To Have And To Hold

Discovering The Resolve Of The Weak...

Chapter Fifty-Eight: Discovering The Resolve of The Weak...

JACE

Mother promised she would have answers for me soon before sending us to the hospital with Talon, but not before Carson and I both profusely thanked her and everyone else for all they had done.

Talon assured me that while she had taken in some water and would be incredibly sore for several days, overall, Constance was very fortunate and would be fine. He also confidently relayed that while she may not regain consciousness as quickly as we would like, he felt the same could be said for Charlotte.

Luna was kind enough to bring some dry clothes that we helped Constance change into before I laid down beside her, wrapping a blanket tightly around her shivering body before pressing her close against the warmth of my large frame.

Holding my her tight in my arms, my wolf, who, like me, was still extremely unsettled and distressed, let out a harrowed howl for our mate as Constance laid her head on my chest, horrifying whispering, “It all happened so fast, Jace. One second, we were standing there and the next, Charlotte and I were underwater. I was so scared when I couldn’t see her—she was taken much further down than I was.”

My fingers gently brushing the wet strands of her blonde hair away from Goddess’ face, I soothingly murmured, “According to Mother, Charlotte was the primary target of the spell.”

Goddess’ breath hastened as she inaudibly murmured, “I almost lost my other half, Jace.”

Kissing her forehead, I tenderly breathed out, “I know. I’m just so grateful you’re both alright. For now, close your eyes for me, Goddess. I will keep you safe in my arms while you sleep, whispering I love you often in hopes that it will help bring you sweet dreams.”

“I love you, Smooth Talker,” Goddess exhaustively sighed out before drifting off into much-needed sound slumber.

Anxious to hear any news he could provide, I linked Nicholas to check in, only to be told that he and Mother would be in soon and to concentrate on Constance until they arrived.

My mind relentlessly replayed every moment of what occurred, beginning with the panicked link from Aunt Reina telling us there was trouble and Carson and I needed to get to the lake immediately. I’ve never felt that kind of fear, nor have I ever felt more tormented after Carson and I realized our mates had been attacked, forced into the lake by multiple sources of magic Igor was utilizing for deadly intent—a despicable supernatural move made in our own back yard.

Watching Mother fighting to bring the girls out of the water was a moment I will never forget—I felt my mate’s pain and struggle, especially Constance's battle to breathe. And then, while relieved, the overwhelming fear that continued even after my Goddess was returned to me...

But while horrifying, I knew that what I endured paled in comparison to Carson, whose torment continued for much longer than my own and was continuing even now...

How are you and Charlotte doing? I quietly linked my old friend.

Talon just left. Says Lottie is stable and doing well, just needs some rest, Carson soberly returned, As for me, I’ve never been more thankful in my life. What the Sorceress Six and Remi can do is pretty mind-boggling—it’s the only reason I still have my Charlotte. How are you guys doing next door?

Constance is resting and like you, I’m very thankful, I thoughtfully returned, You should try to rest with Charlotte while we wait for Mother and Nicholas to return with more answers.

We need to figure out how to end this thing soon, Jace, Carson ardently returned, Today proved they’re willing to do anything. We’ve been pretty lucky so far, but our victories are only going to cause their attacks to become more dangerous. They’re out for blood—and none of us are safe.

************

TATIANA

Bringing forth Lorenzo and Soren, who were beside themselves with worry—especially Lorenzo—as I described everything that happened in my battle against the spell. Everyone was still reeling from what happened, especially Tink, who chose to stay behind to find out everything she could about the events instead of going to the hospital with her sisters, Jace, and Carson.

While remaining calm, Nicholas’ blue eyes were infuriated as he pressed, “So, Igor has at least five sorceresses at his disposal now, who not only were able to cloak and penetrate the spell you put in place on Constance and Charlotte’s tattoos, but infiltrate the protection spell put in place over Crescent Moon by you and Raven. How vulnerable are we, Auntie?”

“Raven’s absence caused a crack, but the protection spell over Crescent Moon did its job by bringing forth my vision quickly,” I stoically informed him, “And I have a theory about the rest—one none of us are going to like—but first, I need to investigate the little treasure I left in the water.”

All eyes went wide as Mahan curiously asked, “What treasure, Tati?”

Walking over to the edge of the lake, I quickly located the treasure I left behind, setting my fingers aglow to direct the green box I created in my incantation to resurface—the imprisoned spell from the attack swirling around in a rainbow of colors at a frenzied pace on the inside.

“Tati!” Loa disbelievingly exclaimed in awe, “How on earth did you keep it intact?”

Crouching down in front of it, I closely examined the beams of magic inside, distractedly replying, “Wasn’t easy, but I managed to encapsulate it. A new, necessary trick to find out why my rescue effort was made so difficult. And as I feared—I was right.”

Persephone slowly lowered herself down beside me, awestruck as she gazed at the evil powers fighting to be set free, “Oh, my word, Tati! You weren’t fighting five—you were fighting nine!”

“There were nine witches involved in this?” Madeline apprehensively inquired, her gaze instantly locking on Nicholas.

“Nine dead witches, if I have my way,” Tink infuriatingly muttered under her breath, leading Beast to protectively pull her in close to try and calm her.

“That would explain a lot,” Zayden reasoned out loud, “We already know Igor has plenty of contacts in the sorcery world and he knows the vast powers of the sorceresses The Council has on hand. But he waited until now to execute this attack, which means somehow, they must have found out about Raven having to regenerate her powers. Maybe this was a test to see what his little army of witches could do against you one on one, Auntie.”

“While I agree with your theory about Raven and testing my limits, Zayden, I believe it’s more likely that Saphira has recruited eight of her sorceress friends to help her rescue Sahar and this test was her idea,” I contemplated out loud, pointing my finger at four particular swirling beams of lavender and crimson to bring them to the forefront.”

My eyes narrowing, I slowly brought my gaze to meet Persephone’s as Reina slowly drawled out over my shoulder, “There are reluctant ones. Those four didn’t put the full weight of their powers into that spell. That’s why their magic didn’t join the others above the surface, which was fortunate as it enabled our successful rescue of both Constance and Charlotte. I don’t believe they wanted any part of this.”

“You think they were forced to help?” Remi curiously asked.

“I’m not sure about forced, but Reina is right—they definitely held back and a great deal from what I can tell. Look at the jagged edges and weakening arcs,” Loa thoughtfully stated, “While they appear to be trying to conceal it, there are indeed weak links in this combined effort.”

“Weak links would bode well for us, if we can figure out who they are,” Mahan attentively exhaled out, leaning forward to examine the thin magical beams closer trying to see what Loa was referring to.

“In this instance, my time with Sahar may prove fortuitous,” Ursula thoughtfully chimed in, “From what I know of her and Saphira’s sorcery connections, those shades of purple and red are Azora and the three sisters, Enora, Elvira, and Elveena, who I can almost guarantee are all looking for a way out. While they are close friends with Saphira, there are hard feelings between the sisters and Sahar. And poor Azora rarely uses her sorcery, preferring to live in solitude thanks to her mother, who was best friends with Saphira and committed many wrongdoings before her untimely death from a prolonged heart ailment.”

“The question is,” Reina curiously sighed out, “Can we find them, and will they allow us to give them a way out?”

“Yes, that is the question, isn’t it, Sister? Though I do like the thought of removing at least four sorceresses from Igor’s quest,” I slowly exhaled out, bringing forth a large domed glass jar with a fitted wooden base, placing my treasure inside.

“Okay, not going to lie—that’s some wicked treasure, Auntie,” Gavin stated in awe, “Think you will be able to find these weak links of ours?”

“We’re certainly going to try, Gavin,” I perplexingly replied, directing the bright string of lavender forward, encasing it in my green aura, “Starting with Saphira’s weakest link.”

************

TINK

Today may truly have been one of the worst days of my life. The sight of Constance and Charlotte being taken under water like that—I’ll never forget it and truthfully, I’m having a hard time forgiving myself for not being able to help them.

I know they have mates and there was magic involved, but I’m their protector. Always have been, always will be. And Igor and Saphira? They were dead, hands down—DEAD! In fact, Igor was deader than dead—he’s hurt four of the most important people in my life that I can’t function without—Horacio, Constance, Charlotte—and Auntie.

I’ve never been more grateful to see my beautiful Auntie than I was when she showed up at the lake. And while it’s hard to believe, I love her even more after watching her fight like hell to save my sisters when I couldn’t, especially all that she did for Charlotte. And she didn’t do it alone—I was appreciative of all our sorceresses too—and Remi—who I thanked over and over and hugged tight when we left the lake.

We are all three so deeply intertwined and ingrained in one another—our triplet telepathy—which means if I had lost Charlotte today, things would have gotten very, very ugly. And after watching him, I don’t think Carson would have made it at all...

Carefully pushing the door to Charlotte’s room open, I found him laid up in bed on his side beside her, staring at my sister with a destroyed look on his face while holding onto her for dear life in his arms. It pulled hard at my heartstrings, making my voice sound all weird—damn my mushy!

“Hey, Carson, you doing okay? I’m pretty worried about you two. Talon told us that Charlotte is doing well, but do you need anything? Food? A hug? Anything?” Did I just outwardly call Chatterbox his given name and offer him a HUG? Man! He must have not just pulled heartstrings, but severed a few...

From the sounds of it, I threw Carson off too as he turned to look at me with—puppy dog eyes? Chatterbox has puppy-dog eyes? Who knew? His tone sounded exhausted though, “Tink, I mean this in the nicest of ways, but please—I’ve been through enough today. Call me by my rightful name. You calling me Carson just feels all sorts of wrong now.”

Grateful that he didn’t mention the hug thing, I went with my go-to humor in times of uncomfortableness next, chuckling as I walked over to the bed, “Right? And just think, you hated it the first time I used it. Chatterbox—it’s so fitting, it’s on the top of my list of favorite-ever nicknames.”

I got a half of a half-laugh—better than nothing, I guess, but not what I’m used to getting from him—a snarky retort. Sighing heavily, I quietly asked again, “So, you didn’t answer me—you okay?”

His sad eyes on my sister’s face, Carson replied with an unusual deep grimace, “Talon says it’s good that Charlotte is resting comfortably, but selfishly, I want her to wake up. That’s when I’ll be okay because that’s when I’ll know Lottie is really going to be okay.”

My own jaw tightened as I saw Carson’s begin furiously ticking before he dismally said, “You saw all the water that was in Charlotte’s lungs, Tink. It soaked her face, her hair, and the ground around her.”

Picking up a strand of her dampened curls, Carson began twisting it around his finger, matter-of-factly telling me, “I had Luna bring Charlotte’s favorite comfy clothes—her oversized pink shirt and terry cloth shorts—and her brush. You know it drives Lottie crazy to have tangles in her hair, so I brushed them all out for her after I got her changed.”

Lifting her left hand, his voice went all soft and lovey, “Her engagement ring, bracelet, and necklace had mud and muck all stuck in them, so Talon brought me some kind of potion-stuff to clean them up like new again. See?”

Carson was so gentle when he set Charlotte’s hand back down and then really hit me in the feels when he asked with more heartfelt sincerity than I’ve ever heard from him, “I don’t want Lottie to be upset or worry about anything when she wakes up, Tink. Can you think of something else I need to do for her? I wish I could get her a new charm for her bracelet or something, but I don’t want to leave her. I’ll do that after I get her back home.”

His words were some of the sweetest I’ve ever heard, leaving me feeling so overwhelmed my mushy exploded inside, sending me charging towards Carson to harshly pull him into a hug so tight, he made a loud ‘umph’ noise as I squeezed him close—my words exploding out with all the love I felt for him in that moment, “I can’t think of anything right now other than you deserve my sister, Chatterbox. She loves you, you know. More than anything. Sometimes I think even more than me and Constance.”

Something must have broken inside again because I unexpectedly felt Carson holding onto me for dear life, “Thanks for that, Tink. I love Charlotte so much—I really need her to wake up. I can’t be me without her—not anymore.”

Swallowing back the enormous lump in my throat, I pulled back from our embrace, bringing my hands up to Carson’s shoulders, steadfastly assuring him, “Well, rest up. You’re going to be back to your old self quicker than you think, Chatterbox. Those witch bitches didn’t know who they were dealing with—this set of triplets are made of tough stuff. But word to the wise—remember your boundaries—tell anyone other than Charlotte about that hug and the Dark One will rise again to wreak havoc on her favorite victim.”

I had to force back more mushy as I got a real laugh—and my secretly favorite goofy smile—as Carson retorted, “I won’t tell anyone—especially since you’ve given me the perfect ammunition to keep on-hand should the need arise.”

***************

TATIANA

Nicholas and I decided to divide and conquer with he and Madeline going into Charlotte’s room while Lorenzo requested to go into Constance’s room with me. The attack affected my brother more than I ever anticipated as Lorenzo appeared highly distraught standing beside our Goddess, carefully placing his hand over hers while I went to Jace’s side, leaning down to tenderly kiss his forehead.

There was an intense look of rage that clouded Jace’s eyes as I informed him of what we found and our plan to expose and remove Saphira’s weak links. He wasn’t thrilled that we were going to offer protection to the four if they agreed to work with us, but understood that it was better to fight five than nine sorceresses...

“To know you were up against nine of them, I can’t believe you were able to do what did out there today, Mother,” Jace incredulously stated as I finished, “You must have overextended yourself more than I feared—how you are feeling?”

Not wanting him to worry, I chose to softly reply with a little white lie, “I’m fine, just a little tired. I’m planning to rest a little with Horacio as soon as I make sure all is well with my darling loves.”

His eyes full of despair, Lorenzo worriedly stated, “Talon said Constance was in a great deal of pain.”

“She was, but hopefully that will dissipate quickly,” Jace softly returned, peering down at her.

Bringing my hand over Constance’s chest, I emitted a burst of healing green dust over it, lovingly breathing out, “Let me see if I can’t help things along a little.”

Moving his gaze back up to me, Jace appreciatively murmured in an affectionate tone, “Thank you, Mother.”

We quietly chatted for a few moments more before I suggested to Lorenzo that we allow them some rest. After a reluctant nod, he kindly informed my son, “Priscilla and I have a request, Jace. After the wedding, we would like you and Constance to come to Spirit Walker for a visit. We have chosen several suites for you two to look at in hopes that you will pick one that will be your own. It would mean a great deal to us to have our nephew and niece plan future visits to Spirit Walker, so we can all spend time some private time together as a family.”

I smiled warmly, touched by Lorenzo’s heartfelt offer. Jace was touched deeply as well, sincerely returning, “I think I can speak for Constance and myself when I say, we would love nothing more, Lorenzo. Thank you.”

Lorenzo appeared ecstatic at Jace’s non-hesitant reply, eagerly returning, “Wonderful! I’ll let Priscilla know that plans will be made.” Leaning down, Lorenzo placed a gentle kiss on top of Constance’s head before grazing his fingers across Jace’s forehead, “We’ll let you get some rest now. Let me know when Constance wakes. Priscilla will be arriving soon, and we would like to come see her, if she feels up to it.”

Jace thoughtfully agreed to Lorenzo’s request. Meeting him at the end of the bed, I received an affectionate grin from my brother, wrapping my arm around him before we walked out.

“I know you want to check on Carson, Tati, but don’t be too long,” Lorenzo quietly urged before turning towards Horacio’s room, his gaze full of adoration as he knowingly stated, “You aren’t fooling anyone. You’re more than just a little tired and I have no doubt dehydrated. Lorelei and Gavin are bringing some trays soon. I’ll be waiting to make sure you take in some fluids and eat at least a little something.”

“And we’ll be waiting with him with the same intentions,” Mahan unexpectedly called out from behind, both of us turning to see he and Soren standing up from a seat across the room, knowing grins on their faces, “I’m afraid you’re outnumbered by three men who know many of your tricks, Tati.”

“And who have their own bag of tricks that hopefully you will not force us to use,” Soren gruffly added, “Including the fact that my nephew is not the only Alpha you are bound to adhere to the wishes of as a member of all four packs, although truthfully we know your compliance is done out of love and not necessity, you intimidating as hell pint sized pixie.”

Laughing under my breath, I nodded before walking into Charlotte’s room—smiling at my darling boy—my heart overflowing once more as I remembered Aruna telling me of Carson’s requests and tender care of his beloved...

Currently, however, he looked drained and depressed snuggled up next to Charlotte as I warmly greeted, “How are we doing in here?”

Carson forced a smile on his face in response, “We’re doing okay, Auntie. Tink and Beast just left a little while ago. It was a good distraction. Don’t tell her I told you, but Tink hugged me—like, really, really hugged me. It was a nice moment, actually—but you and Lottie are the only two that will know that secret. I’m planning on using it to my advantage—often.”

Gently pushing myself up to sit on the other side of Charlotte, I softly laughed, “Good call—and I promise I won’t tell a soul. I won’t even mention to her.”

His eyes glazed, Carson’s jaw locked hard before he ardently stated, “You know, by saving Charlotte, all of you saved me too, Auntie.”

“I’m just sorry that I didn’t see it until the spell was already put in motion,” I regretfully returned, turning my attention to Charlotte, who still appeared frail with very little color in her face.

“You couldn’t help that. Nicholas told me there were nine witches involved and they cloaked the spell,” Carson knowingly replied, placing a soft peck on the side of Charlotte’s head before murmuring, “Lottie and I are just lucky your vision came when it did.”

His heartfelt words and endearing action had me tearing up, leading me to reach over to lightly brush my fingers through his sandy hair, “Do you have any idea how much I love you both?”

Peering up at me, Carson wholehearted statement came out choked in his overwhelmed state, “I do—but it still doesn’t come close to how much I love you, Auntie. I’m with Alastor—you really are a Winged Angel. Thank you again for not giving up on my girl and all that you did to keep Lottie with us.”

Leaning down, I placed on hand on Charlotte’s cheek while bringing my other down from the side of Carson’s hair to his cheek, devotedly whispering, “Always, my darling. In fact, let me give our girl a little more assistance while I’m here.” Moving my hand down to Charlotte’s chest, I emitted a little dusting that penetrated through her skin, assisting her lungs a little more.

My hand coming back up to Charlotte’s face, I tenderly kissed each of their cheeks, winking at Carson afterwards, “I’ve already seen it, my darling. All will be well, so rest a little for me, hmmm?”

A tear fell from his right eye as Carson brokenly whispered—hoarse, but in the most affectionate of tones, “I will, Auntie—promise—I love you.”

I placed a second kiss on his cheek, leaving the room afterwards to go back into Horacio’s, where there was a tray waiting for me—and several people—Nicholas, Madeline, Gavin, Lorelei, my sisters, and Lorenzo. I was under siege, but that’s okay. I knew it was being done out of love and to appease them, I drank some of the broth and tea—and even a few bites of toast before climbing back up into bed with my beloved, who continued to rest peacefully, but remained absent from my visions—and much to my despair, my life...