September 12 | After Midnight

Seeing the girl in the hospital bed made me feel like I was in the topsy-turviest manga I had ever read. The experience was surreal. I stared into the unmistakable face of Aurie Edison. She was alive. Her eyes were closed. Her head was thickly bandaged, and her wrist was in a splint. One leg was elevated in a cast. Where the other should have been, there was nothing but empty space below the knee. Yet, her chest was slowly rising and falling. Definitely alive.

"It's worse than I imagined," Haley murmured with a studied frown.

"She's been here all along?" I was almost afraid to ask. As if asking would break the spell, and I would wake up again in the woods with everyone I loved gone. I glanced at Zyr who stepped up beside me.

"Yes," he replied, "which is why Tegan thought Aurie couldn't be a ghost. Aurie never died. Wallace confirmed what I suspected: crossing over might've led to her waking from the coma."

"You knew how to help her all along?" I breathed, hurt.

"Oh, she's beautiful, Mys!" Kittie Cad interjected as she read the room. "It's a miracle she survived the accident."

Wallace spoke up behind us, "Yes, Aurie was hit with such force that she had bleeding on the brain, several broken bones, and she suffered a compression injury that led to losing her leg. That was my doing."

My best friend peered at the Guardian in askance, and he unfolded radiant wings. Kittie's jaw dropped. "Uh-uh, I don't think I'll ever get used to your world, Mitsuyo," she whispered.

I grinned, but the mood in the room was heavier than expected for a happy reunion. Zyr had his eyes glued to the clock. Haley leaned against the bay window with the cityscape a backdrop to her worried frown. I was assailed by their uncertainty, a flurry of agitated emotions keeping us all uneasy.

"Why didn't you tell us, Senpai?" I turned to the detective.

"At first, I thought you knew." He flashed an apologetic smile. "Aurie's accident was covered locally, and no one ever said she died. I know I didn't. By the time I realized you thought she was actually deceased, I didn't have an opening. You had such a hard time trusting people...I couldn't bear to push you away."

"But you said you would be more transparent after we..." I blushed and shut up.

"Nahin, I promised I would keep you both in the loop if anything new came on the radar, which is exactly what I did. I couldn't spell out everything because of Haley's reaction to seeing her sister get up and walk away from that hit-and-run."

"You have no idea how scary it is to feel you can't trust what you think you've seen," Haley murmured. "Soon as I left the penthouse party and realized Aurie was gone, I dipped on Darcy's security guards. I ran out the hotel just as she got up and followed you, I think." She pointed at me.

Kittie Cad met my gaze, remembering the day I had told her about the accident. Forever ago. I glanced at the girl in the hospital bed. "She did. She followed me because she thought I was a psychic medium and could help with her unfinished business, but I had no idea what to do. She had trouble remembering her past—er—waking life, I guess?" I shrugged in confusion.

"And I went along with the unfinished business motif since it could get her to try crossing over," Zyr confessed. "Mys, I hope you can forgive me. I did what I thought was right at the time, and once I realized you needed more from me, it was too late. I swear I had every intention of telling you both."

His burning eyes begged for reprieve as mine dropped to the floor. The old me would've written him off, but this lovelorn version couldn't. Maybe part of Aurie's suggestion I try harder meant not letting minor conflicts re-erect the walls I had built around my heart. Either way, it felt pointless to pretend I could stay mad at him.

"For the record," I murmured, "I can't handle any more fine print after this. Understand?"

He cracked a smile and nodded. "No more fine print. Everything—past and present—is in all-caps from here on out."

Haley pushed away from the window and gathered us in a hug. "After everything Aurie has been through, I'm just glad you guys enough took care of her. Sis wouldn't have made it on her own. Hell, I barely made it. In therapy, my doctors convinced me I was crazy. Then Zyr showed up and told me the truth about Overlay City." She backed away with a grin.

"I felt you needed a crash course," said Zyr as he peeped at the wall clock again. "At the start of this investigation, it was a simple leaving the scene with a victim in critical condition. Finding Aurie's Soul wandering the city was a shocker even for me. I wasn't sure how Aurie would handle the news she was in a coma, and I didn't want to push her into poltergeist territory."

"Actually, I believe she's done something like this before," Wallace reflected.

Haley scrunched her face at her late father. "What do you mean? When?" she asked.

"According to my charge-file, there was a skateboard accident? Aurie was out for two days. Doctors couldn't explain it. Initially, she thought she was at your grandmother's house that whole time. Later, your mother made her realize she had been in the hospital."

"Just like now," Haley gasped.

He tapped his forehead and pointed at her. "There's only so much I'm permitted to tell you all. As a Guardian, I can't interfere with your destinies, but think about it."

"What if her Soul was really at your grandmother's?" Zyr pieced together.

I said, "That would be pretty damn unique—"

"—Pretty damn special!" he spoke simultaneously. "That's what got Darcy's attention, but if that's the case, it would mean that you're both—"

From her side of the hospital bed, Haley spread her hands and arched a brow. "So, it runs in the family? I see things that aren't there, and she goes places she shouldn't be."

"And if Cyprian has an inkling of that fact, he's trying to use Aurie to cement his standing within the Council of Overlay Affairs. Witches tend to be autonomous, above the laws and norms of our Supernatural realms and their real world. Historically, those who have chosen to mingle in our affairs were well-received. Revered, more like," said Zyr.

Haley and Aurie were both witches. My gaze shot to Wallace for confirmation, but his attention was on the TV mounted in a corner of the room. He had found The Weather Channel and settled in an armchair in the corner of the room.

Kittie joined me at the foot of the bed watching the green, yellow, orange, and red radar splotches on the television screen. We were under a severe thunderstorm warning, with the hurricane slated to make landfall along the coast within hours.

As the meteorologist covered the swift-moving storm, the screen filled with an image of the cyclone's large, swirling clouds. Its footprint covered three states. I was glad Haley had assured us it would be a glorified wind event when all was said and done.

"We're running out of time for Aurie to heal without my intervention." Zyr sighed.

Wallace nodded in agreement. "As I said, there are limitations to what I can do. For example, I can't mend her body and Soul. We have to rely on less conventional methods. I know you've been trying to avoid this, Detective, but I think it's time you change her."

"Change her?" Kittie repeated with a touch of fear.

"You don't mean what I think you mean, do you?" I asked.

Haley crossed her arms and inclined her head. "He does," she acknowledged. "For the past few weeks, I've dreamed of wolves. I knew it would come to this, but like you, Detective, I was hoping we had other options. She's not healed enough to wake from the coma on her own."

"As a wolf, she'll heal faster," Zyr murmured as he stroked Aurie's face. "Best case scenario, she wakes from her coma with her Soul out of Darcy's clutches."

"Okay, I can't even take up for you anymore, Detective. Why didn't you try to fix this sooner?" Kittie sputtered.

"Because," I said as the blood drained from my face. "She could die from the bite...or Zyr could lose control and..." I couldn't bring myself to admit Aurie could become his prey. I didn't want to think of how close to feral Zyr already was.

He shuddered at the thought, too. "That's the worst-case scenario, but we're in a hospital. If anything goes wrong, she can get immediate medical treatment."

"And will she be...whole?" I asked. Zyr grimaced and shrugged as I swallowed thickly. "You can't mess up, Senpai." All the weeks of thinking there was no future for us receded into memory. The three of us had a fighting chance, but not if things went wrong tonight.

"Can someone keep an eye on the nurses' station?" Haley requested.

"I'll go," Kittie Cad volunteered. She slipped out of the hospital room, leaving the rest of us with the patient.

Zyr eased the blanket from Aurie's unmoving form. Her hospital gown was loose enough to reveal the smooth brown skin of her torso, and we both stared at three slash marks. They were fresh. I met his gaze as he realized the wounds were from our morning sex session. I squared my jaw. Another wave of doubt assailed me.

Haley seemed to sense my reticence. "I can't say my visions show me everything, but I know this is our path, and I know the time is now," she murmured, placing a hand on mine. I tried to feel reassured.

Zyr hastily removed Aurie's sensors and unhooked the intravenous line. I noticed Haley staring at the monitors, using her magic to keep them bleeping and blurping so as not to alarm the nurses. The teenager edged closer to the door with me and gave the werewolf a wide berth.

It was Wallace who used the remote to raise the hospital bed in a semi-reclined position. He threw open the curtain. The moon might have been full, but it was covered by thick clouds.

Zyr's gaze swept over the three of us. "Could you guys turn away?" he asked with awkward hesitance. I was more than happy to avert my gaze; so was Haley.

Wallace, on the other hand, remained unmoved. "I'd rather keep watch if it's all the same with you. Protecting her is kind of my job." He raised eyebrows for Zyr to carry on. My partner's apprehension trickled like ice water through my veins. Zyr wasn't sure he could do it.

"Think of the alternative," I murmured without facing him. "As you said, last-ditch effort. We have no idea what Darcy might be doing to her right now. Would you rather she suffer the fleeting pain of transformation or whatever he has in store for her?" It was a nice pep talk, but I was petrified, too. I sipped from the vape pen.

I winced at the dramatic grunt and gasp of the werewolf shedding his man-shape in favor of the animal. I didn't dare look after his plaintive yelp. I heard a shuffle and pictured the canine nosing around the bed. Then there was the deeper rumble of a growl, followed by what could only be the crunch of teeth sinking into flesh.

I shrank into myself, and Haley groaned in discomfort. Yet, I tamped down on my fear, filling my head with memories of the sensual love bites Zyr regularly dispensed during sex. It was such a freakish juxtaposition.

"Haley, I think we need you," Wallace murmured.

From my periphery, I witnessed Aurie's sister turn and raise her hand. Glowering at the sky, her fingers blurred with energy, and a spill of moonlight astonishingly washed over the hospital room. Drawing in a sharp breath, Haley dropped her hand after bringing the light nearer.

I caught her as she pivoted away from the strange optics of Aurie's transformation. There was the rattle of metal, the whisper of blankets and sheets being disturbed. Almost like someone forcefully shaking the bed. The disruptive noises grew louder. I heeded the door, hoping no one outside heard. At another bark from Zyr, there was an answering bay that sounded different than the first.

"Is it done?" I chanced a peek. My eyes widened at the dun-colored wolf on the hospital bed. Zyr crouched on the other side, reaching a hand toward the clothes that had withered from his frame when he shapeshifted.

"It's finished," he breathed.

But the Guardian shook his head. "I think there's been some mistake."

Zyr and I both regarded him. "What are you talking about? She's alert, healed. It went better than I had hoped," the detective said. Haley stepped toward Aurie, and the four-legged creature pawing the sheets snarled. Haley stiffened.

"No, Aurie isn't in there," the Guardian insisted. He gestured at the female wolf with helpless open hands. I felt the blood drain from my face as I realized his meaning.

"Oh, gods," I whispered in dismay. We had Aurie's body, but Darcy Cyprian still had her Soul.