Chapter 19

**Charles**


I can not sense her. It is as if a chill has moved through my mind where I had been connected to her.

"Mage?" I turn at the sound of Asher's voice. "You spaced out for a while. Are you in your mind space or wherever you go when you space out like that?"

I would find his statement humorous if I was not still shaken by what has just happened.

"Nova. I spoke to her." I say and all three of them jump to their feet.

"What? How?" Eli leans over Nova's unmoving form and cups her cheeks but she does not stir.

"I do not know, but I felt her presence. I was able to speak to her through our mental connection. She says she had gone back to the day before her death. Back to the compound, she had been held in." I explain to them.

"How is that possible? She's right here." Chase points at her.

"I do not know. There were legends of the ability of foresight. The ability to look into the past or the future, but the ones who supposedly had the ability have died long ago. We have only speculation to go off of. I am not sure if even my knowledge will help in this situation. Nova may have to figure this out on her own. I am not sure she will be able to pass through again to contact me." I hate this feeling.

It is hurting me to know I can not help my mate.

"So what do we do now?" Chase asks.

It is not the first time they have asked the same question but I have no answer for them. This is not a situation I have been in before.

"I think we should move forward with our plans. Start working on our new home and hope she will find a way to either contact us or come back to us." I suggest.

What more can we do than move forward?

"I don't like doing this without her. This will be her home too. She hasn't had a real home since she was little." Chase reminds us.

"Then we better make her one hell of a nice house. Where do we start? Do you have some spell you can cast Mage?" Asher asks.

He does not seem to like calling any of us by our proper names and I find it annoying.

"I can yes, but I need to know what I am creating before I can begin. I am not familiar with the home styles in this area. Our homes are far more rustic in style. We try to use natural ingredients so as not to take away the value of the materials." I explain to them.

Our people work quite a bit with natural elements and energy. Surrounding ourselves with natural materials helps us stay connected to the elements.

"That's a shock," Asher says with a laugh.

"Why is that?" I ask him.

"Well, with the way you talk I would think you lived in some posh place with a bunch of rich people." He chuckles again but I do not find his assumptions funny.

"It does no good to assume things about others without further research." I keep my voice as calm as I always do but I add a bit more snap hoping he will understand my offense.

Asher simply shrugs and the annoyance from a moment ago dissipates. It makes no sense for us to turn on each other even in momentary anger.

"So we gotta build a kickass house. Let's do it then." Asher jumps to his feet and shakes his arms out as if we are preparing for a sporting event.

"I have someone covering me downstairs, so I'm free," Chase says before glancing back at Nova's still form. "What do we do with Nova while we work on this?"

They turn to look at me for direction. For some reason, I have become the leader of this group. If I had to guess it is because of my knowledge of a wide range of subjects. Book knowledge is not practical knowledge, but I will do my best to help them where I can.

I try to think of spells I can use to create a home for us. There is not a spell that will erect a home from thin air, but I could work through my connection with the elements and land. It is how I created my own home. I tapped into the energy of a large tree and shaped it into a house of sorts. It now exists in a hidden state of matter that only I can access.

Perhaps I can accomplish something similar in this case. It will once again take a lot of my energy, but I will have time to rest once it is done. There are no present threats we need to be ready for some being weak for a short time should not be a problem.

"I will stay with our mate," Eli says standing tall.

I assume his posturing is because he expects us to challenge him, but I will not. He is a powerful creature and a very appropriate protector for Nova.

"Very well Eli. We will go ahead and prepare things." I tell him with a nod that he returns.

"You have my number brother, just let us know what your dragon will need," Chase tells him.

"Thank you...brother," Eli says in reply making Chase smile.

His reason for addressing Eli as brother has me curious but I suppose it is a matter to delve into later.

"We should go," I say moving to a more open area of the apartment and waiting for my other bond mate brothers to join me.

I suppose brother is a good way to describe them after all.

We all give Nova one last look before I lift my hands and create the rune for my portal. The smoke gathers and spreads into an area big enough for us to step through.