“Like you bound me?” Merova whispered.
He nodded. “Yes, like that. The blade, what did it do to her? Physical healing sealed the wound, but the blade did something specifically to Zariha, and now she’s fading away.”
Tears filled her eyes. “Removed his essence. She must be losing hers. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I only wanted to stop Zariha.”
“Let him bind her, then you may need to bestow her with another gift,” he murmured.
“Anything. She brought you back to me.”
* * * *
Nothing changed and Bran’s heart started to crack, ready to shatter.
No, no, no! he screamed in his head. Can’t be too late.
He’d lost his first love already. He couldn’t go through losing his mate.
Don’t hold onto me, Margaret whispered.
Bran looked up and saw her face, a beautiful smile on her lips. He wanted to say something to her, but grief threatened to suck him under.
Love her with all of your heart. I’m still there, but you were meant for Evangeline. I knew it then, and you were faithful to me. Don’t let me stand in your way. You can save her.
Could he have saved Margaret this way? Would it have worked?
No, it wouldn’t have. I knew from the beginning our time was limited. I was meant to move on from the world. Love her. Let me go. Margaret faded away, and he put his whole heart into the spell, doing his damnedest to bind Evangeline to him so completely that if she died, he would die, and vice versa. The way his mother assured him he would be one day.
Her chest paused for a long moment, then started an even rise and fall as he wove the spell tighter, pushing healing energy at the same time. Then the bond formed and he felt through her senses to where the pain was. His mother once told him how to rebuild the damaged tissue of an injury.
All the things his mother taught him, but told him not to use until absolutely necessary. He had a million questions.
Soft fingers caressed his cheek as he finished the spell. He opened his eyes to find her crystalline stare.
Relief flooded Bran. “You’re alive.”
“And whole,” she uttered in a husky tone. “I love you.”
“Good, because I just bound you to me so thoroughly I literally won’t live without you.”
She blinked, her head tilting. “What?”
He dropped his head. “Hope you don’t mind. It’s the only way I knew for sure to save you, and prove you are it for me. I love you. With all my heart.”
Tears fell down her face and he brushed them away.
“Don’t die on me, Eva. I won’t survive.”
“I’m not. I love you too.”
He kissed her lips.
Halstien chuckled. “Guess we don’t need to help after all.”
Merova sniffled. “They’re so beautiful together. Reminds me of us in the beginning.”
“I still love you that much and more.”
Bran cleared his throat. “Doubt anyone can love someone as much as I love Evangeline.”
Robert announced, “Now, we need to go to Ceridwen.”
Bran and Evangeline reached over to touch his leg, then everyone else joined and they were somewhere else.