Wiley nodded. At least they couldn’t hear Ruby in there. The sounds were killing him. Baer had to be dying.
His lover grabbed his whiskey and went to get a glass. He returned with several. “Anyone else?”
“Yeah, give me one,” Clay said as he opened a book on his lap. “You didn’t find any animal spells so far, right?”
Wiley shook his head. “No, but there’s still so much to go through.”
“Dane, we’ll hold off on any more renovations for now. We could use your help.”
“Of course.” Dane curled up on the sofa with a book.
Baer poured whiskey into glasses. Lucien and Grey settled in with a glass and each took a book.
Wiley shook his head when he offered one to him. “We should look through the journals, too. They could have come across her or someone like her in the past.”
As they looked through the books, he returned to his earlier thoughts. What if Baer’s real soul mate did have some kind of power that could help? He looked around the room at all these men who’d come to mean something to him and sighed.
He couldn’t stay here, playing house with Baer. Not with everything at stake.Chapter 22Three days of hell and they felt no closer to an answer on how to free Ruby from Ardette’s spell or how to beat the witch in the first place. Wiley was living with his nose in the old journals and spell books, while the rest of them patrolled the plantation grounds, watching for signs of the next attack.
Baer felt wretched. He couldn’t help his best friend, and he was too weak to beat a witch with the same powers as him.
Slow footsteps across the floor had Baer looking up as Wiley entered the family room off the kitchen. His man looked rumpled and exhausted. Circles were dark under his eyes, and his hair stood up in every direction as if he’d been pulling at it as he read. A large, heavy book was clutched to his chest, but then it was rare to see him without one now.
Wiley flashed him a weak smile, but it did nothing to push aside the sadness in his eyes.
That was it.
Tonight, Baer was taking the books away. Wiley was making himself sick. This was bad for his illness. From side reading about OCD that Baer had managed to sneak in, he’d learned that stress and exhaustion were likely to cause panic attacks and create new setbacks for him. At minimum, Wiley needed to go at least twenty-four hours without a damn book and just rest.
The young artist looked around the room at everyone gathered. They’d recently started meeting in the family room before dinner to discuss patrol duties for the next day and ideas for how to beat the witch.
“Hey, Wiley,” Dane greeted. “What’s up? You look exhausted.”
“I think I found it,” he announced softly.
“What?”
“A spell that will help.”
The room was suddenly electrified. Baer jumped to his feet and gently ushered the smaller man into the room, cuddling him close to his chest as they moved as one. He was so damn proud of Wiley. He’d been determined to find something to help, and he had.
“That’s amazing! What is it? Did you find a journal from past me?” Baer asked as he got Wiley to sit on the love seat next to him.
The artist frowned. “Well, I found something that looks like it might be from a past Animal Weaver, but it’s just filled with doodles and the most random comments. If it’s from a past you, it’s not helpful at all.”
Baer shoved a hand through his hair, feeling more than a little sheepish. “Yeah, I’ve never had much attention span for writing things down. I guess maybe other incarnations felt the same way.”
“What do you have, Wiley?” Clay prodded.
“Oh! Yes…umm…so I found what looks to be a seeking spell. I think it’s been used to find missing Weavers. It’s complicated and takes at least four Weavers to complete it, but I think you can do it.”
Clay frowned and glanced over at Grey, who didn’t look enthusiastic either. “That might help, but it’s dangerous. We’re under attack and bringing in the Water or Air Weaver right now could be bad. With no powers, they would be incredibly vulnerable.”
“Even after they get their powers, it’s still dicey. It takes time to get a handle on them,” Grey added.
Lucien snorted. “I set you on fire one time. Just one time. And it was a tiny fire too.”
Grey glared at the smiling man. “Once is generally enough for anyone.”
“No, I was thinking we could modify the spell,” Wiley said. He paused and licked his lips as he looked over at Baer. “Modify it to find Baer’s soul mate.”
“Wiley—” Dane started, but Wiley shoved the book he was holding into Baer’s lap and jumped to his feet.