Final Prophecy 05 - Blood Spells by Jessica Andersen Read Free Book Online Page A

the memory brought only a poignant ache.
    No matter what had come after, that had been a good day. One of his best.
    As the small peace dissolved, he closed his eyes and whispered into the blackness, “Sorry, sweetheart. I’m lost and I can’t figure out how to get back.”
    Then the bottom fell out of his world, his soul lurched, and his consciousness regressed to that of a terrified, dying teen.
     
    Skywatch
     
    Just past dawn, Patience jolted awake with her heart pounding and Brandt’s voice echoing in her mind.
    “Hey,” she said, a smile blooming as she rolled toward him, having finally crashed in the bed, albeit clothed and atop the comforter. “You’re—” She broke off at the sight of his still form, the lack of animation in his angular features. “Not awake,” she finished, disappointment thudding through her as she saw that he looked the same as he had when she’d fallen asleep—his breathing too slow, his skin gray despite the IV taped at the crook of his elbow.
    After recharging, she and the others had tried everything they could think of the night before, from a joint blood sacrifice to a one-sided attempt for her to call sex magic and awaken their jun tan bond. Their mated link had remained stubbornly silent. Yet now she could swear his voice had awakened her.
    Although the other mated pairs could share thoughts when they were uplinked, her and Brandt’s bond had always been different. Their jun tan link had carried a magic of its own, one that allowed them to transmit power, pleasure, and thoughts, sometimes even from a distance. So it wasn’t impossible that she’d heard him, but still . . .
    “It was probably just a dream,” she murmured, knowing too well how much false hope could hurt. But that didn’t stop her from taking his hand, interlacing their fingers, pressing their scarred palms together, and sending part of herself into their jun tan bond, just to see. The mark on her wrist warmed momentarily, but that was it. His half of their mated bond didn’t respond.
    It wasn’t a surprise. But it hurt with a dull ache that gathered beneath her breastbone and lay leaden, weighing her down. She didn’t let go of his hand, though. Instead, she inched closer to his big, warm body and let her eyes drift shut. I’ll just lie here for a minute longer. . . .
    Shrieks and laughter pulled her out of sleep into the warm drowsiness of yellow morning sunlight and the weight of her husband’s arm across her hips, the curve of his body behind hers, enfolding hers. Through the open bedroom door, she saw Rabbit spinning around in the main room, roaring demonlike while Braden clung to his shoulders and Harry battered at his knees, two miniature magi fighting to bring down one of the fearsome Banol Kax . With a final roar, Rabbit fell back onto the couch, flailing in pretend death throes while the twins pounced on him.
    Hannah and Woody were making a big breakfast in the kitchen nook beyond, in what had become a weekend tradition, a way to carve some family time out of the daily demands of life at Skywatch.
    Catching Patience’s look, Hannah grinned and turned her palms to the sky in an “I tried to get them to keep quiet” gesture belied by the amusement that snapped in her good eye. She had a brightly patterned kerchief tied pirate-style over the other side, where six parallel scars trailed down her face, tugging her smile slightly off center as she pretended to whack Woody’s knuckles for snitching an underdone pancake off the stove.
    In the main room, Rabbit rolled off the couch to pounce on Harry with renewed roars and a growl of “Gotcha!”
    Braden shrieked and dove into the fray, and the three of them went down in a laughing, squirming tangle.
    “Welcome to chaos,” Brandt rumbled against Patience’s neck, his voice amused. Beneath the bedcovers, he slid his hand up from her hip to her breast and began a slow, seductive morning fondle that was all the more enticing for its semipublic