"It's so much darker when
a light goes out than it
would have been if it
had never shone."

~~John Steinbeck
- 'The Winter of Our Discontent'

****************

~NOVA~

Hatter hadn't said anything else after saying he would keep chasing me every time I ran. Then again neither had I, because what could I say to that? Telling him not to most likely wouldn't work and, if I was completely honest with myself, I didn't really want him to stop. 

"So… that's your mom, huh?" Hatter's tentative attempt at easing into the subject broke through the silence of the room, momentarily distracting me from the argument in the other room.

"Yep, that's my mom," I sighed dejectedly. "Real winner, isn't she?"

When he didn't immediately reply, I risked a glance at him. He had a thoughtful look on his face as he nibbled absentmindedly on his lower lip and stared off into space. After a moment, he gave a lazy shrug and a half smile as his amber eyes met mine.

"Could be worse, I mean, she hasn't tried to kill you, right?" His tone was joking but I saw the hint of pain in the amber depths. 

Michael's story played in my head of Hatter's pack ripping him to shreds and leaving him to die. It had happened at the order of his father who had been the Alpha, and presumably still was. I grimaced, feeling suddenly ashamed of being so upset with my mother, and even Dominic, for the way they had failed so badly. 

"Relax, little Tink, I was teasing," he admonished lightly while bumping my shoulder with his. "You carry too much on your shoulders all the time."

I gave him a flat look. "And you don't?"

Hatter shrugged again but looked away. "I don't carry anything that isn't my fault and only things that I regret, there's a difference."

A sudden explosion from the front of the house had the two of us out of the room in seconds, all thoughts of our conversation completely pushed to the back of our minds. My first thought as I made it back into the living room was to look for Nevada. Seeing her small frame mostly hidden behind August's back sent a wave of relief coursing through me.

"What the hell was that?" Hatter asked August without preamble. 

"Listen, Robbie," August instructed, his voice pitched low as he slowly turned his head. 

Hatter stood perfectly still, his posture matching August's as he, too, listened to something imperceptible to the rest of us. I looked over at my mother and noticed she was trembling slightly as she hugged herself. Her eyes were trained on the window as if watching for something or someone. Or was she waiting?

The sound of glass breaking dissolved the silence of the room, Nevada letting out a small yelp of surprise when it did. I heard a light thud as something hit the floor and bounced a few times before I spotted a rock on the floor a foot away. Bending down, I picked it up and found a piece of paper tied to it with cheap twine. Ripping it away, I read it aloud.

"Little pig, little pig, let me in…"

"I smell fae," Hatter growled quietly and looked at August, "along with shifter and human."

August nodded his agreement as he looked at my mother. "Who is it Edith?"

She didn't get the chance to answer before more glass shattered. Bright orbs of fire and electricity sparked through the room, and I could hear the snarls and howls of wolves somewhere beyond the walls of the cottage. The curtains instantly caught fire, the flames licking up the sides of the windows and consuming the wallpaper as if it were soaked in gasoline. 

Within seconds the living room was filled with smoke and was quickly growing near impossible to breathe. August led the way, Nevada cradled in his arms as he headed towards the kitchen and the back of the cottage. 

"You all go on ahead," Ashira called out over the crackle of flames and the groaning of the house. "Get somewhere safe and I'll deal with this."

"No, you can't stay here, Ash!" Alana protested as our group gathered near the back door. "It's too dangerous!"

Ashira shook her head, "I'll be fine, Lana, don't worry."

"You can't fight this magick alone!" Alana argued, taking a step closer to her friend.

I looked down at Nevada, who stood beside me after August had set her back in her feet. "You need to get out of here. Now."

"I'm not leaving you, Nova," she replied, stubbornly jutting out her chin before gesturing towards Dominic and Alana, "and I'm not leaving them either. I just got them back."

"I'll be right behind you," I told Nevada with a glance at my mother who I noticed was gradually inching her way towards the door. I looked up at August. "Take her and go."

He didn't argue or hesitate to follow my demand as he scooped her back into his arms. She was struggling in his arms but to no avail when he looked down at her with a smirk. "Take a deep breath, Princess."

A look of confusion washed over her face but I watched as she complied nonetheless just as they disappeared in the blink of an eye. I turned back to my mother and threw her a glare.

"Where are you going? You brought this bullshit here," I snapped.

"We all need to leave," she replied anxiously. "I've been telling you that since I got here and you have refused to heed my warning!"

There was no time to debate semantics with her because the entire house was being quickly engulfed, the rooms filled with smoke. The sounds of the windows breaking could be heard all over the house and I was unsure if it was from the fire or whoever was outside. Hatter was right by my side and had been since the stone had come through.

Alana was coughing and her face was red from the struggle to breathe but she was determined to get Ashira to flee with us.

"Please, Ash! This is insanity and you know it!" Alana cried between coughs. "Dominic, tell her she's being stupid!"

"Ash, you know she's right. This fire is spelled otherwise the storm outside would have put it out by now," Dominic tried but Ashira shook her head again.

"Dominic, she needs to leave or she will die," Ashira replied looking at Alana before kissing her forehead. "I'll see you soon."

With a nod to Dominic she turned back towards the kitchen.

"No! Dominic, put me down!" Alana cried as he tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Please, please, no!"

I could hear her pleas as Dominic fled the house with her and disappeared into the heavy rain. With only mild hesitation, I followed after Ashira hoping that I could get her to leave.

"Miss Ashira, come on. The cottage is gone," I called out, my voice muffled by the collar of my shirt that I had pulled over my face. "We need to leave before this place collapses!"

The house groaned from the intense heat that I could feel coming from the living room where the initial flames had begun. I was beginning to grow light headed from too much smoke and not enough oxygen but I didn't give up even between bouts of coughing.

"I can't leave my home, Nova," Ashira said to me with her eyes closed and her hands raised in front of her as if in prayer. "I have been here for longer than you can possibly imagine. Never before have I backed down from a fight and I damn sure am not going to start now."

A bout of coughing brought me to my knees as I gagged, my lungs burned and my vision grew hazy. I knew I should leave before I died from smoke inhalation or caught myself on fire, but I couldn't leave her. Ashira had been so good to us since our impromptu arrival and she was the reason that my baby sister was alive. If something happened to Ashira, I would never forgive myself, especially after it had been my mother that had brought this upon us.

Struggling to my feet, my eyes watering as the heat from the blaze in the next room caused my eyes to dry out, I reached my arm towards her. Unexpectedly, Ashira whirled on me, her pale eyes ignited with power I had never felt before and her mocha skin coated in a thin sheen of magick.

"Nova Dumont, you hold no place in this danger and no command over me, for this is my home until my last breath," Ashira said, her voice strong over the roar of the flames, an ethereal quality taking over her words. "Begone child! Save yourself and help your sister end the madness that is coming our way!"

Ashira flung her hand out and invisible hands shoving hard into my chest, sending me backwards. The back of my head hit the wall with a loud smack, and stars danced in my vision.

"Don't do this, Ashira! We need you!" I yelled despite the fact I could barely breathe and I felt like I could pass out at any moment. 

"Come on, Nova, it's time to go!" Hatter yelled in my ear as he pulled me unsteadily to my feet.

"No!" I yelled back but was cut off by a coughing fit that left me disoriented and I sagged against him.

The heat of the flames was growing more and more intense, my skin blistering even though it was several feet away from us. My strength was quickly fading as my lungs burned for oxygen, smoke filling them instead. Unable to fight any longer, Hatter forced me out of the house and into the storm.

The rain was still falling heavily, the cold drops soothing on my fevered flesh and the fresh air providing much needed oxygen to my suffering body. Still coughing but feeling better already, I let Hatter lead me away from the house as flames licked up the side, almost now totally engulfed.

"Wait, where's my mom?" I asked, looking around.

Surely she had left the house when I had been trying to get Ashira to come with us. I could see August, Nevada, Dominic and Alana in the distance as they ran towards the edge of the woods, their figures distorted by the torrential rain. However, my mother wasn't with them. 

Despite my anger, she was still my mother and I didn't want her to actually die. Fear began to grow tight in my chest as I frantically looked around, my head still spinning from the hit it took and the lost oxygen. Shouts could be heard from the front of the house but I saw no one coming for us, not yet. 

A flash of lightning illuminated the grounds as we fled Ashira's cottage, and I glimpsed a small figure running towards the woods but not towards the rest of our group. Her blonde hair was flying in ropes behind her thanks to the relentless storm. I had barely begun to make my way towards her when I felt my back being shoved into a tree at the edge of the yard.

Why does everyone keep pushing me around?!, I thought in irritation. 

Hatter pressed his chest against mine, our bodies aligned perfectly like puzzle pieces,  and his arms caged on either side of my head. My breath caught in my throat as I looked up at him, drops of rain sliding down his face from his dark saturated locks. His amber eyes held mine as if in a trance, my mind getting lost momentarily in the sweet honey pools. Realizing where my mind was going, I shoved at his chest to get him off of me but it was like shoving a brick wall.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I scowled. "Now is not the time for this, Robbie. Let me go, I have to go after her!"

"No, you don't," he said with a shake of his head. "We need to stick together and she has done nothing but cause you pain. Look what she has brought with her this time."

I glanced over his shoulder and saw that Ashira's house was completely in flames, nothing left untouched any longer. There was no way she could make it out of there alive. Alana would be devastated, they had been close that much I knew. One more blow to a family it no longer seemed possible for me to ever have. My eyes burn with unshed tears that I fought to blink away, but I knew he could see them.

"Then, I definitely need to go after her," I replied, trying to keep my voice strong but I could hear it shake. "Someone needs to find out why she did this."

Hatter's eyes softened as he looked at me for a long moment, his fingers grazing lightly across my blistered face.

"You don't have to do this alone," he whispered as he tilted his head towards mine.

The world was falling apart around us and people were going to die tonight, I could feel it but who was still left undetermined. Yet there I stood, everything stopping for the few seconds his lips met mine. It was a simple kiss, yet so many unspoken words filled it. That kiss was the most sensual and erotic thing I had ever experienced, and I wanted to hold onto it forever. It ended all too soon, and I looked up at him in wonder, unable to form words.

"You're not going to go through this alone, Nova," he repeated, his eyes searching mine, "not any more."

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A/N: I'm trying something new with slightly shorter chapters than book #1.

Is it okay? I hope you still enjoy the story.

Thanks for reading!❣

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XOXO🖤❤🖤❤

~SM~