Baer looked at Clay. “I can’t even get into the coyotes’ minds, so he’s doing better than I am. Maybe we should try focusing on Ruby now.”
“I agree,” Wiley said. “Let’s go to the house, so I’m closer. I’ll try anything to save her, Baer. I love your dog so much.”
“Our dog now,” Baer said softly, still stroking his hand. “She belongs to both of us now. Hell, she belongs to everyone in the house at this point, but what’s mine is yours from here on out.”
Wiley leaned over to kiss him, and Clay chuckled.
“Come on, you two. Let’s see about Ruby, so you can get back to your wedding night.”
They walked through the forest and slipped into the house, using the same door. Grey and Lucien were now with Dane in the living room.
“We heard you got a power,” Lucien said as he held out his hand to Wiley. “Congratulations.”
Wiley shook his hand. “Thanks.” He glared at Grey. “You could have saved me a lot of anguish if you’d told me about the soul mate thing.”
“Hey, would you rather be together because fate said you’re supposed to be, or because you love each other? I was just buying you some time to fall in love and for Baer to get his shit together.” Grey came up to Wiley and shook his hand. “Glad about the power. You deserve it.”
Wiley squeaked and gave a little dance. “I can hear animals. Don’t know if there’s more yet, but that should come in handy if Queenie or Ruby ever gets sick.” His eyes went wide. “Oh my God, I’d make the best veterinarian in the world now.”
Everyone laughed and Baer just shook his head. “I think we need to worry about the pestilents before you think about college.”
But Wiley could think about it. Hell, he’d always wanted to go to college, and now he had an ability that would help animals. If they all survived the battles against the pestilents, and Baer seemed determined they would.
Wiley looked at the journals still scattered in the room and felt a touch of sadness. Those men, these men, had failed over and over. What other than soul mates made them more special now?
Of course, Dane could heal wounds, and that was a priceless power to have. Wiley could hear animals, but how was that going to be a help in the long run? While he was giddy to have a power of his own, he couldn’t help but wonder how it would play out.
“I’m going to try and break through to Ruby.”
He walked to the door to the basement and sat with his back to it. He sent out his senses and Ruby, feeling him, raced to the door, growling and clawing at the wood. He pushed himself into her mind and the same blackness he’d felt in the coyote was there.
Ruby was naturally such a loving dog. She was fighting the spell as hard as she could. Tears pricked Wiley’s eyes. She hated the darkness in her head and wanted it gone. He wanted to help her so badly, but he didn’t know what to do. Frustration ate at him until he buried his face in his hands.
“Hey,” Baer said, kneeling in front of him and bringing his hands down. “You can do this. I know it. I know this is why you got some of my powers. If anyone can reach her, you can.”
“There’s this ugly black cloud in her head, and I know it’s the witch. But Ruby is fighting it so hard. She’d rather die than hurt any of us. Hell, the bite she gave me is upsetting her. But the hatred coming from that…blackness is hard for her to fight.”
Baer sat on the floor and held his hands. “Then we’ll fight for her. Can you get through that blackness?”
“I can try.”
Wiley closed his eyes again and pushed past the resistance in Ruby’s head. It was like crawling through tar, but the harder he pushed, the more he broke through. The blackness stuck to him, weighed down his mind as he felt what Ruby was feeling. God, it was just awful, like an illness that had infiltrated her body and brain. It was literally making her sick.
Determined, he kept pushing past it until he reached the heart of Ruby—the sweet, loving dog she really was. Not knowing what else to do, he shoved at the blackness and pressed it into a little ball. Ruby whimpered, but he kept working, clearing more and more of her mind. It was like gathering up sticky, black dough that had been spread across her brain. He rolled it up more and more so that Ruby could start to shine through again.
He pushed harder and felt it begin to give, as if his own energy were starting to overwhelm it. Joy shot through him. He directed more and more of his new magical energy at the darkness, sweeping it clear of Ruby’s mind. The blackness was actually shrinking now, dissipating from her mind. He pressed against that black wall as hard as he could, and it was like the darkness popped out of existence. Ruby’s relief overwhelmed him.