Page 47 of Tempest

Ore laughed delightedly, throwing his head back and releasing a sharp call of wildness into the darkness. He tipped his chin back down and met Cash’s gaze. “Goddess, that wasexhilarating. I haven’t dropped that fast in years. The last time was probably when I?—”

His dark eyes widened with shock, and Cash’s stomach tightened, the wonderment of the moment seeping away.

This was it. Time was up.

“You’re starting to remember things.”

Chapter 13

Cash

“Are you sure this is safe? What kind of risks are we looking at?”

Fern rolled her eyes at him. “Your sweet little birdie is perfectly safe in my very capable hands. But I needsilence. Go wait in the other room with Liam, please.”

She shooed him away, herding him with her hands and body and not actually giving him a choice. He backed out slowly, keeping his eyes on Ore for as long as possible. He didn’t like the idea of leaving him alone. Things were unsettled between them, and hehatedit, his panther getting even more possessive. It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted him to start getting his memories back, but he wasn’t ready. They’d been living in a bubble, neither one bringing up the future or talking about a plan, and now they were out of time.

His bird smiled at him. “It’s going to be fine.”

He even sounded like he believed it, but there was a thread of uneasiness in his scent that matched Cash’s own. For better or for worse, with Fern’s help, they were hopefully going to be getting Ore’s full memory back. No more waiting. No morelimbo where they played house together, ignoring the fact that everything was going to come crashing down eventually.

He closed the door behind him when Fern cleared her throat loudly. As soon as he did, he couldn’t hear a single thing through it, not even their heartbeats. Scowling, he eyed the solid wood etched with runes. Sound blockers.

The room on the other side was half greenhouse, half meeting space their tiny coven used on the back side of Fern’s house. He understood the need for privacy, but he didn’t like not being able to at least hear if Ore called him for help. If he was in there with basically anyone other than the most powerful witch he knew, he’d storm back in and drag him out.

Cash took a couple of deep breaths to try and calm his panther and then made his way back to the front of the house, where Liam and Saint were both waiting in the living room. Liam because he wanted to know as soon as Ore remembered what had happened to him. And Saint because… Well, as he put it, it was his job as Cash’s best friend to be there for himduring hard times.

While he appreciated the sentiment, he didn’t like the fact Saint was anticipating the worst.

He looked between the two of them where they sat on opposite ends of Fern’s couch, both with their phones in their hands. He could tell from the way Liam was frowning that he was reading his emails, whereas Saint was grinning and tapping at the screen manically. Definitely playing a game.

“She said it might be a while,” Cash let them know, lowering himself into a recliner near Saint. Fern had warned him and Ore that the process could be lengthy, depending on how much rebuilding Ore’s brain had done on its own.

That’s what she called it: rebuilding the bridge. She said she might have to do more work if it wasn’t sturdy enough. He didn’t really understand what that meant, but considering he barelyunderstood half the things she did with magic, he didn’t argue with her. He just prayed that once they finally knew the truth, it wouldn’t devastate him and his little bird.

Hours passed without a single peep or sighting of Fern or Ore. At one point, one of Fern’s mates, Matt, came into the room and offered them beverages and snacks, insisting on bringing them at least water when they all declined.

Every twenty minutes or so, Cash would get up and pace for a while until Liam growled at him in annoyance, and then he’d sit back down. He didn’t take it personally. Saint couldn’t stop fidgeting either—though for a different reason than Cash’s anxiousness. He just couldn’t handle sitting still for too long.

Cash wished he was in the room with Ore, maybe holding his hand or talking to him if he got scared, but Fern had made it very clear she needed to be able to completely concentrate if they didn’t want her to possibly fuck up his brain. Which he definitely didnotwant. He wanted his little bird exactly the way that he was: sweet and loving and perfectly filthy.

“This is ridiculous,” Saint finally said, almost three hours in. “How long can this possibly take? What is she doing to him back there?”

Cash shrugged. “Rebuilding the bridge.”

Saint narrowed his eyes at him, like he wasn’t sure if Cash was fucking with him or not. “I don’t even know what that means.”

“It means be patient,” Liam cut in, typing something on his phone. “If anyone can do this, it’s Fern.”

Grunting, Saint sagged back against the couch, drumming his fingers on his thighs a second later.

Cash had to agree with Liam. She was not only powerful but clever, constantly coming up with new ways to do things to help their pack. When Jorge had first come across the idea of magically infused tattoos, she had helped him with theformula until he could start testing. Whenever he got stuck on something, she was the first person he turned to.

Cash glanced down at the symbol just below the inside of his left elbow. It was glowing faintly like it always did, but it was one he never used and prayed he’d never need to.

The others came in handy sometimes, even if just for fun with the cubs. There was a just beneath his collarbone that silenced his footsteps. He used it when he was pretend stalking the cubs through the woods, teaching them to use not just their ears but their eyes and noses.

Another could give him a boost of strength temporarily. And one on his thigh, that hurt like a bitch when he activated it, increased his healing capabilities—but at a price. That one left him exhausted after he used it, his body becoming whole but then passing out for twelve hours afterward.

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