Chapter 79
Thursday 24th September, 2020
Zaya
I crushed Star to my chest. She gave a squeak of protest.
“You scared the s**t out of me!” I said, my voice cracking a little.
I quickly composed myself. I was not about to cry in front of Alpha Jessie and Star’s Dad.
“I’m sorry,” murmured Star into my shirt.
“You don’t owe me an apology,” I admitted. “I owe you so many apologies and even more thank yous!”
I nuzzled her, pressing my forehead to hers.
Eli pulled Star to him.
All four of us were trying to hug her at once but she didn’t seem to mind. Her father on the other hand cleared a path and took his daughter away from us.
“We need to leave this place. Let’s not celebrate prematurely!” He said gruffly.
Star nodded obediently which was very unlike Star. Her father was an imposing figure though and he was right. We should not linger in a place like this.
“Come on!” Encouraged Jamie.
She and Jessie led the way through the enchanted forest in Georgianna’s haven. We found the mirror. On this side it was a large reflective bubble forming from the dew dripping down an archway of branches covered in flowering vines. Jamie ran through it with Jessie and the bubble popped. I became a little worried until I saw the bubble reforming perfectly from more dripping dew. Heath pulled Star through the archway and I was on their heels with Eli.
I found myself back in the bedroom of the cottage in the woods. Noah and Jonah exited the mirror last. I breathed a sigh of relief. Jamie had a compact mirror with her that she took out and used to contact Fox who had a similar one back in the coven.
“We have to be summoned out of these words,” she explained to us. “We can’t teleport.”
“Ready Fox!” She said.
“I’m on it,” he replied. “We’ll summon you four at a time!”
“Four at a time?” Asked Jamie incredulously.
“Yep,” said Fox, grinning.
“Ok,” said Jamie slowly.
“Why is that odd?” I asked quickly.
I did not want anymore excitement for a long time.NôvelDrama.Org owns this text.
“Because there’s only one wizard to do the summoning. It’s a one at a time kind of th-.” Jamie vanished before she could finish her sentence along with Jessie, Star and Heath.
My brothers and I looked at each other with wide worried eyes. I hated being separated from Star. There were a few moments of pause.
“What the F-,” I began but I felt my stomach lurch as I rushed through darkness and ended up sitting on a dining room table in a chalk circle. Fox, Asriel, Holly and Harper were seated around the table and they each had a chalk circle in front of them. The room was lit by numerous candles.
“All of you did the summoning?!” Asked Jamie, smiling brightly.
“Yep!” Said Fox. “I had a lot of help. Who knew the Fae were so good at summoning spells?”
“Fae magic is less precise and more emotional than Witch magic but the effect is similar,” commented Asriel.
I wondered what those earrings were saying. I kind of missed them. I should ask for more dust so I could talk to them.
“Can you give me some of the Fae dust? I wanna say hi to Erin and Rein?” I said as I hopped off of the table.
Asriel chuckled to himself. “Erin is not ready to talk,” said Asriel, his tone apologetic.
Why was the little happy earring pissed at me?
“Is Rein not ready either?” I asked, confused.
“Oh, Rein hates talking always,” said Asriel confidently. “Erin just wants more time. No hard feelings.”
Ok.
I would be busy tonight anyway. My eyes found Star. She was marvelling over her brother’s Fae abilities and recounting the story of what happened in the castle.
Eli
“How did you do it, Princess? Tell us!” I said.
Star had given me two huge scares in the same day but her kidnapping wasn’t her fault. It was technically Brink and Angie who had made me think she had left me and then she actually did run away from me to save Noah and break the curse. When I could not get through that barrier to protect her, my heart had sank. I was massively relieved she was safe and sound. I did not approve of her risking herself. I did not approve of what Noah had done either. He had scared me today too.
“I married Georgianna and Alto!” Said my Princess proudly. “And then I crowned Georgianna a past Luna of the Viper Moon Pack! She and Alto had never exchanged their wedding bands. The rings were in Alto’s locket. I begged him to help me instead of her and the locket clicked open on its own!” She exclaimed excitedly.
So our ancestor had answered Star’s cry for help. I grinned at her. Maybe all Alphas of Viper Moon had a soft spot for Star.
“After they were wearing their wedding bands and the crown was on Georgianna’s head. Alto’s corpse became…whole again…like someone who is just sleeping! The way Georgianna looked!” Revealed Star.
Everyone gasped.
“He…he woke up?” Asked Jonah apprehensively.
“For a second, he opened his eyes and so did Georgianna. They turned to look at each other slightly and when they did, the castle stopped collapsing and begun to fix itself!” Squealed Star.
Noah grinned.
“And I heard their voices! Their laughter! They’re together somewhere in the afterlife or something,” said Star. “I’m no expert,” she added sheepishly.
“That’s show-stopping, Movie Star!” Complimented Harper, his arms around his shy mate, Holly.
She grinned at her twin.
“I’m not exactly approving of how you ran off,” grumbled Heath.
Star frowned.
“But I’m proud of you, sweetheart,” said Heath, planting a k**s on Star’s forehead.
“We all are,” said Asriel, ruffling Star’s hair.
“You did amazing Star,” said Jessie.
“You’re a natural when it comes to magic,” added Jamie with a wink.
Star giggled.
“And what happened to you Noah?” I asked, looking at my big brother.
“Yeah, where the f**k were you all this time?” Asked Zaya.
Jonah gave Zaya a disparaging look.
“With Georgianna,” said Noah softly and hesitantly.
Star sniffed. Her face fell. Ugh, Noah! I wanted to finally get laid tonight. He was upsetting my Princess.
“You need to explain properly!” I demanded, hoping the explanation sounded less provocative. It was not as though I did not appreciate Noah’s willingness to sacrifice himself. I knew he loved us and Star and made a choice he thought would benefit us. However that is not the relationship I wanted us to have with Star, one with chaos and no communication. We needed to tell each other the truth about everything from now on if we were going to rule a Pack together.
Noah
Flashback
The whole time Star and the others were racing to break the curse, I was in the same bedroom where Georgianna’s body lay but no one could see me, not even Star while she worked on the curse. Georgianna was there too, muttering to herself and sulking. She had asked for an Alpha in exchange for freeing the rest but she didn’t actually want one. She ignored me, for which I was thankful. She sobbed over Alto’s corpse when it was brought in by Jamie telekinetically. She hissed at me when I tried to say anything consoling. We stayed six feet if not more away from each other at all times. Despite that, we were not solid. I did not actually know if spirits could touch each other until Star exchanged the rings and crowned Georgianna’s body. Georgianna gasped when Alto’s locket had clicked open. She stood up suddenly. When his corpse became the fully-fledged version of him, a light sprang up from him, unbeknownst to Star. He materialised into whatever we were. Georgianna wept tears of joy as he embraced her and led her away.
“Wait!” I cried after them.
“What?” Hissed Georgianna.
Alto’s laughter thundered through the room soon joined by Georgianna’s as her face broke into a smile.
“You are so grumpy today, my little witch!” He said.
“You left me alone!” She whimpered.
“Never again,” he promised.
He continued leading her away.
“Walk through the wall, Noah son of Quaid,” he said over his shoulder.
I hesitated.
“Go!” Insisted Georgianna.
“My little witch!” Chastised Alto.
She giggled. “I want to be alone with you,” she said.
He picked her up bridal style and kissed her. As their lips met, their forms were bathed in a blinding light. I ran straight at the wall and slipped through it, landing on solid ground with a thud. The thud let me know I was really here again.
Star had turned around to see me, standing there in the hallway. The way her face had lit up alone made it all worth it.
Now, Star and my brothers were all staring at me waiting for me to explain where I was when I went missing.
“Georgianna took me to a place between this life and the next. I was in the bedroom. I could see you all but you couldn’t see or hear me and Georgianna was there, well her spirit I guess,” I explained.
“Did she talk to you?” Asked Jonah.
“Not really. She mostly ignored me. She was sullen and she became very distressed when you brought Alto in,” I said.
“That’s so sad,” said Eli.
“Yeah, but when Star did the ceremony and Alto’s corpse became life-like. Alto’s spirit came out of it,” I revealed to a chorus of gasps.
“Georgianna must have been overjoyed,” said Zaya.
“She was. Alto picked her up and before he carried her away he told me to run through the wall,” I said.
“What?!” Said Zaya.
“It worked!” I said, shrugging. “I became solid again!”
“That was when you came out of nowhere!” Exclaimed Star.
I grinned at her, nodding. I felt strangely shy around Star suddenly. Our relationship had always been this forbidden desire. I wanted to be close to her now without restriction but I knew there might be hell to pay for the rocky past.
Jonah
I needed to know if the curse was really over or not. I wanted some sort of substantial proof. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Star and Noah and their recounting of what had happened, it was just that there was no way to test if the curse was truly broken without risking Star. Suddenly, I realised there was a way. I called Chet’s Dad while we were on our way back to the Academy.
“Hello,” said a chipper voice.
My heart rate sped up.
“Hey, it’s Jonah,” I said gently.
“Hey!” Said Chet’s Dad. “You’re not gonna believe this!”
I was going to believe it. I smiled to myself.
“Chet and Jillian began healing exponentially all of a sudden! The whole ICU team is shocked! They weren’t showing any progress before! They might be downgraded to HDU soon! That’s how good they’re doing!” Explained Chet’s Dad.
Everyone was eavesdropping on my phone call.
“They’re awake?” I asked.
“Not fully, no, but they’re making sounds in their sleep and moving their hands and feet. They were completely motionless before with unstable vitals! Now, their vitals are stable according to the doctors,” he said. His voice sounded thick as though he was close to tears but I knew they would be tears of joy.
“I’m really happy to hear that,” I said softly.
“Chet and Jillian have begun to recover,” I announced excitedly to the room.
Everyone began to celebrate, hugging one another, and cheering.
I knew the perfect way to celebrate: to sneak away with Star!