Enchanter

Chapter Twelve

"If we head up east, we might be able to set up camp for a while in the Hunterson Forest," Raven mentioned. "The Nightstar Grin is up there. Or we could travel further north and wind up at the Ash Fire pack. I know they have some pretty rare flowers over there. They might be willing to help if we explain our circumstance-"

"Raven, you know we cannot let anyone find out. The moment anyone outside the three of us finds out about Anton and myself, we will end up right back in that cinderblock prison. I refuse to go back there," Azalea stated.

"What even happened there, anyway?"

"We-"

"Can you both just shut up?" Anton snapped. Shoving his face back beneath a throw pillow on the couch, he tightened every muscle in his body, focusing on his breathing to ignore any thoughts of his mate.

"He's really hung up on Aaric, isn't he?" Raven frowned.

"The alpha's his mate," Azalea shrugged. "How could he not be feeling blue? I mean, you forced them to kiss one another. I saw it all, and the looks of betrayal on both their faces...I know it seemed smart in the moment, but now he's on withdrawal."

"Is that why it's been over a week since we've made plans to move but never did?" Raven sassed as she stared at Anton on the couch.

"Shut up," he groaned, flipping her off in the process. Throwing the pillow off his head, he huffed and sat up against the couch arm. "What am I supposed to be feeling? Should I not feel blue for missing my mate? He is my mate, for goodness sakes. I should be allowed to miss him."

Flopping back into the cushions, he whimpered, "I feel like a part of my soul has been ripped out, leaving me exposed with nothing to cover me. I feel like I am in the middle of a lake without a life vest and I am drowning. I feel like-"

"Shut up, Shakespeare, we get it," Azalea quipped. "I can feel your soul's in pain, but there's nothing we can do about it until we find the Bleeding Rosebud. The sooner we break apart, the sooner you can go out in search of your damn mate."

Jumping up from the couch and to the mirror, he snarled. "You think I'm being overly dramatic, don't you?"

"No shit," she stated.

"Don't you think I know that?" he snapped. Grabbing the dagger, he pulled it out of its case and held the tip against his heart. "How's this for dramatic?"

"Very," she nonchalantly stated. "You're not going to do anything."

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because if you do, then I will be stuck in here forever, and you would leave your mate in pain. It's not in you to hurt other people, Anton, so quit acting all high and mighty," she demanded.

"Sometimes, I wish I could just cut my hand open and slather my blood all over you." Before he could turn away, he felt a force command him to cut his hand open and squeeze the blood out.

"Anton, what are you doing?" Azalea quivered.

"I don't know," he whispered, mortified.

He stepped up to the mirror and wiped his bloody remains over her face on the mirror. Rather than touching the glass, he felt a hand. The two stared into one another's eyes, folding into one another as they broke through the barriers of the mirror. In went Anton, and out came Azalea. Though she had been out of the mirror for a few seconds, never before had she stepped foot on solid ground. She inhaled deeply, basking in the fresh air of the apartment. Finally, she could inhale something other than her own scent.

Scanning her hands back and forth, she turned toward the mirror to find Anton within the reflection. "What the hell?" she whispered, mortified.

"Get me out of here!" he demanded, banging his fists against the glass.

"I-I-I don't know how," Azalea panicked. "This has never happened before. But," she stood upright, rolled her shoulder's back, and smirked, "I am loving every second of it."

"Dammit, Azalea, I am trapped in your dimension. I am not the one who is serving time here," Anton snapped.

"Just...please," she pleaded. "One more minute. I haven't felt an air conditioner on my cheeks in ages. Damn, it's freaking cold," she shuddered.

"Master?" Raven questioned, tapping the mirror where his forehead was. She continuously glanced back and forth between him and Azalea. "What the- This is freaky."

"Yeah, no shit," he seethed. Constant moans and screams began to seep into the room, but he couldn't figure out where they were coming from.

As he was about to step through a door, exiting the tiny room, Azalea shouted, "Stop!" He snapped his head in her direction. "Without me there, there is no protecting spell. You enter through that door, and you will never be able to come back."

"Why do you have a protecting spell up?" he questioned. "You're already locked away, why stay that way?"

"To protect you," she stated. "The moment my sentence is over, I am no longer able to help you to separate from me. These mirrors keep me connected to you, and the longer I am apart from you, the weaker we will both become until we can no longer carry the weight of our own bodies. Is that what you want?"

"No...but," he gulped, looking back at the door where the knob began to jiggle.

"Use the banish elemental spell I taught you, with the Z-snap of the fingers," she instructed.

Quickly casting the spell, the knob no longer jiggled, and the screams and moans morphed into silence. The deafening roar of nothing was loud, but soon the soothing nature of still water entered his ear, calming him at once. It was no wonder she used the spell. He did not want to hear anything as well, nor did he want to risk finding out what was on the other side.

"Azalea, please," he pleaded. "I now understand why you want to leave, and I will get you out of here, but only if you help me out. I can't do anything in here."

"No more Aaric?" she questioned.

"No more Aaric. Please," he begged.

Walking back up to the mirror, she tapped her chin. "How did we change dimensions? Retrace your steps."

"He cut his hand open and touched you with it," Raven shrugged.

Staring down at her hand, she noticed a scar where Anton had cut himself. He, too, stared down at his hand to see the bleeding wound was healed and scarred over. "The dagger cuts through dimensions," she whispered. "Hold your hand out to me."

When the two touched one another's hands, they flew through their reflections, resulting with them each in their respected dimensions. Anton heaved a huge sigh of relief and hugged Raven, holding her tight. "Oh, thank heavens," he exhaled.

"Yeah, yeah," Azalea said with a roll of her eyes. Scanning her hands every which way, she sighed. All the power she once held was restored in Anton's dimension, disallowing her to use her powers to its fullest extents. There wasn't much she could do in her prison, but there was lot she longed to do. "Oh, the things I could kill out of here."

"Well, if we ever come across another revenant, we know what we're doing," Anton smirked. "Let's pack so you can use your powers again."