Page 81

Jaxon is the only person who has kept me sane. Through it all, he has been my rock, and I’m so thankful for him that I sometimes want to cry.
Sadly, I don’t have any classes with Skyler this semester. That’s fine, though. We still drive to school together and drink a lot of coffee at Cafe. I don’t work there anymore, but I still go there more than I should.
Jaxon now pays for my addiction.
I just got out of my afternoon Developmental Psychology class, which I took this semester because of the news about Maisie’s possible diagnosis. I walk to the same bench every day to meet Skyler. We meet at this bench and wait for the other person to finish class because our class schedules are different. Today is the day when our classes all end at the same time, but Skyler’s class is a little farther away, so it takes him longer to get here. While I wait, I take out my phone and look through the Kindle app to find a new fantasy book to read.
I can feel a change in the air, and my body stiffens without me even thinking about it. A bright purple light appears in front of me, and then Elise is there.
She portaled into a main part of campus in the middle of the day! I don’t think anyone was looking at us, but a few people were turning their heads to see what they thought was a bright purple LED light or something like that.
As Elise gets closer to me, my heart races. She doesn’t belong here. The High Council has been searching for her! I haven’t seen her since that terrible day when Felix died many months ago. I can say for sure that she doesn’t look like herself.
She has big bags under her eyes and looks like she has lost a lot of weight. Her cheeks are a little sunken in now, which is different from how round they used to be. There is also a lack of sparkle in Elise’s eyes.
She still has a great sense of style. She has a ring on every finger and several chains around her neck, and her platinum blonde hair is styled in small braids that connect with the rest of her loose hair.
I clear my throat a few times and say, “Elise.” I also mindlink Jaxon, Skyler, and Ezra so they know that Elise has shown up out of the blue. I don’t know what she wants, but I’m sure she’s mad that the High Council can’t find her because she has to stay hidden. Is she here to get back at someone? To hurt me?
Elise just got to campus, so I quickly mindlinked.
What? Where is Skyler? Where are your pack guards? Jaxon starts to freak out.
Calla, I’m almost there. Skyler tells her to stall.
“How have you been?” I ask, looking around campus in a way that doesn’t draw too much attention to the pack guards who were supposed to be keeping an eye on me from a distance. But Elise just laughs at me and sits down next to me on the bench.
“Let’s stop the bullshit. I know you don’t care about me. Oh, and if you’re looking for your little wolf guards, they’re not able to help you right now.” She smirks, but something about it seems off. She doesn’t seem as sure of herself or as cocky as she usually does. There is something wrong.
“Oh,” I say, not sure how to say what I want without making her angry. “Are they alive?” I ask in the most calm way I can. I swear, if she hurts any of my pack members…
“Don’t worry, sunshine. They’ll wake up with little bumps on their heads. It’s not a big deal.”
I let out a sigh of relief that they will be fine. I still don’t know why she’s here, though.
Elise moves closer to me, and I move back as far as I can on the bench. She only laughs a little. She tilts her head to the side, squints at something behind me, and then her whole face gets hard. Just in time, I see Skyler running toward me with three other pack guards behind him.
I feel something pulling on my wrist. “Can’t have them interrupting us.” Then I feel my whole world twist and bend and spin as I’m taken away from campus, leaving my things on the bench.
******
Elise lets go of my wrist, and I fall to the floor. My head is spinning from traveling between dimensions, and I’m confused and dizzy. I dry heave once, then blink my eyes hard and stand up, though not very well.
Our mindlink lets us hear Jaxon’s voice.
CALLA? ARE YOU ALL RIGHT? WHERE ARE YOU?
His voice suddenly stops in my head, as if we weren’t connected anymore. What’s going on?
Elise knows I’m confused right away because I’ve never been good at controlling my facial expressions. She crosses her arms and glares at me.
“I can’t let you talk to your boyfriend in your head. That kind of defeats the point of this talk.”
“What? You can…? Where am I?” I know I’m not making a lot of sense, but my mind is racing as I try to figure out what I’m doing here. In a nice apartment?
The room is big and has light wood floors, white granite countertops, and windows that go all the way up to the ceiling and show a beautiful view of the city. I walk closer to the view and see the Empire State Building while using random furniture to help me stay balanced.
We live in Maryland.
This is my first time here, and I want to look out the window and enjoy the view, but I can’t because I don’t know what Elise wants me to do.
“I’m sure you know we’re in Maryland. I’m borrowing an apartment here.”
I cross my arms and try to look more sure of myself than I really am.
“Did you steal this apartment?” I ask. I can’t believe she still uses her magic for her own gain. I can believe it, though.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine. That’s not why I brought you here. I kind of, um, need your help,” Elise says the last part quickly, as if it’s embarrassing.
“What?”
“I need your help, okay?” The way she stands up straighter and looks me in the eyes says a lot. She needs help badly. Does she want me to talk the High Council into something? Is she scared for her safety?
“With what?”
“It’s kind of hard. I don’t want you to be annoying about it. I didn’t know who else to talk to. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not very likable,” she says with a laugh and sits down on the very comfortable, plush couch. I do what she says and slowly move to the other side of the couch to give us some space. I know she could hurt me at any time, but there’s not much I can do to stop her.
Also, she seems lonely right now, in her own special Elise way.
“Okay.” I clear my throat and nervously fidget with my fingers. “What happened?”
It looks like Elise is going to throw up now. I can’t tell what she’s going to say because she looks nervous, unsure of herself, and confused.
“I met my mate last night,” she says, and I put my hand over my mouth. Friend? She has a friend? Who were they? What happened?
I let go of my hand and school my face, even though I’m not calm at all right now. I have a lot of questions, but Elise clearly doesn’t need anyone else to freak out about this. She needs someone to talk to.
I nod my head to let her know to keep talking.
“I went out last night and some stuff happened. It doesn’t matter, but when I went to leave, I ran into him and he did that stupid growly thing that all werewolves do. I could feel my skin tingling, but not in a bad way. I kind of panicked.”
I ask, “What happened next?” because I’m really interested in this story. I’m still a little wary of Elise, but I’m more interested than worried.
“I ran away.”
I can’t stop laughing. I laugh because she thought that running away from her mate was the best thing to do. I did something similar when I found out what Jaxon was, so I can’t really blame her for how she acted. It’s funny how even a strong witch like Elise is scared of how strong a mate bond can be.
“Shut up,” she says angrily. I can hold back my laughter, but I can’t help the little smile that stays on my face.
“Sorry, I didn’t expect you to say that. I guess you know how strong a mate bond can be now,” I say, hoping to get her to open the mindlink between Jaxon and me. He needs to know that I’m fine.
“Of course, Sherlock.” She seems annoyed with me right now, but I have to ask her.
“I’d love to help you sort through some of your feelings. I have a lot of stories about Jaxon and me when we first met. It can be hard to navigate a new relationship,” I say. Here it is. “Is there any way you can lift the block on my mindlink? I just want Jaxon to know I’m okay.”
“I knew this was a bad idea!” She suddenly stands up and sends a burst of magical energy at the coffee table in anger. It breaks right away, with pieces stuck in the wall across the room and all over the floor.
I jump in shock.
“You can’t talk to him because you’ll tell him where we are. Those werewolves are everywhere, and I don’t want my mate to find me yet.”
Elise walks back and forth in the room. I watch her carefully, ready for another burst of magic to come out and ruin another part of this beautiful apartment. Whose apartment is this, really?
“Okay, I get it.” Then I do something brave that the old Calla from a few months ago would never have thought of doing. I get up slowly and walk across the room to Elise, who is pacing. I make sure to stay away from the broken glass, and then I block her way. She looks at me with a confused look before her face hardens again.
“I won’t tell Jaxon where we are. I’ll just tell him I’m safe and not to go crazy looking for me. Ever since…” I stop in the middle of a sentence because I don’t want to talk about the day Felix died. She seems to understand, and she slowly nods her head.
“I’ll give you a phone so I can hear what you’re saying.”
“Okay!” I say right away. She gives me the apartment’s landline because my phone is still on that bench in Ohio. I quickly call Jaxon. He picks up after half a ring.
“Hello?” His voice on the phone is so sharp and rough.
“Hey, Jaxon, it’s me.”
“Calla? Are you okay? Where are you, baby?”