Chapter Fifty-Six
Catherine held Graham’s hand as he led her beneath the packhouse. She clutched him tighter as they approached the first set of guards blocking the entrance of the Blackmoore dungeon. They each took a key from their pocket and slid it into the thick door before placing a thumb on the fingerprint reader. The light turned green and the thick door creaked open an inch. The guards pushed it the rest of the way and stepped back.
Graham continued forward down the darkened hallway. Catherine heard the pattering of rodents and the constant drip that came from walls clogged with damp moss and plant roots. A second guard sat ahead of them, looking more relaxed than the first set. He stood up and pulled a set of keys from his belt. He unlocked the iron bar door and shoved it open. Graham didn’t break stride as he walked through this second door.
Catherine kept her gaze forward as they passed men and women the pack deemed unfit to be free on the ground above them. Several made comments or spit in their direction as they passed. She recognized one young man whose gaunt face tightened with anger and his blackened eyes narrowed on her.
She stepped closer to Graham as she realized the man in the cell was the very one who nearly killed her in the woods. Graham noticed her unease and growled low at the man who ducked his head and moved to the very back of his cell. A moment later, Graham’s advance halted. They both looked forward to see Chloe, Theo, Lucas and Jensen waiting for them in front of an open cell.
“What the hell is this? Chloe, shouldn’t you be preparing for your mind walk?” Graham asked.
“I am,” Chloe said.
Graham glanced around and then his eyes darkened in understanding. “No. Hell no. You are not going to lock me in a cell while you traipse around my mate’s mind. Have you lost it?”
“Grey, Chloe asked us to come down here to convince you…” Theo began.
“I want him with me,” Catherine interjected. Graham gripped her hand tighter.
Lucas shoved off the wall he’d been lounging on. He walked up to Catherine, grabbed her free arm and pulled her roughly, trying to break Graham’s grip on her. Graham’s eyes blackened completely. He snarled, showing all of his teeth before grabbing Lucas by the throat and pinning him against one of the cells.
“What the fuck?!” Graham bellowed.
Lucas merely smirked. “Thank you for proving our point.”
Graham scoffed and released his friend. “This is different and you know it.”
Lucas nodded. “It is. I’m your oldest friend. The people she’ll be fighting against are the scum of the earth. Your rage will be quadrupled.”
Again Graham scoffed before wrapping his arm protectively around Catherine’s middle.
“Graham, if you interrupt our session, it could cause more damage than you can imagine. You could alter her mind state and mine. You need to be contained,” Chloe reasoned.
“For fuck’s sake. Grey, get in the damned cell,” Jensen said, wiping his face in frustration.
“What are you even doing here?” Graham hissed.
Jensen walked up to Graham and got in his face. “Whether either of us like it or not, she’s my daughter. You are my son. The safety of both of you are my concern. Besides,” Jensen continued, crossing his arms over his chest. “We both know these two must obey your commands. They needed someone who wouldn’t bow to your words.”
“You asshole,” Graham growled.
“Get in the cell, Graham, and we can get this over with all the sooner,” Theo piped in.
“We don’t even know how I will react!” Graham yelled, not for the first time since Catherine made her decision. “Her memories may not trigger anything at all. Catherine, tell them, Baby. Tell them I won’t react to what you are about to go through.”
Everyone looked at her. Catherine glanced down at the floor. The night before Chloe told her to choose the four memories she would want to dredge up to make their case. The memories floated on the rim of her consciousness. She didn’t want to bring them fully into the light until it was necessary. Even the
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Chapter Fifty-Six
hint of remembrance, though, was enough to bring tears to her eyes. Graham’s warm hands cupped her face and brought it upward. She bit her lip and shook her head. His face fell.
“Graham, I’m sorry, they’re right,” she whispered.
Graham’s eyes darkened again at what her words meant. His hands tightened around her face and he looked upward. Then his eyes met hers again.
“Theo and Lucas, you will go with Catherine. You will report everything to me in real time. Understood?” Graham said, not taking his eyes away from her face.
“Sure thing,” Lucas responded.
Graham sighed and dipped his head to place a delicate kiss on Catherine’s lips. “I will be there the second after you wake up.”
“I’ll be waiting,” she whispered back.
Reluctantly, Graham released her and walked into the open cell. Jensen closed it and locked it before depositing the key in his jacket pocket.
“Go, I’ll keep my eye on him,” Jensen promised.
Lucas wrapped his arm around Catherine’s shoulder. Graham placed his hands on the bars and watched until they made it through the first iron gate.
The ride back to the house was silent. Chloe kept her eyes closed, mentally preparing herself. Theo drove while Lucas sat in the backseat with Catherine. Theo and Lucas chuckled. Theo looked back at Lucas through the rearview mirror.
“What?” Catherine asked.
“Nothing,” they both answered together.
Lucas chuckled again. “Your mate is already asking for an update on you.”
“It’s going to be a long morning,” Theo agreed.
“How would you feel?” Chloe asked. She opened her eyes and glanced at Theo. “If it were Natalie?” Theo’s lips thinned and his eyes narrowed as he looked out the front window. “That’s what I thought. Cut him some slack.”
They arrived at the house and the four of them stepped out. Inside, the house was covered in candles. One snap of Chloe’s finger and they all lit at once. Catherine’s mouth dropped at the beautiful lighting surrounding her.
Chloe walked ahead of her into the living room and sat on a circular rug. She crossed her legs and readjusted the copper bowl of water before her. She placed her hands on her knees and looked up.
“It’s time, Catherine,” Chloe stated, her face calm and ready.
Catherine sat down and took a deep breath. “What’s going to happen?”
“I will need you to bring the memories forward that you want me to see. I’m going to put you into a magical state of sleep. I will finish casting the spell and you will experience your memories as if it is for the first time. If at any point I feel you slipping away, I will ring this bell,” she said, pointing toward a gong-like bell to her left, “and you will be pulled from the memories. If nothing bad happens, though, you will move from one memory to another seamlessly, again without any knowledge of what is happening. Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Catherine sighed.
“Good,” Chloe looked up and nodded. Catherine turned to see Lucas and Theo watching from the couch.
“We’re here, Cat,” Lucas reassured her.
“We won’t go anywhere until it’s over,” Theo agreed.
“And they won’t see them?” Catherine asked, her heart already starting to pump faster.
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“Only I will see them, Catherine,” Chloe said.
“Okay… I’m ready,” Catherine whispered.
“Place your hands on your knees, palm up,” Chloe said.
Chloe dipped two fingers into the water. She ran those same fingers from her right temple to her left while muttering several phrases. She dipped her fingers again and ran them from the top of her head, down her nose and to her chin. She opened her eyes and nodded at Catherine.
“It’s time to remember,” Chloe told her.
Catherine closed her eyes and let the memories pass the gates keeping them back. Her breathing hitched as they swirled around her. She felt water touching her forehead. It dripped along her nose and down her neck. Chloe continued to mutter. The memories swam around her, spinning faster and faster. Her heart rate quickened until she felt a palm flatten over it. She felt a thumb press against the center of her forehead. The memories spun until one came into focus and then everything went quiet.
#
Catherine opened her eyes. The room around her was dark. In the distance she could still make out Chloe’s muttering. A spark of light ignited in front of her. Catherine squinted as the singular light stretched and pulled. The light turned into a soft pink. It flowed outward, eventually merging into singular strands of stringed lights wrapping around each other. It twirled around Catherine and then back to the original source. The light lit up the room around her and she realized the light was coming from Chloe herself. It cast her silhouette into a heavenly hue.
Catherine looked toward the couch and realized Lucas and Theo were still there with the same strands of light flowing out from them. Theo’s was a magenta while Lucas’ was a deep green. They stretched away and disappeared through the windows, under doors, through cracks in the walls.
Strands appeared all around her, flowing in through the windows, gliding beneath her feet. They pulsed and vibrated as though they were living creatures. Catherine stood slowly and reached out to the brightest string of light: that of a glittering gold. She touched the light and a dusting of light flew upward from it while a jolt of electricity shot up through her stomach. Catherine inhaled the sweet spice of clove.
Catherine… Graham’s soothing voice reached her.
She looked closer at the golden light and realized it was coming from herself. She touched the light again and felt the all encompassing peace that comes from being in her mate’s arms. She opened her eyes.
Catherine suddenly realized the lights represented their tethers: strings of energy that connected everyone together. She glanced around, seeing the strands of light as they were. The tether of their souls, their own traces of energy. Her connection with Graham was already woven through her own and they hadn’t even marked each other yet. Catherine walked toward the back door and opened it. She gasped at the sight before her: tethers of light streaming through the roots of trees, the grass, the rabbit skittering into the forest.
Catherine, Chloe’s voice echoed overhead. You need to clear your mind. You need to focus. Remember what happened to you. Remember Curtis.
Catherine shrieked as her body was pulled backwards into the house. The door slammed, Chloe’s mantra grew louder. Catherine covered her ears. The world around her vibrated and shook. Theo and Lucas’ glasses crashed to the floor and shattered. Books fell to the ground.
“Please, stop!” Catherine shouted. “Please, don’t do this!”
