Page 13 of Called By Fate

"No," Vin affirms, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug. "They planned this. They had everything ready to make you submit to them."

"I could've been stronger—I could've made my move when they were distracted with Elian and Elron. I could've reacted faster, maybe grabbed my dagger back before they did. I was just so shocked by Elian's outburst..."

Vin pulls back so he can look me in the eyes. "Nothing would've changed. What happened that night was meant to happen. I don't blame you and you shouldn't blame yourself either." He lifts my face to his, placing a soft kiss on my lips. "So, don't beat yourself up, okay? You came after me. You, a Night Weaver, actually came after me, a lowly shifter."

I smack his arm playfully. "None of that lowly crap, you hear me? You and I are equals. We’re mates. You can't really get on more equal footing than that.”

Vin’s eyes heat when I claim him as my mate again. He smiles down at me and pulls me into a breathtaking kiss, bending down to capture my lips, and I rise to my toes to meet him. I love how all of them are taller than me.

"Gods, I'll never get tired of doing that,” he rasps against my lips. “And as much as I'd love to continue, I think we should get going. We can resume this later.”

My lips form into a pout that makes him grin. "Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” I agree reluctantly. I could spend forever in Vin’s arms, but it's time for us to go back. Something tells me we're needed. “The others are probably ready to come in and yank me out at this point."

“I’ll bet they are. Come on, let’s go home, Luna,” Vin says, and I make sure he has the shadestone before reluctantly stepping away.

“Since your body is in our realm, but mine and the others are in the Goddess' realm, I'm going to send you back first. Then I’ll use my tether to get back to the guys. Hopefully, since time works differently, you won't even know I'm not there.”

"Sounds like a plan, my Moon."

"Okay, close your eyes and concentrate on home... on your wolf... on me being there to greet you in person." His lips quirk with that one. "And then let the magic within the stone guide you there."

Vin pops one eye open, and says, "I'll see you soon."

"See you soon," I echo, and then he's gone.

I can't believe I actually did it... I brought Vin back from the dead.

Now it's time for me to get the hell out of here too.

Focusing on my own magic, I picture my tethers connecting me to my Circle for the third time, stroking each bond with my mental finger, shivering when I feel their answering strokes. "I'm coming home, mates," I whisper.

"Actually, before you go, we'd like a moment of your time, if you don't mind," a familiar voice says.

Huh?

I whip around to find Jimmy and Nicole Campbell, Ashley's parents’ apparitions standing behind me. "It's so good to see you again, Sadie," Ash's mom says quietly. She gives me a small smile, but that’s not what I’m focusing on. She looks extremely worse for wear. They both do. Instead of being a blue tint like my family was, she and Jimmy are a sickly green color.

"What—How? What’s wrong with you two?"

Ash's dad sighs heavily, rubbing his temples. It's something he did a lot while he was alive and the movement brings me back to all the meals sitting around their dining room table, all the game nights we shared together, everything. But thinking of those nights and about Ash’s betrayal is enough to drive a stake through my heart.

“That’s actually what we’re here to talk about,” he says at the same time I speak.

"I can't believe she betrayed me."

“Oh, honey, I know, but you must understand... Your uncle is controlling our corpses. His magic is strong enough to reanimate us for short periods of time and yank our souls from peace and into the In-Between. Everything about it is perverted and wrong, but Ash thinks it's real.” Her face twists with anger. “She's overcome with a need to get us back even though it’s not possible.”

I look at Jimmy and he nods, looking exhausted and defeated. “You have to convince her to let us go. We are well and truly dead. The bodies Mickey is controlling to force her compliance are not us, but he has somehow convinced her they are. It's hell for him to do this to us, the pain he puts us through each time is excruciating.”

“She’s not going to believe me when I tell her all of this. I know how she is, and I know how much she loved you both. If she thinks you’re back…” I trail off.

Jimmy nods like he expected as much. Ash gets her hardheadedness from him, that’s for sure, so he likely understands more than anyone. “I figured. That’s why we came up with an idea. Tell her the memory of us debating pancakes and waffles over brunch the morning of our crash. Say waffles are just pancakes with abs and she’ll know.”

My mouth pops open. I’d never thought of it like that but dang, waffles really are pancakes with abs. The memories from when I lived with them pop into my mind, and I think about all the breakfast foods we used to eat. That was their favorite meal of the day. The loss makes my heart ache. “Okay, I’ll tell her,” I respond, pulling myself from those thoughts.

Nicole sniffles. “You must stop him, Sadie. Please, let us rest in peace. Tell Ash the truth.”

“I'm so angry with her.” I run my fingers through my hair. “Why didn't she come to me about this? I could tell something was off, but... it’s so much worse than the normal drama I expected. I thought she needed space after what happened. I never…” I let out a breath. "But after I saw your graves had been disturbed, I should've known.Fuck.”

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