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  Dominic had just reached out with his magic, trying to decipher exactly what it was that had him so on edge, when a loud crack sounded around them, and then something slammed into his chest, jerking him from the ladder and sending him sailing through the air. He heard Willow cry out and several of the other women scream as he fell to the ground, aware of magic being used to cushion his fall as he landed on the snow below. A muffled curse left his mouth at the searing pain close to his heart, but he shoved it aside as he tried to rise to his feet.

  “Dom! Fuck, Dom!”

  Suddenly, Drake was by his side, holding him down. Vaguely, he wondered how his brother had gotten there so fast. The second the thought crossed his mind; he knew the answer. Magic. Then, he was aware of Willow next to him, tears streaming down her face as she grasped his hand and pushed a lock of hair from his forehead.

  “Sniper,” Dominic managed to spit out roughly, as he tried to sit up again. His vision wavered, dizziness swamping him, and he had to fight not to pass out. It was the only thing that made sense. Whoever drove that car was hiding somewhere with a rifle that could be trained on them right now.

  “What?”

  “Sniper. Down the street,” Dominic gasped, dropping back down against the snow. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t sit up. “Got to keep Willow safe.”

  “I’m safe, Dom,” Willow whispered, leaning over to place her cheek against his. “I’m right here, with you.”

  “I’ve got you, Brother. I have a force-field up around us so tight right now, nothing can penetrate it.”

  Dominic was once again trying to rise to protect his witch, and the confidence in his brother’s voice was the only thing that made him back down. Drake would make sure Willow was safe when he couldn’t. He didn’t know of many warlocks stronger than his brother.

  “Willow,” Dominic gasped her name as he struggled to breathe. It felt as if a huge weight was sitting on his chest, crushing him. He knew he was fighting a losing battle. “Baby.”

  “I’m right here, Dom.”

  Her breath was on his face, her tears falling from her cheeks to his own.

  “Don’t you dare leave me, Dominic Hamilton. Not now. Not after I just found you.”

  He didn’t want to leave her. Didn’t want to be anywhere but by her side. He tried to tell her that. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

  “Should we try to use our magic,” he heard a timid voice ask. Tilly maybe? “Maybe we could get the bullet out of him.”

  “We can’t. At this point, it could do more harm than good. We are going to have to wait for the doctors to handle it.” That was Farrah, the High Priestess of the Sapphire Coven.

  “There has to be something we can do,” someone else said. There were other voices chiming in, but everything was getting all muddled together now. He couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t focus on anything.

  “The ambulance is almost here, Brother. I hear the sirens. I’m letting the force field down so they can get in. Don’t worry, there’s no way that bastard stuck around for the after party.”

  Dominic heard what Drake was saying, but it was as if the words were coming to him through a long tunnel and far away. He fought to get back to his brother, back to Willow and the love he’d just found with her. He needed to tell her how he felt. She needed to know that she was his life—his everything.

  “Dammit, Dom, don’t do this!” Willow cried. “Please! You can’t leave me like everyone else. Please, come back to me!”

  Like everyone else? Who’d left his Willow? Who had hurt her?

  “You need to move aside, Ma’am.”

  “No!”

  Dominic felt her grasp on him tighten, and he tried to pry his eyes open. To tell her he was all right. That he loved her and would never leave her.

  “Ma’am, we can’t do our job with you on top of him like that.”

  “Willow, come on. Let them work.”

  Dominic heard his sister-in-law trying to coax Willow away, and then he heard Willow whisper for his ears alone, “You come back to me. You hear me, Dominic Hamilton? You fight like you’ve never fought before. If you go, you take my heart and soul with you, and I will follow. So, fight, dammit! Fight!”

  That was the last thing he heard before everything went dark.

  Chapter Nine

  Terror gripped her as Willow sat in the waiting room at the hospital, clutching Desi’s hand tightly. After the ambulance left with Dominic, the rest of them had to stay behind to give statements to the police. There wasn’t much they could tell them, except about Willow’s creepy co-worker, but as far as she knew, Derek didn’t have any experience with weapons. By the time they got to the hospital, Dominic was already in surgery to have a bullet removed from his chest. He lost a lot of blood and the bullet was close to his heart. Right now, there was a very real possibility that he wouldn’t make it.

  Dominic had asked her why she never let anyone in. Why she never bothered to get to know anyone on a personal level besides her coven. This was why. When you opened up to someone, gave them everything you were, you lost them. That had been her experience every single time. So, instead of feeling the agony that was gripping her heart like a vise now, she kept everyone at arm’s length.

  “I don’t care who you think you are, if you don’t get me in to see my grandson right now, I will have you running around bleating like a goat in ten seconds. Nine. Eight.”

  “Shit! Grandma!” Drake jumped up from his seat and hurried across the room to where a woman stood by the front desk in the Emergency entrance where they were all gathered. Desi let go of Willow’s hand and stood, taking a step as if to follow him, before stopping to glance back down at her.

  “Seven. Six. Five.”

  The woman behind the desk was staring at her wide-eyed, backing away slowly, one hand held up in the air as if to defend herself.

  “Grandma, come over here and talk to us,” Drake coaxed.

  “Four. Three.” His grandmother didn’t look like she was going to budge, and the power rolling off her in waves was impressive. There was no doubt in Willow’s mind that she would follow through with her threat if the woman didn’t comply. There was about to be a goat running up and down the hospital hallways.

  “We need you over here, Grandma,” Drake tried again.

  “Mother, let’s go wait with everyone else,” a man who looked like Drake and Dominic said, as he walked up behind them. “I’m sure we will hear something about Dominic soon.”

  “Two,” Victoria Hamilton snapped as she began to raise one of her hands.

  “Willow needs you, Grandma. She’s in pain and we don’t know what to do to help her.”

  That got her attention when nothing else would. She glanced behind her to look over where Willow sat, Desi standing just a couple feet in front of her. Victoria’s light blue eyes misted with tears, and she quickly crossed over to sit in the vacant seat by Willow. “Oh, child!”

  Willow gasped when Victoria wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close, and began gently rocking her back and forth as if she really were a child. It had been so long since someone had held her this way. A sob escaped, and then another.

  “It’s okay, Willow. Your family is here now. We’ll take care of you.”

  Family? She hadn’t had one of those since she was eight years old. Well, except for her coven. She had gained twelve sisters when she became a part of the Sapphire Coven, but she had to admit that she was still only close to Desi, Tilly, and their cousin Arabella. It wasn’t that she didn’t care for the others, but she’d kept a distance between herself and them, afraid she would lose them the way she’d lost everyone else in the past.

  “I can’t feel him,” Willow admitted, a shudder running through her body. “I can’t feel him anymore.”

  “No!” a woman cried out. Willow raised her eyes to meet a pair of dark brown ones full of misery. She was standing next to the man who had tried to pull Victoria away from the desk just moments before. Dominic
’s parents, James and Eileen Hamilton. She didn’t know much about them, except that they had willingly brought their only two sons to a gala not too long ago to try to get one of them to marry Desi and bind their powers with hers. That had pissed her off then, but now, looking at the very real pain in Dominic’s mother’s eyes, Willow was wondering if maybe she’d been wrong about her.

  “I’m sorry,” Willow whispered, pulling back from Victoria and bowing her head.

  “You completed the bond?” Victoria asked quietly. “Bound your powers together?”

  “Yes, but…” Willow hesitated, her eyes meeting Dominic’s mother’s again, before she looked at Victoria. “I don’t know how to explain it. I still feel his magic, but I don’t feel him.”

  A slow smile spread across Victoria’s lips. “You need to reach deeper, Child. He’s still there. I’m sure of it.”

  “How do you know?”

  A hint of sadness crept into Victoria’s eyes. “Because when my husband left to be with the Goddess, his magic left with him.”

  Eileen crossed the room to kneel down beside them. Reaching over, she placed her hand over the top of Willow’s. “If Victoria says my son is still here, then I believe her. Let’s try reaching for him together. If we join our magic with yours, it will make yours stronger and I know we will find him.”

  Willow had never joined her magic with anyone before, except her coven and Dominic. It wasn’t done unless you fully trusted the ones involved for more than one reason. When you shared your magic with someone, it was like sharing a piece of yourself with them. They couldn’t necessarily read your thoughts, but they could feel your emotions, your desires, and your fears. It was a very personal experience. Not only that, but there was always a chance that you could leave a part of your magic with them. It didn’t happen often, but it could. And there was also the fear that one of the others could try to steal your magic for themselves. Willow had only heard of that happening once, but it was enough to keep her leery about who to trust that much, when trust was already an issue with her.

  She didn’t know Dominic’s family, except for Drake. The idea of merging her magic with theirs made her nervous as hell, but she was willing to try anything if it meant being able to feel the man she loved again and know for sure that he was alive. Besides, it wasn’t just her magic anymore. It was theirs. Hers and Dominic’s together. He trusted his family. That was all that mattered.

  The Hamiltons waited patiently for her to decide, but when Willow gave a slight nod, they wasted no time. Forming a circle, they clasped hands and Willow was happy to see Desi take a place directly across from her. She’d shared magic with her best friend numerous times over the years, and having her there went a long way towards giving her the courage to proceed.

  “Once you connect with him, you need to hold on tight, Willow. You have been given a gift from the Goddess. Only you can bring him back to us.”

  “Wait,” Willow whispered. “What do you mean bring him back? You said he was still here?”

  “He is, for now.” Victoria squeezed her hand gently. “Willow, you need to be strong. I believe the reason you can’t feel my grandson anymore is because he is caught somewhere on a path between here and the sky above with the Goddess. If you want him back, you are going to have to fight for him. You are the only one who can. We can join our magic with yours to get you to him, but then it will be up to you.”

  Willow bit her lip, her gaze traveling around the room. Her coven sisters had fanned out, taking up residence around them and blocking anyone’s view from what was happening. Protecting them. She met the eyes of the High Priestess, and Farrah nodded to her. “We will guard you and your family on your journey, Willow. Go now. Find the other half of your soul.”

  Taking a deep breath, Willow straightened her shoulders, closed her eyes, and let her magic out. She clenched her jaw hard when she felt the Hamilton’s magic begin to merge with hers, and their emotions hit her. Sadness, despair, hopelessness, all coming from Dominic’s mother. Worry and distress from his father. Fear and trepidation from Desi, but it was intertwined with caring and love. It was almost too much on top of what she was already feeling. Suddenly, she felt a strong burst of determination as Victoria’s power collided with hers, and then Drake’s hit and there was courage and confidence. It helped boost her own self-confidence and Willow found herself reaching out, searching for her lost love.

  At first, there was nothing, but she refused to give up. She had finally allowed him into her life, and she wasn’t letting him go. Willow pushed harder, expanding her magic, focusing on Dominic. His thick, brown hair, light blue eyes, that sexy little grin he always gave her. She searched for him, for that thread that tied them together, soul to soul, magic to magic.

  “Please, Goddess, I need you,” Willow whispered. “I can’t lose him. Send him back to me.”

  There was a small tingling sensation that moved through her, and then it was gone.

  Willow’s heart began to race as she whispered, “You gave him to me. Our magic is bound together, along with our souls. If you take him, you better be prepared for me to follow. Wherever my love is, that is where I will be.” She didn’t know how Victoria had survived for so long without her husband, but somehow, she knew it wouldn’t be the same for her.

  “Willow, no!”

  Willow ignored Desi’s cry, concentrating on that tingling sensation that had returned, along with the small sliver of hope that was now coursing through her. “Send him back, Goddess. I need him. I refuse to live without him. I will fight for him to the end.”

  Willow felt the power within her growing and realized that it wasn’t just the Hamilton’s magic merging with hers. All of her coven had thrown theirs in as well. Her sisters—her family. They had thrown caution into the wind and had merged their magic with witches from another coven… for her. Willow could feel their love and devotion. They were unwilling to let Dominic go, because they refused to let her go.

  “Dominic! I need you. Please, come back to me.”

  Willow cried out when that magical thread that she’d felt before between them was suddenly back. It tightened more and more, and then slammed back into place, strong, safe, and secure. She felt Dominic even stronger than she had before. She grasped that thread tightly, holding it to her, refusing to ever let it slip away again.

  He fought to stay with you. Even though I welcomed him here with me, he wouldn’t leave you. You have had so much taken from you, My Child. You deserve happiness. You deserve to love and be loved. Stop holding back from those who care for you. Let them in. Care for them. Love them.

  Willow felt a tear slip down her cheek, followed by another. She knew that voice. She wasn’t sure how she’d never heard it before, but she knew who it belonged to.

  “Thank you for your gift, Goddess,” she whispered. “I will do as you say. I promise.”

  Your parents and brother are safe with me, Willow. You will see them again someday, but for now, your place is beside Dominic, and with your family and friends.

  A sob caught in her throat, and Willow rasped, “I miss them so much.”

  They are always with you, My Child, as am I. You must go now. But, Willow, take care. The man with the gun is nearby. Watching her. He is always watching her.

  Willow frowned in confusion, then swallowed hard. “Watching who? Is it Derek, Goddess? Was he the one who shot Dominic?”

  That man is always watching you, but he didn’t pull the trigger. It was the other one. The one after your sister.

  Willow’s eyes sprang open when she felt her connection to the Goddess disappear. Her gaze went quickly around the room, aware of the faces surrounding her. Their magic had also dissipated, returning to them and leaving her alone with just hers and Dominic’s swirling around inside her. Her Dominic. He was alive, she could feel him. The Goddess had given him back to her, and she was never letting him go.

  “Did you really just have a conversation with the freaking Goddess?” Tilly whispered i
n awe.

  “Either that, or she was talking to herself,” Raelyn said dryly.

  “She does talk in her sleep sometimes,” Desi told them.

  “She told me whoever hurt Dominic is close,” Willow interrupted, looking out the window next to Brinley. “And it wasn’t Derek. There’s someone else who is out there and always watching her.”

  “Always watching who?”

  “I’m not sure. One of my sisters, was all she would say.” Someone in my coven was in trouble, but I had no idea who.

  “What about my son?” Dominic’s mother cut in. “Is he okay?”

  Willow’s eyes widened as she realized she had been so focused on the threat to one of her sisters, that she’d failed to share the best news yet. A wide grin crossed her face as she brought her hand up to rest on her chest. “Yes! I feel him again! Even more than I did before.”

  “Thank the Goddess,” his mother whispered, swiping at the tears that were forming in her eyes. “Thank you, Willow. We owe you more than we can ever repay you.”

  Willow shook her head, intertwining her fingers with the woman. “No, you don’t owe me anything. We’re family now. That’s what family does.”

  It was her first step to accepting others into her heart. She’d made a promise to the Goddess, and she never broke a promise.

  Chapter Ten

  Dominic sat in front of the fireplace holding Willow close. He’d been out of the hospital for over two weeks now, and she hadn’t left his side. They started out at his house, but there was no privacy with his parents and grandmother walking in and out of his room constantly to check on him. Finally, when he couldn’t stand it anymore, he’d packed a bag, and they went to Willow’s so they could finally have some privacy. The place where he was hoping to call home soon, if she would have him.