Page 71 of Unhinged Magic
“Like what?” he objected, still not convinced.
Morgan shook her head. “I don’t know… but what if this was us? What if you could feel the bond between us and I couldn’t? How would you feel?”
I held my breath as he contemplated her words.
“Desperate,” he said flatly, and my heartfell, shattering into a million pieces.
This was a man who had found his fated mate and could feel the bond. He knew exactly how it would feel to be put in the same situation. That one word weirdly gave me an inkling of hope. Because I knew desperation did many things to a person. Made them not think clearly, act as they normally wouldn’t. Desperation was the cracked riverbed in the desert sun, and right then, I wanted a trickle of rain to fill the open woundscarved into the dry riverbank that was my heart. To heal the constant ache in my chest.
“Exactly,” Morgan murmured.
Tyler ran a hand up the side of his face until it rested on the bridge of his nose. “How do you know he’s not bluffing?” When he turned to me it felt different this time. Like he would consider what I was saying, at least. “How are you certain it was the mate bond?”
I drew in a shaky breath. “I felt it, every sensation, even if only for a few seconds, but it was there. It was… like nothing I could have imagined.”
Reid shifted in his seat, folding his arms across his chest. He suddenly averted his gaze.
“When? How?” Tyler questioned.
I felt I owed him the truth, as hard as this would be for him to find out his best friend had crossed the line of friendship. “When he kissed me.”
I was prepared for the room to erupt, but surprisingly, it stilled.
Tyler didn’t speak, his eyes hardening into something I had only ever seen once before, when Morgan had gone missing. Instead of the outburst I had prepared myself for, he simply held my gaze like he finally realized there was truth to my words. Like he finally believed me. Credit to him, he held it together, his hands clasping together behind his head as he left the circle quietly, momentarily processing the information, I guessed.
Morgan’s attention drifted from him back to me. “Where do we go from here?”
I gathered a breath, addressing the group. “I guess I’m asking for your help. For advice. What do I do? How do I fix this? When Wesley returns, I need a plan.”
“Ifhe returns,” said Tyler as he turned to the room again. He continued to pace the floor, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans.
“Whenhe returns, and that could be a year from now or tomorrow, I need this sorted. I needhim.” My voice cracked. I knew in my heart he would return, and as much as I was angry at him, I would hear him out. I owed him that.
“Have you tried to speak with his brother’s ghost?” said Colton.
I nodded. “We tried but got interrupted. At the old manor on the outskirts of town.”
Reid held up his arms. “Youreallyshouldn’t fuck with the dead.”
“I know this more than anyone. But I can’t just sit and wait for him to just show up. He never speaks. And last time when he saw Wesley, he looked angry.”
“Walk me through what happened at the manor,” said Colton abruptly, authority filling his tone.
I told them about the Ouija board, about Wes about to puke, the photograph appearing out of nowhere and shattering. How had I forgotten about the photograph?
“Tell us about this photo. You say it just appeared?” Colton questioned further.
“Yeah, it was pretty creepy, really.” I chewed my lip at the memory of it stashed in my drawer in my bedroom.
Morgan’s voice sounded again. “Have you figured out who the people in the photo are?”
I shook my head. “No, to be honest, it slipped my mind. I figured it was connected to the house, not us.”
She bobbed her head. “Interesting.”
That one word seemed to pull me from my haze of the last two months. Maybe there was more to this photo than Irealized. Wesley even mentioned the woman looking strangely like myself. Why had I not thought of this before?
Scar spoke beside me. “I say we get this photo and firstly, figure out who is in it. You never know, they may be connected.”
