Evernight Unleashed

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Ash

Before

Rowen was my forever.

The starlight danced across her face; her eyes bright as the magic flowed between us. I could barely keep up with the energy whirling within her, and that was saying something. The earth magic cascading along my skin sunk to my soul, and I held out my hands. The air blew through Rowen’s hair, the dark strands floating, as if flying. She was gorgeous, in her element, and not just within the magic.

This was who she was meant to be, and I was just grateful that she allowed me to be here. That I loved the woman in front of me with every ounce of my being.

“Are you ready?” Rowen asked, her voice soft.

“Always,” I whispered.

She opened her mouth, the magic sparking between us as we began the spell.

“As we walk from the past and into the future,

Know we are the observers and those who push through to the new season.

Bring forth new life, new hopes, and new choices,

Walk away from the past that haunts,

And towards the future that brings forth the goddess and light.

May we walk into the new season and life.

So mote it be.”

Warmth infused over the two of us, and I grinned, leaning down to press my lips against hers. She had sharp features, a strong jaw, and catlike eyes that were deep pools of gray that always pulled me in no matter what she was doing.

I leaned down, picked up her wrist, and pressed my lips to the Ravenwood symbol etched on her skin. She had gotten the tattoo before she had turned eighteen when her aunt hadn’t been looking.

I had just smiled and had gotten a similar one on my chest.

I wore the Ravenwood line on my body, though I wasn’t a Ravenwood. I was a Christopher—one of the three founding families of our little town in Pennsylvania.

Magic infused the area, and those who were its residents knew of witches, shifters, fae, and other magics. And it was the strength of our bonds as the coven that kept the secrets intact and kept us safe. Rowen was the last of her line now, the last Ravenwood witch. Though I knew she still grieved for her family, she was strength personified and was ready to protect her people, no matter what. And it was my job to protect her.

Rowen reached out and traced the Ravenwood marking, the symbol of our coven along my chest. “I do appreciate you doing this spell with me while you’re shirtless. It’s given me a wonderful focal point.”

I rolled my eyes and she leaned forward and kissed the pentagram on my forearm. I shook my head and kissed her again, pushing her backward. She let out a small laugh, and I bit her lip before sliding my fingers between her legs. She groaned, and I hiked up her skirt slightly so I could have better access. She was warm, wet, and all mine.

She gave me a sleepy and content smile, like a cat in cream. “Is it the magic that’s making you like this? Or something more?”

“You always make me like this, Rowen,” I groaned softly before I took her lips again, delving my fingers between her wet folds. She groaned, spreading her thighs for me, and I settled in between them, pressing kisses to her skin and then over the pentagram on her inner thigh that was just for me—no one else.

“I’m going to say that I’m glad that you used magic for this tattoo because I’d have to kill the person who did this for you.”

She slid her hands through my hair and moaned. “Possessive much?”

“I’m always possessive with you, Rowen. That’s the problem.”

I nestled between her thighs, slid her panties to the side fully, and licked. She arched against me, her thighs going around my shoulders as I began to kiss her intimately. I spread her folds, needing her, wanting her taste. The magic settled around us like fireflies buzzing in the air. She was air, and I was earth. She was our coven leader, and I was her servant, always.

I pulled her dress up higher, and she leaned forward to tug it over her head. She laid nearly naked now in the grass, the trees shielding us from others, the magic between us making sure this moment was private behind her ancestral home.

Her anchor, dandelion seeds blowing across her shoulders and body, moved in a wind tunnel around her skin, tickling my own as I continued to lap at her.

My anchor, a full redwood forest of ink, pulsated along my body. I had full-sleeve tattoos, the same forest up my back and down my thighs. With each passing month for the past year, another tree would spout, and my magic would grow stronger. It wasn’t unheard of for powerful witches, but it was surprising. Only I couldn’t care too much about that in this moment.

I continued to lap up her spicy scent, and when she came magic shook the air, and I sat up between her legs, needing her taste, needing her everything.

“Ash,” she whispered.

I leaned forward, slid my hands over those sinful curves of hers, and kissed her.

She hummed along me, her thighs now pressing against my hips. And when she magic-ed my pants away with just a quick spell under her breath, we laughed. So, I rolled to my back, let her straddle me, and let her take control. She was my priestess, after all, my everything. And then she met my gaze and slid over my length. I groaned, her wetness tight and hot around me. She rubbed against me, her hips rocking slightly as I gripped her sides and continued to move in and out of her. Her mouth parted, and I looked up at her and knew she was mine.

We may only be eighteen, young in the eyes of some, coven leaders in the eyes of others, but I didn’t care.

This was the woman that I would marry, the woman I would bond with.

The woman that would break the Christopher curse, no matter what the curse became. We knew what had happened to each of my family members with our curse, but we didn’t know mine yet. But I knew with Rowen at my side, we could survive anything. Any curse, any coming darkness that the prophecies told us about.

With Rowen at my side, we could be anyone and be anything.

She leaned down, her breasts in my face, so I sucked a rosy nipple into my mouth. “Ash,” she murmured.

“Come for me, come on me, Rowen. One more time.”

“Always. For you.”

And she came, her body blushing beautifully, and I slid my hands around the back of her neck, pulling her closer to me, as I filled her, both of us letting our magic wrap around one another. And then it clicked, a bond so old and perfect that I could barely breathe.

This was happiness. This was truth. My soul sung for her.

Rowen’s eyes widened as she looked down at me, and we grinned, the mating bond snapping into place between both of us as if it had always been there, waiting for this moment in time. This wasn’t the first time we had been together, but this was the first time it felt like this was our forever.

Tears slid down her cheeks, and I wiped them away, kissing her slowly as my soul wrapped around hers, and hers did the same to mine.

“It’s true. You’re mine.” I sat up, my body still shaking from release, my cock buried deep in her. I wrapped my arms around her. “I love you.”

“I love you so much, Ash. I can’t believe I’m this happy.”

She smiled wide, looking as if she had the whole world ahead of her, and she did. We did. Together. And so, I kissed her harder, the bond between us radiating with hope, a future, and love. I didn’t even sound like myself, but I fucking loved this.

We made love again, and then we dressed, thankfully Rowen magic-ing back my pants. And as our fingers tangled, I kissed the top of her head and led her home.

“I need to meet the triplets and Jaxton. I promised them we’d go over a few things. You okay?”

“Of course, I’m okay. I’ll see you soon?” She looked so innocent, as if scared everything was going to change. And hell, it would, but then again, I didn’t mind.

We would be starting college soon, but we would all be going together. Rowen and I would be going to the university right outside Ravenwood, making the drive for it was going to be difficult, but we had known what was going to happen when we had signed up for school. We needed classes, needed our degrees to begin our human lives, all the while connecting ourselves to the paranormal ones that lay in Ravenwood. Countless founding families had done it before us, and we would do it again.

Together.

I kissed her one more time, needing her, and then I left her standing on her porch, her air magic billowing her hair, her smile wide, her eyes knowing. She wore a dress of dark gray that flowed in the breeze, and she looked like my goddess. My witch.

And I loved her with every ounce of my being.

I rubbed my fist over the Ravenwood symbol over my chest, wondering why it burned slightly. Maybe we had used too much magic during our coupling and the spell itself. I shook my head and walked towards where the bears slumbered. I grinned, thinking of the bear triplets, and how Trace and I had a few plans later that day to surprise my sister. I shook my head and stumbled, confused as to where the dizziness had come from.

I scratched at my chest, wondering what the hell was going on. I opened my mouth and tried to scream, but nothing came out.

Instead, a numbness began to settle over me, beginning at my fingertips, slowly creeping up my skin, as if I could see the layering of something coming, something stretching me.

I tried to breathe, tried to do anything, but there was nothing. I sat on my knees, my hands digging into the dirt as I sucked in lungfuls of air, trying to catch my breath.

Something was wrong.

The pentagram on my forearm pulsed, as did the Ravenwood symbol on my chest. More trees bursts along my arms. It was intensifying, as if my magic was increasing, and yet I couldn’t feel anything. There was nothing.

I fell to the side, my hands over my chest as I shook, my mouth going dry, bile rising up my throat.

And then I knew…because there was nothing else.

There was no connection, no bond, no need for the warmth that I had left behind. No need for wondering what that warmth can be.

I scrambled up, the last vestiges of who I was left behind with each passing step. I made my way to the home I shared with Laurel and staggered upstairs, ignoring the shout from my little sister.

I met my gaze in the reflection of the mirror in my bathroom, at the blue eyes that had once been dark pools but now were shattered with gray and silver, and I knew.

The Christopher curse had taken something from me. Just like it was taking Laurel from us.

And yet, I couldn’t care.

After all, I had no soul.

I was no longer here. No longer anyone.

Some part of me screamed, begging for whoever looked in the mirror to stop it. To fight. To push against whatever was breaking and fight harder.

But there was nothing.

There could be nothing.

Trace, Laurel, and Jaxton stood in the doorway behind me, their eyes wide.

“What happened?” my little sister asked.

I let out a breath. “Nothing. Nothing’s happened. Go. Go make your decision between the two and leave me the fuck alone.”

I heard the words coming out of my mouth. They were cruel, callous. This wasn’t me.

Stop it. Fight for yourself. Don’t be a dick. Tell them. Tell them you’ve lost your soul. They need to know. They need to find a way to get it back. We can’t protect Ravenwood. We can’t protect Laurel. We cannot protect Rowen without our soul. Fight for that bond. Why are you not fighting?

I pushed away the little voice in my head, the screaming.

It didn’t matter. It couldn’t.

Others were shouting at me, but I pushed my way through them, using the force of my magic against my friends and family. They fell against the wall, their eyes wide as they pulled themselves up, reaching for me. But I flipped them off as if they were flies.

I didn’t need them. I didn’t need anybody.

Why couldn’t they see that? Why couldn’t they see I didn’t need the prophecy, or this town, or this coven?

I was the final remaining male witch of this town. I was the power.

I needed no one.

I stepped outside, intending to make my way to my car and to get out of the dregs of this town.

And Rowen stood there. Her chest heaved as if she had been running, and tears slid down her cheeks.

“Ash, what’s wrong? Why can’t I feel you? What happened to the bond?”

I tilted my head as I looked at her. Part of me screamed, and the other part of me knew I was crueler than I would ever be in my life.

But it needed to be like this.

Didn’t she understand? It needed to be like this.

“I’m leaving. Leaving this town, this coven. I intend to make something of myself. And I don’t need Ravenwood to make it happen.”

Others were shouting, as was the voice in my head, but once again I ignored it.

“Ash. You can’t be saying this.” She moved forward, but I stepped back out of her way, angling towards my vehicle.

“Goodbye. I mean, it was nice and all, but, as you can see, I’m going to do just fine without you and this town. Grow up, Rowen. Be the little witch you’re meant to be.”

She slapped me, her hand leaving a sting behind—the first moment of feeling I had had in the past hour. “You bastard. What is going on?”

“The curse,” my little sister called from behind me. “It’s the curse, Rowen.”

Rowen turned to Laurel and then back at me, her eyes wide and filling with tears. “No. Ash. Fight it. Fight for everything. We can do this. We can bring your soul back, I promise.”

I tilted my head and stared at her before I smiled. And it was a cruel smile, one I knew I would never use again because I couldn’t. Because that screaming voice in my head, though I was deafening it, would never let me do this again.

“Why would I fight? Who would I fight for? Oh, Rowen, you can’t be my soulmate. After all, how can you have a soulmate without a soul?”

And then I walked away from her as she fell to her knees and broke down, the others comforting her. But nobody came for me. And nobody would.

Because I was a Christopher, not a Ravenwood.

And I had to find my own path.

One without a curse, without a town, and without magic.

And yet the screaming part of myself, even through its silence, begged.

But I ignored it.

After all, it was the only way for me to live.

Even if I knew that this was only the beginning.