Zodiac Aligned

32

"Such a thing has never been done, but it might be possible," Brea said slowly. "Only the oldest and wisest of Sun Witches would even know how to attempt such a thing."

"Good thing we came to you then," Jordan said with a grin.

"Yes, good thing." Brea smiled back at him, her eyes bright with centuries of knowledge. "I might be able to help you."

Hope and relief flooded me so quickly that I gasped and found myself clutching Kaden's hand. "Really?"

She held up a hand, her face stern. "Yes, but I'll need some time to read through my old books and prepare the spell. Besides, the sun is setting, and a spell like this needs to be done during the day."

"Of course." I bowed my head, thankful for even a chance.

"Thank you," Jordan said, sounding as relieved as I felt.

We locked eyes briefly, both of us excited and hopeful for the first time in ages, and then I turned to Kaden. His hand tightened around mine, and my heart raced knowing that soon the false mate bond might be broken and I could finally discover who I truly was—and who I was meant to be with.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The sun beat down on us intently as we walked outside, as if it knew we were about to call upon it for something big. Dry, desolate land stretched for miles in every direction, with hardly any greenery to disturb it, until it reached the mountains in the distance. Tumbleweeds blew across the ground in the breeze, and the sky above was a vast expanse of blue, with only a few wispy clouds drifting by.

Brea stopped outside a gated fence that led to nothing but more sunbaked land. "Behold, the way we Sun Witches once used our magic for life instead of death."

She opened the gate and said a word in ancient Greek, and suddenly everything in front of me changed. The barren land turned to lush, green fields stretching all the way to the mountains, growing wheat, potatoes, and many other things I didn't recognize. I even spotted fruit trees, strawberries, tomatoes, and other things that I'd never expected could survive here.

"The Sun Witches had something like this in the Leo village, but on a smaller scale," Jordan said, and I remembered the magical garden with the gazebo and all the things that had transpired there. They were not fond memories. Kaden grunted, and I was sure he was thinking of the place too, probably remembering when he'd destroyed it with a combination of moon magic and shifter might.

But this place was different. It was clear the Sun Witches had grown and nurtured it with great care, which allowed them to be self-sufficient out here, so far from civilization. For so long I'd only thought of the Sun Witches as villains who used their powers to burn and destroy, but now I was seeing a different side of their magic.

"How do you keep it hidden?" I asked.

"Evanora's family is strong in mind magic, but ours is strong in illusion magic," Debra said with pride, from where she stood beside Jordan.

"We bend light to only show what we wish to be seen." Brea uttered another word in ancient Greek, and the desert appeared in front of us once more, like a curtain falling in front of a scene.

"Incredible," I said.

She let the illusion drop again and led us into a flat field of grass, where a few cows were grazing on one side. In the distance, I spotted Griffin on one of the horses near a small river and saw a Sun Witch I didn't recognize picking raspberries and putting them in a basket.

Brea stopped in the middle of the field. "This is where we will attempt the spell."

"Do you think you can do it?" Jordan asked.

"I believe so, but I've spent much of the night poring through my old books, and never found any mention of something like this being done before. Nevertheless, I think I've found a way to unravel the blessing spell, though it might take a few attempts. I will warn you though, it won't feel good."

"We'll do anything to remove the mate bond," I said, my voice a little more desperate than I intended. There was an urgency in my bones, but it had nothing to do with the spell. Tonight was the full moon and I remained both mated and packless, which meant I would go into heat again if I didn't do something to stop it—like beg Kaden to let me back into the Ophiuchus pack. That was the smart, obvious choice, but I stubbornly refused to do it except as a last resort. Kaden had taken my pack mark, and if I got it back, I wanted it to be because I was truly one of them, not because I had no other choice.

"Let's just get it over with," Jordan said, his voice equally strained. I hadn't mentioned the full moon to him, but he wasn't an i***t. He knew what would happen. The mate bond would make us both wild tonight, even if we managed to stay apart. Last time, he'd felt me f*****g Kaden through the mate bond. I was sure he wanted to avoid a repeat of that tonight.

"Cast the spell on Ayla first," Debra said. "If the spell backfires, we don't want it to hurt Jordan."

"Ouch," I muttered. I got it though. Her priority was her son, and I was nothing to her. But I shrugged it off and stepped forward. “I’m fine with being the first one. The sooner the better.”

"Very well." Brea looked me up and down. "I will warn you again. This won't be pleasant."

I lifted my chin. "I can take it."

I'd lived through pain before. I could deal with this too.

Brea looked up at the sun and then began chanting, softly at first, and I couldn’t help the instinctive tightening of my muscles at the sound. Every other time a Sun Witch had chanted in ancient Greek around me, bad things had happened. I forced myself to relax. Brea was different. She was helping us. Or so I hoped. What if this was all a trick? No, she wouldn't hurt Jordan. And if they did turn on us, Kaden was right there, ready to take Brea down if necessary. I forced myself to stay calm.