Page 44 of Faeheart (Widdershins Supernatural Academy #2)

Elias

W ild was gone. My heart ached as the word echoed through my mind. Gone. Gone . Taken by his own mother to be sacrificed for her and my father’s disgusting ideals.

Through our soul bond, I could still feel him.

He was alive, angry, and terrified all at once.

The connection stretched thin like a thread about to snap, but it was there.

Wild was in the foyer with the others, held by magic far stronger than he could fight without our help.

But something was stopping him from using the tetrad bond, something I’d never felt before.

“We have to move now,” Atlas growled, his golden eyes flashing with protective fury. “They’ll use him to power that thing.”

My hands trembled as I tried to focus through the panic threatening to overwhelm me. “The plan… we can still make the plan work.”

“How?” Caden asked, his gentle voice strained with worry. “We need all four of us to teleport something that powerful out of the mansion.”

“We… We have to do something !” I barked, rounding on them both. “We can’t just leave him to be killed!”

“Elias,” Atlas said, taking a step forward. “I’m not going to leave him behind. But we have to move. They know where we are. We’re gonna save him, but we need a minute to figure it out.”

“What if he doesn’t have a minute?” I sobbed, gesturing back toward the library door blown open by Lady Briar. “What if they’re torturing him? What if they kill him?!”

As if in answer to my desperate questions, a scream tore through the mansion. Wild’s scream. The sound ripped through our bond like a serrated blade, sending me to my knees as his pain became my own.

“They’re hurting him,” I gasped, clutching at my chest where our soul bond burned like fire for just a moment before dulling again. “We need to go now.”

Atlas moved with startling speed, pulling me to my feet while Caden gathered his magic around us like a shield.

“Then we go,” Atlas said, his voice deadly calm. “But not blindly. Not without a plan.”

“What fucking plan could we possibly have that they haven’t thought of?” I cried. “We don’t have time to stand around here and try to figure it out. The cube is blocking the mansion’s magic. So even if they kill one of us, the dead man’s switch won’t activate.”

Caden’s brows furrowed. “You… You put a failsafe in your spell?”

“I… I did,” I said at last, realizing I’d never told them about my insurance policy.

“I want to make sure that… if things went terribly wrong, that the Purity Front didn’t make it out of here alive.

” I shook my head, grinding my palms against my eyes.

“But now even that doesn’t fucking matter.

” I looked up at Atlas and Caden, the defeat sweeping through me like ice in my veins.

“Why did we do this? Why did we even think we could stand up to these people? We… We’re just a bunch of stupid kids… ”

“No,” Atlas said firmly, gripping my shoulders. “That’s exactly what they want you to think. That we’re powerless. That’s how they control people, through fear and self-doubt.”

Another scream echoed through the mansion, Wild’s pain pulsing through our bond like a fresh wound. I doubled over, gasping.

“They’re trying to draw us out,” Caden said, his nostrils flaring in anger. “Using Wild as bait.”

“And it’s working,” I choked out, straightening with newfound determination. Whoever was dampening the bond between us and Wild, they were allowing his pain through to get to us. “I can’t just stand here while they torture him.”

Atlas’s golden eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “What if we give them what they want?”

“What?” I stared at him.

“They want us to come to them,” Atlas explained, his tactical mind working through scenarios. “So we do exactly that. But on our terms.”

Caden nodded slowly, understanding dawning across his features. “A false surrender?”

“They expect us to fight,” Atlas continued. “To come in, guns blazing. But what if we don’t? What if we just... walk in?”

I frowned, struggling to follow his logic through the haze of Wild’s pain clouding our bond. “And then what? Let them trap our souls in that thing?”

“No,” Atlas said, a dangerous smile spreading across his face.

“The cube sucks up magical beings that get too close. That means they had to turn it off to protect themselves. And even if they had some sort of weird immunity, Wild doesn’t.

They would have to turn it off to keep Wild close so we couldn’t get to him.

” He looked at me, his eyes filled with determination.

“If we make them think we’re not gonna fight, we could get close enough to attempt the teleportation spell before they knew what hit them. ”

“It’s a massive risk,” Caden said, his amber magic flickering anxiously around his fingers. “If they realize what we’re doing before we can complete the spell...”

“Then we die,” I finished bluntly. “But at least we die trying to save Wild rather than hiding in this library while they torture him.”

Another wave of pain pulsed through our bond, weaker this time. Wild was fading. Whatever they were doing to him was draining his energy rapidly.

“I don’t want to lose him,” I said softly.

“He’s my mate, the person in all this world that was meant just for me.

I love him so much I can’t breathe.” I reached out, wrapping my arms around Caden and Atlas, pulling them into a tight hug.

“But I don’t want to lose you either. I love you both.

” I took a deep breath. “But I can’t stand by and do nothing.

It’s better to try and fail than to live with the regret. ”

Caden pressed a kiss to the side of my neck, his heart hammering in his chest. “I’ll follow you,” he said softly. “Anywhere you want to go.”

“So will I,” Atlas replied, kissing my cheek. “Let’s save our mate.”

There was another shot of pain through the bond, weaker than all the rest. Wild’s magic was fading, his chaos fading into nothingness.

“We need to move now,” I said, straightening my shoulders. “If we’re going to surrender, let’s make it convincing.”

Atlas nodded, his golden eyes fierce with determination. “I’ll lead. You two follow, hands visible, magic suppressed. Make them believe we’ve given up.”

As we moved through the mansion’s corridors, I reached out through our bond, sending every ounce of love and strength I could muster toward Wild.

The connection was growing fainter by the second, which only increased my desperation.

The Purity Front was still suppressing him, not letting my thoughts through.

The mansion seemed to understand our plan, clearing paths that had been twisted into deadly mazes just minutes before. Through the house’s awareness, I could sense the remaining Purity Front members gathered in the foyer, their magical signatures pulsing with anticipation around the obsidian cube.

And Wild, his bright emerald energy was flickering like a candle in a storm.

When we reached the entrance to the grand foyer, I took a deep breath, steadying myself against the wall.

Through the doorway, I could see my father standing beside the cube, his hands raised as he chanted ancient words of binding.

Lady Briar held Wild against one of the pillars, magical bonds of emerald light wrapped around his limbs.

His head hung forward, blood mixing with the copper hair falling across his face, but I could see the rise and fall of his chest. He was still alive. But barely.

“Remember,” Atlas whispered. “No matter what they say or do, stick to the plan. Get as close to the cube as possible.”

I nodded, swallowing past the lump in my throat. “Let’s go.”

Atlas stepped into the foyer first, his hands raised in surrender. “Stop!” he called out, his voice echoing through the grand space. “We surrender.”

The chanting ceased abruptly as every head turned toward us. My father’s eyes narrowed with suspicion as Caden and I followed Atlas into the room, our hands similarly raised.

“Well,” my father said, his aristocratic features arranged in a mask of smug satisfaction. “My son returns at last. Did you finally come to your senses?”

“Let Wild go,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt. “You have us now. All of us. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

Lady Briar laughed, the sound like breaking glass. “How touchingly na?ve. Why would we release our leverage?”

Wild stirred at the sound of my voice, raising his head with obvious effort. Through our bond, I felt a surge of alarm as he realized what we were doing.

“No,” he croaked, blood bubbling at the corner of his mouth. “Elias, don’t?—”

Lady Briar silenced him with a casual flick of her wrist, emerald magic tightening around his throat. I fought to keep my expression neutral as rage boiled beneath my skin.

“We’re here now,” I said, taking another careful step forward. “The tetrad bond you’re so afraid of. Isn’t that what you wanted? To destroy it?”

My father studied me with cold calculation, his eyes so similar to mine yet utterly devoid of warmth. “And you expect me to believe you’ve simply given up? After all the trouble you’ve caused?”

“Look at him,” I gestured toward Wild, letting genuine anguish color my voice. “You’re killing him. What choice do we have?”

Through our bond, I could feel Atlas and Caden moving slowly into position, spreading out just enough to create a triangle around the cube. We needed to be perfectly positioned for the teleportation spell to work.

“A touching sentiment,” my father replied, “but forgive me if I remain skeptical of this sudden surrender.”

“We’ve lost,” Atlas said, his voice carrying a perfect note of defeat. “Your artifact is too powerful. The mansion can’t protect us anymore.”

Lady Briar’s perfect features twisted with triumph as she gazed at her suffering son. “You see, Wilderain? Your little rebellion was always doomed to fail. If you had simply accepted your place, none of this would have been necessary.”