Page 97 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

Kirsten

The backseat was crammed with boxes, the suitcases having taken up the majority of the trunk. Something about how cramped it made the car made me claustrophobic. Like some hulking thing was in the vehicle with me, bearing down on me, staring over my shoulder, silently judging me.

Why don’t you turn around? Go talk to Jace, a nagging voice in my mind kept repeating.

With every mile that passed, the same thought sprang to my mind. I’d only left the cabin thirty minutes ago, but in my mental state, it felt like hours. Five miles from the cabin, I stopped to refuel the car and get some snacks for the road. Standing at the checkout counter of the gas station, I caught myself gazing down the road back toward Crestwood. It was more difficult than I’d imagined to force myself to turn onto the highway and angle south toward Texas rather than head back the way I’d come.

But you could still turn around. It’s not too late.

“Shut up,” I hissed to myself, banging the heel of my hand on the steering wheel.

I’d never had anyone like Jace in my life, and I couldn’t remember ever falling so hard and fast for someone. The mere idea of seeing him and having him hurt me again was too much. Yet, wasn’t that what I truly wanted? I’d basically said that to Shayna that morning. I easily could have left the box with her and not said anything else, but I’d felt compelled to explain to her why I’d made the potion. Hadn’t I subconsciously hoped that once he heard that, he’d come running, ready to apologize and see the error of his ways? But perhaps even that had been too subtle.

My magic buzzed under my skin as I drove. That was something I was getting used to. My magic. Those two words alone made my head spin. In the few weeks I’d been in Crestwood, my whole life had changed. Now, the magical energy that pulsed within me had become normal, an integral part of me. If it left now, I’d probably feel like I’d lost a limb. For that, I had Tinsley to thank, but also most likely Jace. Without meeting him, I wasn’t sure the magic within me would have ever come forward. His presence had activated it in some way.

Tears stung the backs of my eyes and continued building on the old country road that led toward the interstate. There were trees on all sides, like a tunnel leading to a new world. Try as I might, the tears came, blurring my vision, until I had to pull to the side of the road, flashers on.

Burying my face in my hands, I let the tears come. I’d told myself I wouldn’t cry again, but here I was, sobbing like a little baby. So much had been lost in such a short time. How did a person go on?

My phone rang beside me, but I ignored it, too distraught and heartbroken to bother answering.

The glove box held a wad of napkins from some restaurant I’d eaten at months before. I dug them out and blew my nose as the phone began to ring a second time. As awful as all this was, I’d come to the decision that I needed to leave. Not forever, no. As much as I wanted to think that never treading the ground of Crestwood again might be for the best, I knew I’d be back eventually. Maybe Jace and I just needed to be apart for a while. If we had some space to think and work out what we wanted, and after he took the potion, maybe there was a chance. A small chance, yes, but maybe a slight glimmer of hope was better than nothing.

The phone rang a third time. I huffed, wiping snot from my nose, and grabbed it off the seat beside me.

The caller ID flashed Jace’s name at me, and a sudden and very unexpected flutter went through my stomach. I couldn’t tell if it was excitement, horror, or simple nausea. Would he try to talk me out of leaving? Did I want him to? No, probably not. We needed space, didn’t we? If nothing else, I needed to let the pain heal.

With a sigh, I answered the phone, knowing he wouldn’t stop until I did. “Jace? What is it, Jace? I’m not in the mood right now.”

“Kirsten, where are you?”

He sounded frantic, terrified, actually. I’d have thought heartbreak or depression would be the emotion he’d be displaying, not this.

“I’m leaving, Jace. You know that,” I said sadly.

“Is anyone following you?”

Reflexively, I glanced in the rearview. The road behind me was clear. “No, I don’t think so. What’s this about?”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God. Why didn’t you talk to me before you left?” he asked, his voice strained with emotion. It sounded like he was on the verge of having a breakdown.

“Jace, I… well, I feel like we need some space. I planned on coming back. In time. But right now, everything is so raw. I just can’t be here. I couldn’t see you again. It would have torn my heart out. You get that, don’t you?”

“Turn around now,” he said. “Come back. You have to get back here right now.”

Again, that oddly frantic tone in his voice. I frowned. He was acting like someone’s life was on the line, not like a man who’d just lost his girlfriend.

“What’s going on, Jace? You sound weird.”

“It’s Eren. Some of his guys set a fire in the town hall. I think it was to get us all as far away from you as possible. He’s planning something. He could have been watching your cabin, waiting for you to leave. Please,” he begged. “Please come back, just stay in the cabin, stay inside the ward. At least then I’ll know you’re safe. Come back to me.”

“Jace,” I said, a deep exhaustion and weariness taking hold of me. “I’m not coming back. There’s no one following me. I haven’t seen a car in…”

I trailed off, the phone nearly falling from my hand as three massive wolves trotted out from the woods on the side of the road. The crystal at my neck vibrated a warning as magic surged within me.

“Jace,” I hissed into the phone.

“What’s wrong?” In the background, I could hear an engine roaring.

---