Tyler burst into the clearing. “Hey,” he yelled, “water is filling this place up like a bathtub and there are more than a few gators out there that seem interested. We have to get going. I sent some wolves back out to gather the boats and come around to this side—” He stopped dead in his tracks. I knew the instant he figured out what had happened. “No. He can’t be dead. It’s not possible.” He dropped to his knees beside me, as Rourke moved to make room, his eyes furious. “Why aren’t you helping him?” he accused. “He’s not dead! He can’t be dead. You have to fix this! You’re his Alpha, for chrissake.”
Grief wound its way through my heart. Tyler was right. I’d let Danny down. I was his Alpha and I’d sent him here on his own to fight a battle he couldn’t win.
My father responded for me. “We are doing all we can. Jessica is pouring power into him right now. He’s unresponsive, and has been for some time.”
“I’m so sorry, Tyler.” I bowed my head. “I don’t know how else to help him. He was like this when I woke up.”
“Woke up from what?” Tyler asked. “What the hell happened in here?”
Marcy stepped in when I didn’t answer. “In a very basic nutshell,” she said, “we were pulled into this realm on purpose. Once we found the bokor, she was trying to drain Naomi’s magic, and she’d already cursed Danny. We both battled her and the loa with spells, which worked in the short term.” Marcy’s voice held her distress. “But then Jessica got bit by a rabid wolf, and from what I could surmise—once I woke up from my spell—the loa, who was actually Marinette, the powerful goddess of werewolves, had drained the bokor of all her power, killing her, and then entered Jessica’s body. I woke up and thought Jessica was dead—I mean she looked totally dead—but then she blew this place apart and woke up. The loa hasn’t been back since.”
I glanced up at Marcy. “Wait a minute. I looked dead. But I obviously wasn’t. Was I breathing?”
“Um, I don’t think so. That’s part of the reason I thought you were dead, duh,” Marcy said.
“Then that’s the same as Danny. You said my eyes were filmy, right?” Every one of our gazes shot down to Danny as my hands flew to one of his eyes. The lids were closed, but I gently pried one of them open.
There was a thick, filmy coating covering it. “I don’t know what this means,” I cried, feeling hope for the first time, “but while the loa was inside me, she told me that the curse was actually her blood, which I took to mean her magic signature. I don’t feel her magic in Danny right now, but her magic had to go somewhere when I killed her, right?” I looked up, my eyes wide. “Right?”
“Jess, we have no idea what the hell you’re talking about—but whatever it is, just do it!” Tyler yelled. “Even if he’s dead,” my brother choked, “we have to get rid of whatever is left in him so he can shift back and we can bury him properly.”
I felt numb as I ran my hands over Danny’s coat, pushing more power into him, searching to see what was wrong, praying like crazy I could fix this.
“You can do it, Hannon,” Ray coached from the sidelines. “His soul is still there. It hasn’t left yet.”
It wasn’t until I felt Rourke’s hands on my shoulders that I finally took a much-needed breath. He infused calm into me as he said, It’s okay, Jess. Danny’s death is not your fault. We all know the risks we take in battle, and we take them willingly. If Danny had been given a choice, and he knew what the outcome would be, he would do it again without pause.
I know, but that doesn’t make this any easier to take. I took in another labored breath and focused my power on Danny, seeking to find what was wrong. If there was a way to save him, I had to find it.
After several minutes of trying with no results, Naomi broke the silence. “I believe this is Fate’s plan, Ma Reine.” Her voice was solemn. “Even if it is hard for us to accept, we must. We will grieve, but in the end, he would not want us to—”
“Wait!” Something caught my attention. Do you see that? I asked my wolf. Our magic signature is back to our sunlight color. When did that happen? I hadn’t noticed the change. When we battled Marinette, it had been a muddy amber.
She barked and shook her head.
As she did, I immediately noticed she was clearer in my mind, sharper than ever before. She had beautiful thick, inky fur and she radiated power. I was in awe of her for a moment. She had become her own entity.
“Jessica?” Tyler asked. “What’s going on?”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I can’t sense anything in Danny with my power alone. I’m going to have to send my magic in.” I glanced up at the group. “But I’m worried my magic will be toxic to him”—there was no way for me to explain quickly how my signature had changed once again—“and instead of the possibility of finding something lingering from the curse, it might be enough to give him a true death.”
“Hannon,” Ray said in a gentle tone, “he’s essentially dead already. Whatever you do is not going to be more harmful to him. Go ahead and use your magic. This is the only way to settle this, one way or another. It must to be done.”
I nodded. Ray was right. We had no other options.
Naomi’s hand settled over mine. “I believe in you, Ma Reine. He cannot remain like this. He must die a true death or wake from whatever it is that’s holding him, but in my heart I don’t believe you will kill him with your magic, as he has a piece of you inside himself already.”
She was referring to the blood we’d swapped, but that made me realize something incredibly important. “Naomi, I don’t think my blood has anything to do with this, but he did have something in him already—Marinette’s magic!” I exclaimed excitedly. “I might know how this happened, but I’m not sure I can fix it. The only thing I can do is try.” A flicker of hope ignited inside me as I spread my hands across Danny’s flank.
“What are you talking about, Jess?” my brother asked. “What does the magic have to do with anything?”
“I think he’s in the same state I was in a few minutes ago—but only because we both had Marinette’s signature inside us when I defeated her. The whole theory of magic being, it has to go somewhere.”
Naomi shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s just a hunch, but if Danny was alive when I took Marinette’s soul it means I caused his current state by killing her”—I gestured down at his limp body—“but if he was already dead, I don’t think I can save him,” I answered truthfully.
“So you think you blew up Marinette’s magic inside his body?” Ray asked.