I moved to stand next to Ezra, rubbing against his side in silent comfort.
Jack and Pearl instantly quieted, their expressions turning wary as they scanned our faces, and slowly took seats on the edge of the bed. Pearl lifted the nightgown next to her and started fiddling with it, twisting it around her hands, while Jack leaned forward, placing his forearms on his knees and staring at us avidly.
Jack murmured quietly, “What is it?”
“They look like death,” Pearl mumbled, her golden brows furrowing.
Guess we weren’t hiding it so well. Clearing my throat, I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled the lipstick out, nervously twirling it through my fingers. I stuttered at first, but managed to state, “We thought it best to do this to save both of you today, and others.” I glanced at Ezra, who nodded. “Antonio put you both under a spell. One that’s still active.”
Jack cocked his head, stating calmly, “I can’t feel one.” He had complete trust in Ezra and me. His faith only made me feel worse.
“You wouldn’t.” Ezra pointed at Jack’s forehead. “You also can’t see the evidence of the spell. You both have a slash of pink lipstick on your forehead.”
Both tilted, glancing in the mirror, their brows puckering in confusion.
Pearl turned her attention back to us, asking slowly, “What kind of spell is it? Why was it needed to save ourselves and others?”
Licking my suddenly dry lips, I whispered, “It made you forget.”
Jack’s entire body stilled. “Forget what?”
Lips thinned, I peered to Ezra for help.
Ezra’s jaw clenched, but his gaze was steady on our best friends. “Your mates died today.”
Both sat motionless. Staring. Obviously searching their memories for the truth of Ezra’s statement, but they wouldn’t find any. The spell had promised that.
“Mates?” Pearl asked softly.
I took a small step forward. “I need to complete the spell, so you’ll remember.”
They flinched and their eyes instantly grew stony.
Shaking my head once, I spoke honestly and gently, “Your time with them, your memories, your experiences — they are not something you want to lose. While the thought of Dominic still tears me apart some days, I wouldn’t want to forget him for anything. Life’s experiences are not to be forgotten. You learn. You grow from them.” My lungs felt like they would seize and my throat was burning, but I held their now hooded gazes. “You need to let me finish the spell.”
In the tense hush, they didn’t respond, only watched. Real panic had entered their eyes.
Ezra stated quietly and steadily, “She’s right. And both of you would be doing a disservice to the two individuals who loved you so much by not remembering them.” He paused as their increasingly frightened gazes met his. “In time, you’ll understand why I’m saying this. Not at first. At first you may hate us for telling you to remember, but eventually you’ll understand.”
Pearl’s chin began quivering, but she straightened her spine. “I won’t hate you. And I understand why you allowed it. If I lost my mate today, I wouldn’t have been able to save lives. I probably would have gotten myself killed.” She nodded stoically, her jaw firming even though her chin still trembled. “Finish the spell.”
Not giving her a chance to back out, I uncorked the lipstick, my hands shaking with the motion as I twisted it, and quickly finished the last slash, completing an ‘X’ on her forehead.
Suddenly, she jolted, sucking in a harsh breath, her golden eyes flying wide…and she screamed, clutching her chest where her mate had once lived inside her Core. “Gideon!” Her head shook rapidly, her golden hair tumbling over her shoulders. “God, no! Gideon!”
Swiftly handing the lipstick to Ezra, I sat on the bed and caught her as she crumpled in racking sobs, her agony ear-piercing, shouting her mate’s name repeatedly. I clutched her close to my chest and held her face to my neck, feeling her heated tears wetting my flesh, and started rocking her as I had done when I had first learned Gideon was dead. Keeping my own tears at bay this time, pushing away my own anguish for her hurt, I became the pillar of a best friend she needed right now. As she beat on my shoulders with flying fists of rage, I let her, holding her only tighter and lending her my strength.
Jack’s face was now buried in his hands, his elbows still on his knees, and he hunched as he fisted his hair. “Ezra?” Evidence of his anguish to come was unmistakable in the catch of his voice.
Ezra’s was solid. “Yes?”
“Don’t let me kill myself.” He was serious.
The same truth quietly stated. “I won’t.”
Jack paused between Pearl’s cries. “I’ll want many drinks once I crawl out of bed.”
“We can do that.”
Rocking Pearl, who had stopped pounding me, I hummed softly against her damp temple as she wept, her whole frame shaking while I desolately watched my other best friend’s life change forever.