Page 31

CHAPTER 31

E lora opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling as her magic hummed and sparked in her veins. She lifted her hand, concentrating on her magic and smiling when flames erupted from her fingertips. She watched the flames for nearly a minute, enjoying the heady rush of magic flowing through her before shaking her hand and extinguishing the flame.

Jonah was warm and solid behind her. A big spoon to her little, his arm draped over her waist and his thighs snug against hers. She could hear him snoring lightly as she glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was just after six in the morning, and Elora couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so rested or her magic so strong.

That’s a little weird, isn’t it? Considering you got your ass kicked by a dark witch?

The memory of what happened rushed into her like a waterfall, and she sat up in the bed, adrenaline hitting her veins and making her jittery.

Jonah immediately sat up, wide awake and completely alert. “What’s wrong?”

“The witch,” Elora said. “Malencia, is she…”

“She’s gone.” Jonah wrapped his arm around her waist. “You’re safe, Elora.”

She shook her head and tried to slide out of the bed. “I need to do a protection spell on the house and -”

“It’s done,” Jonah said. “Baby, stay in the bed with me.”

She stared at him. “What do you mean it’s done?”

“Charissa had her cousin’s coven come to the house and do a protection spell. She said it would last a month and would stop Malencia from entering the house again.”

Elora slumped against Jonah. He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. “How do you feel?”

“Good. Really good, actually, considering Malencia tried to fry me like a - oh shit, your brother! Is he…”

“Malencia has him.” The pain on Jonah’s face sent an answering stab of pain straight to Elora’s heart.

“Oh, Jonah. I’m sorry,” Elora said. “I shouldn’t have fainted like that, but her magic was so strong and -”

“Elora, you didn’t just faint,” Jonah said.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

She listened quietly, her stomach clenching tighter and tighter, and dread and disbelief fighting for space in her chest as Jonah told her what happened.

“Dying,” she whispered when he was done. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he said. “You were in a coma, and your organs were shutting down, and the doctors said there was nothing they could do to stop it. So, that’s when Bren and I asked Ronin to heal you.”

He cupped her face, staring intently at her. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so fucking sorry. I should never have -”

“Jonah, stop.” She pressed a kiss against his mouth. “This is not your fault.”

“Yes, it is,” he said. “Everything is my fault, and I shouldn’t have stuck around after you broke the curse.”

“I’m glad you stayed,” Elora said.

Frustration crossed his face. “Elora, I almost got you killed. You would have died if it hadn’t been for Ronin. Being with me is dangerous.”

She shrugged. “Walking across the street could get me killed, Jonah. I won’t live my life hiding from potential dangers.”

Jonah’s face looked like he might be having a mild heart attack. “Potential… Elora, there is nothing potentially dangerous about being with me. It’s just a bad fucking idea, and the fact that you nearly died should make that more than obvious.”

“You didn’t ask to be attacked by a dark witch,” Elora said.

“My actions caused this.” Jonah pulled away from her. “I should have left the minute you broke the curse and never talked to you again.”

“Why didn’t you?” Elora climbed into his lap, preventing him from getting out of bed.

“Because I…” Jonah refused to look at her.

She cupped his face and made him meet her gaze. “Why didn’t you leave? I want the truth, Jonah.”

He swallowed heavily, his dark eyes studying hers.

“Tell me,” she whispered.

“Because I love you,” he said. “I didn’t leave because I love you, Elora.”

Happiness flooded her chest, driving away the fear and the dread. “I love you too, Jonah.”

She tried to kiss him, but he pulled back and shook his head. “We can’t be together, Elora.”

“Oh, you do not get to pull that fucking bullshit, Jonah. Not after you just told me you love me.”

“I’m doing this because I love you,” Jonah said.

“No, you’re doing this because you’re afraid,” Elora said. “Your brother has been kidnapped, I nearly died, and you are afraid and overwhelmed with guilt. You’ve convinced yourself this is the right thing to do, and now you’re trying to convince me, but it won’t work. I love you, and I want to be with you, Jonah.”

“I’m not a good person, Elora,” Jonah said.

“You are,” she said.

Sorrow flashed across his face. “I killed my best friend.”

She smoothed her thumbs over his cheekbones. “Tell me why.”

He scoffed angry laughter. “Because I’m a fucking killer, Elora. It’s what I do. Why won’t you accept that?”

“Because you are so much more than that, and I will do everything in my power to make you see that, Jonah,” Elora said. “Tell me what happened.”

“You asked me what I had to do to leave the Academy,” Jonah said. “Killing Diego was my only way out. He was my best friend, and I loved him, but I killed him anyway.”

She waited for him to say more and pressed a kiss against his mouth when he didn’t. “Tell me, honey.”

His voice hoarse, Jonah said, “Diego and I grew up together at the Academy. He was a year older than me, but we were given to the Academy at the same time. He was smart, he was strong, and he was good at his… job. But he hated the Academy as much as I did. He wanted out. Our mistake was trying to leave at the same time.”

He blinked rapidly and swallowed compulsively a few times. “We should have known better. We should have been fucking smarter. But we were both so goddamn tired, and we wanted… we wanted to be free together. You know?”

Elora nodded, stroking Jonah’s face with light brushes of her fingertips.

“The Academy would allow recruits to leave if they did one last job. It was always a fucking nightmare of a job, and the target was usually impossible to kill. But once you asked to leave, that was it. There was no backing out. You had to do the job, and if you failed to kill the target in the allotted time… the Academy killed you.”

“What?” Elora stared at him. “Are you serious? They put all that time and effort into turning you into a killer for them, and then they just kill you themselves?”

“Yes,” Jonah said. “It was designed to keep us compliant, to keep us working for them and dissuade anyone from leaving. Before Diego and I tried to leave, we knew of only four recruits who decided to leave. Only one actually succeeded and got the fuck out. The rest of them failed, and the Academy killed them. But we were cocky and so fucking sure we could do it.”

He lapsed into silence, leaning forward and resting his head on her shoulder. She held him close, rubbing his back and staying quiet until he raised his head and stared solemnly at her.

“Did they make you go after the same target?” Elora asked. “Is that why you had to kill Diego?”

Jonah laughed bitterly. “No. We were each assigned a target and given seventy-two hours to kill them. Diego’s target was me, and mine was Diego.”

“Oh my God,” Elora whispered. “Oh, Jonah, I’m so sorry.”

“Diego was stronger and smarter than me. He should have been the one who lived, but I got fucking lucky.” Jonah’s voice was so dull and lifeless that it sent goosebumps crawling across Elora’s skin. “I got lucky, and Diego died instead of me.”

The pain and sorrow in his gaze made tears slide down her cheeks. His eyes now as dull as his voice, Jonah said, “Do you know what the last thing Diego said to me was?”

She shook her head, the hot tears still splashing down her cheeks.

“He said he loved me.” Jonah’s voice cracked. “He said he loved me, and he was happy I was getting out.”

His face twisted, and he buried his face into her throat. She could feel his tears wetting her skin, and she rocked him back and forth, rubbing his back and murmuring soft words of comfort.

“This is why we can’t be together, Elora,” Jonah said, his voice muffled against her skin.

She made him look at her again, drying his cheeks with her fingers. “You’re out of the Academy. You don’t have to kill me to escape some fucked up organization.”

“No, but you will always be in danger. Everyone I love will be. You were nearly killed, and my brother,” he swallowed hard, “he’s with that crazy fucking witch, and who knows what she’s doing to him. Because of me, Elora.”

“No,” she said firmly, “it’s because she’s a dark witch, and the evil she chose to invite into her life has made her go insane. She’s doing this because the darkness has destroyed any good in her. That’s not on you, Jonah.”

“Elora, please. You have to… you have to stop loving me,” Jonah said.

She cupped his face, squeezing it hard. “Impossible. I love you, and I’m with you in this until the end, Jonah. Don’t ask me to walk away from you knowing that without my help, that crazy ass witch will kill you.”

“Because I’m fucking useless now,” Jonah said. “I can’t shift, and just being around Malencia scares the fucking shit out of me. I froze, Elora. I froze and couldn’t do a goddamn thing.”

“That’s not true,” Elora said. “You couldn’t shift, but you tried to stop her. I was there, and I saw it.”

“I failed,” Jonah said. “And she almost killed you because I failed.”

“Because I underestimated her,” Elora said. “I didn’t realize how powerful she was. Even if you could have shifted, I don’t think it would have made a difference. Her magic it was… fuck, it was so powerful, Jonah. I’ve never felt anything that strong before. She might be more powerful than my grandmother, and Helen’s magic is incredibly strong.”

“Jesus, this is not helping convince me we can be together.”

“We are together and have been for weeks. Like it or not, we’re in a relationship, and I’m not going anywhere. Try to get rid of me, and I’ll do a binding spell on us that’ll be so strong you won’t be able to get more than a foot from me,” Elora said.

A small grin crossed Jonah’s face. “You said you wouldn’t use magic on me, little witch.”

“That was when you weren’t being a stubborn jerk trying to convince yourself you could live without me,” Elora said.

His face turned solemn. “I don’t think I can live without you.”

“I know you can’t,” she said with a cheeky smile. “Besides, I think we won’t have to stop her. I’ll go to the WWC today and report her. They’ll find her and stop her and bring Caleb home to us.”

“How can you be so sure?” Jonah asked.

“Because that’s their literal job. Stopping dark witches and bringing them to justice is partly why the WWC was created in the first place. Once they find out what she did and that she’s kidnapped a human, they’ll go after her immediately. The council has powerful witches and warlocks working for them who will take her down and save your brother.”

She could tell Jonah had reservations, and she couldn’t blame him, but Elora knew the WWC would go after Malencia with every bit of magic they had.

“The WWC will get Caleb back,” she said confidently. “I promise, Jonah.”