Talia followed her instincts without looking in which direction she was going. But she could feel the incline, and the lack of noise from behind made her wonder if the ceremony started. Her steps halted and she looked up to see the full moon. It was not completely up, did Gideon start the ceremony early? The cheers erupted, and she understood that there was some speech going on.
Talia released a breath of relief. She still had time, but it was running short, and she needed to hurry. Luckily, the pull was strong, and she knew she was close.
Talia emerged to a clearing and was greeted by the clamor of water in the distance.
She paused to observe the surroundings and her breath hitched when she recognized where she was. It was the clearing where Alpha Jacob and Luna Violet were buried.
Talia smiled a little at the thought that Damon's parents will get to observe the ritual that will remove dark magic from their son.
Talia looked in the direction of the packhouse that was lower compared to the clearing where she was, and she could see torches with dancing flames marking the area around the raised platform where Gideon was with Mindy by his side. The tree canopies obstructed the view of the crowd, including the area where Damon was with Caden, Maya, and other guests, but Talia knew they were there.
She could feel the pride that swelled in Damon's chest as he fed on the energy from his pack members and Talia regretted that she was not by his side right there, for everyone to see. Somehow, again she ended up in the background, away from everyone's eyes. Normally, that would be the preferred spot for her, the one that didn't attract attention, but this time she wanted to be by Damon's side.
Talia forced herself to look away. This was temporary. After this, she will be with Damon and not hide ever again, hopefully. And for now, she needed to focus.
Talia could feel that she was at the right spot, and she reached into the small pouch to get the chalk and crystals. It was time to draw the diagram and to place energy-attracting objects on their right places.
"Can we help?", Keith asked when he saw that Talia was getting busy.
"Spread around and make sure no one disturbs me.", Talia responded, hoping that it sounded important enough. It was a silly request because no one would come here. Damon told Talia that this was one of the restricted areas in his territory, and she knew that they were able to come here only because the guards saw her, and they let them pass.
"Zina? What's the status?", Talia asked.
Zina's eyes lost focus for a moment and then she responded, "Shaman introduced Mindy as his mate, and she is officially a member of our pack. The Ceremony is about to begin."
Talia hummed in acknowledgment and continued pushing the grass to the side so that the chalk can make marks on the ground. When she was planning for this in her mind, Talia was doing the drawing on the flat ground, and she totally forgot that out here there will be grass and other foliage in the way. Luckily, it was in the clearing; if she needed to work around a tree, she would be in trouble.
James and Cornelia stood on the side and Cornelia observed the ceremony with interest.
Gideon addressed the crowd and then he raised his hands toward the moon as he chanted unintelligibly words she didn't understand, but Cornelia could clearly see that, little by little, the moon's energy was amplifying energy from the surroundings, and everything was converging toward the platform where Gideon and Mindy were standing with the altar in its center.
Cornelia wondered what will happen next.
After some time, Cornelia's attention was drawn to the black mist that appeared out of nowhere. It was difficult to see it in the dark, but Cornelia was sensitive to energies, and it took her a few seconds to identify Damon as the source.
She gave James' hand a squeeze.
"I think we might have a problem.", Cornelia said in a low voice.
"What?", James asked.
"The Shaman is gathering positive energy, and I think it's weakening the defenses that Damon has against black runes.", Cornelia explained to James, and then she reached to touch Maya's shoulder and get her attention.
"I think that black runes are getting active on your Alpha.", Cornelia told Maya.
Maya looked at Damon nervously. "Are you sure? What can we do?"
Cornelia was not sure. Even if the black runes were breaking through, it didn't mean that Damon was not remembering Talia or their plan. There was the potion to suppress the black runes, but if Damon remembered things, then he didn't need it, and if he forgot, then the problem was if they can make Damon drink it now in front of everyone. There was definitely no time to give him the potion sneakily, and forcing it on him was a suicidal mission. On the other side, Talia should be ready with the ritual any minute.
"Can you check on Talia's status? As long as we get Damon there, things should be fine.", Cornelia said.
'Zina? Where are you? Is Talia ready?', Maya asked Zina through the mind-link.
'Talia is still drawing, as for where we are... I'm not sure.', Zina responded. 'I was never here before. We are somewhere up, and I can see the torches that were set up for the ceremony.'
'Do you see any landmark?', Maya continued probing.
'It's dark. What do you expect me to see?'
Maya puffed her cheeks in frustration. That was not useful.
"What's going on?", Dawn asked in a whisper. She saw the exchange between Maya and Cornelia and even though she didn't hear what they were saying, she figured out that something was off.
Up at the clearing, Talia finished drawing the diagram and placing the crystals in their designated places.
After double-checking that everything looks in order, she kept things on the side and glanced in the distance toward the area that was illuminated by torches.
'Damon, I'm ready for you.', Talia spoke to Damon through their mind-link.
Silence.
'Damon?', Talia tried again.
She opened up her emotions in an attempt to reach him, only to hit a wall.
"Zina? What's the status at the ceremony?", Talia asked with haste.
"Ceremony is in progress. Cornelia says that she noticed negative energy radiating from Damon. Maya and Dawn are talking to Caden and trying to figure out what to do.", Zina responded after a few seconds.
Talia groaned in frustration. What timing! She needed to get Damon to where she was, but how can she do that? And assuming that she succeeds, how can she guarantee that Damon will stand in the magic circle obediently?
'You can reach him without the mind-link', Liseli spoke in Talia's mind. 'Remember? You were opening the portal and…'
'I remember.', Talia confirmed.
She closed her eyes and started feeling her surroundings. Little by little, outlines formed in her mind and she reached the clearing where the ceremony was held, and she could see in her mind the platform and Gideon and Mindy, and the flames, and there was Damon, shrouded in a dark mist.
"Damon", Talia called, and she could see that he jerked at the sound of her voice. "I am waiting for you."
"Who are you?", Damon asked, and Talia felt her heart tightening. He didn't remember her. Damn it!
"I am the girl you introduced to your parents.", Talia responded. "Maybe you don't remember me, but I remember. I know that you feel the emptiness because something important is missing. If you don't come here, you will regret it."
"Are you threatening me?"
"No. I am begging you not to repeat the same mistake of abandoning me and then kicking yourself when you remember."
She could see that Damon hesitated for a second, but then he moved in quick steps. Maybe he remembered, at least a little bit.
"Zina", Talia called. "Ask James, Cornelia, George, and Dawn to come here. We might need them."
Talia squeezed her hands into fists nervously while looking in the direction of the torches. Damon will reach her in a few minutes and for the first time, she really didn't know what to expect.
