Cast A Spell (Mages and Mates #4)

24. Thal

Thal

T he library beneath Gio and Percy’s house was astounding. Until Gio suggested Lysandor and I search for answers in the library in the basement, I didn’t know the house had either.

Following him down a dimly lit staircase, I paused at the bottom, only to realize it was just the first flight. We weren’t headed for a musty, low ceiling cellar dug out to give the owners more storage. This was a vast complex created by Percy to be more than just a library.

We switched back twice before we reached the floor. I didn’t explore the entire space, but Gio’s comments indicated there was at least one more level below us. Even with magic, this must’ve been an enormous undertaking to build.

Standing by an old oak table and chairs, I surveyed our surroundings. The vastness of the place overwhelmed me. A being could spend their entire life and not read every book in the library. The job of finding answers in this ocean of knowledge felt daunting.

“Fear not, nephew,” Gio said. I stopped scanning the area and looked at him. “Our task isn’t to solve every mystery. We’re searching for ways to enhance the effects of a mate bond.”

That didn’t feel any easier. It wasn’t like we had an endless amount of time. “There must be a million books here. How are we going to find that in a day?”

“Nine hundred thousand, give or take,” he said with a smirk. “The books we need, however, are all in one section. There are less than a hundred to look through. I think those numbers are a bit more palatable.”

Better but not good. It was still a lot of reading for three beings. I looked at my brother and he appeared overwhelmed.

“You OK?” I put a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah. Sure.”

Lysandor gave me the fake smile I taught him when he was a tween. We’d both been through a lot this last week, but he and Owen seemed less able to adapt. “Nice try, but you’re not doing it right. Your lips are too tight.”

He laughed and I pointed my finger at him. “That’s more like it.”

“How can you be so calm? Owen and I are a mess, but you and Otto don’t look concerned. It’s like you have ice in your veins.”

We didn’t and we were concerned. Otto had a long talk with his father and Sally Pederson. He didn’t abandon the mission nor threaten to, but he expressed bluntly his displeasure. They hadn’t taken the rebuke well, so he reminded them he was the presumptive Southern Guardian. The heated conversation cooled noticeably.

“As a future alpha, Dad taught me to stay calm in pressure situations. Otto is also good at not panicking in a crisis. As mates, our emotions reinforce each other.” I raised an eyebrow and smirked. “That and we’re older and wiser.”

“Figures,” Lysandor said with a scowl. “You had to throw in the age card, didn’t you?”

“Age does have its advantages,” Gio said.

I hadn’t realized he’d left, but he stood at the head of the table with an armful of books. He set them down and pointed to seats on either side.

“One thing that comes with age is knowledge,” he said, handing us each a book from his stack. “Sadly, forgetting things also comes with the passage of time. I’m reasonably sure the information we seek is in one of these books.”

The dusty volumes had the musty scent of ancient tomes. Or maybe it was the entire library. I ran my hand over the thick, leather bound book. It had the appearance of a learned treatise bursting with knowledge.

“What exactly are we searching for?” I asked.

“The process for connecting two mates at their cores,” Gio said. “Percy found it centuries ago, but he and I never used it. We never needed it, until now.”

Armed with this new information, we began our search.

I sighed, closing my book with a soft thud. “It isn’t in this one.”

The others looked up. We’d been at it for hours and worked our way through half of Gio’s stack. I realized it was wishful thinking we’d find it immediately, but it would have been nice if we’d found the information without having to read them all. The way we were going, what we wanted would be in the last book.

“No.” Lysandor looked up, his eyes weary but still determined. “Can we take a break? I’m hungry.”

“By all means,” Gio said. “I’ll go upstairs and bring down lunch.”

He left before either of us could say we wanted to get out of the dungeon of books. I grabbed another tome and looked at the cover. I opened it and scanned the front page. An idea hit me when I saw one name. “Were any of the books you read written by beings who've experienced a true mate bond?"

Lysandor glance down at his book and flipped it back to the cover. “The one before this, but it was written by a human and his wolf shifter mate. It focused more on the pitfalls of watching your human lover grow old while you stay young. Why?”

I ignored the question and set my book aside. A quick search of the remaining eight volumes turned up three written by bonded mates. Giving one to Lysandor, I set a second one in front of Gio’s chair, and cracked open the third one.

Gio returned with a tray of sandwiches and plates. I quickly explained our theory and he agreed it was as good a choice as any. He left the food on the table and promised to return with cups and water.

My book had been written by Faelan and Lioraa, a pair of faun shifters. The husband and wife were leaders of their pack during a period of war with werewolves. I skimmed the first three chapters, which talked about where they met and how they knew they were mates. Interesting as those bits were, I didn’t have time for their autobiography.

Turning the page, I was two sentences into chapter four when I knew I’d found the book. “I think this is it,” I said.

Lysandor came around to my side of the table and pulled a chair closer so we could read together. I gave him a second to read what I had before I turned the page.

Faelan was tired of the fighting and challenged the alpha of the werewolves to a fight. Loser had to move his pack at least a hundred miles away and swear an oath never to return.

Everyone assumed Faelan and Lioraa made a bad pact. Werewolves were much stronger than faun. Lioraa knew their bond made them stronger than other faun, so she sought a way to maximize the enhancement their bond produced.

“That’s it, Thal!” Lysandor clapped me on the back. “You found it!”

“Did you?” Gio asked as he returned from the kitchen. “How marvelous.”

I read the passages out loud and Gio confirmed we had the right book. Pushing down the urge to find Otto and try the process, I set the book down and reached for a sandwich. “Let’s study this before we call the others.”

“A wise decision,” Gio said. He grabbed the pitcher and poured three cups. “When we’re ready, we can summon the others.”

We took turns reading the relevant passages and discussing how to do what Faelan and Lioraa had. By the time we finished eating, we’d practiced tapping into the earth magic surrounding our mate bonds and felt ready to try with our mates.

“Otto? Can you, Percy, and Owen come down,” I asked, doing my best to curb my excitement.

“Did you find the answer?”

Otto sounded calm, but I felt his anticipation through our bond. During the morning, I’d felt flashes of his frustration. I didn’t ask, but I assumed things were not going well with the mages. “We think so, but we need to try it before we’ll know for sure.”

“Give us a few minutes. We need to disengage from our work.”

I didn’t know what that entailed, but I assumed failure to end it properly would be bad. After giving them Otto’s answer, we finished our lunch and cleared the table.

Lysandor and I were reviewing the process again when the others arrived. None of the mages looked happy, but I didn’t press Otto for answers. There’d be time for that later.

“I understand you’ve had more success than we have,” Percy said with a thin smile.

I raised my eyebrow, but Otto shook me off. “Let’s celebrate your success first.”

“How does this work?” Owen asked.

“A moment, nephew,” Percy said, his nose already stuck in the book.

The older mage read the pages, then passed the book to Otto. He invited his brother to read alongside him, and we watch the pair slowly turn the pages. When they looked up, I felt confidence radiate from Otto.

“Are we good?” I asked.

“I think so,” Otto said. His brother and Percy nodded. “Who should try first?”

Percy smiled, a hint of mischief in his eyes. “I suggest you and Thal. Your bond is well developed and Gio and I can guide you if you hit a snag.”

The protest from Lysandor and Owen never happened. I glanced at Lysandor and he shrugged. “You two can handle failure better than me and Owen. It makes sense to let you two do it first so we can learn from any mistakes you make.”

I smiled at how far they’d come. They wanted to try first, but had learned to listen before reacting. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

As Percy explained the fundamentals of earth magic, I felt a mixture of excitement and annoyance. We’d learned this in school before we could shift. I glanced at Otto, and he listened as if this was new to him. Seeing his reaction, I concentrated on Percy’s explanation.

His entire speech could be boiled down to one sentence. Mate bonds amplify our connection to earth magic. “So, our bond acts as a conduit?”

"Yes, but it’s more than that," Percy said. “Your connection doesn't just channel the magic, it transforms it. The love and unity between mates create a power greater than the sum of its parts. The key is to open yourselves completely to each other and to the earth itself.”

“Which will allow a greater amount of power to flow into us,” Otto said. “Why isn’t this technique common knowledge?”

“Because smaller species don’t want to give away their secret to stronger shifters,” Lysandor said. “I bet the alphas of the so-called lesser beings know this technique.”

I was proud of Lysandor. He was adapting to the situation and shedding his carefree attitude. “That’s one bet I wouldn’t take,” I said, giving him a fist bump.

Otto repositioned his chair to face me and held out his hand. “I don’t know if contact is needed, but it will give us a focal point,” he said.

His skin was warm and reassuring when I took his hand. Otto closed his fingers around mine and steadied me with his presence. Neither of us knew what we were doing, but he radiated confidence we’d succeed.

I closed my eyes and focused on our bond. The beating of Otto’s heart rumbled gently through my hand. Slowly, our heartbeats adjusted until they were in sync. Soon a soft vibration joined our rhythm. It was faint at first, almost an echo of our two hearts, but slowly it grew stronger.

A new energy flowed into us. It spread through our bodies in soft pulses, warming us with its strength. Through our link, Otto’s delight spilled into me. The sense of euphoria wasn’t from either of us but from the nurturing third presence in our bond.

Until that moment, I’d never accepted the earth was sentient. I thought it acted on instinct, much like a sunflower knew to grow in the right direction. This, however, shattered my ignorance with one swift blow.

I opened my eyes and saw the soft, golden light emanating from our hands. It pulsed gently like a heartbeat.

“It works,” Otto said in a breathy voice. “We did it.”

The light faded as our concentration broke, but the rapport lingered. The earth hovered in the background, ready to aid us when needed. I wasn’t sure how we’d use this, but Otto’s excitement was intoxicating. This was the missing piece he needed to dispatch his concerns.

I looked into Otto’s eyes and smiled. “Yes, we did.”