Chapter 20

“She says your necklace should be able to take down the ward that is keeping the fae from flashing in,” Costin explained.
Sally looked down at the locket resting against her chest. She remembered what she’d been told about the necklace when she and Costin had been visiting her mom and she learned about the sprite realm. The charm was powerful. There were times when she’d actually felt the power of it humming against her skin.
“How am I supposed to know what to do with it?” she asked out loud, though she wasn’t necessarily asking Costin. “I’ve had it all this time, through everything that we’ve been through, and it’s never done anything more than vibrate a little and warm up. You would think that when I was in the dark forest giving my life away it would have done something.”
Costin growled but then seemed to regain control of himself. She knew he didn’t like thinking back to times when he’d nearly lost her, which she totally understood. She hated thinking about the times when he’d been in the In-Between. It made her nauseated, knowing she hadn’t been able to help her mate, even though the second time she hadn’t even known he was there. The worst feeling in the world is being unable to do anything for the ones you love. And here she was once again in that same position. Her friends and family needed her help, and she supposedly had the means to help them, but she didn’t have a clue what to do.
She began to pace and rubbed the locket between her fingers. “Think, think, think,” she muttered over and over again as she walked from one end of the small room to the other.
“Where did the locket come from, Mommy?” Titus sat beside the wall where he and Jen kept knocking back and forth at one another. It really was amazing how quickly he’d learned to do Morse code. Sally couldn’t concentrate long enough to get even a few letters down.
“It was created by the Great Luna.”
“The angel?” Titus asked, tilting his head slightly as he looked at her.
Sally smiled. “She seems to come to you as an angel, but she’s actually the Creator of our kind.”
“What did she create the necklace to do?”
“I’m not sure,” Sally admitted.
Titus knocked on the wall and then waited. Jen replied with her own knocking, and then the little boy nodded. “Aunt Jen and I think it has something to do with light. The angel always talks about how we have to be the light in a dark world.”
Sally looked at him and then smiled. “My smart, incredible boy,” she said, her heart so full of love. She finally understood why her mom would sometimes just sit and stare at her. Because there’s nothing like the love of a parent for a child. The complete awe that fills your heart as you see the little life that you want the absolute best for.
“Do you know what to do?” Costin stood up from where he’d been sitting next to Titus.
“Not exactly, but give me a minute.” Sally continued walking, but this time she closed her eyes and tapped into the magic, the light she knew was flowing inside of her. She reflected on the fact that she wasn’t perfect. She had so many flaws, and yet gypsy healers were revered because of their innate goodness. What was it that made them good? What set them apart from the rest? Was it the empathy they felt for others, even their enemies?
She thought about Tenia and the look in her eyes when Alston had been berating her. Sally didn’t know the female fae’s story or how she’d come to be working for the Order, but Sally did feel something for the woman. She felt something for all of those who had bought into the lies that the Order had fed them. Was she angry? Absolutely, but there was still a part of her that wished they could be saved. She wanted them to see their wrong doings and feel remorse. “Great Luna help me,” she said very softly.
“You see what I see in people.” The Great Luna’s voice filled Sally’s mind as the worry and sadness left her, leaving only peace. “You see through their darkness to the person they could be if they chose to not give in to their selfish desires. Focus on that, Sally, my gentle healer. Focus on the fact that the darkness that holds them trapped in this place doesn’t have complete control over all of them, not yet. There are still those like Tenia who have light left in them.”
“Why is the light not winning in her?”
“Because bitterness and pain have taken root in her, and every time the light tries to grow, that bitterness pushes it back. She needs people like you to see the light in her. She needs to know that she isn’t lost yet,” the Great Luna answered.
Sally thought about the men who’d brought them food and things for Titus to do. Not all of them had seemed completely evil. Some of them even looked at Titus with kindness, even if that kindness didn’t extend to Costin or Sally.
“Seek out every ounce of light in the building. It’s there,” the goddess said, pulling Sally’s attention back. “Focus on that light and pull it toward you. Imagine it flowing into you. Imagine it filling you from the very tips of your toes until it runs up and out of the top of your head. It’s bursting forth from every pore in your skin until it can no longer be contained.”
Sally thought about the way she sent her light into the wolves when she healed them. She thought about how she would command it to seek out the damage within, and she did the same with her light now. She sent her power into the building, pursuing the light in those who were in the Order but were not fully controlled, not yet. One by one, she found the slivers of light and began drawing them to her. Like the palest rays of sunlight, they traveled through the space toward her. Then she saw several very bright lights and realized they were Thia, Slate, and Titus. The children who had yet to be corrupted by the world. They were still so full of innocence and saw the best of life. She pulled that light to her. She saw the light that was in Costin, though there was darkness as well. The longer they were together, the more the light inside of him grew. She pulled that in and felt him pushing it to her, helping her. She saw the light in Jacque and Jen, both of which had been connected to her for so long that they seemed to naturally sense what was needed and pushed their own power to her. Jacque’s seemed to have an extra boost, and Sally guessed that was because she was now the alpha female.
Sally’s hand was still wrapped around the locket, and she could feel it heating up. Her body felt as if she stood out under the noonday sun with its warmth radiating onto her skin. Every ounce of coldness that had taken root from simply being in this dark place, and from what Alston had tried to do, was overtaken by the warmth of the light.
“The locket is meant to amplify the light,” the Great Luna said. “It will take all that you’ve gathered and multiply it. You cannot contain the full light of my being. I am a Creator, and you are the created. The locket was designed to hold some of my essence, and it can channel the amount of light you need for this. Keep pulling it in. Keep seeking it out.”
Sally made her mind focus even more. She sought out more of the minds around the compound. She was shocked by what she found. She slipped into the mind of a man who had been blackmailed into being a part of the Order. They’d killed nearly all of his family, and they’d been holding his only child captive for over a century. He’d nearly reached the point of losing hope, but there was still a part of him that believed the Order wouldn’t succeed. He hadn’t been in the battle at the Keep, but he’d known of Vasile, the most powerful alpha in all of the Canis lupus world. He had hope that there was no way the Order could defeat the great wolf. But then she saw the light in him dwindle more when he heard the news that was apparently traveling around the compound. The great alpha pair had been killed. Don’t give up. Sally hoped he would feel her encouragement and keep the light inside of him from being extinguished.
Her mind moved on to the next person, and she found a female wolf. She’d been taken by the Order during the werewolf wars when things were chaotic and no one was focused on the Order. She’d been coerced into believing their lies, but over the decades, she’d begun to realize that their intentions were not what she’d been led to believe. Now, she wanted out, but she was trapped. They would never let her leave alive. She’d signed up willingly, and there was no getting out. Sally grabbed hold of the light in her and pulled.
On and on, she found person after person who didn’t truly hold any loyalty to the Order but felt they had no choice but to serve the organization. Yet their spirits refused to give up completely. They still had hope. Sally took the light from that hope and continued to pull it to her. When she felt as if she was about to burst from the inside out, and she couldn’t see how she could possibly take any more, she focused on herself. She ran through all the memories of her life and grabbed onto the good ones. Then, she sought out every horrible thing she’d been through, because even in those situations, light or goodness had come out of the tragedy. There were things that kept her from sinking into the darkness and giving up. She thought about her best friends, Jen and Jacque—the two people who’d been with her through it all and had stood firm next to her, never letting her go. She thought about their mates, the amazing men who loved them. Though they weren’t perfect, they refused to give up on their relationships, even when it got hard. Then she remembered Vasile and Alina, two of the most amazing people she’d ever met. They’d loved with their whole hearts. They’d given everything they could to save those they loved. The light in them was so strong that they were willing to give the ultimate sacrifice.
“Now let it go,” the Great Luna breathed into Sally. The goddess’s light filled any remaining doubts and worries, and then Sally pushed the light outward, picturing in her mind the light as a huge tidal wave. She pushed and imagined it rushing through the room, out the door and cracks and any tiny spot that it could travel through, completely engulfing the building. She saw it flowing down the halls, completely overtaking the floors, walls, and ceilings. It ran over every person it came in contact with, knocking them over as it hit them. The light burst through doors, slamming them open as it went. Any shadow was completely illuminated as the light unfurled.
Sally opened her eyes, and all she could see was light so pure it wasn’t even yellow. It was a shining, dazzling, iridescent white. It was so breathtakingly beautiful that it was nearly painful to look at.
She didn’t have time to enjoy it because a second later Jen burst through their opened door. She had a wide-eyed Thia in her arms, and her eyes were glowing bright with her wolf.
“Costin, you got Titus?” Jen rushed over to Sally.
“Yes,” Costin said as he picked up their son.
“Excellent,” Jen grinned, and the sight was a tad creepy. She pushed Thia into Sally’s arms. “You take mini-me and get her the hell out of dodge.”
Thia yelled, “Hell,” at the same time Sally yelled, “Jen!” But her best friend had already turned and headed for the door. “What are you doing?” she asked quickly before Jen could make it out.
Jen glanced back at Sally. “What I promised myself I would do when Alston took my child. Tell Peri to save my stupid ass when she gets here.” Then Jen was gone, moving with her wolf’s speed.
“Decebel is going to lock her in a cell when he gets his hands on her,” Costin said.
Jacque was the next one to come rushing into their room. “Jen told me to get my ass in here and then kept running. What the hell is she doing?” Jacque held Slate in her arms.
“Mama hell,” Thia said, pointing toward the door.
“He’s not just going to lock her in a cell.” Costin sighed. “He’s going to wash her mouth out with soap, too.”
Jacque just shook her head and then looked back at Sally. “How did our doors open, and why is it so bright in here?”
Before Sally could answer, their room was suddenly full of people as Peri flashed into the room, followed by Nissa, Adam, and Elle. Fane, Decebel, Crina, and Sorin were also with them.
Peri glanced around the room and must have realized at the same time Decebel did that Jen was missing.
“Where is the hellion?” Peri asked.
Decebel growled but walked over to Sally and took Thia from her. The little girl grinned big at her dad and patted his cheeks with her chubby, little hands. “Hell, Dada,” she said proudly.
Peri glanced at the little girl. “I see she’s been into alternative learning when it comes to her child. Good for her. That’s our next generation. Where did you say she is?”
“She took off out that door and told me to tell you to save her stupid ass when you got here,” Sally explained.
Peri looked at Decebel. “You gonna let me get her?”
“You can get to her quicker than I can,” he growled. “I’ll take care of Thia. My mate will skin me alive if I don’t get her to safety.”
“Which was her plan all along,” Jacque pointed out. Fane had Jacque wrapped in his arms and had buried his face in their son's little neck.
“Get everyone out of here,” Peri said as she looked at each of the fae who could flash. “I’ll get the crazy blonde who is determined to give her mate a heart attack. Pretty sure he’d be the first Canis lupus in the history of ever to have one.”