Shadow Kissed (Magic Side: Wolf Bound Book 4)

Jaxson

The Moon’s words rocked me to my core.

“Do something,” I growled, as despair claimed me. “You’re a goddess. You must be able to heal her.”

Savy collapsed to her knees beside our friend, her face twisted in emotions that tore at my very soul. “Please. Save her.”

I dropped down beside Savy and pulled her to me. “Please.”

An agonized expression cut across the Moon’s face, and she pressed her fingers to her temples. For a moment, she was silent, and I held my breath. At last, she spoke. “Okay, okay. I’m not supposed to meddle with death, but I sent you on this journey, and technically, by law, nobody is allowed to die on this island. I’ll help her.”

I could practically feel Sam’s soul leaving this world. “Do it.”

“I’ll need your help. We need to call her back from death’s domain. Place your hands on her, like this.” The Moon pressed her palm over the gashes in Sam’s chest.

Savy used the back of her wrist to wipe the tears from her eyes, then placed her hands lightly over the gouges on Sam’s neck. Her pain and shame and horror filled the room, and I wanted so desperately just to hold her, but we had to save our friend first.

The loremaster and I placed our hands on Sam.

The Moon closed her eyes. “Now, in your minds, call her back to us, and I’ll do what I can.”

I howled in my mind as I would call to my wolves, and the Moon began to speak in a strange tongue. But my howl wouldn’t stay silent. It broke from my lungs, and my voice echoed off the roof of the sanctuary.

Savannah added her howl to mine, and the loremaster, too, until Delos became a temple to that single sound.

The Moon’s magic flowed into Sam, and a soft glow emanated from her palms. Slowly, Sam’s breathing returned, and her heartbeat began again.

My howl caught in my throat.

Beneath my hands, the ragged flesh pulled closed, and Sam’s eyes fluttered open.

“Where am I?” she croaked as the Moon stood and stepped back. “I had the strangest dream…”

A sob tore from Savy’s throat, and she folded herself over her friend, pulling her into an awkward embrace. “Oh, my God, Sam. I’m so sorry.”

Sam peered up at me with a distressed expression. “Um, you can let me go now.”

I swallowed a laugh, and the tension in my body eased. Sam wasn’t touchy-feely, and I could sense her unease with all the attention.

Savy staggered to her feet, her eyes glistening. “Will you ever forgive me? I…it wasn’t me.”

Sam sat up and rubbed her blood-soaked chest. “I know.”

“He took control…my wolf, she went wild. I couldn’t hold her back! I saw my claws…”

Sam reached out and took Savannah’s hand. “That wasn’t you. It was the Dark Wolf God.”

“The Dark God?” The Moon Goddess interjected, worry lacing her words. “You actually saw him? In what form?”

“Seven-foot-tall stunner of a man beast, with a penchant for murder. Does that ring a bell?” Sam asked, turning around.

Moon covered her mouth and looked away. “Then he’s free of all his bonds.”

Dread coiled in my gut. “What does that mean?”

“When I cast the spell on him ages ago, he was bound as a wolf, fully conscious but stuck in a dream,” Moon said softly, her gaze distant as if she were recalling the memory. “If his form is corporeal, then that spell has broken, and he’s grown powerful.”

“The bastard was radiating magic.” Savy said distantly.

I could sense the guilt and shame eating her up. I wanted to pull her close and take it all away, but from personal experience, I knew that was impossible. Savy would have to slay her own demons, and I’d be there to hold her up if she needed me.

Still, I moved to her side and took her hand, certain that she needed me now. It trembled in my palm, and I tightened my grip slightly.

The goddess’s eyes flicked among the three of us. “The moonstones! Did you recharge all of the orbs? That will still lock him in the Dreamlands, even if he’s able to roam free there.”

“Just two,” Savannah whispered.

“But you still have the third?”

Silence stretched out, and the Moon put her hands on her hips. “What happened?”

“I threw the third one at him so we could escape,” Sam muttered.

The Moon’s eyes went wide. “That will have hurt him gravely. He and his minions abhor the touch of my magic—that’s why the orbs powering my spell are still standing. But unfortunately, while you may have caused him lasting agony, you’ve only slowed him.”

Sam scowled. “Well, I hope it hurt a fucking lot.”

The goddess sighed and pinched her brow, and began pacing back and forth.

I cleared my throat. “What can be done at this point?”

She paused and met my gaze, and her blue eyes flashed with concern and defeat. “You hope that the two moonstones are enough to keep him in his realm.”

“And if not?” Savy asked.

“Then he will tear your city to the ground.”

Fuck.

The Moon clasped her hands behind her back and began to pace again. “You may still stand a chance. Because you recharged two pylons, he’ll be at a fraction of his strength. He may not even be able to fully enter your world. But whatever form his magic takes, it will be terrible enough.”

My mind raced. “You say he’ll attack our city. Are you certain? Will he use a portal, somewhere we can ambush him?”

“He won’t need a portal. He’ll tear a rift between your world and the Dreamlands. It could appear anywhere, but the choice will be deliberate. It will appear wherever he will be strongest—and he draws his power from the presence of wolves.”

“Dockside,” I whispered. “We have the largest concentration of werewolves in the Great Lakes.”

“Is there still a way for us to stop him?” Savy asked.

For a moment, sadness crossed the Moon’s face, and then she reached into her pocket and withdrew a moonstone, this one duller than the others. Cupping it in her palms, magic flared, cascading around the goddess like a solar burst.

It only lasted seconds, and when she opened her palm, the moonstone was glowing—but the Moon herself seemed far, far dimmer that when she’d first appeared to us, and her signature had weakened dramatically.

This was costing her much.

“You’ll have to return to his realm in the Dreamlands and recharge the final orb. That is the only way to ensure that he stays there.” She glided over to Savy, her movements graceful and fluid, and handed her the stone. “But it will be dangerous. He will guard it jealously now that he knows what we are up to, and I am certain he will wait for you there, in his full power.”

“So we’re screwed,” Sam said, coughing slightly.

“Use it if the opportunity is right. Otherwise, it might buy you precious time if you use it on him like you did before. I’m sorry I cannot give you more.”

“Thank you, Moon,” Savy said. “We’re in your debt.”

The goddess sucked in a deep breath. “Perhaps. Or perhaps it is I who am in your debt. If the Dark God returns…he’ll come after me after he wipes out you and the rest of humanity.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” the loremaster said, thumping her cane into the stone. Her eyes flicked to Savy before settling on me with a knowing look. “It’s time we return and lick our wounds before the battle.”

The Moon stepped back. “Farewell. You still have my talisman. Keep it. If you need to return to or from the Dark God’s realm, it will bring you back to the spot you left.”

We made our farewells and headed for the front of the temple, but at the last minute, Savannah took my hand and turned back.

The Moon raised her eyebrows. “Yes? Was there something else?”

Savannah swallowed. “This was my fault. I attacked her. The Dark God took possession of my wolf. I tried to stop him, but if it wasn’t for Jaxson, I would have lost control…”

She was unable to finish the thought.

Sorrow and pity crossed the Moon’s face. “It’s not your fault, my child. He is the god of wolves. It is his power to control and command them.”

Savannah shook her head. “I don’t accept that. How do I stop it from happening again?”

The Moon studied her for a while before she finally reached out and touched Savy’s shoulder. “This is no normal wound.”

She adjusted her shoulder uncomfortably. “It was a gift from Victor Dragan, the sorcerer who brought back the Dark God. He cut me with a Soul Knife.”

“He did more than cut you, Savannah. He severed a part of your wolf’s soul. That missing shard is the Dark God’s way in, like a gap in your armor. Through it, he can take possession of your wolf, and through her, he will take control of you.”

The blood drained from her face. “What can I do?”

“You must find a way to heal the wound.”

“You brought Sam back from the dead. Can you heal Savannah’s wolf?” I asked.

The Moon shook her head. “If I could, I would. But this is a sinister magic over which I have no control. You will have to find another way to fight his power.”

Savannah bowed her head. “Thank you.”

We turned to leave, but the Moon spoke up. “You three faced the Dark Wolf God and survived. Not many in history can say that. You’ve made it this far. You will find a way.”

Savannah nodded, and we walked off. Once we passed beyond the pillars, the temple faded, and when I turned around, only ruins remained.

Savy’s face burned with anger, and she glared out over the island.

I gently brushed her hair behind her ear. “It will be okay.”

She shook her head and met my eyes. “He used me to hurt her, Jax. Never again. I don’t care what I have to do—if I have to lock myself away, so be it. Never, ever, again.”

Her words resonated with so much pain that they cut like a knife. The Dark God might have nearly killed Sam, but he’d tried to destroy my mate’s soul.

Anger and despair threated to overwhelm me, but I pushed them down. That wasn’t what she needed right now.

I wrapped my arms around her and didn’t let go.

But she didn’t soften in my embrace. She remained hard, a blade in a sheath, ready to strike. “I’m going to stop him, Jax. I’m going to find a way.”