Kissed by Krista Street
Chapter 25
~ WYATT ~
I sat beside my mate’s bed in the palace’s healing ward. She’d been unconscious since we’d brought her back from the Derian Forest yesterday. I stayed by her side, though, never once leaving.
But my mood was surly, my temper foul. It didn’t help that we were stuck in the fae lands. Due to the stunt we’d pulled with the unbinding ritual, the king and queen weren’t allowing us to leave until they’d finished their “investigation” into the matter. But at least they’d allowed several of the SF’s top healing witches to join us.
In the other rooms on the ward, every single member of Squad Three was being treated. We hadn’t lost anyone, but it had been close. So fucking close.
I cradled my arm to my side, wincing. My ribs were only halfway healed since broken bones always took the longest to mend, but my collapsed lung was fully recovered as were the numerous cuts and gashes. By tomorrow, I would be back to normal.
Farrah had been tending to Avery ever since we’d returned, insisting that she stay at her side, and since I refused to leave my mate, Farrah had been tending to me, too, even though she hadn’t slept in eighteen hours.
“When will she wake up?” I asked Farrah as the witch did another assessment on Avery.
Panic gripped me, making my knee jostle as I sat like a bundle of nerves at my mate’s side.
Magic flowed from Farrah’s fingertips, settling over Avery like a cloud. Her lips tightened, and she forced a smile. “Give her time, Wyatt. She’s been through a lot, more than any of us have ever experienced.”
But worry puckered her mouth. Avery wasn’t responding to anything the healing witch did. Her heart still beat, and her lungs still breathed, but it was as though she’d fallen into such a deep coma that nothing could wake her.
I was about to ask Farrah another question, when Bavar appeared in the doorway. He held onto a cane, limping, and his mood looked as pitiful as his twisted ankle.
As a fairy, he didn’t heal as fast as a werewolf, but in a week’s time he would be as good as new. Still, none of us took well to being incapacitated, commanders especially, as was apparent from the constant sounds of arguing coming from Dee down the hall as she continually insisted that she was fine, even though one of the trees had stabbed her in the abdomen.
“Wyatt?” Bavar said, his eyes wide. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost.
I frowned, concern lacing through me. “What happened?”
He shook his head. “Nothing bad, I don’t think. It’s, um, just that somebody’s here who wants to see Avery.”
I expected it to be Avery’s parents again—Danielle and Bryce. They’d been here all morning, their pale faces streaked with tears, but Farrah had finally convinced them to take a break and grab some lunch.
I knew that between Avery’s anxious parents and my surly mood, Farrah had her hands full. But the healing witch didn’t complain even though nothing she was doing was improving my mate’s condition.
Bavar’s gaze shifted to whoever stood in the hall, a look of reverence descending over the fairy commander’s features.
My brows folded together, then rose in surprise when a figure appeared beside Bavar.
“Verasellee?”
She appeared in the doorway, awake and walking toward me. Bavar bowed deeply from behind her.
An ethereal quality surrounded the goddess. Her skin held a subtle, otherworldly glow, and the innate need to bow and submit nearly overtook me.
“You’re awake?” I whispered. Last I’d heard, she’d been in the same state as Avery—a deep coma that didn’t seem curable.
“Yes, with the help of several SF sorcerers, the spell that had been cast over me is broken. I thought the death of Lord Godasara”—her mouth tightened, and I saw her barely controlled rage when mentioning the elf—“would be enough, but it wasn’t. I still needed your sorcerers’ assistance to come out of the dormant sleep.”
She drifted to my side, her presence again making me want to fold and bend. I barely managed to keep my chin up as she stopped at Avery’s bed.
A small smile curved the goddess’s lips, and she gently grasped Avery’s hand. “This one is so brave. So defiant. A worthy soul to wield my power.”
A soul of steel. My mouth went dry. It was often how I thought of my mate. She was so strong, innately resilient, even though her natural magic had been weak.
Verasellee reached out, and placed a hand on Avery’s chest. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply as violet light began to flow out of Avery and around her hand.
My mate’s entire body began shining with purple light as it flowed over her like a cloud, drifting and rising as if in a breeze.
My eyes widened as I realized what the goddess was doing.
Verasellee was taking back her power.
I bolted to a stand, a snarl rising in my throat when I remembered Reese’s warning that by returning the goddess’s power, Avery’s life could end.
But Verasellee gave me a sharp look, an ancient command cutting through her lips. “Sit.”
My knees bent. I fell back onto my chair. I couldn’t have stayed standing if my life depended on it.
“I am not harming your mate, wolf. I would never do that to her after what she’s done for me.”
The purple light continued to stream out of Avery’s body while Farrah stood mutely in the corner, and Bavar remained in shocked silence at the door.
Verasellee opened her mouth, and with a sharp inhale, breathed all of the violet light inside her. Waves and waves of clouded magic flowed from Avery into the goddess. With each moment that passed, Avery appeared to grow weaker and weaker.
My wolf growled. The urge to slam into Verasellee was so strong that the heavens be damned even if she was a goddess. But then I remembered what Avery had asked of me.
To trust her.
She’d trusted the goddess with her life, which meant I needed to as well.
Veins popped in my fisted hands, but I stayed where I was.
A moment passed, and then another. The purple light trickled out of my mate in wispy ribbons, and when the last of it flowed into the goddess, Verasellee tipped her head back, an expression of rapture forming upon her face.
Her skin glowed even brighter, and when she opened her eyes, even stormier violet light gleamed in her irises, and the power that reverberated through her shook the walls of the palace.
It was enough to wield the power of a thousand realms—it was a galaxy of power.
“Bless the queen,” Bavar whispered.
Farrah looked in a similar state, her face completely white.
Verasellee stepped closer to Avery, who now lay so still and pale that my heart threatened to stop.
The goddess placed her hand directly on my mate’s chest and said in that commanding voice again, “Breathe. Live. Rise.” And then, almost as an afterthought, she added, “Remember.”
Avery’s eyes flew open, her chest rising with a deep breath, as her body arched off the bed.
She bolted upright, eyes wild, as violet light flashed within her irises.
Wait, violet light?
A moment passed, and I frantically flew to her side, but she stared straight ahead, unseeing. The violet light faded and her natural brown-flecked-with-gold irises returned.
“Avery?” I choked out.
It seemed to take another minute, before she became aware of her surroundings. Her head whipped around, going to me, then Bavar standing frozen in the doorway, then Farrah, and at last to the goddess.
Avery reached for my hands, squeezing them, but her gaze stayed on the goddess. A grin streaked across her face. “Verasellee.”
“Yes.”
“You’re awake.”
“Yes, your sorcerers were quite helpful in that respect. I was wrong about the elf lord. His death alone didn’t guarantee my awakening. But I’m fully awake now, and thanks to you, I have my power back inside me. I have back what is mine.”
Despite wanting to crush Avery to me, I stayed at her side, clutching her hand tightly in my palms. She felt warm, alive, and the lilac scent that tickled my senses made my heart feel ready to burst.
But Avery and the goddess continued to regard each other. Verasellee was gazing upon my mate with a look of reverence, and I realized that it wasn’t just gratitude she felt for Avery, it was also respect.
“Thank you for everything that you’ve done,” the goddess said, breaking the quiet. “I won’t forget you, and I won’t forget what you sacrificed. That’s why I’ve left you with a parting gift. I know it’s not much, but it’s enough that you’ll be able to continue your life as you had planned. I’m sorry if this journey was unpleasant, but it was a necessary evil to right what had been wronged. I hope that with time, you’ll come to remember me fondly, and not be angry about my prophecy casting you as the chosen one.”
Avery frowned, a perplexed look growing on her face, but then she looked down, and her free hand shot to her chest. Her lips parted, surprise filling her eyes. “You left me with some of your power.”
Verasellee gave her a coy smile, the look entirely humanlike, before she nodded. “Yes, a small bit. It’s not enough that it will hinder me in any way, but it is enough for you to be magical again.”
Avery grinned, then laughed, the sound as sweet and high as tinkling bells. It was filled with so much warmth and happiness that I could have died right there a happy man.
“Thank you,” Avery breathed when her laughter finally died down.
“No. Thank you,” the goddess replied. “And goodbye for now. You never know, one day I may see you again.”
She leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Avery’s cheek. As soon as she pulled back, the world began to spin, as if everything had paused and jolted out of time.
The next thing I knew, I was standing at Avery’s side alone.
The goddess was gone.
“What just happened?” Farrah asked quietly.
Bavar shook his head, his orange hair glinting in the overhead lights. “I think we were just in the presence of a goddess who reclaimed her power and returned to her otherworldly realm. But I could be wrong, since, you know, I’ve never experienced that before, but that’s what it felt like.”
I sank to my knees and cupped Avery’s cheeks between my palms.
Tears filled her eyes when she focused on me. I could tell a part of her was overwhelmed by Verasellee’s departure, but also touched beyond measure by the goddess’s parting gift.
“Are you okay?” I whispered. My gaze skittered along her features, down her length, over her frame. My mate looked whole and healthy. But I didn’t know how she felt inside.
Tears poured down her cheeks, and she threw her arms around me. “Yes, yes, I’m okay. And I remember! I remember everything about me, about us, Wyatt. She didn’t just give me some of her power. She gave me back my memories too.” She squeezed me harder. “Gods, Wyatt, I wish you could feel what I do.”
I pulled back, my head cocking as my chest felt so tight I thought it would burst.
Avery threaded her fingers through the hair resting at my nape, and for the briefest moment, her irises flashed violet.
My breath sucked in.
“She left me with some of her power, Wyatt. It’s still inside me. I don’t think it’s strong enough to stop time, but I could probably slow it, which means I’m not weak anymore. I’m no longer the weak witch that I was born as. That means that I can still be a part of the community. I can still join the Supernatural Ambassador Institute, just like I always dreamed of. I’ll have to go through new recruit training again and pass my final test, but this time—” She laughed, the sound so happy and full of merriment that it was impossible for me not to join in. “This time I know I’ll pass!”
My grip tightened around her. Gods, but I wanted to strip her naked and feel all of her around me. We still, however, needed to sort out one detail. Now that her life was back on track, reality had rejoined us.
“But I still need to stay at the SF.” I brushed a lock of hair tenderly behind her ear. “I can’t break my promise to Marcus. I need to train Elijah.”
Her lips curved into a smile. “I know, and I would never ask you to break that promise. Your sense of honor and duty are two of the things I love so much about you, and yes, I remember what you promised Marcus, so we’ll compromise. I still have to go through my new recruit training again, right? And in the meantime . . .” She quirked an eyebrow, a cheeky grin forming on her face.
I laughed, because the new recruit program for her didn’t start until next year. “Does that mean you’ll live with me in the meantime?”
She laughed, a deep joyous laugh which made my toes curl. “Why, Major Jamison, is that an invitation?”
