Page 68 of Resurgence of the Pack

I’m burning! I’m dying!Panic laced her thoughts but I didn’t have time for histrionics, however justified they were.

I sent her an image of us together in the future in which I was sitting with a cup of tea in the cosy room she had created for me, and she was much bigger and full of lone wolves.I promise you’re going to be fine, Nina,I soothed.

I… That’s me,she said slowly, her tone perplexed.But I have never been that big.

That’s you,I confirmed.With me. In the future. So you have to accept that you’re going to be fine. I know it hurts, honey, but I really need your help right now. Focus, please.

Even if I’m not dying, the orb is gone!She was still panicking.I closed it, but I’ve failed!

We all did, not just you. This fuck-up was a team effort.

I managed to close it,she repeated, anguished.But it’s gone. We need to get it back!

I sighed, suddenly weary. I knew we wouldn’t get it back, not for the next couple of hundred years or so.It’s gone,I admitted unhappily.We’ll get it back but not any time soon. For now, I need your help with something else. I need the crown of Torr.I had the crown frommytime with me, but I needed the crown from the current timeline to fix things the way they needed to be.

I’m only supposed to give that to the next king or queen,she said doubtfully.

That’s me – Queen Lucy at your service.To speed up the conversation since Torrance lay dying, I showed her my memory of her dropping the crown into my hands and the image of me wearing it in front of a mirror.

The house hesitated a second.

Please, Nina,I entreated her.I need it. I need to save Torrance.

The ceiling above me opened, and this time I caught the circlet of gold.Thank you! I’ll come back in a minute after I’ve saved him!

I ran out of the seat of power and skidded to Torrance. His chest was rising and falling shallowly; he had succumbed to the pain and was unconscious. Langston was cradling him, tears pouring down his face as he gently rocked him to and fro. ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,’ he said over and over again in an agonised, mindless litany.

In my mind, Torrance sighed.It’s okay, old friend. We all make mistakes.

Langston’s ill-thought-out seduction and one-night stand had resulted in the young lady’s death, but he couldn’t have foreseen this outcome. It was rare for wolves to be able to procreate and he would never have expected Torrance’s young lady to fall pregnant, let alone take her own life. You never knew what darkness lingered within another person; depression and mental illness didn’t come with a marching band and a banner. Langston had failed to act kindly and I suspected he’d spend the rest of his life trying to make up for it.

I sank into the grass next to Torrance. ‘I need him,’ I said softly to Langston. ‘Give him to me.’

‘Can you save him?’ he askeddesperately.

‘Yes, but not in the way that you mean. Hurry, Langston. He’s fading fast.’

Langston carefully manoeuvred his unconscious friend into my arms and I laid the circlet of Torr on Torrance’s chest.

I licked my lips and pulled my piping magic up from my stomach. I needed to do more than tie Torrance to the crown, I needed to bind them irrevocably. I hummed ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ as I reached out to Torrance with the wave of magic that was building inside of me. I had shied away time and time again from using my piping powers to force action on others, but I didn’t know of any other way to achieve what I wanted.

Bind with the Crown of Torr!I ordered Torrance, pulling his soul from his body and shoving it forcefully into the crown. I wove them together tightly, tighter than that cranky bitch had fastened my corset. I sank his soul, his life and his magic into the gold itself.

As I did so, I noticed that the crown already had its own magic. A sluggish sentience reached out greedily to take Torrance into its being, for it was always longing to be more. In panic, I tried to pull Torrance back but Terrance spoke into my mind,It’s okay,he reassured me.Together we are more. It’s okay, Your Majesty, it is meant to be. Finish it.

In my mind, he pointed to his body and I reached out with my magic and severed the link between him and his flesh. With a soft sigh the last vestiges of Torrance sank into the crown; I couldn’t have separated them now if I’d tried.

You said you were cursed!I accused Terrance.

I lied,he admitted.I could hardly tell you that you were the one who shoved my soul into the crown, could I?

I didn’t argue because in my arms, the body expelled its last breath and its chest did not rise again. ‘You said you’d save him!’ Langston cried.

‘And I did,’ I said wearily. ‘But not how you expected.’ As I lifted the crown, I fancied that somehow it weighed a little heavier. ‘He’s in here.’ I tapped the gold. ‘And he’ll outlive you, and probably me too. He’s not tied to the mortal plane any more.’ I laid Torrance’s body down.

They don’t find my body,Terrance said, his tone surprisingly clinical.Tell Lang to step back.

‘Step back,’ I parroted to Langston and he did so. Terrance called forth his fire-elemental powers and set Torrance’s body on fire.

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