Chapter 33

I hadn’t slept.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Dan’s face. Just staring at me with the same expressionless face and not saying anything. But as much as it was expressionless every second I stared at him, it pulled me towards him. Physically hurt like someone had hooked a burning wire through my ribs and was dragging it tighter with every breath I took.

I never knew loving someone could hurt like this. I don’t ever want to experience this ever again.

The witch returned just after sunset, carrying three black bowls and a small silver blade. She didn’t speak at first, just set everything on the table and lit a bundle of dried herbs over the stove until smoke filled the room.

I stood in the doorway, gripping the edge of the wall. She had finally let me out of her stupid cage; if I knew she would lock me up like an animal, I would have never accepted her help.

“I have to go to him,” I said. The words trembled out of me before I could stop them. “If I stay here, I’m going to lose my mind. She didn’t look up from what she was doing. “That’s not love, Emerald. It’s a binding.”

“A… binding?”

“It’s tied to blood. His blood and yours. The Phoenix line reacts when someone tries to cut it.” She finally lifted her eyes, and I hated the sympathy I saw there. “He’s not casting it. He is the bond.” Something inside me dropped. “So it’s not a spell someone placed on me.”

“No,” she said quietly. “It’s part of the Cross curse. You leave him, and it pulls you back. Until it kills you. Or him.”

I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to push down the panic. “I don’t understand anything you are telling me. How do we break this bond?”

She turned back to the bowls. “That’s why I called them.”

At first, I didn’t understand what she meant until three women stepped through the back door, and another followed close behind. They were different ages, but all moved with the same calm, deliberate energy. One carried a jar of salt, another held a worn leather book, the third had a bundle of dried lavender, and the fourth had nothing on her hands.

All four looked at me.

The tallest stepped forward first. “We came to bind the flame, child. But we need your permission.” I swallowed hard. “What happens if you do it?”

“It breaks the bond long enough for you to choose on your own,” said the smallest woman, the one with the lavender. “But the Phoenix will fight us.” I stared at them, perplexed, debating whether to ask them more questions or to just agree with what they are saying, but my life is at risk here and my baby’s life. “To choose what?” None of them answered my question, probably found it to be stupid or a waste of time.

“And if it wins?” I asked. The witch who had saved me earlier answered quietly. “Then it takes control of you completely.” My hands shook. I thought of Dan. I thought of the baby. I thought of all the things that could be affected if this thing is not taken care of.

“I agree,” I said.

The tallest nodded once. “Sit.”

I lowered myself to the floor in the middle of the room, pressing a hand over the small bump in my stomach. They formed a circle around me. One of them sliced her palm with the silver blade and let three drops of blood fall into the center bowl. Another poured salt in a line around me; it hissed against the floorboards like it was touching fire.

Then they began to chant.

The air shifted in the room, heavy and thick. The flames in the candles rose without wind. Heat swelled inside me. First like a fever… then like something roaring to get out. My fingers curled into the wood beneath me.

“Keep your eyes open,” the witch said directly in front of me. “You have to stay with us.” I tried even though it was incredibly difficult to keep my eyes open. But then I felt it.

Dan.

Not a memory of him. The sensation of his hands on my face, his voice in my ear.

I need you to come back.

The words slid straight into my head, low and gentle.

“I’m here,” I whispered before I even realized I’d spoken.

“No,” one of the witches snapped. “That isn’t him. Fight it.”

The flames around the room surged. A picture frame on the shelf burst into sparks.

Pain shot through my abdomen, and I doubled over, crying out. A deep roar shook the walls I didn’t know if it came from me or the Phoenix crawling up my spine.

“Hold her!” the oldest witch yelled. Two of them pressed their palms to my shoulders, and the others kept chanting, louder now, their voices overlapping and rising. Why the hell did I agree to these? They are crazy.

“Emerald!” The voice in my head again. So clear it stole the air from my lungs. It sounded like Dan was angry and unable to contain his anger.

Where are you?

“Stop,” I sobbed. “Please...stop calling me.” The salt circle caught fire. The witches didn’t move. They kept chanting over the roaring flames, their palms pushing harder against me as if trying to pin me to the earth.

“Almost,” the lead witch hissed. “One more breath, girl. One more—” Something cracked loud, sharp, like a whip splitting wood.

Then everything went silent. The flames vanished. The heat lifted. And the pull in my chest… was gone.

I collapsed forward, breathing like I’d been drowning. The witches stepped back slowly, watching me. One extinguished the smoking salt with her bare foot. Another wiped sweat from her brow.

The room was still and dark until a deep boom echoed outside, like someone had slammed a door hard enough to shake the trees.I lifted my head, heart pounding.

The lead witch’s expression turned grim.

The door in the house slammed shut, but no one had touched it. We all looked at the door, my heart was thumping against my chest, a part of me already knowing who was at the door.

And suddenly he was there.

Dan stood in the center of the room, chest rising and falling like he’d just run miles. His eyes were wild, confused, furious. The flames bent toward him as if pulled by something in his blood.

“Emerald,” he growled, voice rough… not like a man. He sounded livid. Why is he so angry? he has been calling me this whole time. Why is he not happy to see me?

The witches froze.

“He shouldn’t be in here,” one of them hissed. “He was pulled through the bond.” Dan’s gaze flicked to them with pure warning, then snapped back to me. “What did you do?”

I couldn’t speak. My whole body was shaking. The fire around the salt line grew higher, cracking up the walls.

“Do not cross that line,” the lead witch warned him. “If you touch her now, the binding breaks and you both burn.”

Dan took one slow step forward anyway, staring only at me. “What binding are you talking about? You, come here.” He demanded, giving me a glare. I stared back at him, feeling like I was staring into a stranger’s eyes.

“Dan...” My voice broke. “Stay back. Please.” For a moment, he hesitated… like he actually heard me, but then he took a step forward.