Page 101 of Unhinged Magic
“What?” I exclaimed, my brows pitching high. “Why would he ask that of you?”
Tyler threw Reid a look I couldn’t decipher.
Reid scrubbed a hand over his mouth, refusing to look at him. Something about that snagged my insides. “We thought you were dead. He said he was prepared to die trying to save your life if he had to.”
Air lodged in my throat, constricting my breathing. My heart beat loud in my ears, each thump bringing me closer to realization.
“Did you… bring me back?” I asked him.
He paused, a swift nod.
“And Wes?”
“I tried. But I’m unsure of his… condition.”
I stared down at Wesley, his thick dark lashes in slumber.
Open your eyes, Wesley. Do this one thing for me. Please.
I imagined his glistening emerald irises snapping open to find mine. The rush of endorphins that would ensue. The possibility of the mate bond being repaired after all this time. What that would mean for us. I wanted all these things so desperately I could scream.
“How long does it usually take?”To bring someone back. I couldn’t speak the words, like saying them out loud could jinx this. That and the fact I’d heard from Scar that Reid was extremely tight-lipped about his gift.
He watched me with unease, not wavering from my heady glare. “I haven’t done that in…” He sucked in a deep breath, the motion lifting his chest. He shook his head. “It’s different every time. Minutes… days.”
Days.
The thought brought bile to the back of my throat, unease stirring in my stomach like a whirlpool, dragging me into its vortex of hopelessness. It latched onto me like one would a life raft amid a storm gripping me tightly with its gnarly, salt-stained fingers. It was a horrible feeling not being able to help. Not understanding the process exactly.
I choked on a sob, and it wracked my chest.
“What do we do?” I said, not taking my eyes off of him. “Please, I don’t know how this works?”
Reid spoke from behind a clenched fist. The one still gripping something tightly. “Let’s get him out of here.” He veered his gaze to Tyler, who briskly nodded. Some unspoken understanding between the two.
Tyler came closer, kneeling beside Wesley, avoiding eye contact with me. Scooping his arms beneath his lifeless torso, he heaved Wesley over his shoulder, gravity reaching for his limbs either side of Tyler’s frame.
Seeing Wesley in this condition almost rendered me immobile. I waited for the twitch of a finger, any sign he was still with us. I longed for him to wake and say some smart-ass comment that would be so wildly inappropriate we would gawk at him, but it never came.
I had mixed feelings about leaving the manor. It was the place I had both met my husband from a previous life and Wesley’s brother. Both had graciously accepted their fate, passing to the other side, or whatever came next after this life. All I needed now was for Wesley to wake. For whatever Reid did to work.
We made our way back to the car, Reid stopping to take Wesley from Tyler, lifting him over his shoulder with a grunt.
I swung the car door open, getting in first, motioning Reid to lay Wesley over the back seat.
“I’ll drive,” said Tyler, his gaze dropping to Reid’s hand, which no longer clutched whatever it had earlier.
Reid’s voice tightened. “I'm fine to drive,” he snapped.
Tyler gripped his shoulder. “I’ll do it, you get in the back with him.” His expression didn’t mirror Reid’s angst. He was calm, like he somehow understood Reid, something I absolutely did not.
I didn’t have the capacity to unlock what was going on between the two of them. All I wanted was for Wesley to wake.
Begrudgingly, Reid caved, sliding in beside me and resting Wesley over us both. His head nestled in my lap, and I studied him closely in a way I hadn’t done before. The hard angles of his face had softened, and I ran my hand over his jaw, up into his hair.
Tears slid freely down my cheeks, dripping onto his face. I swiped them away with my thumb. I couldn’t lose him, not after everything. All he had risked for us, his friendship with Tyler.
I vaguely heard a phone ringing, Tyler’s gruff voice sounding tight words.
