21
Jaxson
The Moon’s words rocked me to my core.
“Do something,” I growled, as despair claimed me. “You’re a goddess. You must be able to heal her.”
Savy collapsed to her knees beside our friend, her face twisted in emotions that tore at my very soul. “Please. Save her.”
I dropped down beside Savy and pulled her to me. “Please.”
An agonized expression cut across the Moon’s face, and she pressed her fingers to her temples. For a moment, she was silent, and I held my breath. At last, she spoke. “Okay, okay. I’m not supposed to meddle with death, but I sent you on this journey, and technically, by law, nobody is allowed to die on this island. I’ll help her.”
I could practically feel Sam’s soul leaving this world. “Do it.”
“I’ll need your help. We need to call her back from death’s domain. Place your hands on her, like this.” The Moon pressed her palm over the gashes in Sam’s chest.
Savy used the back of her wrist to wipe the tears from her eyes, then placed her hands lightly over the gouges on Sam’s neck. Her pain and shame and horror filled the room, and I wanted so desperately just to hold her, but we had to save our friend first.
The loremaster and I placed our hands on Sam.
The Moon closed her eyes. “Now, in your minds, call her back to us, and I’ll do what I can.”
I howled in my mind as I would call to my wolves, and the Moon began to speak in a strange tongue. But my howl wouldn’t stay silent. It broke from my lungs, and my voice echoed off the roof of the sanctuary.
Savannah added her howl to mine, and the loremaster, too, until Delos became a temple to that single sound.
The Moon's magic flowed into Sam, and a soft glow emanated from her palms. Slowly, Sam’s breathing returned, and her heartbeat began again.
My howl caught in my throat.
Beneath my hands, the ragged flesh pulled closed, and Sam’s eyes fluttered open.
“Where am I?” she croaked as the Moon stood and stepped back. “I had the strangest dream…”
A sob tore from Savy’s throat, and she folded herself over her friend, pulling her into an awkward embrace. “Oh, my God, Sam. I’m so sorry.”
Sam peered up at me with a distressed expression. “Um, you can let me go now.”
I swallowed a laugh, and the tension in my body eased. Sam wasn’t touchy-feely, and I could sense her unease with all the attention.
Savy staggered to her feet, her eyes glistening. “Will you ever forgive me? I…it wasn’t me.”
Sam sat up and rubbed her blood-soaked chest. “I know.”
“He took control…my wolf, she went wild. I couldn’t hold her back! I saw my claws…”
Sam reached out and took Savannah’s hand. “That wasn’t you. It was the Dark Wolf God.”
“The Dark God?” The Moon Goddess interjected, worry lacing her words. “You actually saw him? In what form?”
“Seven-foot-tall stunner of a man beast, with a penchant for murder. Does that ring a bell?” Sam asked, turning around.
Moon covered her mouth and looked away. “Then he’s free of all his bonds.”
Dread coiled in my gut. “What does that mean?”
“When I cast the spell on him ages ago, he was bound as a wolf, fully conscious but stuck in a dream,” Moon said softly, her gaze distant as if she were recalling the memory. “If his form is corporeal, then that spell has broken, and he’s grown powerful.”
“The bastard was radiating magic.” Savy said distantly.
I could sense the guilt and shame eating her up. I wanted to pull her close and take it all away, but from personal experience, I knew that was impossible. Savy would have to slay her own demons, and I’d be there to hold her up if she needed me.
Still, I moved to her side and took her hand, certain that she needed me now. It trembled in my palm, and I tightened my grip slightly.
The goddess’s eyes flicked among the three of us. “The moonstones! Did you recharge all of the orbs? That will still lock him in the Dreamlands, even if he’s able to roam free there.”
“Just two,” Savannah whispered.