Page 30 of Collar Me Crazy
Sonya slumped against the counter. “I've been having visions, and they're not good. Something about the concentration of mated pairs, about too much magical energy in one place." Sonya rubbed her temples. "I think the bonds might be destabilizing the Veil instead of strengthening it."
"That's..." Freya paled. "That's not possible. The bonds are supposed to reinforce the town's protection, not weaken it."
"What if they're doing both? What if they're creating so much magical energy that the Veil can't contain it anymore?"
Before Freya could answer, the shop's protection wards gave off a low, harmonic wail that made both women wince. It was the same sound they'd been hearing more frequently over the past few days, but this time it was closer, more urgent.
"I need to talk to Moira," Sonya said, grabbing her jacket. "She's the closest thing I have to family here, and she knows more about magical theory than anyone except maybe Lucien."
"Sonya, wait." Freya caught her arm. "If what you're suggesting is true, if the mate bonds are somehow causing this, what does that mean for all of us? Are we supposed to break our connections to save the town?"
Sonya found she didn't have an answer.
She found Moira at The Hollow Oak Book Nook, surrounded by stacks of ancient texts and looking as frazzled as Sonya felt. Lucien was there too, his usually composed demeanor showing cracks of worry.
"Please tell me you have good news," Moira said the moment Sonya walked in. "Because everything I'm reading about Veil magic suggests we're heading for a complete collapse."
"I don't have good news." Sonya sank into one of the reading chairs. "I have visions that are getting worse by the hour."
"What kind of visions?" Lucien asked, his green eyes sharp with interest.
"The kind that show Hollow Oak tearing itself apart. Magic bleeding away, protective barriers failing, people running for their lives." Sonya took a shaky breath. "And underneath it all, something feeding on the chaos."
"Something?" Moira leaned forward. "You mean an entity?"
"I don't know. The visions aren't clear enough. But whatever it is, it's been growing stronger as the magical disturbances increase." Sonya met her cousin's eyes. "Moira, I think it's connected to the mate bonds. All seven of them, plus whatever's happening between Ryker and me."
"That doesn't make sense," Lucien said. "Mate bonds are protective magic. They should strengthen the Veil, not weaken it."
"Unless there's a saturation point. Unless seven bonds in one place creates more magical energy than the Veil was designed to handle." Sonya pulled out her phone and scrolled through the notes she'd been keeping. "Look at thetimeline. The disturbances started right after Sera and Maddox completed their bond. Every major fluctuation corresponds with a significant moment in one of the couples' relationships."
Moira and Lucien exchanged a look.
"There's something else," Sonya continued. "The visions always show Ryker at the center of whatever's coming. Either stopping it or causing it. And I'm starting to think which one it is depends on choices we haven't made yet."
"What kind of choices?" Moira asked quietly.
"Whether to trust what's happening between us. Whether to complete our own bond despite the risks." Sonya's voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "Whether to believe that love is worth potentially destroying everything we're trying to protect."
The shop fell silent except for the gentle crackling of the fireplace and the distant sound of protective wards humming with stress. Outside, November wind rattled the windows as another ward gave off that low, mournful wail.
"We need to tell the Council," Lucien said finally.
"Tell them what? That I'm having visions about an unknown entity that might be connected to the thing that makes all of you happiest?" Sonya shook her head. "They'll think I'm trying to break up the couples out of jealousy."
"Or they'll think you're trying to protect the town from a threat they can't see coming," Moira said gently. "Sonya, you can't carry this alone. Whatever's happening, whatever choices need to be made, we're stronger together than apart."
Another ward wailed in the distance, and Sonya felt the familiar tingle that warned of an incoming vision. She closed her eyes and let it come, hoping for clarity, for answers, for anything that might help her understand what they were really facing.
Instead, she saw darkness. And in that darkness, something ancient and hungry turning its attention toward Hollow Oak like a predator scenting prey.
Time was running out, and she still didn't know if love was the answer or the problem.
18
RYKER
The weather forecast called for the season’s first real storm, and Hollow Oak was preparing accordingly. Ryker told himself that was why he was in town for the third time this week, hauling sandbags with Emmett and Callum outside the Hollow Mercantile. It had nothing to do with the fact that Sonya was across the street helping Freya latch the apothecary’s shutters.
