Chapter 136
Lucas’s POV
When I arrived back in the master bedroom, my heart nearly broke through my rib cage at the state of the place.
Aurora had somehow rearranged all the furniture so that the middle of the floor was openly visible. I quickly spotted Harper still lying unconsciously on the bed, but my true attention was drawn to the center of the room.
On the ground was a large drawn circle and several unidentifiable symbols. Ancient runes from a language that had long since seen the light of day. Surrounding the circle were half a dozen candles and dried leaves.
It made my blood run cold, and an eerie feeling crept down my spine.
It was a bold reminder that this wasn’t the same type of magic that we were used to. It felt older. Darker.
I was almost wary to enter my own room; however, I planned on telling Aurora about my decision to invoke a blood ritual should the occasion call for it.
“Well, well,” a soft voice hummed from the far corner. Aurora stood calmly against one of the shelves. “Find anything interesting amongst those dusty books of yours.”
Her eyes flickered upward to meet my astonished gaze.
My brows raised in shock. “I...How—”
“Most witches have a strong mind’s eye,” Aurora claimed. “Granted, it takes years to perfect such an ability. I’ll let you know that I am a lot older than I look.”
That was clearly saying something, considering she looked no older than Harper’s age. I sagged back against the wall behind me and let out a deep, withheld breath. I rubbed the exhaustion from my face and spoke.
“Blood rituals,” I admitted.
A sly smile curled across her lips. “That’s...Rather daring for someone in your particular position,” she remarked. “Honestly, I didn’t think that most wolves would ever be willing to share their own inner life force.”
“It’s not a common practice, no.”
She quirked a singular brow. “And yet, you are truly wanting to commit to it. All the possible risks...Why?”
A line formed between my brows at her senseless question. Was she seriously asking me that? The very fact that I had a damn sorceress within my own territory should have been enough proof as to how far I would go to save Harper.
God only knew the amount of explaining I was going to have to do in front of the Council at some point.
I narrowed my eyes and glared back at her. “Why? Because...Because I’m selfish,” I admitted weekly.
Pushing myself off the wall, I gradually made my way over to where Harper was lying. I reached out to gently brush a lock of her hair out of her face and take in the beautiful sight of her soft features.
My chest tightened. “Because I can’t go on to live a life without her in it. I know that I won’t be able to resume my life as though she were never there. I would never be able to be with another. No one could replace her.”
I tore my gaze from her and stared back at the witch with definitive clarity. “You ask me why I’d be so willing to split my soul in half, it’s because I love her.”
Aurora merely smiled. “It’s been a long time since I felt a true sense of envy,” she said. “I’m glad to see that my decision in passing on this power on to Harper has been a wise one on my part. It’s good to see that she’ll have a true protector at her side.”
She turned her head to glance at the clock. “I believe it’s time.”
The air immediately thickened with an energy that reminded me of an incoming storm. Electrifying and heavy.
“Do you need me to move her?” I asked.
Aurora shook her head and moved around the drawn circle. She held out both her arms in the direction of Harper’s limp form. With disbelieving eyes, I watched my mate’s body begin to lift weightlessly off the mattress and hover mere feet above the ground.
My jaw went slack even as Aurora peacefully placed Harper in the center of the circle. With a wave of her hand, all of the candles ignited at once.
The two of us lowered ourselves to the floor. The witch took her position behind Harper's head. She placed one hand over my mate’s heart and the other over her forehead.
She closed her eyes and rambled off an incoherent incantation. I couldn’t make out a single word, even as she kept repeating them. The energy in the room noticeably shifted.
Aurora spent what felt like hours chanting the same words until all of a sudden everything grew silent. Each lit flame around the circle stretched up several feet before dropping back down to its normal height.
As she opened her eyes, I was met with two glowing orbs. It was truly haunting—like looking at an apparition from another world.
She parted her lips and breathed. “Find your new host,” she whispered.
A long stream of mist flew from her mouth, swirling frantically through the air. I watched with wonder and amazement as the disembodied mist surrounded Harper and began seeping through her nose and mouth.
Aurora kept her mantra going under her breath. For a brief flicker of a moment, I seriously thought that things were looking up. But the second the last of the mist traveled into Harper, I could see the complications rolling in.
Harper’s spine curled and arched off the ground. Her muscles and joints coiled and shook as if they were trying to fight this unfamiliar intrusion. My heart slammed against my rib cage.
“What’s happening?” I called out frantically.
“Her wolf is trying to fight it off,” she said. “It believes the power to be a threat, which is causing her to lose what little energy she has left.”
Harper was seizing. She kept gasping for air while her body continued to shake uncontrollably.
No...No...No. No. No. NO!! It’s not working. I’m losing her.
My blood was pounding in my ears. Without wasting another minute, I tore my shirt to shreds. “Grab the dagger off the bookcase over there,” I told Aurora. “We’re doing the blood ritual.”
She passed the blade over to me, where I made a deep incision on the inside of my palm. I bit through the pain and carried on. I pressed the tip of my finger through the freshly drawn blood and drew the needed symbols on Harper’s head and stomach.
Having repeated the same process with myself, I took my position beside her in the circle and grasped her hand firmly on my own.
“Sanguis pro sanguine...Blood for blood,” I said. “I offer half of my blood for this creature. I relinquish half of my strength for this woman. I sacrifice half of my soul for my mate. Sanguis pro sanguine.”
Over and over, I repeated those words until I began to feel an unbearable burn beneath my skin. It was almost too much to bear. But I kept at it. I refused to stop until I could no longer stay awake.
The pain was searing. The symbols that I had drawn on Harper and myself grew with acknowledgement from my endless chant. As the fiery burn sizzled down to a mere tingling sensation, I knew that the ritual had been completed.
More so, I knew that our lives would never be the same going forward.
