Page 46 of Wicked Warlock
Ugh, warlocks. I shook my head, ignoring the rest and moving back to what we were talking about. “Do you know how soulmates work?”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m a warlock, not a moron. When two soulmate marks appear, it means you’ve found the person who best matches your soul.”
“And if they’re perfect for you?”
“You’d complete the soulmate bonding that will let you share more with that person than anyone else. Catch-22, though. If they die… you die. If you die… they die.” He shrugged. “Everyone knows this.”
I looked at him over the top of my mom’s casket. “Well, did you know my mom was Alataris’ soulmate?”
He sucked in a sharp breath and began patting down his pockets. When he hit something in the bigger pocket on his thigh, he opened it up and dug his hand in. He scooped out a handful of potato chip crumbs and shoved them in his mouth. “No shit?”
“Yeah, he tricked her into it. He wore a glamour, disguising himself, and he was so powerful. How could she have known? When she did find out, she took me and ran. She ran for as far and as long as she could until my powers came out.” She had sacrificed her entire life for me, never having friends or a great job. All for me. I needed her back, she deserved to be back. I missed her so much the ach in my chest grew constant. She was so close, yet so out of reach. Not dead but not alive either.
Maze shoved more crumbs into his mouth. “She was very brave.”
I held up my head and fought back the tears I wanted to cry for her. She was brave and she was strong. I only hoped that one day I could live up to her. “But Alataris had to die. We knew that if we killed him, then she would die, too. We tried everything to get rid of the soulmate mark. Nothing worked.”
He motioned to the coffin. “Until this.”
“Yes.”
“It’s very dark magic.”
“I know. But if you knew her, you’d know it was worth it.” I look at her closed eyes, her wild hair. What I wouldn’t give to be able to wake her safely, to hear her voice, to feel her embrace, or to feel the way she just comforted me in times like these.
“When are you going to remove it?”
“That’s the thing. Beckett doesn’t know how. He promised he would find out and do it. And I believe him.” Despite what Astrid thought. I knew Beckett, and I knew he would do this for me.
Maze chuckled. “Yeah, our golden boy doesn’t deal in dark magic… but I do…”
My breath hitched in my throat, and I wanted to scream for him to wake her now. Do it! Do it now! But I held onto my calm. I cleared my throat. “Are you saying—”
His eyes went a vacant milky white, and I knew he was no longer in the room with me. He bolted upright, going from his slouched position up against the wall to standing at complete attention. “No, no, no…why is he going there?” He pressed his hands to his temples. “No, it’s not right. Beckett, what the hell? Don’t go there. Don’t do this! NO!”
His eyes began to clear, and I jumped to my feet. “What happened?”
“We need to get to Beckett, now. Before he does anything else.”
“What else has he done?” Dread sat heavy in my stomach.
“You don’t want to know.” He began to walk toward the door.
I gazed at my mother one last time before I had to go handle another crisis. Please, Creator, let Beckett be okay. A ball of stress and worry filled my chest. Was Astrid right? Was he going to do something he was going to regret?
Chapter 23
Beckett
“I regret nothing.”
“Psh, I wouldn’t either.” Kylian stepped out of my portal behind me and looked around at the dried dead grass. “Since I didn’t lead you here this time, where are we?”
“Shh.” I froze, waiting. We were on the outskirts of one of the most dangerous places in the world. But it was a fun kind of dangerous.
Kylian lowered his voice. “Why am I whispering?”
“Wait for it.” It was getting later in the morning, and I knew we were sitting ducks. Then I felt it. The air moved ever so slightly, and I shifted to the side just as a blade soared right past me and embedded into the tree behind me. A second later, I heard it again. I grabbed Kylian and shoved him back. The blade barely skimmed his arm, but it was enough to cut through his lightweight black sweater and left a wound on his bicep.
