like marbles in a bounce house, tossing us high, then slamming us back to the ground again. Rafe tried to levitate us, but the land rose up to bat us out of the sky, flinging us away from each other before we could get high enough. I screamed in agony as I landed wrong on my shoulder and it popped out of its socket.
The yard roared as it split straight down the middle. Bits of rock, sand, and clay broke apart and dropped into a fathomless sinkhole. The rumbling continued as the rupture spread further, as if invisible hands were tearing the land wide open, but it stopped at the back porch. Galen and Kenna stood on the edge of the world, helpless and fully aflame.
I blinked and Thora was by my side, struggling to stay on her feet. “Are you hurt?”
“My shoulder.” I winced at my arm hanging at an odd angle, limp and useless. “We were on our way back inside when it hit.”
The earthquake stopped as quickly as it had started, but it had been enough of a jolt to throw off our equilibrium. My knees wobbled. The ground beneath me felt soft and unstable, like I was trying to find balance on a waterbed.
Thora placed her warm, glowing hands over my shoulder and winced as hers popped out and back into place while mine healed. “Thankfully it wasn’t worse. Finn is cleaning up Rafe, he landed pretty hard on his face and busted his pretty nose.”
The forest was dark, and eerily still. The only sound was the groan of the trees as their roots shifted in the unstable ground. I blinked as the cloudiness from the concussion I hadn’t realized I’d gotten cleared from my head. Deeper in the forest, the silhouette of trees untouched by the earthquake loomed over the ones closer to the yard that had fallen. This attack had been centralized and specific.
So much for thinking the curse wasn’t targeting us hard enough.
But we were lucky. It could’ve been a lot worse. We could’ve been on the edge of the forest, dodging the trees that couldn’t withstand the rolling, or we could’ve fallen into the large chasm that now marred Kenna and Galen’s grassy yard. I had a feeling the curse wanted to send a message more than kill us, though. There was a reason why it struck hard, but let go quickly.
It feared Kenna and Galen, but it wanted to let us know that it was still watching and still had the upper hand. But why now? Why not when we’d been alone in the greenhouse?
Unless I was on the right track with attempting to solidify my illusions. That had to be the reason why it hit us now. We were getting close to… something.
The Lathams and the water signs came out of Brooke’s cabin to check on us and make sure we were okay. The twelve of us needed to get together. And it had to be today. I wanted to run my theory about solidifying my illusions by Audrey, who knew more about magic than the rest of us. While we were all pretty much guessing our way through this, she was a Scorpio, and had a better intuition about this stuff than anyone else on the island.
Finn came over to us. He had a huge splash of red sauce down the front of his shirt. “The curse fucked up my spaghetti, but it’s still mostly edible. Eat. Thora and I will do a check of the island. We’ll be back before you take your first bite.”
With that, he paused for half a millisecond to grab her hand, then they were gone. Galen and Kenna had released their fire and stood on the porch, their shirts still smoking. Kenna met me halfway across the yard, hooking her arm with mine and steering me away from Rafe. She shot him a dirty look, but more out of habit than actual malice.
“What happened last night? Don’t bother to tell me it’s not my business, you know I’m nosy as fuck.” She fanned herself. “That kiss before he dragged you away was hot as fuck. Who knew a stick-up-the-ass like Rafe could kiss like that?”
“You can’t say stuff like that anymore. You know why things were tense between us.”
“Yeah, I know. But I’m a Leo and not nearly as forgiving as you.” She nudged me. “So what did you two end up doing last night? A little sightseeing? Some bird-watching? Maybe a little hiking to burn off some excess energy.”
My cheeks heated. “Something like that.”
I didn’t keep things from Kenna. Ever. And I wouldn’t keep this from her for long, but right now, it felt fragile and new, and I just wanted to keep it between me and Rafe for now. We were still learning how to trust each other again, and I liked that we were starting to build something between us that didn’t have anything to do with other people’s opinions.
She snorted. “Did he ask if he could make a deposit into your money market account while he was nailing you? Or call out the name of his favorite bond fund when he came?”
“I’m not telling you anything. You’re a worse gossip than Betsy Newcomb.”
“It’s fine. You’ll tell me eventually. Plus, that rosy glow on your face says it all.” She gave me a shit-eating grin. “Totally wouldn’t have called that one.”
“That’s because you don’t know him. I called it just fine.” Though the real thing was infinitely more toe-curling than the wildest fantasies I’d cooked up over the years. “And you have to start being nice to him. No more dirty looks. We’re all in this together now.”
“Fine.” She booped me on the nose. “But just so you know, antagonizing Rafe has been my favorite hobby for the last four years and now I’m feeling adrift.”
I gave her a bland stare. “Try collecting stamps.”
“You would suggest a hobby for eighty-year-olds.” Her hip bumped mine. “Maybe you should hang out with Donovan. Between his checkers in the park and your piss-poor attempts at knitting, the two of you could start your own seniors’ club.”
“Remind me again why I put up with you?”
She rested her head on my shoulder. “Because you love me best.”
“That’s right.” I laid an exaggerated kiss on the top of her head. Kenna was one of a kind, and she was correct. I did love her best. “Finn cooked?”
“Yeah. Turns out, of the four of us, he’s the only one who knows how.”
“Thora doesn’t cook?” That surprised me. She seemed so… domestic. But that was back in high school, when Kenna seemed like a party girl who didn’t care about her future, and I seemed like I was deeply in love with Kyle Ketner, so who was I to make assumptions?
“Nah.” Kenna waved a hand. “She said she used up all her creative juices on art and mostly left it up to Finn, who is a goof, but can make a damn good meal.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to volunteer to cook. I loved doing it, and I rarely got to do it for anyone but myself since my parents moved to the mainland to escape all the drama. But I didn’t know if I was even going to be here long enough to be the designated cook. If any of us were. The clock was winding down and we still had a piece missing. A piece that was so close, I could feel it thrumming through my magic every time I touched Rafe.
By the time I grabbed a plate and began loading it with noodles, Thora and Finn had checked the entire island. Finn had taken off his stained shirt, and it was hard not to stare. The Wilder brothers didn’t even share DNA. How were they all built like this?
“Looks like it just struck here,” Finn said. “None of the other residents felt it, which is a good thing. It means the curse hasn’t started splitting the island in half yet.”
Just as I suspected, it wanted to send us a message. It didn’t like what Rafe and I had been doing together. Too bad for the curse, I’d spent the last four years living through my worst nightmare. I was more prepped than anyone to take this on.
Rafe came up behind me, plate in one hand, and pulled my back against his chest. “When we’re done eating, I’d like to go down to the marina. With Violet, Donovan, Cole, and Brooke if they’re available.”
I tipped my head back and gave him a quizzical look.
“I think we can fix the boats,” Rafe said. “If Violet and Donovan point out their general location, I can raise them, and Brooke can use her metal magic to patch them. It might give the residents some peace of mind.”
“And keep them off our ass,” Finn said. “I like it. Thora and I will come along in case the curse tries to toss any arrows your way.”
“Brilliant.” I pushed myself up on my toes to kiss Rafe’s jaw.
Finn shook his head. “So fucking weird.”
I shook my fork at him. “Get used to it.”
Galen wouldn’t meet my eyes, and I understood that he was slower to forgive than Finn, who was basically like a puppy that required little more than a tummy scratch to be all good. That was a conversation I’d need to have with him, much like Kenna needed to talk to Rafe. The two of us had put a strain on their relationship in the early stages, and I was sorry for that, but I was also done with taking responsibility for things that weren’t my fault.
I could deal with that later though. For now, I needed to eat to get back some of the energy that I’d burned trying to turn an illusion into something solid.
We sat around the kitchen island, the guys and Kenna making plans for the boats, while I spent time getting to know Thora better. Turned out, she was funny and smart on top of being incredibly perceptive. A lot of people used to say she was so lucky for landing Finn Wilder, who more than a few residents thought was the hottest guy on the island, followed closely by Wes Latham, but in reality, he was the lucky one. And he knew it, too.
Once we finished eating and cleaning up, Finn and Rafe went next door to collect Violet, Donovan, Brooke, and Cole. Cole glowered at me, but I’d learned a long time ago not to take that personally. That was just his regular face. Though he didn’t particularly like me. He actually tried to have me tossed out of the hotel after Kyle died because Rafe wanted me to leave the island, but his mom stopped that nonsense. She’d always been kind to me and was one of the few people in town who didn’t pay attention to gossip.
And since Cole was the one who got the ball rolling on forcing me and Rafe to hash out our issues, I couldn’t hold too much against him.
Wes and Audrey joined us because they hated feeling left out, and Kenna and Galen planned to come for protection. So it was all twelve of us together down by the water, where the curse would likely be trying to chip away at another section of land. Good times.
We followed the outer sidewalk on Stardust Parkway, which was now the water’s edge. Bits of concrete and metal framing hung on for dear life to the tiny spit of land that had once held shops, restaurants, and tourist attractions.
We passed by the residential section where most of the town had holed up to wait out these final days. Faces peered at us from behind tightly drawn curtains, the hope shining so starkly in their eyes. What if we couldn’t save them? What if we weren’t enough?
“Don’t think about it.” Rafe squeezed my hand, where he could feel my worry spooling around his magic like a tightly wound string. “We’ll be okay. Fate has our back.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “It has a funny way of showing it.”
He raised my glowing blue palm and brought it to his lips. “It brought me to you. No matter what happens, I can’t ever be mad about that.”
“Sweet talker.” But a damn good one.
At the water’s edge, Violet stripped down to her aqua bikini and Donovan eyed her appreciatively, making up for all those years when he didn’t look at her as openly as he’d wanted. Cole stood with Brooke, who chatted away with him using a lot of hand gestures. And when he looked down at her… whoa. His whole face changed. Damn, Cole was stunning, almost too pretty to be real. Who knew he’d been hiding all that under his grouchy exterior?
Audrey and Wes patrolled the forest edge with Kenna and Galen, ready to hit the curse with offensive magic if it tried to interrupt us. Thora and Finn stood off to the side, hands clasped and ready to heal anyone who needed it. Despite my earlier worries, the twelve of us made one hell of a formidable team.
An idea started to form, poking at the edges of my subconscious. The twelve of us were a team. We had individual powers as pairs, but we all brought something necessary to the table. There was no defeating this curse alone, or even with fractions of us. If that was possible, the rest of them would’ve done it by now. No one had wanted to deal with me and Rafe and our issues.
That meant something. We all needed to use our magic together. Tonight.
The splash from Violet and Donovan launching into the water distracted me. They swam much further out than I’d been anticipating. Once they reached the place where we figured the marina had been, they dove under the surface.
Rafe held my hand, and I pushed my magic into him as we stood at the edge of the water, waiting for his signal to act. I scanned the ocean for any sign of smoke, but all remained calm. No man with a forked tongue appeared on the rocks to taunt us.
I didn’t feel as relieved by that as I should’ve.
“There they are.” Rafe pointed to where Donovan had flung Violet into the air.
She did a backflip fit for the mermaid shows she put on every year for the Summer Solstice Festival. To any outsider, it would look like they were just playing in the water, but it was the signal we’d been waiting for. They’d found the boats.
Thankfully, it was within range of Rafe’s magic. I really hadn’t wanted to go in the water. Sweat beaded his brow as he pushed his palm, glowing with white light, outward. All of his focus was on lifting whatever boat his magic had a death grip on. He’d never levitated anything that heavy before, but I believed in him and his magic.
“You’ve got this,” I murmured, quietly feeding every bit of my power into him.
Soon, a dark shape rose to the surface. It was a decent-sized fishing boat that would hold a dozen residents comfortably. Water poured from the broken hull, and long pieces of dark green seaweed clung to the already rusting metal. The captain’s cabin would be trashed, but we didn’t need it to be pretty. We just needed it to float.
Rafe slowly brought the broken boat closer to shore, setting it a down with a hard splash that sent water cascading into the street, soaking our feet.
Brooke pulled metal from the ground, twisting and shaping it to match the docking poles that used to line the now sunken marina. She formed a chain to keep the boat in place while she went to work on patching it.
Cole watched her wield the metal that had once belonged to him alone with a look of pure pride on his face. There was no longing or jealousy. In fact, I’d never seen Cole look more content, and I’d known him my entire life. So weird.
I’d heard all about what had happened down at the beach from Kenna, about how Cole had sacrificed his magic to save Brooke. It surprised me that he didn’t appear to miss it at all. I’d only had use of my magic for a few days, and it already felt like so much a part of me. I didn’t know how I’d feel about watching Rafe cast illusions without me. Or how he’d feel about watching me levitate objects off the ground.
Or if he’d even be willing to make that sacrifice if my life was on the line.
And the fact that I even had to ask that question proved why our powers hadn’t combined yet. Everyone had gotten so much stronger once they shared magic with their partners, when they truly had each other body, mind, and soul.
And while Rafe and I had a deep and intense attraction, how much of that was wrapped up in the forbidden aspect of it all? Sure, the residents were fine with us working together to save their asses, but once that was all said and done, how would they feel about me and Rafe as a couple? How receptive would they be to seeing us around town together?
Our current situation was intense. And with our magic pushing us together, how much of this could we say was just us? How much of Rafe did I truly have?
I believed he’d been in love with me while I was engaged to Kyle, and I was certain he believed the same about me. At that time, it was circumstances and our childhood insecurities that kept us apart, but what if we were just latching on now because of fate? Or getting together because we wanted a piece of the “what if”? Because it was something both of us wanted when we were young and never got the chance to have.
Now that we had it, though, where did that leave us as adults? Rafe claimed he still knew me, but there were days when I wasn’t even sure if I knew myself. And while my timing on questioning all of this couldn’t be worse, it was still something that festered at the back of my mind. Something that would certainly continue to chew away at me until I addressed it.
We’d done plenty of talking when we’d been locked up together, so much more than I thought we’d end up doing, but I couldn’t help but feel like there was more. Some hurdle we hadn’t yet overcome. And we weren’t the only ones who had a stake in us figuring it out.
I’d have to deal with that later, though. Right now, Rafe needed my full concentration and faith in him again. Brooke had patched the fishing boat and was ready for another. This time he pulled a ferry up from the water, large enough to hold a few hundred residents. Once again, Brooke chained it up and went to work.
One by one, Rafe and Brooke drained their energy down to nothing as they patched the remaining boats. Enough to hold every resident on the island. There would be no Leonardo DiCaprios hanging off the side off a frozen door that he clearly could’ve fit on here. We’d make damn sure there were lifeboats for everyone.
Of course, the curse could come back and fuck this up again. But I didn’t want to think about that. We weren’t in the icy north, it was summer, we could always patch the boats again. At least, that’s what I’d keep telling myself.
After Rafe, Brooke, Violet, and Donovan finished getting all the boats patched and tethered to the shore, we headed back to the cabins. I glanced at the rest of the descendants as that nagging feeling that we all needed to work together tapped at me again.
Repeatedly.
Trying to get my attention.
My heart rate kicked up as my magic squeezed my ribs. I couldn’t access it unless I brushed my hand against Rafe, but I could feel it. It guided me with the kind of intuition that wasn’t natural in regular humans.
Catching up to Kenna, I pulled her to the side, while still keeping pace with everyone. I asked her what she thought of the twelve of us using our magic together.
“I think you’re onto something.” She gave me a warm smile. “Trust those gut feelings, babe. Audrey says they mean something, and she knows more about magic than anyone I know. She actually believed in this stuff before the earthquake. I’ll see what she thinks.”
Kenna skipped ahead to get things moving with Audrey and Wes, and a warm glow spread through me. This felt good and right. Like we were finally on the verge of clicking that last piece into place.
If only we could keep the curse from destroying the rest of the island before we got there.
