Page 3 of A Bloodline Redeemed

Aahil had come through his pain and trauma then.Slowly, but surely.And it hadn’t beenjustHasumi who helped.I had been there with him every step of the way.Me, and the others, in our own way.I watched as Zhong approached, looming over us for a moment before he sank down to his knees, folding his massive wings and lying down behind Aahil.

I expected the jinn to protest when the gargoyle spooned him from behind, wrapping a massive arm around both of us and pulling us close.But Aahil simply closed his eyes and let out a weak huff of fake displeasure that wasn’t fooling anyone.

“It’s okay, River,” Zhong rumbled, his deep voice barely more than a whisper.

It was only then that I realized there was another aura close by.I rolled over, my back to Aahil’s chest, he, Zhong, and me making a weird line of spoons.A couple of feet away, on the floor beside Aahil’s nest, was a long, sleek black jaguar.The cat stretched out on his belly and lay his head on his front paws, letting out a pathetic little mewl of sound that was shocking coming from such a majestic beast.

“What’s wrong?”I asked, frowning.I checked the urge to reach out for him, not knowing if I was dealing with a wounded animal, or a sad shifter.Then the stupidity of my question caught up with me.“I mean, besides… you know.”

He hadn’t known Hasumi for as long as we had.Didn’t have the deep bond with them that me and the others had.But still, I shouldn’t assume he wasn’t feeling the loss.

The cat’s captivating eyes closed, and the beast shuddered.

Zhong sighed.“He thinks it’s his fault.”

I paused for a moment as that sank in, my mushy, exhausted, pain-filled brain finally catching up.Then I sat up suddenly, pushing my damp hair back out of my face.

“So why are you here, then?”I snapped, a wave of anger overwhelming me.“We’re all here, alive and well, while Hasumi and Junaid are dead, and yet here you are, slinking around in my bedroom like a wounded animal.Either explain, or get the fuck out!”

Zhong and Aahil sat up too, and Zhong reached out to grip my shoulder as the jaguar winced and pressed himself even flatter to the floor.“Andy.Master.It’s not his fault.He saved your life.And…” He sighed again, as if his broad shoulders finally had too much weight to bear.“I think he’s stuck.”

Chapter 3

River

IhadexplainedtoZhong…and to the jinn, I supposed, since he was technically in the room at the time, though he hadn’t participated in the conversation atall.And yet, the two of them acted like nothing had changed.Zhong still treated me with calm kindness and gentle understanding.And Aahil still ignored me like I was a piece of furniture.Just like always.

I didn’t understand.I was used to being met with fury and questions.With all the reasons why I should have done something differently, as if anyone understood my powers and their limitations—the blessing and the curse—better than I did myself.

Their reactions were unusual.So, I hadn’t expected the witch to react the same way.I chose her life over that of her lover.Of course she would hate me.I should go back to Magea.Rejoin the rebels.Continue on with my life.But for some reason, I just couldn’t make myself leave.

Somewhere, some deep, instinctual, animal part of me apparently considered this strange group of people my family.My home.And while I knew I had done wrong and deserved to be punished… I still didn’t want to go anywhere else.

Stupid.I was a catperson.Not a dumb, pack-obsessed canine.My kind were powerful loners, content to range far and wide before returning to our family for a time, only to eventually long for the independence of a good gad-about again.I loved traveling.Gathering experiences and knowledge.Learning new things and seeing new places.Meeting new people.I would protect my family and my people to the death—as evidenced by my willingness to join the rebels in the first place.But I usually wasn’t soneedy.

I needed… I needed closeness.Belonging.I wanted to be stroked.To be loved.To sleep in a pile with these people in the sunshine.To bask in the way they let me be myself without more than a friendly passing joke.They didn’t care if I asked too many questions, or touched all of their things, or acted like an oversized pet when the mood took me.So maybe… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to stay with them.Maybe I wouldn’t feel the need to escape them like I did my other family, when their judgements got to be too much to bear.

But now I had gone and ruined it.

And on top of that, I had shifted to cat form against my will, and I couldn’t seem to fucking shift back.That hadn’t happened since I was a kid.It was embarrassing.

Andy’s concerned gray gaze landed on me and I let out a pathetic mewl.I felt like a failure.And an embarrassment.And apparently, my psyche wouldn’t let us leave this form.It was safer here.Where I couldn’t talk.Where the animal parts of me didn’t care about things like judgement or disappointment.But the human side of me kept breaking through, ruining the relief my shifted form offered.It was miserable.

Andy’s concern shifted to anger, and she shouted at me.Told me to leave.But she couldn’t make me leave if I didn’t want to.I was a jaguar.Strong.Fast.Dangerous.I would stay or go as I pleased.

I shuddered.I might be a shifter, but I wasn’t a cat.Not really.I was a person.And this was ridiculous.Sulking like a child.

I saw it all over and over again on replay.Every version of events that my time travel abilities allowed me.All the deaths.All the horrible ways it could have ended.And my mind landed on the final one.The version I chose.Where that beautiful, kind, caring water weaver wasvaporizedbefore my eyes.

I chose that.

I shook my head, running a paw over my face as if I could wipe away the images.Images that were joined by others.Other times I’d had to use my abilities to save people.Times I’d failed.Times I’d had to choose.

My thoughts were a tumbling, jumbled mess.Memories, regrets, weak bits of self-defense, yearning.By all the gods and goddesses and deities ever imagined, I just wanted to escape my own mind.I didn’t want to be River anymore.I wanted to be a jungle cat, lounging by a river, with no thoughts or cares other than the warm sun on my fur and what I would catch for lunch.

A hand touched my fur, and part of me wanted to rip it off.I wasn’t a house cat, I was wild thing.But the soft touch brought with it a familiar aura of earth and power.Growing things.The potential hidden in a tiny seed.Earth witch.My witch.

No.Notmywitch.Theirs.Andy.

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