Page 77 of His Rejected Fated Mate

Riley pulled me back inside, taking me into his office. Riley shut the door as I sat down on the chair. I stared at my hands. There was blood on them.

“I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but…”

I snapped my head up to Riley, who looked like he hadn’t slept. He pinched at his eyes. “Ivan just called me. You lost two members an hour ago. A fight broke out, and they couldn’t get it under control.”

I couldn’t even look at him now. I shook my head. “I shouldn’t be here.”

“This is all part of being a leader.”

“I’m not a leader,” I snapped. “Troy is! You are! I’m not.”

Riley shook his head. “You’re a leader, Elize. You just haven’t hit a bump like this yet.”

“Well, this is a shitty bump, Riley.”

He nodded. “I agree, but I know we can figure this out. Troy needs us too.”

I looked away when my eyes fell on the leader book I’d been clutching in the basement. I’d almost forgotten about it. Janella and I tried to open it, but it was locked with a code we didn’t know. I thought of my mother’s words. You need to be strong today. I couldn’t just throw my arms up and cry.

I looked back at Riley. “Do you mind if I use this room? I think I need to hunker down and get through all of the books I have and that diary.”

His eyebrows went up. “I thought you said you couldn’t open it.”

“I can’t, but I’m not going to stop trying. The answer has to be in it somewhere.”

I called up Janella, and over the next couple of days, we stayed in Riley’s office and went through all the books my mother had given me. I tried to open the journal several times, not getting into it. I even tried to just pry the thing open. I tried spells and tried to heat the metal, thinking we could melt it. Nothing worked.

I read until I fell asleep on the small couch that Riley had in there. Janella stayed late before she went home to sleep.

I couldn’t stomach going home either way. I didn’t want to go into the house where we held memories.

I chewed on my cheek as I leaned forward in the chair onto the desk. There were cups scattered around me. Janella was sitting on the couch, the journal in her hands as she turned it over and over.

“Have you just tried to put numbers in? Guess the answer?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know if there is a spell to do anything if you fail too many times.”

She grunted and threw it onto the table. “My eyes are burning.” She rubbed at them. “We’ve scanned these all twice, Elize. I’m not seeing anything that we didn’t already know.”

I frowned. “It just doesn’t make sense. How is it we have all this knowledge?” I waved a hand around the space. “And still can’t find a solution to anything?”

I paused and remembered her pack. “How did you heal yours?”

Janella’s eyebrows went up. “Well, I had gone to the cauldron, and the dark magic was attached to me. Riley and I agreed not to touch each other because I knew it could attach to him. But Riley became unstable, and it attached to him anyway.”

I watched the way her eyes glazed over in fear. “I thought for sure that I was going to lose him.”

“How did he come back? How did you save everyone?”

“We touched, and Riley fought to save himself.” She offered a sad smile. “I know it’s not the answer you’re looking for, but it’s just that simple. It happened.”

I scowled. “Maybe I just need to let it attach me to me.”

She shook her head. “I wouldn’t recommend it, nor do I think that was really a part of the answer. I think Riley had to fight to come back to me.”

I frowned. “Do you think Troy’s not fighting hard enough?”

Janella shook her head. “God no, that’s not what I’m saying. If anything… I think it might be harder this time. It’s obvious that the magic is only growing worse. You’ve lost members, whereas we hadn’t. Your healing ability has stopped working.”