Part of me didn’t believe it till I saw it, but the mate bond between Willow and Damien was undeniable. The way she smelled like him, wore his mark—they were just like Eryne and I.
Fated, and yet, it didn’t make sense. Before, I’d believed all mates couldn’t exist outside our own species. Now… the entire world looked different.
We watched them walk away outside the coffee shop, and I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind. “How many beings do you think never found their mate because they belong to a different species?”
Eryne froze. “Where is this coming from?”
I tilted my head in the direction they had gone. “Those two are mates, and yet she’s a witch, and he’s a demon.”
“Right.”
“You’ve all been isolated from the outside world for years. How many people here found their mate before that?”
She shrugged. “It wasn’t very common.”
Because they lived outside the wards. And now…
“You think there’s truly a chance that outside this town… that there’s actually a soulmate for everyone?” Her eyes filled with hope.
Fuck, I wanted to tell her,you’re mine.It would be so easy. But if I told her now, would all this progress between us fall apart? It was so tender, so new. Especially after last night.
“I do,” I responded. “I have to believe there is, just like I believe that good things exist in this world.” I smiled down my redheaded witch. “You’ll see, sugar. We’re going to solve this, and then we’re going to help your town all find their mates.”
A flash of what felt like disappointment flickered through her eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it came. “You’re right.” She slipped her hand back in mine. “Let’s go solve a mystery, huh?”
I dipped my head, unable to look away from her sparkling eyes, full of optimism, of hope. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she could do anything she put her mind to.
After all, just look at me. She’d brought me back from the dead with grit, determination, and her own two hands.
I couldn’t wait to find out what else she could do.
“It looks like no one’s been down here in decades,” Eryne said, coughing as she brushed more dust off the boxes of files in the archives.
I wrinkled my nose. “They probably haven’t.” The air was stale, musty, and the scents down in the storage archives were all faint enough that I doubted anyone regularly came to check on the files. Considering the amount of dust, they really needed to take better care of the place.
Her friend had so graciously allowed us down here when Eryne had explained what was going on—though she’d left afew details out, including the monster that had attacked me. I understood that she didn’t want to create a panic through the town—it was the same reason my family had no idea about my real job. There was a fine line of information, and this was definitelyneed to know.
“How are we ever going to find anything down here?” She said, sounding defeated as she scoured the boxes. They didn’t seem to be in any sort of date order, just haphazardly stored on the shelves around the room. After my inability to find anything concrete at the library, I wasn’t really sure what I was expecting to find here, but I was just hoping for some sort of clue that could give us a lead.
I frowned. “Look for the earliest dates, and we’ll go from there.”
Eryne nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Okay. I can do that.”
I did the same on the opposite side of the room, both of us working in tandem.
It was the most comfortable I’d ever been working with another person. Even with Ezra, I always kept my guard up. With her… I felt like I could relax. Like I could beme.
I was beginning to think this was hopeless, opening boxes and finding articles about nothing particularly useful, when Eryne made a noise, dropping a box onto the floor suddenly.
“Are you okay?” I asked, turning to look at her.
“I found something.” Eryne said, gasping, clutching a paper between her hands.
“What?” I moved to stand behind her.
“It was behind a box, wedged in between the wall and the back of the shelf.” She handed me a newspaper clipping. It was yellow and slightly faded, but the headline stood out to me.PLEASANT GROVE CELEBRATES FIRST FOUNDERSDAY.There was a photo of a coven of witches—thirteen of them, to be exact—and a list of names underneath it.
“If they created the town, then they would have been the ones to lay the first wards. Each moon cycle, we give our magic to the barrier, to renew and replenish the spells, but they created them. Whatever magic they weaved inside of them…”
