Page 74 of Faeheart
He noticed the evasion, his eyes narrowing. “Elias?—”
“Go,” I urged, gently pushing him toward the door. “Twenty minutes.” I grabbed him one last time, forcing him down into a kiss. “I love you, Wild.Somuch.”
“Don’t you dare say goodbye to me, Elias,” he murmured, the hurt and anger clear in his voice.
“I’m not,” I smiled, kissing him again. “I’m just telling you that I love you.” I pulled him into a hug, looking over his shoulder at the others. “I love all of you.”
Caden and Atlas moved in, joining the hug and placing kisses against my temples. Then, with visible reluctance, they left, each of them sending pulses of concern and affection through our bond as they disappeared down the corridor. The moment they were gone, I sagged against the wall, the weight of what I was about to attempt pressing down on me.
“I know that’s you,” I said to the seemingly normal ethereal spirit still standing in the doorway. “I could use some help, you know?”
The servant shimmered, and Thorne’s more detailed form took its place. And this time, he was more substantial than I’d seen him before. “You’re planning something foolish,” he observed, his silvery eyes studying me intently.
“Not foolish,” I said, shaking my head. “But something they won’t expect. We need an edge, or we won’t win this fight. This is our only choice.”
Thorne let out a long sigh. “I know. And that’s why I’m going to help you.”
“You really can help?” I asked, hope flaring in my chest despite my exhaustion. “I was sort of joking. What can you do?”
Thorne’s form solidified further, his dryad features becoming clearer as green energy pulsed beneath his translucent skin. “I told you I was bound to this mansion’s foundations. That binding goes both ways, which means I can channel power directly from the sanctuary’s core reserves in an emergency if needed.”
My eyes widened as I understood the implications. “Do you have enough power to restructure the ward yourself?”
“Not just power it,” Thorne said, moving closer. “I can help you weave the spells directly into the mansion’s existing framework. My connection to this place runs deeper than blood, deeper than bone. I am part of its magical architecture. With my help, it’ll bemucheasier to make adjustments.”
Relief flooded through me, though I tried not to let it show too clearly. “What do you need me to do?”
“Place your hands on the wall and open your magic completely. Don’t try to control or direct it, just let it flow. I’ll guide the patterns, you provide the precision.” His silvery eyes grew serious. “But there’s a chance the magic may consume what’s left of me completely.”
The weight of Thorne’s words hit me like a physical blow. Through our tetrad bond, I felt my mates’ distant concern as my shock rippled outward, but they were too far away and too focused on their own tasks to understand what was happening.
“You could die,” I said, staring at the ghostly dryad who had been silently protecting us since we arrived. “Actually die this time. Completely.”
Thorne’s translucent features softened with something that might have been a smile. “I’ve been bound to this place for over sixty years, Elias, a mere shadow of what I once was. Watching, waiting, hoping that someday I might be useful again. If my existence can help protect you and your mates, then perhaps that’s exactly what I was meant for.”
“But Lydia, Sorrel... they wouldn’t want you to sacrifice yourself for us,” I protested, even as I felt precious time slipping away.
“Wouldn’t they?” Thorne asked gently. “They spent their lives fighting the same darkness you face now. They built this sanctuary so that others like you could have a chance to survive, to grow strong enough to make a difference. What greater purpose could there be?”
I closed my eyes, feeling the mansion’s magical framework humming around us, the layers of protection that had kept this place safe for decades. Through our bond, I sensed my mates working frantically to prepare their illusions, their magic painting scenes of destruction and abandonment throughout the house.
“There has to be another way,” I said desperately.
“There isn’t time to find one,” Thorne replied, his form beginning to glow with concentrated dryad energy. “The Purity Front will be here within minutes. Either we do this now, or you face them with only the mansion’s original defenses.”
I knew he was right. The approaching magical signatures were growing stronger by the second, and I could begin to actually feel them. They had something else with them too, a dark, hungry presence that made my skin crawl. Whatever artifact they’d brought, it was powerful enough to make the very air around it feel wrong.
“Alright,” I said, pressing my palms flat against the stone wall. “Tell me what to do.”
Thorne moved behind me, his ghostly hands covering mine. The moment we made contact, his energy flowed into me like liquid starlight, cool and ancient and impossibly vast. I gasped as I felt the true scope of the mansion’s magical framework, every ward and spell and protective enchantment laid bare to my consciousness.
“Now,” Thorne whispered, his voice already growing fainter. “Let your magic flow. I’ll weave it into the foundation.” He leaned close, his ethereal form pressed into mine. “Remember, practice and rituals and rules can only go so far. This tetrad bond you share is rooted inwildmagic. It responds to emotion and intention. Make them clear in your mind and let go of your structures. You won’t need them anymore.”
Gritting my teeth, I tried to push the hundreds of rituals and spells and diagrams I’d memorized over the years out of my mind. Instead, I replaced them with my emotions. I saw Wild’s kind smile before he kissed me, felt Atlas’s arms around my shoulders, and felt Caden’s leg draped over mine as we read in the library. My love for them spilled forth, but none more powerfully than my devotion to Wild. Those green eyes, his ginger hair, and that mischievous smile he always wore drove me so mad I could barely think. I loved the chaos in his eyes, and I wanted to see them again, to protect them all. And that’s exactly what I was going to do.
I opened myself completely, letting my magic pour out in streams of blue energy. But instead of depleting me as I’d expected, Thorne’s power filled the gaps, his connection to the mansion itself providing an endless reservoir to draw from. Together, we began to weave new patterns into the existing wards.
The hidden trap layer took shape with breathtaking complexity. Where the original wards had been designed for simple protection, this new system was predatory in its elegance. Thorne guided my magic through pathways I’d never imagined, weaving spells that would lie dormant until triggered by specific combinations of hostile intent and magical signatures.
