Chapter 497

I hold my breath as I watch my cousin cross the newly formed bond in his soul, watch him hold the Goddess fire to the side as he wraps his arm around his little mate, holding her close to his chest, pressing a kiss to her hair. She cries into his chest for a moment, her hands wrapped tight in the fabric of his shirt.

But then he murmurs something soft to her, and she nods, and he smiles at her. And then they get to work.

I watch, my fists tight beneath my chin as Jesse begins to work with the fire, careful not to touch the oil himself. His wolf races across the bond next, eager to help. To my surprise my wolf goes with him, snatching some of the fire out of Jesse’s hand and holding it between her teeth, carefully working to spread it around Midnight’s soul and get rid of all the oil splashed everywhere.

Tentatively I put a foot out on the bond, wondering if I, too, can use it as a bridge. Both Jesse and Midnight turn their heads when they feel me there. But then Midnight smiles and waves to me and I cross as well, laughing a little at the wonder of it – of being welcomed into someone’s soul.

But it’s not so odd, really, when I think about it. Midnight – she’s my cousin now, or close enough. I’m so pleased and honored that she trusts me here. I, too, take a moment to press a kiss to Midnight’s hair.

And then I get to work.

It takes hours to burn away the oil of her soul. Jesse, I, and our wolves work in tandem to first clear a circle around Midnight’s wolf so that we can stand close. And then I lean over the pit, careful not to touch the corruption, and slowly begin to stroke the flames over Midnight’s wolf’s sweet fur. The wolf gives pitiful little whines of joy as I dust away the dried oil from her whiskers and her ears, as Jesse vanishes enough of the oil that her haunches appear, and then her shoulders, and then her rump.

We’re all very tired by the time enough oil is gone that we can begin to haul Midnight’s emaciated little wolf out of the pit. Her spindly legs work hard to help, to push her free. But she’s just so…weak. She’s been in that pit for long enough that I’m not sure her muscles ever fully developed, let alone enough to run and jump and play.

I cry when we finally pull her free and the little wolf collapses, her tongue happily panting, on the clean soil of Midnight’s soul. But when I look around at my cousin and his mate, I see that I’m in good company there. We all wipe our cheeks and continue working – me clearing what’s left of the oil from Midnight’s wolf, Jesse and our wolves drying up the rest of the pit.

Until, finally, it’s all gone.

Midnight sobs, her arms around the neck of her little creamy wolf, whose tufted ears are black and grey at the tips. I smile when I see that she has little grey socks on each of her legs, leading down to black paws.

“She’s so pretty, Mids,” I say, leaning against Jesse, tears streaming from my eyes again.

“Yeah,” Midnight says, hiccupping in exhaustion and stress and sadness and joy. “Yeah, she’s…she’s really great. I’m so sorry.” She buries her face in her wolf’s fur, sobbing again.

“You didn’t know, Mids,” Jesse murmurs, crouching down to stroke her back. “It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

I back away then, letting them have a moment, stepping back into Jesses soul and then opening my eyes in the real world. I take a moment to stroke a mental hand over my wolf’s head and she licks my palm, loving me a great deal – just as much as I love her.

Jesse’s eyes open first, and then Midnight’s, slow and sleepy.

“How do you feel?” I ask quietly, leaning towards her, able to see her better now in the dawn light that streams through the windows.

“What happened?” Jackson asks. I turn to see him standing at the door and I smile, reaching out a hand. He frowns at me, sending me a little pulse of worry that I didn’t sleep, and then passing me some magic energy. I grin, quite pleased as he steps close enough to the bed that I can lean against him.

“Jesse and Ariel cleared my wolf,” Midnight says on a happy sigh, just before she yawns. I laugh a little as she cuddles up in my pillows, clearly exhausted and intending to sleep right there.

“Do you still have your magic?” Jesse asks, leaning towards her, curious.

“Jess, let her sleep, she can answer that –“

But suddenly shadows burst from Midnight and she fades into the shadows behind the pillows, almost indistinguishable. “Yup,” she says on a hefty yawn. “Still got ‘em. Darkness lied to me. They must have come from someone else.”

“A gift from the God of Death?” I ask, turning up my face to Jackson, curious.

He shrugs down at me. “Or Life. I don’t know.”

I nod, intrigued, but then I yawn – despite my magical boost, I’m still tired.

“All right, come on,” Jackson says, scooping me up off the bed and nodding to where Jesse has laid out along the edge, his hands tucked behind his head, his eyes already shutting. “These two have clearly claimed the bed. We’ll tuck you into Marigold’s.”

“They’re very rude,” I murmur, narrowing my eyes at Mids and Jesse, not meaning a word of it. But then I just wrap my arms around my mate’s neck, letting my own eyes fall shut as he carries me away to our daughter’s room.

I grin, several hours later, when Jesse comes out of my bedroom, yawning his head off just in time for dinner.

“Yay!” I say, clapping my hands a little and gesturing towards the very filled coffee table, which has plenty of food and several plates which we’ve set aside for him and Midnight. Seeing my excitement, Marigold cheers too, clapping and holding up her hands. Rafe and Jackson, seated on either side of the little Princess, grin down at her.

“I like this,” Jesse murmurs, smiling at us a little and sauntering over. “I think I could get used to applause, whenever I enter a room.”

“How is she?” Jackson asks as Jesse flops down on the floor next to me, reaching for a cheeseburger and taking a big bite even without a plate. I grin and toss a napkin onto his lap.

“She’s good, I think,” Jesse says, nodding as he looks down at his food. “She’s still asleep but…it’s weird how much I can feel. Through this…bond, or whatever.”

Jackson nods, smiling a bit, while Rafe’s mouth twists to the side and he looks down. My heart breaks for him, because I know he wishes he had an accepted bond. Quietly I make a note to myself to ask Rafe about his plans to see Maryam again, which I’m sure he’s dying to do.

“How are you doing with that?” I ask quietly, reaching out and rubbing circles on Jesse’s back, wanting him to feel support. I know that he’d been holding out, that he doesn’t have romantic feelings for Midnight. But still, it’s done now, isn’t it?

He just looks over at me and shrugs and my heart breaks again, wishing this was easier.

“She scared the shit out of Daphne last night,” Jesse whispers, shaking his head and dropping his gaze to his food. “I feel horrible.”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” I say, hoping desperately it will be true. “If we can just –“

The door to my room opens, though, and all eyes turn to Midnight as she strolls into the room, humming happily, her hands behind her back. “Hi!” Midnight says, grinning around at everyone. “Is there any desert?”

I laugh, pointing at the big plate of apple pie on the table. “Well, I’m glad to see that you’re feeling cheerful,” I say, grinning at her.

“I am!” she says, happily plopping down next to Jesse and reaching for the pie, pulling it all onto her lap and digging in with a fork. “I don’t think that any of you can even imagine how nice it is to have years worth of darkness lifted from your soul!”

“We’re very glad for you, Mids,” Rafe says, leaning forward towards her, quite fond. “And glad that you get to keep your powers, too.”

“Well, not all of them,” Midnight says on a sigh, her mouth screwing to the side as she stabs her fork into the pie, apparently losing a bit of her appetite.

“What?” Jesse says, sitting up straight with a frown. “But you did the shadows this morning –“

“Oh, these work just fine,” Midnight says, flicking first into her shadow ghoul self, and then into the darkness that lets her hide. A shiver runs through me at first because although I’m getting used to it…I mean, it’s still very scary.

I glance over at Marigold, who continues to munch on her chicken nuggets, completely undisturbed. I grin, pleased to see either that my daughter is brave or has an affinity for spooky stuff.

“So, what doesn’t work?” Jesse asks, his brow wrinkling.

“Well, I tried to shift to the Land of Darkness,” she says on a sigh, her shoulders slumping. “You know, for fun.”

Jackson raises an eyebrow like they have very different ideas of fun.

“And I couldn’t do it!” Midnight continues, tossing a hand up in the air.

“Well, is that so bad?” Rafe asks, cocking his head at her. “I mean, at least you know Darkness can’t get you anymore. And you can enroll in the Academy and all.”

“Yes, Rafe, it’s bad,” Midnight says, rolling her eyes at him like he’s completely stupid. We all grin widely at that. “That’s how I get around all sneaky – like, even in the Academy, I could flash to Darkness and then back and appear on a completely different floor. It’s very useful for spying and I’m sad to have lost it!”

She sighs and looks down at her chest, the little smile on her lips suggesting that it was worth it, for her wolf’s sake, even if she is sorry to have lost a skill.

“Oh!” Jackson says, suddenly getting to his feet.

We all turn to him but he just walks away into the bedroom, oblivious to our attention.

“He’s still weird, Ari,” Jesse murmurs, frowning after my mate. “You’ve still got a lot of work to do on that one.”

I laugh and shove his shoulder, making him grin. Marigold laughs too and Jesse snaps his gaze her.

“And don’t get me started on you, baby weirdo!” Jesse says, grinning at Marigold, pointing a finger right at her face. She cracks up laughing, falling back into the couch cushions. “Little miss I don’t even know what a lollypop is and just try to bite it!”

She laughs harder and happiness spreads through me, delighted at how much my little girl is already a part of the family.

“Does this help?” Jackson asks, coming back into the room with something held out on his palm. We all look towards him with interest, Midnight getting to her feet to peer into his palm.

When she sees what’s there, she gasps, looking up into his face with big round eyes. “Jackson,” she whispers, staring at him like he’s magical. “Where on earth did you get that!?”