Chapter 118

Laila puts her coffee on the ground and catches the bag that I toss for her, eagerly spilling the contents in her hand. Blythe’s little squirrel eyes go wide when he sees the mouse bones and he squeaks, leaping off of Laila’s lap and dashing to me.

I burst out laughing, gathering him close and petting a hand over his fur, which really is very soft.

“Oh, you big Alpha coward,” Laila says, waving her free hand at him. “This has nothing to do with you.”

I grin, continuing to pet my ex’s soft head as Laila sorts out the materials in her hands. “Do you think you can do anything without a map?”

“Maybe,” she says, looking up at me with real interest. “Yes and no questions shouldn’t need a map. We get to a crossroads, we ask left or right…the tools point the way.”

“Cool,” I say, leaning forward. “Let’s try it.”

Laila sits on the ground and waives for me to follow. I do, folding my legs beneath me and settling Blythe in my lap, leaning forward as Laila sets up her divination space. I watch carefully as she sorts the materials in her hands and then speaks a prayer over them before clasping her hand together all at once and asking a question over her fist – whether we should go left or right when we leave the inn in order to find the way to the temple.

We both hold our breath as Laila moves her hand in a circle and then scatters the tools before her. Together we lean forward, peering at them.

“What do you see?” I whisper, fascinated and hopeful.

She sighs, shaking her head. “Sorry, June. It’s…nonsense.”

“Was the question wrong? Like, is it possible that it’s neither left nor right – maybe straight?”

“No,” she murmurs, twisting her mouth to the side. “It would find a way to indicate that. Instead it’s giving me like…full gibberish.”

I look dubiously down at the scattered tools, wondering how she ever gets anything besides gibberish from a collection of rocks and bones scattered on the ground.

“I think Life is blocking it,” she says, lifting her eyes to mine, regretful. “Maybe if I had your power, or you had my knowledge, we could get something out of it. But what little Selkie magic I have isn’t cutting it.”

We try a few different options then – me taking Laila’s hand and trying to pass her my power, as I’ve seen my sister do with her mate a few times. And then I put my hands on Laila’s temples, attempting – ridiculously – to summon her knowledge and…suck it into my own brain or something.

But nothing works.

“Boo,” Laila says on a sigh, shaking her head about me. “Sorry, Junie. It was a really good idea.”

“Ugh,” a voice says at the door, making both of our heads spin towards it. “It’s…way too early for good ideas. Can you two stop yapping out here? I can’t sleep, and it was very pleasant being all curled up in bed with a big hulking Prince.”

I grin at Faiza and then shift my eyes to the door, making it snap shut behind her, suddenly inspired. Faiza yelps a bit as the door smacks her in the butt and then glares at me, murderous, the threat in her slightly dulled by the fact that she’s all rumpled from sleep.

“Faiza,” I say, conjuring a cup of coffee as a peace offering and holding it up to her. “Come sit. I want to pick your brain.”

Faiza narrows her eyes and glances between me and the coffee, clearly torn.

“You’re still my captive,” I say, tilting my head to the side. “Either you sit with coffee or without. Your choice.”

She scowls and takes the coffee from me, folding her legs beneath her and moving elegantly to the ground. Her eyes move first to Blythe and then to the divination materials. “What are you two even doing out here.”

“Trying to figure out how to get to the temple,” I say, pointing to the tools. “But Laila’s magic isn’t strong enough and I don’t know how to do that.”

“I could have told you that,” Faiza says, smug, taking a sip of her coffee.

“So,” I say, straightening my shoulders and grinning, quite pleased at the idea. “I’m going to give her my powers. So she has the strength to do it. And you’re going to tell me how!”

Faiza goes a bit still, looking at me like a mad woman. “They’re your powers, June. You can’t just pass them back and forth like a sweater.”

“Why not?” I ask. “That’s what my mom and Cora can do. And Ariel and Jackson and Jesse and Rafe can all push their powers to each other. Why can’t I do it?”

“Because they all have bonds,” Faiza says, rolling her eyes like I’m an idiot and taking a long sip of her coffee. “You and Laila don’t have a bond.”

“Well then how did you get Life’s magic?” I ask, pushing.

“I’m her Priestess,” Faiza mumbles, rolling her eyes again. “She just gives me access to –“ But then she stills, realizing her mistake.

“Great!” I say, turning to beam at Laila. “Then I’ll make you my Priestess!”

“What?” Laila asks, shoulders straightening, eyes going wide.

“My Priestess, it’ll be cool!” I say, laughing, a little delighted. I hold my hands out to her, not really knowing why, some instinct in me telling me to do it.

“Juniper,” Laila murmurs, hesitating, looking at my palms. “What…what does this entail?”

We both look at Faiza, who purses her lips and says nothing. I narrow my eyes, vanishing her coffee away. She squeaks but then just scowls at me, dropping her shackled hands to her lap. My glare deepens and I tighten her manacles before making another set appear on her ankles, and then one big cuff around her neck.

Faiza gasps, incredibly displeased as delicate golden chains form between all of them, making it incredibly inconvenient for her to move. “Bitch,” she snarls, glaring at me. “I liked you better when you were all freaked out.”

“Makes sense,” I say with a shrug, not taking it personally. “All of this is your choice, Faiza. Just tell us and the shackles go away!”

“Fine,” she snarls, glancing down at the chains. I concede slightly, loosening them so she’s more comfortable, and Faiza begins. “Essentially it’s a business deal,” she says. “Laila becomes available at your beck and call, so you can vanish her out of her life – no matter what world she’s in – and make her appear at your side. She is also then obliged to do your bidding, though the terms of the consequences of her refusal would be up to you.”

“No consequences,” I say, turning to Laila. “You can refuse all you want.”

“Um, okay,” Laila says, still clearly anxious about it all.

“And in exchange, a kind of bond would form between you and Laila,” Faiza says, gesturing between us. “So, you could feed her your powers at will. You could also withhold them. She can make requests for more or less. It’s pretty simple, when you get it figured out.”

“Sounds good to me!” I say, holding out my hands further to my friend. “You in?”

“What’s…what’s the downside?” Laila asks, looking between Fazia and I.

“Your life is in her hands,” Faiza says with a shrug. “She could enslave your will at a thought, should she want it. Or end your life in an instant. Or the force of her power will overwhelm you and fry your brain. Though considering how powerful Juniper is,” Faiza says, turning to me with a frown. “She could probably do all of that anyway.”

“Oh geeze,” Laila says, sighing and turning to me, worried.

“Laila, I’m not going to do any of that,” I say, giving a fervid shake of my head. “I promise!”

“Promises are easy when it’s all coffee on the balcony,” Faiza murmurs. “But when she’s backed into a corner, can you trust the Princess to keep her word?”

Laila frowns at Faiza for a long moment and then reaches for my hands. I grin, thinking that perhaps Faiza’s words had the opposite effect of what she intended. “I trust you, June.” Laila says, nodding to me. “What…what do we do?”

My wolf howls with happiness, a rush of power flooding our body at Laila’s willingness to help me, to trust me. And suddenly I realize that perhaps there’s a magic in that – to someone coming to you and trusting you utterly, giving themselves to your power, offering you aid and their life in service of your cause, should you wish it.

That, after all, is what a Priestess does when she takes her vows.

Suddenly my eyes flood with tears as I squeeze my friends hands, realizing that this is…kind of sacred.

“I take you as my Priestess, Laila,” I say softly, my voice echoing deep and two-toned as it did before on the beach, magic swirling through me and around us.

“I accept you as my sovereign, June,” Laila says, smiling at me, tears in her own eyes. “Whom I love and trust.”

I smile back at her, suddenly quite overwhelmed with magic and emotion. And then, on pure impulse, I lean forward and tug my friend to me, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

When I pull away, a shining blue crescent moon glows right beneath heir hairline, gorgeous and bright and transcendent with power.