My breath hitched as understanding spread through me like a virus.

  “Though, when you think about it, after watching Aunt Betty turn into Catherine Fairchild and being trapped in the forties, it was no wonder I was having nightmares.”

  The rain picked up, slicing through the sky at an angle, and Sam paced away from the cliffside, hugging herself tightly. Riveted to the sound of her voice, I followed her toward the lighthouse, clenching my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering.

  “But these weren’t your garden-variety nightmares. They were vivid, full-color extravaganzas with no rhyme or reason that I could come up with. I kept thinking it was stress or bad Chinese or even the power of suggestion. Hell, with all the memories you were trying to trigger in Hannah and Paige, I started to think I was hallucinating the boiling caldrons and birds dangling from the ceiling. But when Josh—” She swallowed thickly. “I knew him, Ava. Not as your annoying little brother, but as my niece.”

  “You?” My voice broke as my next breath caught in my throat. “But you said—”

  Sam shrugged. “I lied.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I’d spent the better part of the past few months with her—in two separate lives—and she’d never said a word.

  “At first, I was a little freaked out. It’s not exactly something you go blurting out over coffee. ‘Hey, can you pass the sweetener, and oh yeah, I just realized I’m a powerful witch from the seventeenth century.’ It was a lot to take in. It took time getting used to it. And full disclosure, I didn’t really want it to be true. I would’ve given almost anything for it to have been Hannah or Paige. But no such luck. Then when Josh blurted out that Laith was supposed to be dead, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt who I was, I couldn’t un-know it, if you get what I’m saying. Aunt Betty and Josh flickered back and forth between their now and their pasts, but I guess because I took time to let it settle in, and maybe because... magic... I can see all the way back. And let’s just say, the view is something else entirely.”

  “I get why you’d be freaked out, but I don’t get why you wouldn’t tell me.”

  She sank further into her jacket, pulling the zipper to her chin. “I was afraid you’d hate me.”

  “Why would I hate you, Sam? You’re my best friend. You might have bits and pieces of someone else’s memories, but you’re still you.”

  “You’ll hate me when you find out the truth.”

  “What are you talking about.” Frissons of fear slithered around my stomach. “What truth?”

  “First of all, you need to know how we got here.” With her eyes focused on some unseen moment in the past, she launched into her explanation. “You already know that when you went back to see me... creepy old witch me, that is... you were the one who convinced Catherine to beg for a blessing. But it wasn’t just that. It’s that you went back—period. That’s what triggered everything. All the souls connected to the blessing are only connected because of you. You were the catalyst that set events in motion.”

  “So Laith and I wouldn’t have been soul mates if I hadn’t gone back? That makes no sense at all.”

  She shook her head, frustrated by my inability to follow. “You are soul mates. That has been, and will always be, true. But if not for the blessing, your souls wouldn’t have been bound as they are. To be fair to you, you merely triggered it. The other two idiots took it to the next level.”

  “What does that have to do with Laith breaking the curse?”

  Sam spun away from me and threw up her hands. “Don’t you get it? Laith can’t break the curse.”

  “What?” My head throbbed trying to keep up with her tangled explanation. Laith was right when he said she spoke in riddles.

  Lowering her voice, she leaned into me. “It’s kind of impossible to break a curse that never existed.”

  “I... don’t understand.” Nothing I knew made sense anymore. My best friend was Bess Floyd. My brother was Jane. Laith had gone off on a suicide mission to break an unbreakable curse. And I was standing in front of the stupid lighthouse again, this time, just a few months before I’d been conceived. “Why can’t you just undo it?”

  “I told you once before, it can’t be undone.” She waved a hand dismissing the thought as ridiculous. “It was a perfect spell. Your souls will be bound for eternity.”

  My stomach clenched. “There has to be something you can do.”

  “The spell was never the problem. In fact, there wouldn’t have even been a problem if their soul hadn’t split. And that has always been where the solution lies. Like Jane told you, if the boys had died in their own time, it would have freed the two halves to come together again. But they screwed with fate. And now, someone has to fix that.”

  Tendrils of fear snaked around my throat, slowly choking off my air supply. “How? They can’t go back to before they jumped. They’ve already been there.”

  “It’s not impossible, as you well know.” She gave me a pointed look, waiting for me to catch up.

  “You mean by walking through fire?” The phantom flames sizzled through my thoughts.

  She nodded. “I offered that solution, but Laith refused. He had another plan in mind.”

  What life-threatening idiocy had he cooked up in that beautiful mind of his? My heart kicked, and my pulse rocketed higher. “Where is he?”

  “Running late, obviously.” Sam checked over her shoulder. “He said dragging Maddox here would be a challenge.”

  I laughed. “Then I guess we’ll be waiting a long time, because Laith doesn’t know where Maddox is.”

  She arched an eyebrow but didn’t say anything, and the laugh caught in my throat. “You told him.”

  “I’m so sorry, Ava.” Sam’s face fell. “You have no idea how much I wish there was another way. That I could go back and do things over. But—”

  “But what? What are you keeping from me that would make me hate you?”

  A loud crack echoed across the sky, and heavy static spread out in a rippling wave, nearly knocking me off my feet. My heart tried to claw its way out of my chest, and my head spun as I struggled to breathe. He’s here.

  Frantic, my eyes flicked from the two dark figures standing in the shadows along the rocky bluff to Sam’s devastated expression. “Why did you bring me here?”

  Tears slid down her face in watery black streaks. “To say goodbye.”

  The tremors started at my knees, making my bones rattle as they worked their way up through my center, until my whole body quaked uncontrollably. Shaking my head, I slowly backed away from her, letting my eyes drift toward the cliff where Laith gripped Maddox in a choke hold.

  “Ava, listen to me.” Sam pulled my attention back to her. “The only way to make things right is to put the halves of their splintered soul back together.”

  I shook my head harder, refusing to accept Sam’s impossible solution.

  She grabbed my sleeve, willing the words into my brain. “It’s the only option.”

  “No.” Every rational thought in my head emptied out, and I broke for the cliff. How the hell had I ended up here again? Racing through a rainstorm toward probable death by jagged rocks. I swallowed a hysterical laugh. Somehow, I knew it wouldn’t be as easy as Laith catching me before I hit the bottom this time. But I’d be damned if I let him sacrifice himself. Not for me.

  Laith dragged a dazed Maddox toward the cliff’s edge, and I knew distracting him could be disastrous, but I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. He had to listen to reason. Together, we would find a way to make it work. All I had to do was reach him in time. “Laith!”

  He whipped his head in my direction, gaping at me in horror.

  I skidded through a puddle and came to a stop in front of them, tears blurring my vision. I didn’t want to do this in front of Maddox, but I didn’t have a choice. Laith hadn’t given me one. “I got your note.”

  “Baby, what are you—” He shook his head, rain dripping from his hair. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  I dug in my feet and held my ground. “Neither should you.”

  “Looks like the gang’s all here,” Maddox slurred as he struggled to free himself from Laith’s grip. Gone was the broken man who’d taunted me in the dream. In his place was the bitter, angry version of the same twenty-year-old boy I’d thought I loved once upon a time.

  “I’m sorry, Laith. I—” Sam stopped cold as Laith directed an angry glare toward her.

  “Why did you bring her here?” He practically growled the words.

  Sam lowered her eyes. “She deserves a proper goodbye.”

  “Is that your plan?” Maddox threw his head back and laughed. “The noble sacrifice? Please. Spare me.”

  Laith elbowed Maddox in the gut, earning a satisfying grunt. Once he’d silenced his brother, he turned to Sam, tears glistening in his eyes as his glare melted away. “You promised.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve broken a lot of those lately.” Sam’s gaze lingered a little too long on me before she pointed her chin toward Maddox. “Let him go. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

  She whipped out a Taser, and Laith barely jumped out of the way before she lit up Maddox and he dropped to the ground, convulsing. She flashed a watery smile. “Go say your goodbyes. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

  “Come on, let’s get out of the rain.” Laith took my hand and pulled me toward the lighthouse, his hot palm sending warm shivers through my icy bones. He tried the door, but whoever managed the lighthouse in 1994 must have been a stickler for security, because it was locked. He blew out a breath and tipped his face into the rain. “Why can’t we ever rush into danger on a nice day?”

  A tiny fissure worked its way into my soul, and I pressed a hand to my chest to keep it from splitting wide open. “You were really going to do this without telling me?”

  “Ava.” His voice broke on my name, and my heart broke with it. A cacophony of emotions played out in his devastated expression. Sadness, resignation... regret.

  “Why?” I reached for him, brushing the backs of my fingers over his cold face.

  He leaned into my touch and closed his eyes, wet lashes fluttering against his cheek. “I didn’t think I’d have the guts to follow through with it if you were here.”

  “Then don’t.”

  He opened his eyes, and I locked my gaze on his, silently begging him to abandon his crazy plan and run away with me, knowing full well he wouldn’t—not if he believed his sacrifice would save me.

  He exhaled slowly and pressed his forehead to mine. “You know I have to.”

  “Stupid, stubborn boy.” I ran my fingers over his face, memorizing the straight slope of his nose, the curve of his cheek, his warm, soft lips. My soul fractured again, the fissure cracking wide enough to pull in my lungs and spleen. “I’m not letting you do this to us.” I shook my head, fighting back a fresh wave of tears as I grasped for every drop of strength I could muster. “Not when I just found you again.”

  Wrapping my hand around his neck, I dragged his mouth down to mine and molded my lips to his. I poured everything I felt for him into the kiss, reminding him he owned my body. My heart. My fractured soul. Arching into him until we were pressed together from hip to chest, I gave him a taste of what he would be missing. He fell into me, frantically giving back everything I gave and then some. His hands slipped under my shirt, warming my skin as he crushed me to his chest. With his thoughts otherwise occupied, I pulled power from the stone in my pocket, letting the static drift over us.

  Laith jerked back, breaking the kiss and severing our skin-to-skin contact. “Ava, no.”

  “I thought we were in this together.” I lashed out at him, pounding my fists against his chest as the dam inside me blew wide open.

  He wrapped his fingers around my wrists, holding me against him. “Baby, stop. You’re going to be okay.”

  “How can you even say that?” I shrieked. “I’ll never be okay again.”

  “Uh, guys, I can’t hold him much longer.” Sam emptied another charge into Maddox’s thrashing body. “I’m running out of juice over here.”

  “It’s time.” Laith took my hand, towing me back to Sam and Maddox.

  “No!” Trembling, I fought against him with everything I had, but it wasn’t enough. “I will never forgive you if you do this.”

  “I hope you don’t mean that.” He kissed me lightly, and his lips tasted like tears. “I hope you will... someday.”

  “Please.” I sobbed, eyeing the side of the cliff with mounting terror. “I’d rather live under a curse forever than live without you for a day.”

  He cupped my cheek, pulling my gaze back to his, staring into my eyes as if he could see all the way to my soul. “Being tied to you for eternity could never be a curse. I’d do it all over again just to spend a single hour in your arms, but I was supposed to die in 1675. Every minute since then has been stolen time.”

  “Laith...” My voice broke as a violent shudder ran through me.

  He squeezed his eyes shut, losing his own battle with tears. “I don’t regret a single second, but I can’t run from it anymore. You mean more to me than a thousand lifetimes.”

  “You can’t die.” I shook my head until my brain rattled. “You swore to me you were coming back.”

  His sad smile gutted me. “I’ve spent my entire life chasing your soul to the ends of the earth. Do you really think I’d let death stop me?”

  “Don’t go.”

  “I love you.” Laith reached into his shoe and pulled out his stone. He pressed it into my hand and kissed me hard. “Forever.”

  “Don’t leave me. I can’t... You can’t make me stay here without you.”

  “I will find a way back to you. I promise. In this life or the next.”

  My stomach buzzed like a nest of angry hornets, and I reached for him, releasing an anguished cry when he jerked back, and my fingers caught nothing but air.

  “Sam.” He said her name like a plea, and she wrapped her arms around me from behind, hugging me to her chest and holding me tight while he took control of Maddox.

  “I hate you both.” I spit the lie at them, bucking against the cage of Sam’s arms. “I swear to God, I do.”

  “No, you don’t.” Laith’s glistening eyes locked on mine again. “You love me.”

  “I do... I love you.” I promised on a sob, “I’ll love you forever.”

  “My soul will find yours again.”

  Laith struggled with Maddox, dragging him to the edge, and Sam tightened her hold on me. My lungs froze. I couldn’t breathe. The look of utter desperation in Laith’s eyes made my bones tremble. He mouthed, “I love you,” one last time then hurled them both over the side. The sound of Maddox’s scream faded into the surf, and everything went silent. He’s gone.

  An inhuman cry ripped out of me, and I fought against Sam until the tendons in my neck stretched to the brink. She finally released me, and I stumbled to the edge, falling to my knees on the cold ground. Jagged peaks below devoured the white caps in a frothy maelstrom, but there was no sign of either of them. With my soul exploding into a million tiny pieces, I collapsed against the rocks. I’d walked through fire to get back to him, and that had nothing on the pain laying waste to my soul at that moment.

  My keening wail cut through the night sky, drowning out the sounds of the ocean, my breaking heart, and the cries of my shattered soul. Sam crawled over to me and cradled me in her arms, rocking us back and forth as my chest cracked open.

  “Bring. Him. Back.” The words tore from my throat like flames, and I wished they’d just incinerate me and be done with it.

  She pressed my head to her shoulder. “I can’t.”

  “I hate you.”

  Her arms tightened around me. They were the only things holding me together. “I know.”

  THE SOUL BOND

  “I found him whom my soul loves.”

  —Song of Solomon 3:4

  Eleven months later.

  I gazed up at Healy Hall in awe. Like a medieval castle in the middle of Washington, DC, the building’s massive spire stretched so far into the blue sky, I couldn’t see the top from the ground. And like every other landmark on the Georgetown campus, the building was steeped in history and significance. I couldn’t help wondering if my dad had walked this same path on his first day here. If wherever he was, he somehow knew everything I’d gone through to finally get here. If he would’ve been proud of me. If he knew my heart was still broken.

  I fingered the blue stone hanging around my neck, its weight a constant reminder of the unbearable grief of losing Laith. Having it with me provided a comfort nothing else could manage. It made me feel as though he was still with me, somehow. After a lot of pleading on her part, I’d finally relented to Sam using a touch of magic to attach it to a fine silver chain, since I refused to go anywhere without it.

  My phone rang, the way it often did when I was thinking of Laith. As if Sam somehow knew I needed a friend.

  “How’s your first day at Georgetown?”

  I whirled around, soaking up the grandeur of the towering buildings around me. “Oh my God, Sam, it’s huge.”

  “That’s what she said.” Sam snickered down the line.

  “I feel like I’m about to walk into Hogwarts.”

  “Maybe I should drive down. I could totally teach a spell class.”

  “Funny.” I rolled my eyes. “Don’t you have enough to do, keeping my little brother out of trouble?”

  Sam snorted. “Don’t remind me.”

  After everything that had gone down at the lighthouse, Sam and I jumped to Laith’s house in 1928. I wanted to surround myself with his things, to sink into the warm leather of his sofa, run my fingers over the books in his library, sleep in a bed that he’d slept in. I’d pulled on a pair of his clean boxers and his favorite blue T-shirt and climbed between his sheets, drowning in his scent until I could halfway breathe again.