Page 53 of Call of the Ride
But I still want to keep her.
Tan and Ace didn’t look much better off than me, but I could tell they’d reached the same resigned conclusion. We had to do this. Gritting my teeth, I nodded once and joined the others in front of my father’s desk.
“Move this, please,” Vasi pointed at the imposing desk I’d sweated in front of many times over the past two decades. The guys and I shoved the wooden monstrosity out of the way, revealing a ring of quartz inlaid on the floor. My jaw ticked as I realized there was so much my father hid from me—so many questions that would go unanswered. I’d never know if he’d been aware of what lay beneath his feet, or if he’d just felt a kinship with a force as destructive as he was.
It’s time to undo everything he did.
Vasi nudged the duffel bag aside and kneeled in front of the inlay before instructing us to do the same. I numbly allowed her to boss me around, not understanding why it mattered so much where we all sat. It wasn’t until we were positioned that I realized she’d replicated the mural in the Great Womb—the times of day surrounding their timekeeper.
Dawn, Day, Midnight.
And our entire world.
I sank to my knees, thinking of how—if I’d been a religious man—I could pray for a miracle instead of accepting my fate. Instead, I simply watched Vasi get to work. I shuddered as I felt her pull on my darkness, effortlessly combining all of our powers within her to locate the object we needed to save the earth.
Flames from Ace burned through the inlay and surrounded floorboards, leaving nothing but a jagged hole behind. Holding a palm over the opening, Vasi then channeled Tan’s light to illuminate the darkness, and we all leaned forward to peer inside. Something caught the light, far below. It was all I could do not to throw everything that wasn’t nailed down into the hole—to keep it buried forever. But I continued to obey, listlessly watching as a doll that looked exactly like the one Vasi carried floated to the surface.
She frowned. “I don’t understand why Koschei’s death would look like…”
Before she could finish her statement, the doll turned its creepy button eyes toward Vasi, who simply met its gaze, as if mesmerized. Something like recognition passed over my witch’s face, and I caught the ghost of a smile on her luscious lips before the doll vanished into a cloud of darkness.
A moment of silence passed as Vasi slowly looked over each of her Riders in turn. “Meeting you three was the best thing that ever happened to me…” she began.
“Don’t…” I warned, already so close to completely losing my shit.
Because this witch gave zero fucks, she stubbornly continued, “I’d long thought I was incapable of feeling anything—especially an emotion as complex as love…”
“Don’t you fucking dare,” I growled, not even caring that actual tears were stinging my eyes.
“Nox…” Asa hissed, although I could see he was shaking with emotion as well.
I continued, just as stubborn as her. “Don’t youdaretell us you love us just to say goodbye,” I choked out. “If you’re gonna say it, say it because you’ll stay.”
Vasi stared at me for a long moment before solemnly nodding and rising to her feet. “Very well,” she said, and I nodded once in reply, realizing this really was the last time I would ever see her.
I can’t fucking lose you.
Before I could beg her to stay, Vasi waved her hand, and stopped time.
Chapter 41
Vasilisa
Manipulating time was a lot like weaving. Limited only by my imagination, I could combine seemingly incompatible strands to create something more visually pleasing than the tangled pile of yarn it originated as. It was like how my Riders and I had slowly woven ourselves together. We were distinct individuals who’d somehow blended perfectly to form a creation that was not only beautiful, but stronger than we’d ever been alone.
Unbreakable.
Although I could feel my heart shattering, I maintained eye contact with my men where they kneeled before me, frozen in time. I bolstered my resolve with the love and support radiating through our bond, even if much of it was buried behind layers of anger, heartbreak, and betrayal.
Through my tears, I pulled on the fabric of time, finding the exact moment my former mentor had buried Koschei’s death in this previously wooded location. I stilled her gnarled hand, plucking the death from her grasp and sending it into the ether, along with the doll we’d unearthed.
It is done.
As the earth outside breathed a sigh of relief, time sped back up, flying through the centuries at an alarming rate, whipping the air around me like a hurricane.
No.
Like a whirlwind…
