Page 132 of The Moonborn's Curse

She nodded. "I understand them. Always have."

He looked sideways at her. "Is it your gift?"

"One of them," she said. "The healing is a gift as well. But I gave up my Sight... and the ability to fuel Hagan. It was part of the deal."

He was silent for a moment, jaw tense.

"You should never have had to pay that price."

She shrugged. "Freedom has a cost."

They kept walking until they reached the boundary - a dirt path where Vargrheim ended and the unknown began.

There was another presence nearby.

Seren slowed, her eyes scanning the undergrowth. She didn't have to look far.

Brown eyes gleamed from between the trees. Her bear.

Human now.

Watching. Waiting.

Veyr tensed instinctively, shoulders rising in readiness.

"It's okay," Seren said softly. "He's a friend. He won't hurt you."

"He's been following us the whole way," Veyr murmured, frowning. "Doesn't feel like a friend."

"He's cautious. But loyal."

The bear-man remained in the shadows. Still. Alert. But he made no move to step forward.

Seren turned to Veyr. "Thank you. For helping me."

He looked at her for a long moment.

"You're not done," he said quietly.

"No," she agreed, smiling a sad smile of goodbye. " We'll meet again."

His expression didn't change, but something flickered behind his eyes.

He stepped closer, and bent his head slightly. "Take care, Little Lunara."

Seren smiled, eyes shining with unshed tears. "You haven't seen the last of me."

Behind her, a pair of headlights blinked on in the distance, cutting through the dark.

A car idled near the edge of the road.

Talis stepped out.

He'd grown taller. His shoulders broader. The awkward boy she knew was now a young man-dark eyes full of worry and fierce relief.

"You came," she breathed, examining hie new form.

He nodded; voice soft. His eyes swept over her like a physical touch. "I've been coming every night for a week. I didn't know what was happening. I just... kept hoping."

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