Rory

Exhaustion swept over me. I plopped down on the couch as Silas sat on my right and Dante was on my left. All the memories I had lost had crashed into me at once. I wasn't the only one. Silas was experiencing the same feeling. We dragged Dante along for the ride.

"Why do I feel like I've been on a bender?" Dante asked.

"Essentially, you have," a voice said.

We looked at the front doorway as Christian stood there.

"When did you get back?" Erik asked.

"A few minutes ago. I was driving when memories crashed into me at once."

"The same thing happened to us."

"That doesn't surprise me from what I discovered." Christian entered the room, walked toward us, and studied us.

I lay my head on Silas's shoulder. I wanted to snuggle up with him and Dante and take a long ass nap.

"When did Rory change?" Christian asked.

"Yesterday," Erik said. "What did you find out?"

"I met with the great-great-granddaughter of an original witch."

We all looked at Christian.

"Sybil cloaked herself from anyone finding her. She will remain cloaked."

"What did she say?"

Christian pulled a book from his satchel and held it up. "Information pertaining to the original witches and Tempus are kept in this book."

Erik took the book from him and opened it. "It looks like a diary."

"Journal. The original witches documented information about Tempus and a spell that would destroy it. It will lift a Tempus curse."

"But I still remain a vampire," Dante huffed.

"Unfortunately. You completed the transformation when you fed."

"What about Rory? A Tempus vampire mated with a Dreamweaver," Silas said.

"Once the curse lifts, Rory will remain as he is since your birth lifted the curse of the Dreamweaver world."

"Good to know Silas saved me from dying." I shrugged.

Everyone looked at me.

"What? Do you know what it's like not to understand anything about what's happening to you? Then you have all these memories crash into you." My eyes blazed a bright blue, as did Silas and Dante's.

"What's up with their eyes?" Martin asked.

"Did Silas mark and mate with Rory?" Christian asked.

"Yeah. Silas's wolf pushed through," Erik said.

"That would explain why their eyes blazed the same color. It's the bond. What Rory feels, so do Silas and Dante. The same will happen to Silas and Dante since they're mates."

"What else should we know?"

Christian dragged a chair to us and sat down as the others gathered around us. "What did Abigail do to you?"

"Abby disciplined me," I said.

"No, what did she feed you?"

"A mixture of human food and blood. But it tasted weird." I shrugged and shook my head.

"What else?"

"She got angry when I cut my hair. I was perfect the way I was, but kids at school would taunt me and call me a freak. I didn't have the strength to fight them."

The more I talked about my past, the more tired I grew. I closed my eyes and passed out.

********
Christian

Memories surfaced and crashed into me like a tidal wave on my way home. I lost control of the car and crashed. After my wolf healed me, I shifted, grabbed my stuff, and ran home. Chaos erupted through my body, which meant the others must have received their memories.

Once I got close to home, I shifted, dressed, and called Glinda. After explaining what I had discovered, she agreed to meet me at my house.

After entering and seeing the exhaustion on Erik, Ana, Silas, Rory, and Dante, I gathered their memories returned, too. Once I spoke to the others, I waited for Glinda to arrive. Thirty minutes later, she entered and joined us in the kitchen while Silas and his mates slept on the couch.

"Would you care for some tea?" I asked Glinda.

"Please." Glinda spotted Ana and embraced her in a hug. "You look exhausted."

"Our memories returned," Ana said.

"Christian told me."

I filled a kettled and placed it on the stove until it boiled.

"You're quite the interesting man, Christian. No one has been able to locate the lineage of an original witch. How did you manage?"

The hair on the back of my neck hackled. "I have my ways."

Glinda glanced at Silas and his mates. "Interesting."

I could sense the pack getting ready to shift.

"So, what did you discover?"

Erik took a step toward Glinda, but she pinned him in his spot.

"There's no need for that. I'm a friend."

Growls erupted around us.

Glinda held up her hand and closed it to silence the growls. "It would be wise if you control yourself."

The kettled squealed as a blast of light exploded through the room, knocking us to the floor. I opened my eyes and shook my head as Glinda pinned her imposter against the wall.

"Let me go!" The imposter struggled against Glinda's hold.

"You're not very bright, Abigail. Of course, you never were," Glinda said.

We got to our feet while Silas and his mates slept.

"You will pay for this," Abigail said through gritted teeth.

"You Tempus witches think you have all the answers, but you don't. Your greed for power will be the end of you." Glinda chanted until Abigail disappeared.

"Where did she go?" Martin asked.

"I sent Abigail away for the time being. She will be back with a vengeance," Glinda said.

"Great."

Glinda turned to Silas and his mates. With a snap of her fingers, they awoke and stretched.

"Nothing like taking a siesta," Dante groaned.

"It doesn't help when a witch gives you knockout drops," Glinda said.

"What?" Silas asked. "How is that possible?"

"A witch can perform a spell miles away. Abigail made you incapacitated, so you couldn't stop her from obtaining her goal."

"What's that?"

Glinda pointed at Rory. "Him."

Silas jumped to his feet as his wolf surged forward. "No one will take my mate."

"Not unless they stop you. Since Rory and Dante are Tempus creatures, Abigail can control them because of the dark magic."

"How do we stop Abigail?" Ana asked.

"You will need to destroy Tempus."

"How do we do that?" Erik asked.

Glinda picked the journal off the floor, placed it on the counter, and opened it. "The Moon Goddess gave the original witches ultimate power to maintain a balance between the species. It would prevent wars from breaking out between us. They created an entity and locked it away. But as a witch, we understand how powerful and dangerous black magic is, so we created a counter spell."

"Sybil gave me the counter spell to Tempus," I said.

"Ah, yes. I quite like Sybil. She understood our way."

"Wait. You met a lineage of the original witches?" Ana asked.

"Yes, I have when I discovered I was pregnant with you. She gave me the cloaking spell for you so no one would discover you. Then she blessed you."

"What?"

"The other covens deemed you a threat. I didn't understand it myself until your witch emerged with unyielding power. A luna witch is powerful in their own right. They possess unyielding powers in both passive and active powers. It made sense since you're half-werewolf. The moon controls wolves since they automatically shift during a full moon."

"Why didn't you tell me? You let me believe I was going to die!" Ana's aura pushed through and radiated anger.

Erik tensed as hair sprouted in his arms.

"Mom," Silas said.

Ana snapped her head to Silas.

"Calm down." Silas's calming aura pushed against Ana's.

Dante and Rory's eyes flickered from blue to brown. I observed Silas as all three parts worked together. He yielded unfathomable power. If Sybil blessed Ana, she blessed Silas.

Ana's aura retracted as she relaxed. "Sorry, baby. But I had lived in fear of people trying to kill me."

Silas wrapped his arms around Ana. "It's okay."

"Okay, this is great, and all, but I'm trying not to die," Rory said.

"You won't die," Silas said.

"Oh? Because I have a bloodlust father and a crazy guardian playing tug of war with me."

Silas released Ana and engulfed Rory with his arms.

Rory buried his face into Silas. "I don't want to die, Silas."

"I promise you won't die."

My eyes narrowed as my brows pinched together.

"Does anyone else feel that?" Martin asked.

"I do," Madison said.

"Is that fear?" April asked.

"Yes," Erik whispered.

We looked at Rory, trembling in Silas's arms. Dante wrapped his arms around Rory from behind.

"No one is going to die if I have my way," Ana spoke in an authoritative tone before she walked away.