Page 43 of Romancing the Orc

“You’re not missing much,” I mutter, unable to comprehend why humans love the bitter brew.

Holding her close, I swing my legs over the side of the hammock and stand. My magic flows outward, making the vines of our bed unwind and dismissing the plant barrier.

When I set Lara on her feet, she throws her arms over her head in a full-body stretch that tests the limits of the catsuit’s elasticity in the most delightful ways. Fuck. I love that catsuit.

I chop off the top of a couple of coconuts for breakfast, and we drink the faintly sweet water so that I can halve them to get at the meat. The feline fae refuses the offer of a coconut, saying he hunted for breakfast.

Lara gnaws on a cream-colored piece of nut, leaning forward on the log as she starts spreading photographs across the ground with her other hand.

“What are these?” Grey leans over to sniff one of the pictures and recoils, his nose scrunched. “They smell atrocious.”

“They’re pictures of a wall from the building at the center of the island,” Lara says. “The humans think this has something to do with a magical artifact of some kind.”

“I don’t remember seeing anything like this.” He sniffs. “The words don’t make any sense.”

“That’s because I can’t figure out how to put the pictures in the right order.” She picks up one and holds it up against a few different photos before dropping it back into its original spot. “I suck at puzzles.”

“Then allow me.” Grey shifts into his dual form so he can use the werepanther’s hands to move the photographs around. “If there’s one thing cat sith are good at, it’s riddles and puzzles.”

Lara and I watch as he plucks up several of the pictures and arranges them in the center of the space until they overlap into a cohesive whole. Then he works on their edges, adding the remaining photos in an outward spiral that grows until a wall forms.

“How did you do that so quickly?” Lara asks.

“You have to look at it as a whole instead of focusing so much on each individual piece.” He shrugs, the fur on his shoulders rippling with the movement.

“That’s High Fae, but it’s an ancient form.” I shake my head. “I only understand a few words.”

“I can’t read it either,” Grey admits.

“Really?” Lara’s lips purse as she leans over and eyes the pictures. “It looks normal to me.”

I brush my fingers over her cheek, her temple, feeling a telltale tingle. “You’re using magic. You’re a witch.”

“There are stories that being a witch runs in my family, but how can that be true?” My mate shakes her head, but amazement fills her eyes. “If I have magical powers, why haven’t I used them before? I studied the journal foryears.”

“When the doors of Faerie opened a few months ago, it let magic back into the human realm. Just a little at first, but it’s growing.” I grin at her. “You’ve been a witch your entire life, but you couldn’t use your powers until now.”

“So I have…” She flaps a hand toward the photos. “Translation magic?”

“You have command over the written word,” I say. “It seems fitting.”

“As lovely as debating magical theory is,Iwant to know what’s special about this building,” Grey says.

“On it.” Lara leans over the photographs and reads:

“The Door of Dreams will transport you to where your heart most desires.

“Yet heed my warning, eager traveler. Do not assume to know where you will land. For the Door of Dreams follows the dictates of your heart, even if they are hidden from you.

“You cannot fool the Door of Dreams.

“You cannot cajole it.

“And most especially, you cannot walk back through it.

“This trip is in only one direction. Make certain you can live with the consequences.”

“The Door of Dreams,” I say. “I’ve heard of that.”

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