Page 78 of A Bond in Flames

Else plucked the hat off Jasmine’s head. “Nope, not yours. It might be destined for one of the babies,” she said. “Could be Vi’s or one of the twins.” She moved behind me and put it on my head.

The moment she did, something happened. The room spun, the world shifting around me, followed by a massive surge of power flowing through my body. It was meant for me. I felt it. The hat had been waiting for me, and I knew instantly that if I was wearing it, any spell I used would be boosted.

“Whoa,” Rose said. “It shrunk down to fit.”

“How does it feel, Zinny?” Wills asked.

I had to take several breaths while the power surge settled. “Yeah, it feels… right. Good.” That was the only way I knew how to describe it.

Else took it off my head and set it on the kitchen counter. “Then it’s yours, my girl. It belongs to you now.”

“Looks good too,” Mags said.

“Thanks, Else.” I took her hand.

She smiled, so much love in her eyes and warmth on her weathered face. “I had a feeling that the time was right,” she said, then grabbed for the chair, stumbling.

“Else!” Daisy shot to her feet, but Warrick was there first, scooping her up.

Else went limp in his arms.

* * *

Else looked so small in her bed, covers pulled up to her chin, her long silver hair, wavy and soft, spread out on her pillow. Stan lay on the bed behind her, his arm around her.

They were the loves of each other’s lives, but then they’d been torn from each other when Stan was murdered. He’d only been twenty-one years old.

He looked up at me now and shook his head.

Else wasn’t coming back from whatever this was. Jasmine was standing behind me, and she rushed from the room, trying not to let anyone else see that she was about to cry. Stan had made us keep our promise, and we had; we never told our aunt or anyone else that he was with her. He’d wanted her to move on, to at least try and have a full life without him, and he knew she wouldn’t be able to if she knew he was there.

She never really had, though. There was Connor, the sweet old guy she was kind of dating, but they’d never really been more than good friends. She’d never gotten over Stan, and she hadn’t really tried because she didn’t want to get over him. He was it for her.

Mags was kneeling on the floor beside her. “Else?”

She opened her eyes slowly. “Don’t you yell at me,” she said to Magnolia. “I didn’t tell you because worrying gives a body ulcers. I’ve seen other healers, the best, and there’s nothing anyone can do. My time’s up, pumpkin,” she said, her usually strong voice sounding weak.

Daisy brushed her hair back. “I won’t give up, Else. There has to be something—”

“It’s my heart, Daisy… and nothing can be done.” She wrapped her fingers around Daisy’s hand. “I’m ready to go. I’m… I’m so goddamn ready to see my Stan.”

CHAPTER25

Zinnia

Home: Week Two

Death called my name,his voice echoing through the trees. His roars and unhinged growls should terrify me, but they didn’t. I needed to find him. “Mors!”

But the faster I ran toward him, the farther he got from me. I sobbed, tripping over tree roots and sliding in the mud. Blood dripped from my grazed palms, and each step grew more difficult than the last.

“Zinnia!” he roared.

I sat up with a gasp, my heart thundering in my chest. Hemlock was curled in close, sensing my distress even in sleep. “I’m okay, my sweet boy.” It was a lie, and I wasn’t fooling him or myself.

The dreams had been constant. Every night the last two weeks since I’d been home. I’d dreamed of Death calling for me, and every night I tried to find him in that forest, and I couldn’t. It felt so real, but he was always out of reach. He needed me, but I couldn’t get close to him. If Somnus was helping him, he’d be able to come to me, though. He’d be able to talk to me, like he had when I was fifteen.

But he hadn’t done that. Maybe it was just a dream? It had to be because he’d talk to me if he was really there. He would.

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