Page 112 of The Unbound Witch

Atlas, who’d bent over Torryn’s body, jerked upright, eyes pinned on me.

Kir moved in. “Don’t say that, Rave. There must be something. We’re in a room full of shit. Think.”

“I didn’t say I couldn’t help him. I meant she’s not going to find it on the back wall.” I swallowed, stepping away so everyone could see me fully. The captain, the golden witch, the missing witch, the wolf and the wraith. “I’ve seen this before, when I was just a child. There’s only one elixir that might save him, and there’s a good chance it won’t.”

“There’s no way to get him to the human lands and even then, we’d be leaving him to die,” Atlas said, trying to predict my thoughts.

I kept my voice low and calm as I waved a hand, casting. “That’s not it.”

The entire wall of shelves behind the counter slid to the right, revealing a tiny hidden room. “The reason Nikos came here and destroyed the shop was because he was looking for my grandmother’s spells. The ones that had secret family recipes and used magic only a few could wield.”

I swiped my hand again and waited as a small glass vial floated across the room, landing in my waiting palm. The wall slid shut and I locked eyes with Kirsi. We’d sworn we’d never tell anyone of these spells. She nodded, hope rimming her eyes as she inched closer to Atlas. None of them had a clue what was coming. Neither did I.

“We will not do this unless it’s unanimous. Right now, Torryn’s been blasted with so many spells at once, none of them can fire. If we leave him like this, he will die. His body isn’t built to hold magic. This bottle has an old spell locked inside. It looks like a seed, but it will draw magic like a sieve, straining it through his body one at a time. Each spell cast upon him will still strike. If we’re lucky, he will remain unconscious. If we’re not, he will wake and the shock alone, whatever they did to him, will kill his weakened body. Anything and everything in between can happen.”

Atlas shook his head. “He’s too … he can’t …”

“He is strong,” Nym said, slipping her hand into Atlas’.

“There’s no other way, then?” Kir asked, staring at Torryn.

“I vote no,” Eden said, crossing her arms over her chest. “He’ll just suffer and then die. There’s no peace in that.”

“Then we make our own peace with his death,” I said, setting the jar on the table.

“I’d take the pill,” Crow said, lifting the bottle to shake the seed within. “If given the choice, that is. Wouldn’t want to waste my last shot at life on a fear of the inevitable.”

“I’m not voting for his death, so I say we give it to him,” Nym said.

“Atty?” Kirsi whispered. “He’s like your brother. What do you think? I’ll vote however you do.”

He glanced over at the Fire Coven door and back to the lifeless shifter. Rising in stature, he closed his eyes. “We save him. By whatever means necessary. He can kick my ass later and I’ll thank him for it. As long as he lives through whatever happens.”

I took the jar from Crow and placed it into Eden’s hands. “It’s the only chance he has.”

She sank back into a chair with the jar like it weighed a thousand pounds. Her hesitation was warranted. She loved Torryn. Had spent so many years with him in the human lands. If he didn’t live, we’d watch him suffer his final moments of life.

Seconds turned into minutes, the focus of the room shifting from Eden back to Torryn. Atlas fell over him, sobbing, while Kirsi and Nym tried to console him. It might as well have been his funeral.

I spent those moments remembering all the things that made Torryn who he was. He was the voice of reason, a guiding father figure to Bastian after his own father had died. He was their family. But then, looking around the room, to the way my best friend clung to the wolf, I realizedourfamily had shifted.

It wasn’t just the two of us against the world anymore. Our family was what we made it. Who we chose to let in and love and protect us. And that included the drunken captain who’d fought his way through a storm because he loved a woman enough to see it through. A golden witch who’d fallen in love with another and, though she’d changed, their hearts had not. A clan of three shifters who were fierce and loyal to a fault. And a witch who’d sacrificed her own freedom to try to make the world a better place. We were a broken, ramshackle, pieced together group, but we had each other and every day our bonds were tightening.

Eden rose, setting the bottle on the table. “Okay. But I won’t be able to watch it.”

“Watch what?” Bastian’s dangerous voice rolled up my back as he entered the shop, shadows billowing below him as if he needed them to take the edge off or he’d lose it all together.

I explained the spell to him and watched as hopeful eyes turned dark and doubtful.

“Do it,” he commanded. “He’d save each of our lives every single day if he had to. We will do the same.”

I took the jar and closed my eyes, using my amplification spell to activate the magic trapped within the outer shell of the seed.

“The spells will strike one by one, and I have no idea how many. This won’t take long, but it’ll be hard to watch.”

Bastian cast a new door in the back. “Everyone goes. I’ll stay with him.”

“I’m not fucking leaving,” Atlas growled.