Page 23 of Captive Witch

Adara searches Jaz’s face, who’s been sitting in the same spot growling in frustration every few minutes. Sucking her lower lip into her mouth, she chews on it, taking in the young girl before her. I watch her, curiosity brewing inside me when she rests her hands over Jaz’s and closes her eyes.

“Find your wolf,” Adara whispers. “Reach out, and grasp her.”

Jaz’s jaw ticks, but she gives a sharp nod.

“Now ask for entrance. Don’t force it. It’s her world, her piece of your soul.”

Opening her eyes, Jaz lifts one brow at Adara, then glances over at me. When I offer nothing but a blank stare in return, she sighs, closes her eyes again, and says, “Please, bring me into your world.” A rush of air parts Jaz’s mouth, her eyebrows shooting up. “Wow,” she whispers.

She’s only in there a moment before her eyes slowly open. Adara sits across from her, smiling from ear to ear. “That was beautiful, Jaz,” she says.

“You saw her world?” I ask Adara, swinging my legs over the side of the chair and leaning my elbows onto my knees.

That’s not possible…my wolf says, his interest as piqued as my own.

Adara glances from me to Jaz and back. “W-was I not supposed to?” A frown replaces her smile. “I’m sorry, Jaz. I only wanted to help you access that part of your wolf.”

I shake my head. “That’s… not possible. Tell me everything that just happened.”

“Um, well…” Adara licks her lips. “I came out of my wolf’s world and saw Jaz struggling, so I put my hands on hers and focused on helping her find her wolf.”

“I found her,” Jaz says, “and when I asked her to let me in, she welcomed us.”

“Us? She saw you both?” I ask.

Jaz nods. “She even called Addy by some weird name.”

My brows furrow, and a lead weight settles in my gut. “What name?”

She couldn’t possibly be Nicca… could she? Appearances can change—Monique showed us that much. And names are subjective to change, especially if someone is trying to be discreet and stay in the shadows. I run a hand through my hair. It’s impossible. She wasn’t even alive when that happened over a century ago.

Guilt nags at me for even considering for a moment that Adara could be anything like her mother—a pure evil stain on this world—when all she’s ever shown me is her light.

Jaz and Adara exchange a look, and Adara closes her eyes briefly, murmuring, “She called me Achlys.”

“Achlys… Isn’t she—”

“The goddess of misery,” Adara finishes, opening her tear-filled eyes.

I stand from the chair and cross the distance between us, pulling her into my arms. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

Yes, it does, you fool.

I close my eyes to shut my wolf’s voice out, pressing a kiss to Adara’s hair. “It was beautiful there, hm?” I ask, trying to distract her from the sadness and anxiety burrowing into her bones.

“It was,” she says softly.

“It was filled with wildflowers,” Jaz says, pulling her knees to her chest. “Lady slippers and Clematis Giselles and forget-me-nots.”

“Oh, little star,” I whisper, shifting around to put one arm around her shoulder and tucking her into my side. “Your mother would love to know how much she’s shaped you. How truly incredible you are.” I sigh, holding the two of the people I want to protect most in the world while their hearts crack before my eyes. “That’s all for today. No more training.”

Jaz sniffs. “I-I just really miss her, Gideon. I don’t understand why she had to leave me.”

“Sometimes, people carry so much pain in their hearts, they can’t see the beauty of the sun rising in the sky before them or feel the warmth of its rays on their face.” I brush my hand down her hair, seeing through every brave facade she’s tried to wear down to what she truly is inside—a lost pup, orphaned, grieving. “You’ll see her every time you visit your wolf’s world now, just as you get a piece of her every time you visit that meadow where she named you.”

She nods against my chest as Adara wipes away a few tears from her cheek.

“It really was beautiful, Jaz,” Adara says, reaching out to rub the girl’s back. “I’ve never seen so many flowers in one place, and the sky was the most brilliant blue.”

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