Page 18 of Midnight Deception

Frowning, I glance around, only just noticing how quiet it is in here. “Oh, shit. What time is it?”

An amused smile tugs at his lips. “Eight.”

My eyes widen. I must have been dozing longer than I realised. Closing the open books in front of me, I pack everything up, a sense of dread building in me knowing I’ve got to go back to my room. Rubbing at my temples to ease the headache I’ve had all afternoon, I slowly stand and clutch the books to my chest.

“Night,” I murmur, only just managing to muster up a small, tight smile, my whole demeanour changing. I weave through the bookshelves, glad I don’t have to deal with anyone else in here giving me dark looks. If Kano replies, then I don’t hear it. However, I can feel his gaze on me as I make my way through the library.

I walk back to my room in a daze, and honestly, I’m not sure how I manage it. Nausea rolls in my stomach, and the headache that’s been building becomes a throbbing pain behind my eyes. Groaning, I stumble into my rooms, not bothering to fully shut the door behind me. Dropping the books on the dining table, I grip onto the edge to stop myself from falling as the world spins around me. My legs feel weak, and my hands are shaky as I close my eyes and try to focus on staying upright and not vomiting all over the table.

A wave of nausea hits me so strongly that I’m unable to hold it back any longer. Running to the bathroom, I just make it before I throw up, my lunch making a reappearance. I grip onto the porcelain bowl as I’m sick again and again. I’m not sure how long I’m there clutching the toilet, but sweat drips down my spine despite the fact that I’m freezing. Once everything is finally up, I just manage to find the strength to stand, wash my hands, and stumble to the bedroom.

I climb up onto the bed and wrap the duvet around myself, desperately seeking warmth. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. My chest aches so much it feels like it’s about to crack open, and my mind is a fractured mess that’s unable to form a full thought.

Instinctively, I reach for my wolf, needing her strength and comfort, but I feel nothing, just an empty space in my soul. Tears stream down my cheeks, and my throat burns as I howl a heart-wrenching sound. The rational part of my mind knows that my wolf isn’t dead, that there’s simply a block separating us and Constance is working on a way to free me from it. However, the rational part of my brain has switched off, and all I can feel is pain and loss.

Reaching for the place where my bonds usually sit, I scratch at the skin as if I could free them and make sure they are still there. Nails tear through flesh, and the scent of my blood fills the air. Reaching for those lifeless bonds with my mind, I tug at them, desperate to feel a tug back, to feelanything, but nothing happens.

“Laelia, is everything okay? I saw the door open—” Luna’s concerned voice reaches me, cutting off as she walks into the bedroom. Spotting me on the bed, she hurries over, places her hands on my face, and guides it up to hers so she can look me over. “Shit, Laelia, talk to me. What’s going on?”

Her touch almost burns, and I try to pull away, but I’m so weak I can barely turn my head. “I can’t feel them,” I keen, my cheeks drenched with my tears and my chest heaving with breath that I can’t catch. “My wolf is gone, my mates are gone! Where are they?”

A hand is placed on my forehead, but my eyes are shut, the light making the pain worse. “Shit, she’s burning up,” Luna comments, talking to someone else who must have entered the room with her.

A familiar scent fills my nose as someone moves closer—Kano. “It must be because she’s cut off from her bonds.” He curses, and I can imagine the look on his face. “I knew something was wrong with her earlier.” Guilt laces his words, and had I not been in agony, I would be surprised by this show of emotion.

“Get Madame Constance, she’ll know what to do.” Luna might be the subordinate between the two of them, but she takes over, seeming to know that he needs instruction right now.

Without waiting for him to reply, Luna crawls onto the bed and wraps her arms around me. At first I try to fight her off, not wanting anyone who isn’t my mate touching me, the touch stinging my skin. However, I’m too weak, and she keeps her hold on me, whispering comforting things in a low voice. I don’t know what she says, but I’m so cold, and after a while, the heat from her body sinks into my bones, easing a little of my pain.

A hand moves gently through my hair, soothing me, her voice soft as she coos, saying nonsense and repeating that I’m safe over and over again. I don’t care that I’m safe. I care about my wolf, about mymates. However, I don’t have the energy to tell her that.

I smell Constance before I hear or see her, the scent of herbs and plants filling the room. Two sets of footsteps enter the room behind her, but I’m already overwhelmed and can only focus on one person at a time. Painfully cracking open my eyes, I look up at the witch, silently pleading for her to make this agony stop.

She frowns as she stares down at me, holding out her hands. I begin to shy away, thinking she’s going to touch me, but she pauses inches from me. Her eyes go distant and the air shifts as she calls on her magic. I feel sick again, overstimulated, squeezing my eyes shut against the light in the room. A frustrated huff of breath and heavy footsteps stomping across the room are almost enough to get me to open my eyes. Almost. A wave of pain has me burying my face against Luna and releasing a muffled whimper.

Darkness suddenly surrounds us, and even though my face is buried, I sigh in relief at the blessed alleviation it brings. It takes me longer than it should to put two and two together and work out that whoever stomped across the room is responsible for this. I try to swallow, opening my mouth to thank them, but all that comes out is a dry croak. My withered bond gives a dull throb, and I feel my mind clear a little, the pain receding enough for me to crack my eyes open slowly.

“Just as I suspected,” Constance announces, her magic fading away and catching my attention before I can see who else is in the room with us. “It’s mate sickness.”

“What the fuck is mate sickness?” Luna barks, her voice tight with an emotion I can’t decipher. “And what ishedoing here?” There’s anger in her tone that I’ve not heard before, and it makes the hair on my arms rise. I wouldn’t want to be the one she was aiming her wrath at.

“When someone is completely cut off from their mate, part of their soul begins to die,” Constance explains, ignoring Luna’s second question. “We most often see it when a mate dies and the surviving witch suffers from the sickness.” She looks down at me, her expression softening slightly before looking back at Luna. “Laelia has several bonds, so the effect is much greater. Where her wolf would usually help her manage, she’s also cut off. Honestly, I’m surprised she’s lasted as long as she has, but once the symptoms start in earnest, they come on quickly.”

There’s a heavy silence, and my mind is slow to take in what she’s saying. Her explanation makes sense, but there’s something that’s twinging in my mind, telling me I need to question it, and that it’s important.

Thankfully, Kano beats me to it. “Are you saying she’s dying?” There’s a dangerous edge to his voice. I hadn’t realised that he was in the room, but he must have been one of the two people who arrived with Constance. Luna wasn’t talking about him, was she? My mind spirals down this line of thinking when I should really be paying attention to Madame Constance and whether or not I’m dying.

“I don’t believe she’s going to die, she’s too strong, but she will continue to get worse and lose parts of her soul the longer she’s disconnected.”

I’ve heard stories told of other packs where mates have died when their other half does, not able to take the loss. I suppose that’s what’s happening here, I just didn’t know the name for it. My mind turns to the dream I had with my mates last night and how it felt real, as though we were together. Perhaps that’s what kept me going today before the sickness settled in. Conversation continues on around me, and it takes everything I have left to force myself to concentrate.

Luna jerks beneath me, and I can feel her irritation. “Then lift the block!”

“My spell isn’t ready to return her bonds yet. These things take time,” Constance admonishes. Turning slightly, she gestures to someone behind her. “I brought the next best thing.”

Shifting slightly, I try to see who she’s gesturing to and what she thinks is going to help me through the sickness. The energy completely leaves me though, and I have to lean back against Luna with a pained sigh.

“You realise what you’re asking me to do goes against everything I believe?”

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