Chapter 79

[ 1,591 words ]

It’s a pit

79: 79.

It’s a pit Aria

The pressure that sits on my chest gets heavier with every second that passes.

It’s a vicious, feral thing that scrapes and a confidence my wolf is trying to push into me.

I can feel it in every breath, in every beat of my heart, in every thread of the bond that ties me to him.

To them.

Images of what would happen if I fail taunt me.

But I’m all he has.

His only hope.

I look down at his still form, finally getting my first look at home since we came to this mountain.

The world narrows to the bed in front of me.

And I almost break.

His skin, oh gods his skin, is all wrong.

Sickly yellow, stretched too tight over his bones like he’s being dried out.

Black veins crawl out from the wounds that must be behind him.

They branch like rotting ghastly hands clawing at him.

Like death itself is trying to stake a claim on him, like something is feeding on him.

A strangled sound claws its way up my throat before I can stop it.

I don’t need to be a medical expert to know he doesn’t have long.

His breaths are so shallow that I can barely see it moving.

Ronan cups a hand on the back of my neck and his presence is warm and strong.

My wolf surges forward, wanting to be near her mates as grief crashes and breaks into a wave of fury.

Fix him.

Kill them.

Burn them all.

The words pulse through me like a life line.

I repeat them over and over pushing my emotions down.

I hold on to them, like a mental checklist of what comes next.

Behind me, I can feel my mate’s confusion at my spiraling emotions.

The dip and spike of apathy and soul crushing fear.

Their presence presses against my back like a blanket.

Through the bond, their emotions drift into me in selective, controlled pulses.

Reassurance.

Strength.

Faith.

They’re trying so hard not to let me feel the pressure.

Not to let me drown in their own thoughts, worries and anger.

But I feel it anyway.

Because the truth is if I fail theo dies and there is not a damn thing anyone can do to help me.

For one brief, terrifying second, I want to run.

I don’t know if I can do this and I’m not sure if I’m strong enough to face the repercussions if I fail.

Yes, you can.

My wolf’s voice cuts through me, sharp and absolute.

He is ours.

We will not fail.

I swallow hard, forcing the panic back down where it belongs.

I’ve never hated the Assembly more than I do right now.

“Aria.” Felix’s voice pulls me back.

“Are you ready?”

I turn slightly, and he steps up beside me.

He’s smaller than the other males, lean where they are broad, but there’s something about him that makes me feel like he’s a professor I want to please

Like he has all the answers.

His pale hazel eyes are unique.

Almost green, like a muted peridot.

His dark curls are a mess, and I can tell he’s been running his hands through them for hours.

My gaze drifts back to Theo.

The bond between us flickers weakly.

It is a mere whisper among the buzzing, solid threads of the rest of our band.

My stomach twists.

I don’t have the luxury of not being ready.

I blow out a breath.

“I am.”

Felix nods once, then pulls a small device from his pocket, glancing at it briefly before looking back at me.

“Do you know how to locate your fire?”

My brow furrows.

“No.”

“Okay,” he says, calm and methodical.

“Then we start there.”

He looks at my mates and waves a, “step back,” hand at them.

Surprisingly, they listen without complaint.

My wolf settles slightly, listening.

“Okay, Aria,” his voice is smooth, even.

“Close your eyes. Breathe in and out of your nose.” He waits while I do it.

“Good. Now focus on your breath, on how it travels, on where it’s coming from. I want to follow that breath. Let it take you inside yourself.” Felix continues.

I breathe.

Letting go of the room around me and instead centering my attention on my chest, on my lungs.

“How does it feel?” Felix asks.

“Calm.”

“What temperature?”

I scrunch my nose thinking about that for a moment.

“Cool.”

“Now go deeper. Further than you’ve ever gone before. You’re looking for heat. Once you find it, let it lead you to the source.”

Heat.

That made sense.

I turn back inward using my breath as a starting point.

At first, there’s nothing but darkness.

And noise coming from the persistent thoughts trying to claw their way in.

You’re a failure.

What makes you think this will be any different?

You’re going to lose control again and burn him.

You’ll never be good enough for them.

“Focus,” Felix murmurs softly, interrupting my thoughts as if he knew what was happening inside my head.

I inhale slowly.

Exhale.

Do it three more times so I can recenter.

Once I do, I move within myself with more ease.

I’m descending, going into something vast and endless.

Layers of instinct, emotion, memory peel away as I push deeper and deeper.

I inhale a sharp breath and there…

A flicker.

Warmth.

“I feel it,” I whisper.

“Good,” Felix says immediately.

“Keep following it. It should get hotter the closer you get.”

My wolf leans forward inside me, eyes fixed on that warmth.

Let me help you, she says.

I do.

I give her control, letting her be my guide and our minds feel like one.

Together we dive deeper.

The warmth grows.

Spreads.

Grows.

It morphs from a feeling into something animated, alive.

It’s not just warmth anymore.

It’s a pit.

A roaring, endless gourd of fire, coiled and waiting at the very center of me.

It pulses with power, with hunger, with longing.

For me.

For us to be whole.

Yes.

That’s what I need.

“I found it,” I say.

My voice sounds like I’m speaking underwater.

“You’re doing great,” Felix assures me.

“Now focus on it. Gently call it to you. Take time to understand it.”

I hesitate, but only for a moment.

Then I reach out with my mind.

The fire responds instantly like a child running into their mother’s waiting arms.

A shiver runs through me and it flows freely, filling me up in a way that makes the emptiness inside smaller.

“Now,” Felix says, “bring it up. Remember you’re guiding it, not unleashing it. The first is you.”

It’s me, I repeat mentally.

I gather a thread of that fire.

Just a thread.

And direct it closer to the surface of my skin.

The fire yields.

Slowly.

Clumsy.

Like the muscles of a new born clave trying to hold up an eager body for the first time.

It rises through me, a burning river carving its way upward.

My eyes snap open.

Fire dances along my palm and I gasp.

Because it’s there.

In my hand.

Not spreading like an inferno or whipping out like a chaotic lash.

Just there, swaying softly, waiting for me to tell it what’s next.

For a moment, I just stare.

So does everyone else.

“You’re incredible—” Kade breathes.

Ronan doesn’t speak, but I feel his shock ripple through the bond.

Barric’s attention sharpens, his wolf going still.

Even Liam looks stunned.

I drag my eyes away from the flames and look towards Felix.

He meets my eyes and I can sense his excitement and relief.

“Okay,” he continues, “time to focus on your bond with Theo.”

I nod.

I don’t have to search for it.

It’s light and frighteningly subtle.

“Let your wolf help you find where the poison is,” he orders.

My wolf presses forward, her senses sharpening.

And suddenly, I see it in my mind’s eye.

The bond isn’t smooth or whole.

It’s tattered, dimed in places.

“I see it. It looks sick,” I say carefully.

“Good,” Felix says.

“That’s the poison. Now send your fire through the bond. Burn it out.”

I tighten my grip on the fire in my palm.

I guide the fire down our linked thread.

The fire surges into the bond.

At first, it’s controlled.

Measured.

I work to guide it carefully, sending it toward the first darkened thread.

The fire touches it, and the reaction is immediate.

The poison writhes, recoils and is consumed by it.

A harsh sound tears from Theo’s chest.

I ignore it and keep going.

I push more fire down feeling more confident now.

The fire moves faster, hungrier.

Every ounce of the poison it burns increases and makes the fire burn hotter, brighter.

My heart is beating so hard it feels like it will jump out of my chest.

And then something snaps.

The power explodes outward.

And then I can’t see anything at all.

Only light.

Blinding, endless light that pours out of me in a violent surge.

I hear shouting behind me.

But I’m no longer in charge, the fire is acting of its own accord, an ancient understanding fills me.

The fire clenses the bond, clenses Theo.

It burns every trace of the poison.

Theo’s screams are the last thing I hear before I lose consciousness.

***

“You’re awake.”

Theo’s voice is a glass of water on a hot Arizona day.

My eyes fly open and I struggle to remember how I got on the bed next to his.

But even that confusion isn’t enough to stop me from jumping up, running to The and wrapping arms around him.

“You’re alive,” I croak out, pulling back so I can get a good look at him.

Color has returned to his skin, warm and healthy.

The black veins are gone, like they were never there at all.

His eyes are clear, locked on mine with something so intense it makes my chest ache.

Relief hits me so hard and I’ve never been so happy to see him.

“I was so scared,” I sob into his chest.

“I didn’t know if I could do it—I didn’t know if I’d lose you—”

“You didn’t,” he says softly, holding me tighter.

“I’m here.”

His heartbeat is strong beneath my ear.

Alive.

Alive.

Alive.

Behind us, I feel my other mates gather around us.

They form a protective barrier around us and our bond hums, each of the strands vibrating, singing together in an intimate song of belonging.

Deep inside me the bond shifts, grows like the roots of a tree sinking deeper, thicker, stronger.

I gasp softly, pulling back just enough to look at them.

The bond between us isn’t fragile anymore.

It’s solid.

Unbreakable.

Forever.

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