18
“Jess! Jess!” Tyler yelled straight into my ear canal.
His voice was so loud it shocked me.
“Wake the hell up. Do you hear me?” he continued. “Jessica! I’m not going to let you leave now, not after all of this.” I felt his hands on me, but they felt odd, like he was pressing on me from outside a bubble.
“She hasn’t moved in ages, not even a twitch,” Danny said, his voice filled with something that sounded close to remorse. “Even if she’s not dead, she won’t be the same. Did you feel that power? She blew herself up trying to fight off that spell.”
“If she was dead, we would feel it. I can still feel her energy. Can’t you sense it? Plus, she would’ve changed back into her human form. She’s still a wolf,” Tyler argued. I was still a wolf? I didn’t feel like I was in my true form; in fact, I felt insubstantial, like I was hovering. Our bodies changed back to human when we died. It’s an insurance policy so humans don’t come across a dead werewolf. “She’s alive. She just has to wake the f**k up,” he yelled right next to my ear. I cringed inwardly, but I still couldn’t move.
“Well, that might be true. I do feel her,” Danny said. “But she hasn’t taken a bloody breath in hours! How many wolves do you know who don’t have to breathe?”
I wasn’t breathing?
How was that possible? My wolf twitched in my mind and I noticed for the first time she was lying on her side, facing away from me. Can you hear me? Can you move?
No response.
“Go check the entrance for those insects and do a sweep,” Tyler said. “I’m not taking any chances letting one in here. If she gets stung again, she’ll never wake up.”
“Fine,” Danny murmured. “But when the vamps come back, we have to make a decision.”
“I already told you, we go for the cat as planned,” Tyler said. “Then we kill the bitch who did this to my sister. I’m going whether you join me or not.”
“We don’t stand a chance against a goddess on our own. It would be suicide to go in there,” Danny argued. “We can get Jessica home and have her figured out, and then come back with reinforcements later.”
“We go, Selene dies, and we save the cat.” My brother’s tone broached no argument. “When we’re finished, we come back here, Jessica wakes up because she’s dead, and we all go home.”
“I don’t give two shites about the bloody cat!” Danny shouted in frustration. His voice echoed, bouncing back to my ears. We must be in a cave, I told my wolf. No response. “What happens in that scenario is we go in there and die. Selene lives and Jessica rots here because she can’t wake up.”
Tyler jumped to his feet. His anger pressed down on me. His emotions swirled through my blood, pummeling me with intensity. Pain, sorrow, and rage. “The cat is my sister’s mate. Whether she lives or dies doesn’t change that. We kill the Goddess and he lives. We are strong enough to do this ourselves.”
“You have a bloody thick skull, you know that? If we go in there, we all perish—including the cat.” Danny’s footfalls faded as he left the cave.
Why couldn’t I wake up?
I reached out to my wolf again, probing my mind for any clues. She was still lying on her side. Wake up! I shouted. Can you hear me? Her front paw twitched, but nothing more.
I gave a mental push outward.
My power flowed out, but then flexed back at me when it hit something. I think we’re trapped in some kind of power bubble. If that was the case, I just had to figure out how to break it open. That sounds easy enough, right? Nothing from my wolf. It seemed that for some reason my human side had woken up, but my wolf side was still asleep. I wasn’t going to argue; I was happy to be awake, but now I had to fix it.
Come on, Jess, Tyler pleaded. Just wake up. His hand hit my fur at the same time he pushed into my mind.
A crackle of power ran between us at the contact, like a jolt from a car battery.
He gasped and I knew he felt it too.
He knelt down immediately, both his hands plunging deeply into my fur. The weight of him calmed me. What’s going on? Tell me what to do. Are you trapped?
I pushed out to him with my mind, but I had to force it with all my strength. I’m here. Can you hear me?
He stilled. Yes. His voice was excited. But you sound far away. If I couldn’t feel you in my blood right now, I almost wouldn’t believe it was you talking.
My wolf is unconscious and I’m in some kind of suspended state.
Your heart isn’t beating, Jess, Tyler said quietly. And you’re not breathing. You should be dead.
Clearly I’m not dead, but honestly, I’m not sure I would’ve woken up had you not been here. Did you touch me before?
Yes, just a few minutes ago.
I think our blood connection is what woke me up. It feels amplified now with your hands on me. You’re bleeding some of your energy into me.
That’s the best f**king news I’ve ever heard. But why aren’t you shaking this off?
I don’t know. I think I have to pop the cocoon somehow, but my wolf is still out cold.
I can push more energy toward you, like a direct hit. Do you think that will help?
Give it a try. I must be in a state of limbo of some kind. I wasn’t breathing and my heart wasn’t beating. I tried to gather some of my own power to me, but when I opened myself up, it felt completely empty. I couldn’t find anything to draw from. I pulled anyway, and as I did the bubble bowed, sucking back at me.
The totality of my power was being used to protect me. It had all shifted outward.
Tyler, all my power is on the outside. It’s keeping me safe in this enclosure.
I’m going to give you some of mine. A current of raw power hit my senses immediately, igniting me. My wolf stirred for a second, shaking her legs and growling. It wasn’t enough to wake her, but we’d both felt it. Supernaturals, especially the older ones, could focus their power like Tyler was doing now. Witches were especially gifted at doing this with their familiars, who stored the extra power until the witch needed a boost. Tyler wasn’t that old, but the new connection between us made it seem like a natural thing to do.
I absorbed it greedily. It’s working. It’s easier to communicate with you now. Once I accumulate enough, I’m going to aim it outward. If I can break whatever’s holding me in with enough energy, I think I’ll be free.
Be careful, Jess. I’ve never seen a wolf in this state. Are you sure if you pop it you won’t die? What if the cocoon is the only thing keeping you alive?