Ashlee rushed to her side. “I’m going over and over in my mind to see if there is anything I can do to help here. I have the collective magical memory of both of the Kane aunts. If anyone knew how to fix this, they would. Only I find it really difficult to access the information during stress.”
Tears fell from Ashlee’s eyes, which was the only reason Leah resisted the urge to ask the woman what good the knowledge was if she couldn’t bring it to fruition when they needed it the most. Damn it.
A strange tingling sensation popped in the back of Leah’s neck. Vertigo swayed the room. Oh hell, this is what had happened the last time Az’s mother had decided to use her body to take over a visit. What did Mrs. Kane want now?
Well, it is Mrs. Kane, darling, but not Az’s mother. No, I’m his dearly departed Aunty.
Leah looked left and right. She was trapped between walls of darkness. Nothing to see to the left or right, up or down. Just vast amounts of black nothingness. Was this what it was like after death?
No, this is what it feels like to be possessed. Mary Jo let you look at her memories but I’m a little bit more private. I’d prefer to keep my memories my own.
Her head pounded. Had the woman just said possessed? Visions of little girls spitting up pea soup with their heads spinning filled her mind.
Not like that. The woman actually laughed. I’m informing Tristan what he needs to do to bring back Az’s wolf. Really, Ashlee needs to practice more with connecting with our collective knowledge if she can’t remember under stress. These things should be like muscle memory to her by now.
Leah actually felt bad that she’d thought the same thing earlier. She does have three children to take care of and a fourth on the way. I think she might have reached her maximum capacity for handling things.
Not that she would personally know, never having had any children or pregnancies to compare Ashlee’s situation to.
It’s still no excuse. There was a pause. We’re about done here, which is good since I think your beloved—my precious nephew—is all but out of time. Do tell Tristan to hurry.
Like her consciousness had been thrust out of her body earlier, she felt her mind slam back in. Gasping for air, the light in the room felt too bright on her eyes. She closed them for a second, noting that strong hands held her around her shoulders.
“Don’t fall, okay? It might kill him to watch you fall.” Leah opened her eyes to look at Rex’s strong face. So much like Azriel, and so different too. He was the Kane brother she’d seen the least of.
She shook her head. “You can let go. I’m steady now.” Even if she hadn’t been, the look of steel determination in Rex’s eyes would have made her that way. Clearly, he was a man you didn’t want to cross.
“Leah.” Az’s voice sounded strained. Leah rushed to his side, kneeling down to stroke his brown hair.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m so sorry about this.” He coughed and groaned. Her heart fluttered in silent pain at the sound. “Did I ever tell you what my name means?”
Suddenly Leah worried about Az’s mind. Was he going to start making no sense before he died? Was this a prerequisite to the end? “Az, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“I would laugh at that statement if it wouldn’t hurt too badly. That’s sort of the story of my life ‘Az, I’m not sure what you’re talking about’.”
Kissing his forehead, she nuzzled the top of his head with her nose. “That’s not true. I understand you completely. I simply don’t understand your train of thought at the moment but whatever. No, I don’t know what your name means.”
“Technically, the way the name is spelled it means ‘Helped by God’ or something like that. It depends on who you ask.”
Okay, she really wasn’t following this. Tristan and the others seemed busy getting something together. Gabriel had her father slung over his shoulder and Summer rushed from the room on some sort of mission.
“That’s a nice name.”
“Yes, but that’s not what they wanted to name me. They just spelled it wrong. Azrael…with an a and an e instead of an i was how they intended to name me.”
Leah tried to recall her limited biblical history. “He was an angel.”
“The angel of death, that’s right. Lately, I’ve been feeling that way. All of those people dying in my lab, having to burn their decimated wolf bodies. It’s been hell. Then somehow you came and it all got so much better.”
This had to stop. “Honey, this is starting to sound an awful lot like a goodbye death speech. You’re going to stop giving it right now. We have plenty of time to discuss these things in the future.” She laughed. “Besides, even if you were to die—which you will not be doing—I’ll be right behind.”
“That’s the problem. I should have known that my bad luck would cross over to you. The last thing I want to do is be responsible for your death. I got to live a very long time. You still have tons of stuff left to do. I’m sure in that vast amount of magical knowledge Ash has, she must have a way to resist the death compulsion. Ask her to help you. Live a full life.”
Alright, enough was enough. Still leaning over him, Leah pushed her index finger in Az’s face. “Stop that right now. You don’t get to decide these things for me. I love you. You are my mate. If I want to follow you, I’ll follow you. Since we’re both going to live a nice long time you might as well get used to the idea that I don’t like being told what to do.”
Tristan’s voice jarred her. “We’re ready. Get him to drink this.” Tristan handed her what looked like a glass of milk. At her questioning look, he explained. “There’s stuff in the milk, make him drink it.”
She nodded. “Az, we need you to drink this.”
“What is it?” There was her sweet mate. He could never just do anything.
“I don’t know. They haven’t told me. However, our Alpha has ordered me to make you drink this. That means drink it.”
I don’t want to lose him.
Her wolf sounded terrified. It wasn’t a good sign. What could she sense that Leah on her own couldn’t? She shook her head. There was no dwelling on that right now.
She placed the glass on Az’s lips and was glad when he drank it down. Gagging, he pulled his head away from the substance. “Oh gods, it burns.”
Gabriel dumped her father, who was still shrieking like a banshee, next to Az.
Tristan stood over both of them placing his hands in the air palms facing downwards directly over Az and her father’s heads.
“Go on, Ashlee.”
Ashlee’s voice was strong. “We call on pack magic. We call on the gods that made us that which we are. What should not be, give back to us. Remove from the false shifter and give our brother back his magic.”
As Leah watched transfixed, Tristan’s hands vibrated. Ashlee repeated the incantation three times. Finally, Tristan threw his head back and her father’s shrieks became painful, his whole body convulsing. Simultaneously, Az yelled, a blinding white light surrounding him. For a moment, as impossible as it seemed, he was both man and wolf at the same time. It was different than the shift where she could watch his body reshape. He was both entities at the same time. One second she could see the wolf, the next her beloved Az, and then strangely enough a moment later she could see both of them fusing together, each one straining to take the other inside of him.
And then just as quickly as it began, it ceased.
Tristan fell to his knees and three pack members rushed to him. Had it worked? Her heart pounded hard in her chest.
Az…she tried to reach him telepathically, hoping that he’d hear her. Silently, she prayed to whoever answered these things that he was okay.