Page 34 of Charmed

“I’m fine.” Embarrassment choked my squeaky response.

He released a whooshing breath of relief. “I’m so glad.”

He rested me on his shoulder. No perch had ever felt so dangerous; it had been one thing to perch on his clothed shoulder as I had the last time he’d positioned me here, and quite another to have direct contact with his bare skin. I could feel the muscles in his shoulders beneath my webbed feet, which only deepened my awareness of his toned physique I’d already failed to ignore by sight.

“Do you…train?” The ridiculous question escaped of its own accord, my frog timbre breathless.

He shrugged, a movement which required me to tighten my precarious hold on him to avoid sliding off. “Only with the sword.”

I could feel every one of these muscles in his shoulder. Despite my new body’s ability to regulate its temperature to my surroundings, heat flooded over me as the warmth of his skin seeped deeper into mine, enveloping me until I felt I was on fire.

Why was I more aware of him as a frog than as a human? It wasn’t as if I hadn’t noticed his dashingly good looks before, nor was he the first man I’d ever found attractive…though I’d always been too busy to pay the local boys as much attention as I wished, especially as my home’s remote location had hampered building close relationships with the others in my village.

There were no distractions now. Uncovering the prince’s mask to glimpse his weaknesses and vulnerabilities had only drawn me to him more strongly than before, particularly after the kindness he’d already exhibited. A strange fluttering filled me, as if I’d swallowed several flies that were still buzzing frantically around.

I needed to get away, a separation that I hoped would help me regain some semblance of sense. When Alden eventually finished his bath and moved towards the reedy shoreline, I made a wild leap from his shoulder onto the bank.

He paused. “Mae—”

“I’ll return in a moment.”

I hopped through the camp, head swiveling frantically as I looked for a place to hide…not so much to avoid his notice as to keep myself from noticing him. I didn’t relax until I’d put some distance between us, though it took even longer for all the tension to melt away and my frantic heartbeat to settle. Finally I concealed myself behind a thick tree, waiting long enough to be assured that he was once more completely clothed.

Why was I reacting in such a ridiculous way? It wasn’t as if I’d never seen a man’s chest before—I’d often seen my younger brother’s when I tended him, Father’s whenever he’d worked outdoors in the heat of summer, and occasionally some of the men from the village. Yet I’d never become so flustered.

Alden had aggravated me from the moment we’d met…yet he’d also helped me discover my powers, excited my curiosity, sated my thirst for knowledge, and helped me with his usual patience. We’d become more than master and apprentice—we were friends, even as my reaction toed the line between friendship and…something else I was too terrified to consider, especially while I remained trapped in the body of an amphibian with no certainty of restoration.

My perplexing thoughts were abruptly interrupted as I sensed something ahead beneath the darkness deep in the direction opposite where I’d left Alden. The air shifted, similar to when the sun became eclipsed by a cold shadow. A feeling stirred the air to caress the muscle I was developing the more attuned I became with my magical senses.

Something was in the trees, and by the almost sinister feeling that shrouded the air, it most certainly was a foe.

CHAPTER11

The sinister presence caused my entire body to stiffen with the urgency to take shelter, an instinct undoubtedly an innate part of my frog form to protect me from predators…yet my lingering human inclination nudged me to investigate, drawn by curiosity and a need to discover anything that might prove useful for Alden.

I closed my eyes in order to better focus all my senses on the sounds filling the forest. I carefully sorted through each layer—the rustling branches, the hoot of a nearby owl, the chirping music from the crickets, the rush of a nearby stream—in hopes of gathering a clue…until I sensed an unsettlingsilencethat didn’t belong amongst the others, as if my powers had attuned me to something I normally wouldn’t be able to hear with either human or animal senses.

This strange, unnerving presence not only filled the night but seemed to entirely consume it…expanding to gradually dull the other senses until they scarcely remained. This presence curled itself around me, forcing me to open my eyes…only for me to see nothing. Gone were the details my vision was able to detect even beneath the starry night; I was met with pure darkness, as if something had smothered out all light until none remained.

Fear caused my heart to flare. I wanted to escape this sensation, but this presence had not only eclipsed all light but consumed my ability to move, paralyzing me. Darkness hovered over my senses, engulfing me in a blackness so thick I could almost feel its suffocating presence.

For an agonizingly long moment, panic reigned, but I forced myself to still my breathing just enough for a semblance of calm to return. As my head cleared, I began to analyze my surroundings as best I could with the ominous feeling choking the air. I’d never experienced a darkness such as this—it felt almostalive, possessing an energy that reached beyond my senses to touch my powers.

Before I could study this strange sensation, something suddenly brushed against my body—not the unsettling coldness but a gentle touch that was achingly familiar. My suppressed sight had made it impossible to navigate my way through this dark labyrinth, but it’d undoubtedly been even more difficult for Alden relying on his weaker human senses…yet he’d found me all the same. Warmth expanded from my heart at the thought he’d come looking for me, dissipating some of the sinister chill.

“How did you find me?” The strange magic surrounding us muffled my whisper so I was unsure whether Alden had been able to hear me. Though I couldn’t see the movement, I sensed him lean down, his hand hovering over me like a shield.

“I noticed you missing so followed your magic.”

He certainly went quite out of his way for a mere frog. The thought made me far happier than it should. “What is this?” I asked.

“Dark magic. We have to leave. Now.”

He carefully picked me up and cradled me close as he began inching his way backwards out of the woods to return to the clearing.

The thick, immersive darkness seemed to stretch forever around us, but eventually we emerged just enough to be able to see again—the halo of pines and the flicker of Alden’s fire glimmered faintly in the distance. He would be able to move more quickly now that he didn’t have to rely on his magical sight, which would allow us to create a portal and escape far away from this mysterious presence.

He suddenly stilled as the darkness shifted—not to reach its black fingers to curl around us and swallow us back up, but stirring purposefully, gradually forming not a thick cloud but an actual human shape. The limbs appeared first, allowing this being to stand, followed by a torso and eventually his head. Even with his features shadowed, we were somehow able to see a handsome man with flowing black hair, dark eyes, and a stoic countenance that possessed an emotionless air.

---