Forbidden

Chapter 40

40

 

Once we reached the Sacred Line, Liam and I vaulted over it without hesitation. It had become second nature now, and I no longer had qualms about it. Especially when I’d put betraying my Pack and my family behind me. Liam was mine now, and whatever happened in these hours would never change my mind about him.

Hayden, Tegan and Mamma Rowan however, hesitated at the invisible partition. I didn’t know what Carmen had done to it, but it didn’t have the same strong magic I’d felt when Mamma Rowan had first thrown up new defenses.

While my brother and my best friend showed signs of hesitance on their faces, Mamma Rowan’s expression was composed of nothing but disbelief.

“You’ll have to jump; the magic has been weakened, and you can cross over without feeling the effects of the Line,” Liam instructed, his voice filling the dim silence between us and them.

“Is it safe?” Tegan asked, toeing the spot where the Line used to be.

“Of course it’s safe!” Liam barked at her, and my hand stiffened in his. He gave me an apologetic look. “Misha and I just jumped over it. Now hurry up, before the magic Carmen put up starts to fade.”

“But it’s different... for you two.” Tegan argued in a small voice.

“It’s not that different.” Liam shot back. “Now cross over.”

“This is the last step,” I told them with a strong undertone in my voice. “If you want to come with us, then you cross that Line. If you can’t, don’t even think about coming.”

“I’ve seen a lot of gobbledygook in my lifetime, but this takes the cake, by leaps and bounds.” Mamma Rowan frowned, stepping over the Line. “I don’t know how your ‘Carmen’ did it, but she used some sort of old magic to disable the Line. It was a spell unable to be deactivated.”

Liam got a small smirk on his face. “Carmen is very skilled in finding loopholes.”

Mamma Rowan gave him a peculiar look. “Don’t fool around with me little boy. I ain’t a common old woman.”

“I’ve already figured,” Liam murmured under his breath.

“What are you two cowards waiting for? You’ve come far enough the Pack will accuse you of treason. Get your lazy asses over here right this second!” Mamma Rowan snapped at them, and stricken, Hayden and Tegan vaulted over the Line faster than racehorses at a track.

Liam chuckled lightly. “I’m beginning to love this old woman.”

“Not more than me?” I questioned teasingly.

I was consumed with the intensity that suddenly coalesced in his silver eyes. He looked down at me as if I was a star in his sight, and it was then that I got a true sense of how much he valued me.