Page 52 of Loving Amari

Then I close my eyes and reach for the mate bond. Carla’s still there. Still fighting. Still hurting. But alive. Determined. Refusing to break.

“Hold on, baby,” I whisper into the silence. “Just hold on.”

18

CARLA

Itake some magic over my leg, pink light spreading across the wound. Slowly, the pain eases. The torn flesh knits back together, but I’m very upset that I’m stuck in this void.

“You’re doing well, already healing,” Aya says, floating nearby and watching me.

I flex my leg, testing it. “What now? I don’t even know how or where to look for this asshole.”

“This isn’t working.” Aya’s ghostly form flickers.

I stare at her like she’s lost her mind. “What the hell are you talking about? What do you mean this isn’t working?”

“I tried, I really tried, but you’re far too young in your magic and too attached to Amari,” she tells me.

My hands curl into fists. “Just tell me how to look for him and I’ll handle it from here.”

“No. Because if you die, limbo is doomed.”

“You know what, you’re starting to piss me off.” We’re walking through the void with Verto guarding us, his massive legs moving silently. “I think your brother was right about you all along. There’s fine print in you helping me. So what is it? What exactly do you want so I can be rid of you?”

Aya stops floating. “That’s the problem.”

She looks at me in the darkness. “Put up a shield.”

“What?” I follow her gaze.

When Aya points, I groan when I see the mob of spirits charging toward us, their forms writhing and wailing.

Verto prepares to defend me again, but I can see even he’s tired of fighting. His movements are slower, his legs trembling slightly.

I quickly throw up a shield, pink magical webbing forming a dome around us. The mob crashes into it, clawing at the barrier. Their fingers scrape against the magic, sending ripples across its surface.

“This isn’t going to hold,” I mutter.

I try to open another portal. My magic is strong enough to partially tear reality, but then it immediately snaps shut like elastic.

I glare at Aya. “You know what? Something isn’t right. I should be able to come and go in limbo as I please. You’re leaving something out.”

Aya smirks at me, then starts floating around me in slow circles. “You’re catching on. This isn’t just your injury. It’s Mother Fate, keeping you here.”

“If you leave again, Nathaniel’s going to complete his plan,” she continues. “He’s got more than enough magic to do it. And with the help of Brookstone and Blackburn, there’s no stopping him. They’re simply waiting for him to possess Solomon, and then they are going to burst into Wintermoon and kill every supernatural on the land. And they can do it. Because they have my magic.”

Fury rises in me. “You are a horrible person with or without dark magic.”

Aya’s face falls. “I know. This is why I’m trying to get out of here. I’m trying to free all of you from my bullshit, but I see now.The decision isn’t about freeing myself from limbo. It’s about saving Wintermoon.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, and the longer I’m in here, the more time passes. Who knows what’s going on out there.”

“I know. Nathaniel’s already infiltrated the academy,” Aya says quietly.

I gasp. “The little shifters.”

“In there are possessed,” she confirms. “Amari’s working with Angie to find a solution. But you see, you are the solution.”