Chapter 3
Lisa paced back and forth in front of the bed where Verrian lay. There had to be a way to get Karla’s phone number. All her data was backed up to the cloud, she just needed a way to access it.
“Is something wrong?” Olivia asked, her voice worried.
Lisa stopped pacing and stared at them. “I need to call Karla, but I lost her phone number when I ditched my phone.”
Olivia’s face cleared. “You backed up, right?”
Lisa nodded.
“Then we just need a computer.” Olivia looked at Raven.
“Sure.” He disappeared for a few moments, then returned with a laptop. Lisa didn’t want to leave Verrian, even though she wasn’t sure that her presence achieved anything, so they set the laptop on the bedside table. Olivia fiddled with things for a while, then asked for Lisa’s login details. A few minutes later, she had Karla’s phone number.
Raven brought her the phone.
Lisa hesitated, she didn’t want to be rude, but…
“Give us a while, please,” she said. “This could take a couple of hours.”
Raven nodded immediately, though his eyes were curious. Olivia hesitated longer, looking disappointed. When Raven picked up the laptop, she heaved a small sigh, retreated and shut the door.
Once she was alone, Lisa dialled Karla’s number.
“Hello?” Karla’s voice was cautious.
Lisa was suddenly at a loss for words. “Hi,” Was all she could manage.
It was enough.
“Lisa? Is everything okay? I’ve been trying to call you, but your phone’s been ringing out.” There was a note of panic in Karla’s voice. “We’re seeing reports and photos of what looks like Ultrima flying over the city, but it’s so jumbled it’s hard to work out what’s going on.”
She didn’t know the half of it.
“No, we’re not okay,” Lisa said flatly. “Just about everything that could go wrong, has. Ultrima attacked Verrian, and I had to ditch my phone to be sure no one followed us. We’re safe for now, but I need to know how to help Verrian enter the Mesmer. He’s injured. Badly.”
She bit her lip. In reality, she should be asking whether there was some other way to heal him. But it was easy to excuse her lack of further questioning. She already knew there wasn’t. He could apparently heal a small amount of damage, but this was far worse than his last fight.
She had every excuse to not look for another option.
There was complete silence on the other end of the phone. Had they been cut off? Lisa’s heart skipped a beat. What if someone was listening in on her call? It seemed surreal, but then, nothing about this day had been normal.
Karla’s voice came back in a rush. “Are you somewhere safe? We need to come and get you. Where are you?”
Lisa didn’t want to say. Not over the phone. “We’re safe,” she said. “For now. But I don’t think you should come anywhere near the city. There are police everywhere, and it’s only going to get worse. What I need to know is how to heal Verrian. He might need his magic, or his ability to fly, maybe both. He definitely needs to be not dying. But I don’t know how. You need to tell me.”
“You’ve only slept together once, haven’t you?” Karla asked.
Lisa winced. She didn’t want to get into this. She already knew the risks. Had already decided it was worth it to help Verrian. But there was no avoiding the direct question. If she did, Karla would guess anyway. “No, twice,” she said quietly.
Somehow, saying it out loud made it seem far more real. Lisa’s heart thumped, and she wasn’t sure if it was from excitement or fear. Maybe it was because of the lure of the forbidden. That had always led her into trouble.
“Lisa,” Karla said earnestly, “you can’t sleep with him again.”
“What, do you think I’m going to let him die?” Lisa demanded. Her eyes filled with tears at the words. The thought of Verrian dying filled her with more dread than any of her fears of being tied to one person ever had.
Her voice shook, no matter how hard she tried to make it level. “Verrian and I will sort it out later. Just because we’re bonded doesn’t mean we’re, like, married. It’s just a magical tie, right? If we both agree to see other people, it doesn’t matter.”
“It’s not like that, Lisa,” Karla said, her voice so even and calm it drove Lisa mad. “You can agree to see other people, sure, but you won’t want to. It’s not just the physical bond, it strengthens the feelings between you. You won’t be able to think of anyone but Verrian like that ever again.”
Lisa swallowed.
Ultimately, she should have known that. What did she think a mate bond would be? She’d already experienced the Mesmer bond and seen how it could affect her feelings, but she hadn’t stopped to consider what a mate bond might actually feel like.
Part of her wanted to know. What would it be like to be totally certain that this was the person for you? To not even want anyone else, ever again? That had to feel good, right?
Another part of her wanted to run screaming. She’d never wanted to be stuck with one person. What if they fought all the time? What if the sex wasn’t good? Lisa had to laugh at herself over that one. She was pretty sure that was never going to be a concern.
What if they just plain didn’t get along? What if she wanted something different? What if she made the wrong decision?
Lisa took a deep breath, before the fear and panic ran away with her. She didn’t have time for this. The only thing she was certain of was that she couldn’t let Verrian die.
“Look, just tell me how to do it. We don’t have time to agonise over this.”
“You don’t have to,” Karla said.
Lisa bit back a sigh. Before she could demand answers again, Karla continued. “Taurian and I didn’t sleep together at first because I didn’t feel right sleeping with him. After waking them, the ritual can be completed by staying in close proximity for a couple of weeks. It’s much slower, but at least you won’t be bonded.”
“Why didn’t we do that when we woke Verrian the first time then?” Lisa asked pointedly.
“There wasn’t as much risk in sleeping with him then,” Karla said quickly. “You wanted to, so there was no reason not to. And with Ultrima around, we didn’t know if Verrian would need to come out of the Mesmer chamber fighting.”
“Do you think the situation is any better now?” Lisa demanded.
It was kind of Karla to tell her this information, but she knew it wasn’t going to help. The situation they were in was dangerous. Verrian needed to be at full strength. There was no getting around that.
Karla heaved a sigh. “Is there anyone else who could do it?” she asked quietly.
Olivia. Of course.
That would be the sensible option, and Lisa was pretty sure her friend would be more than happy to take one for the team.
But as soon as she thought of it, Lisa dismissed it. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t let her friend be with Verrian.
He was hers.
It hit her like a stab in the heart.
She loved him.
It had snuck up on her.
Well, no, it had been trying to hit her over the head for a while, but she’d refused to acknowledge it. She didn’t want to now. Her mind shied away from the possibility.
And luckily, there was plenty to distract her. “No, there’s no one else,” she lied. “I’ll deal with it. What do I do?”
Karla hesitated. “I’m not sure this is such a good idea, Lisa.”
“What other choice do we have?” Lisa demanded.
There was silence on the other end of the line. Karla didn’t have an answer.
There wasn’t one.
They all knew it.
“Just tell me what to do.”
After a short hesitation, Karla explained the process. It seemed simple enough. Lisa listened carefully, then took a deep breath. “Well, I’ll call you back in a couple of hours, when it’s done,” she said finally. “What are you going to do?”
“We need to speed things up,” Karla said immediately. “You guys lie low there, we’re going to gather the clan together again. It’s clear that splitting up is doing us more harm than good. Then we’re coming to get you. Once we’re all together again, we’re going to have to wake the rest of the dragon princes and princesses as quickly as we can.”
Her words warmed Lisa’s heart. “Good luck,” she said. “We’ll be waiting for you.”