Cassie looked between her two friends. It was ridiculous that one would have to kill her, but she had each of their marks on her. Here she wanted no mates. Now had two and one would have to kill her no matter what she did. Fate stunk.
Leaning back over the futon arm in frustration, she let out a loud sigh and stared at the doorway behind her.
“Ahh,” she complained. “This isn’t fair. First, I’m an outcast with no memory of my past. Now I remember, and it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change anything. I wish I knew more. Aunt Maria knew exactly what to do, and I can’t talk to her because if I do, the wendigo will kill her, but without her, I will die. Life isn’t fair.”
She was being dramatic, but Cassie was stuck. Her life wasn’t anything like she wanted, and time and time again she felt like she had no control. Everyone around her was making choices for her. Cassie stared at the doorway, but the bag sitting next to it caught her eye. The witch supplies were in that bag.
“Well, I could temporarily break the bond,” Cassie suggested. It would buy time like Nate wanted, but she wasn’t completely sure she could.
“You can what?” Jared asked in shock.
‘When you said you were working on getting out of it, was this what you meant?’ Nate asked at the same time.
Both guys were in shock, but Nate was also hurt. Cassie felt a bit sorry for him. It wasn’t like she didn’t like him, and to remember her past correctly, she now harbored very little hate for him. He had been her best friend, but he had been lied to and had his memories erased just like hers. Nate was just as much of a victim as she was.
“This summer I met someone who wanted to break a blood bond. I was able to make a spell that worked for them for a short time. I can try to do the same. For as much as I know, it can’t be permanently undone, and I don’t know how long it will last but it’s something, right?” Cassie clarified.
‘Explain more,’ Nate responded. He needed details as his mind went instantly to planning.
Jared was now pacing the room, rubbing his forehead in thought. Cassie trusted Jared. He would never let her get hurt, but he was a wendigo now. He had to obey his father, and Cassie wasn’t certain she should share everything with him.
‘I broke the blood bond between two people because the guy was afraid that if he died, then his bonded would die also, and her family was trying to kill him. When he got injured, he was able to bond to a second person. It all happened really fast. I don’t know how long undoing the bond would work. They chose to bond back together, so I can’t be certain it would last hours, days, months, or years. From everything I read, you can’t break the bond forever, but a temporary break is possible. I think something like how you were blocking the bond to keep me from getting the wounds they were doing to you.’
‘Could you make enough to break the bond with Jared once I have everyone safe?’ Nate asked.
That was exactly what had happened over the summer. Once Devin was healing, he rebonded to his girlfriend, Nessa. Cassie liked the idea of not being bonded to anyone, but had a feeling the spell didn’t work that way. She would have to choose someone, and since the wendigo, besides Jared, scared the crap out of her, she was pretty certain it would have to be Nate.
‘We could make this work for us. You break our bond, and I go help your uncle free everyone. Once they’re is safe, I can come back for you, and you can break your bond to him and rebond to me.’ Tiger Nate was nodding his head.
“What is he saying?” Jared asked as he stopped his pacing and watched them.
‘Tell him I agree with him, and I won’t be breaking my oath to the coven.’
“He thinks I should do it. His promise to the priestess didn’t cover if I join you guys right now. As long as I’ll be back to him some day, then technically I’m not joining you guys completely,” Cassie replied, leaving out their whole previous conversation.
Jared nodded.
“That could work. My father insisted that you bind to me tonight or die. He never said you had to bind to me forever.” Jared wanted forever, but he was more concerned with Cassie dying at the hands of his bloodthirsty father.
“Is it settled?” Cassie asked, looking between the tiger on one side of her and the young man on the other.
“Yes.”
‘Yes.’
CHAPTER 8
“I think that should work,” Cassie said to the empty room.
Jared was with his father making preparations for the ceremony, and Nate was upstairs asleep. He wanted to rest up before he went to help John and Maria. He wouldn’t explain, but he claimed they knew more and were almost ready for his assistance.
Cassie took an eye dropper from the kit and opened up her necklace. She had been wearing the empty vial since her trip with Whitney, and it made much more sense now. The old seer had insisted Cassie take the vial necklace when they left her, but she had no clue why. The seer told her to wear it until she needed it. Cassie put a few drops of the potion into the vial and closed it back up. There would be enough to cut the bond between her and Jared if needed, but she didn’t know if that was possible. You could only bond with one person, and the only time she saw it work before, the person who had been unbonded with died, so they never had to see what would happen if you bonded twice. Cassie had more questions and no one to talk to. Again, she wished for Maria to just show up and help her.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to analyze everything. Time was running low, and Ben was serious when he said he would order Jared to kill Cassie if they didn’t bond.
After gently setting the vial on the table, Cassie went to find Nate. She still didn’t know how he planned to sneak off and help her aunt and uncle.
Tiger Nate was sprawled out, taking up the whole bed, and she laughed to herself. He was a tiger in shape, but still so Nate in attitude. If she had her memories the whole time, she would have been able to guess the tiger she met was Nate, not Whitney. She knew him really well now. She knew Jared well, too.
Cassie had to hope John and Maria could get everyone out, and Nate would come back. She had yet to see a female in the wendigo camp, and her gut told her that wasn’t a good thing.
Tiger Nate opened one eye and looked at Cassie as she stood there thinking and watching him at the same time.
“I think I got it done,” she told him.
The tiger nodded to her and closed his eye again. Cassie tried not to laugh out loud. Her life had grown a bit surreal. Nate lifted up his large tiger head and stared at her as if to question her laugh.
“Please don’t give me that look. Had you told me two weeks ago I would be sitting around talking to a real live tiger, I would have called the psych ward at the hospital for you. This is all too crazy.”
Tiger Nate rolled off the bed without as much as a thunk of the floor and padded his way over to the bathroom, but paused in the doorway.
Cassie giggled more. “Please don’t tell me that you need to use the restroom and need me to lift the toilet seat.”
Tiger Nate rolled his eyes.
‘Come with me please.’ He finally spoke.
Cassie followed him into the bathroom. Luckily it was as large and ornate as the bedroom, and they easily both fit in it. Cassie had to scold herself from thinking about how if she invited tiger Nate into her bathroom at home there wouldn’t be enough room. It would be hilarious, though.
‘Close your eyes if you don’t want to catch an eyeful,’ Nate warned her.
‘An eyeful of what?’ Cassie asked as the tiger stood back onto two feet and began to morph into a human.
Cassie shut her eyes and put her hands over them. Skinwalkers transformed back naked, and Nate was standing there, facing her. Her cheeks flushed since he was naked in the bathroom with her.
“I’m decent now,” Nate stated, removing her hands from her closed eyes.
She peeked through her lashes. He was standing in front of her with just a towel wrapped around his waist. His chest was bare, but no longer cut up. There wa
sn’t even a scar left from his fight two days with the wendigo. Cassie tried not to get caught staring at him. He looked good.
He continued to hold her hands as he stood there waiting for her to fully open her eyes.
“You shouldn’t be human. You know Jack is trying to catch you,” Cassie scolded, finally bringing herself out of her gawking and back to reality.
“And that’s why we’re in the bathroom. He came into the bedroom, but not the bathroom. He couldn’t have placed a holding spell here,” Nate told Cassie logically.
Reaching up, she touched his face where the last cut had been when he was human. His whole body had been slashed, but she hated to see the cut not healing on his cheek. It was gone now, but she could still see exactly where it had been. His cheek was rough from not shaving in several days. Nate closed his eyes at her touch and made a low noise in his throat, almost like a purr.
Nate took Cassie’s hands up to his lips and kissed her fingertips.
“I have to leave soon. I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t necessary. I hate to leave you alone with the monsters. I know Jared will do everything to keep you safe, but I still hate it.”
“I’ll be fine,” Cassie told him. She had to hope she would be. Otherwise, he would feel her doubt through the bond just as much as she could feel his regret at leaving.
“Why did you chance turning human?” Cassie changed the subject. His blue eyes sparkled as they stared at her. All she could feel was love, though she couldn’t tell whether it was her own or his through the bond.
“When you cut the bond, I won’t be able to talk to you in your head anymore, and I won’t be able to turn back human until the witches are back. I won’t be able to do this.”
Nate pulled Cassie closer and gently pressed his lips to her. She would have been surprised had she not been thinking the exact same thing. His lips were soft as they brushed against hers. Reaching up, she put her hands gently on his face to keep him from pulling back. Nate took that as a sign to continue and wrapped his arms around her, tugging her closer to him. Her one hand drifted down, and she placed it on his bare chest. Nate slowly pulled back and rested his forehead against hers.
“It kills me to have to leave you. It’s worse to know you’re going to bond to another guy. Cas, I don’t have your memories of the past, but I do have a million memories of watching you over the years. My father said I had to stay away from you, but that never meant I couldn’t watch. We were friends once, and I loved you back then. I still love you and will even after you bind to Jared. I know this is all messed up, but once everything gets sorted out, I promise you, you will have as much time as you need to figure out what you want. I want you. That will never change. But I respect you and know this is more than could be asked of anyone. Please don’t give up on the night human world. Please don’t give up on us. Please don’t give up on me.” His last words were barely above a whisper. His blue eyes stared intensely at her, willing her to love him back. And she did, even if she couldn’t say it.
Cassie could feel the sadness of her running away from him days ago as he was afraid she would leave again. They were in the middle of a war with another clan, but Nate was still worried about her running away. He was serious about every word he’d spoken. The Nate from her vision gave up on her and left. This wasn’t the same Nate, and she had to remember that. Fate was changed, and her life was still up in the air.
Nate pulled back and nodded.
‘Jared’s coming upstairs,’ Nate told her mentally as he stepped back and instantly melted into his tiger form, the towel dropping to the ground.
He left the bathroom as silently as he came. She stood there with the sinking feeling that Nate’s kiss was one of good-bye. The bond, as annoying as it was, would be gone. There would be nothing left tying her to the life she had growing up. All the witches were gone, all the skinwalkers were gone, her aunt and uncle were gone, and her best friend was gone. Everything was all messed up. It made Cassie want to lock herself in the bathroom and cry. She didn’t want everything to change. She would have never taken the test if she’d known this was what it was going to turn out like. Cassie took a deep breath.
‘I will never leave you, Cassie, whether the bond is there or not,’ Nate told her, feeling exactly what she was feeling. ‘And this isn’t good-bye. I just needed to get a reminder kiss in for you. I don’t remember Jared, but from your eyes, I can see that you think he’s a good person. I needed to be sure you don’t forget me when you bind to him. I’ll always be here. I love you.’
Cassie sucked in a deep breath. She didn’t need to hear the words, as she felt it across the bond from the moment she returned to town, but it made her stomach flip-flop. She didn’t want to fall for anyone; she wanted to be free. Nate wasn’t trying to force her to stay around. He was going to let her go find her way in the world. Every time she thought she had it figured out, someone had to throw her off balance.
“Are you okay?” Jared asked from the doorway.
Cassie looked into the mirror and saw that there were tears on her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away.
“I’m fine,” she added, reaching down and patting some cool water on her face. “Just worried.”
Coming back into the room, she saw Nate lounging on the bed just as she had found him before.
“Did you not get the potion to work?” Jared asked, worry seeping into his voice.
“No, that’s fine. Did you find out more about Jack’s plans?” Cassie asked, changing the subject. She was getting good at that with these two guys.
“Yeah. I was able to get down there early enough to overhear his meeting with my father. He’s convinced that you can be bonded to the clan. He claims the reason they don’t let the seer have a mate is because she’s the only person who can have more than one. If she has more than one mate, it throws the balance off to everyone. With such a valuable position, people are afraid to punish any seer who does that, and hence, they found it easier to just rule out any mate for the seer of the coven,” Jared explained.
‘Makes sense,’ Nate added.
“Then what do we do?” Cassie replied. It did make sense to her. She had two mates, and she was next in line to be seer. Jared seemed to know a whole lot for not being part of the coven.
“Nothing. Jack’s plans can’t work since all bonds are made on the fact that the binding has to be mutual. You can’t bind to someone you don’t want to be bonded to. He keeps forgetting that part.”
“I’m pretty sure I didn’t want a mate, or two of them, and yet here I am,” she pointed out. It wasn’t that she didn’t find both of the guys attractive; she just didn’t want to be married at sixteen.
“Touché,” Jared replied with a wink.
‘I think you may be right. You may need to bind earlier and go to the meeting ready to face off with Jack. I have a feeling he won’t bow down easily to not getting his way,’ Nate replied.
“Nate thinks we should bind earlier and then go to the ceremony,” Cassie told Jared.
Jared rubbed his chin as he thought.
“That should work. If we do the bond now, it’s still technically before tonight. Do you think it will work?” Jared asked her.
Cassie shrugged. She really had no clue.
“How long before the stuff tonight?”
Jared glanced at the clock next to the bed.
“My dad likes to do things at one in the morning, so we have at least six hours before we have to head there,” Jared replied.
Cassie nodded. She wasn’t sure how long it would last, but she did have the backup vial to break the bond if she needed to a second time.
“That should work, hopefully.”
Jared nodded to Cassie and then turned to Nate.
“I know this is awkward and all, so could you like go take a walk while we do this?”
Nate’s ears perked up. They didn’t know how he would leave, but he had the perfect out now.
“How long do you want him gone?” Cassie asked.
“Forever?” Jared tried.
Raising his lips, Nate bared his teeth with a growl at Jared. ‘Not going to happen.’
“As you can see, the answer is no,” Cassie replied a bit more diplomatically.
“Well, we leave for the ceremony in six hours or so. Can you leave for at least four hours?” Jared asked.
Nate pretended to think about it.
‘This works out perfectly for you to get out of here without any suspicion,’ Cassie replied.
‘Yes, but I’m still worried,’ Nate stated. ‘Promise me you won’t leave his side for any reason, even if it means just going upstairs. Don’t allow yourself to be alone. It isn’t safe here. And you’ll do whatever it takes to stay alive in this messed-up place. I have a feeling we can plan all we want, but we don’t know everything.’
‘That’s been my life for more than eight years now. I’m used to it,’ Cassie replied.
“Does he agree?” Jared asked, assuming they were talking about the time.
“Yes.”
Nate’s blue tiger eyes stared at Cassie. Everything was messed up.
‘I’ll be back in four hours to check on you and hopefully, bring a message from your aunt. I’m begging you, for once, listen to me. Don’t leave this room if you don’t have to. Stay away from all the other wendigo. And don’t forget that I love you.’
Cassie watched out the window as Nate disappeared into the trees in the setting sunlight. She thought she saw him turn back once, but he said nothing across the bond. He could feel how difficult it was for Cassie.
She returned to the futon in Jared’s room and sat down in front of the vial.
Everything was getting more and more messed up. She thought she didn’t want to be with Nate, but now he made her stomach flutter just by looking at her. Then there was Jared. She really didn’t know him, but with her memories now back, she could vividly remember what their future could have been like. In that lifetime, she would have loved him and loved him greatly. Everything about him was familiar, so natural. Boys and love were all new to her, and to throw that on top of all the new night human stuff was just all overwhelming. She needed things to slow down so that she could figure out what she wanted instead of life moving so fast that she couldn’t catch up.