Page 47 of Whisker me Away
"It's a fact. We have seven days to solve this problem, and we will. But we don't need bureaucrats making it harder by destroying what little confidence my mate has left."
Director Hayes glanced between them with new understanding. "Ah. Mates. That explains the protective posturing." She closed her tablet with a decisive snap. "Very well. Seven days, Miss Bloom. Contain the corruption, reverse the environmental damage, and prove this won't happen again. Fail, and Hollow Oak becomes a cautionary tale in our training manuals."
She left as abruptly as she'd arrived, taking the cottage's warmth with her. Kieran watched until her official vehicledisappeared down the road, then turned to find Freya staring at the floor with defeat written across every line of her body.
"Maybe she's right," Freya said finally. "Maybe we should accept the quarantine. At least then I can't make things worse for anyone else."
"Like hell." Kieran sat beside her on the couch, his voice fierce with conviction. "You don't get to give up on our home because some government suit wants to play it safe."
"I'm not giving up. I'm being realistic." Freya's voice was hollow, empty of her usual fire. "Look around, Kieran. Look at what my magic did to everything I was supposed to protect. Maybe containing the damage is the best I can do."
"That's not you talking. That's fear and guilt and three days of magical trauma." Kieran caught her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. "The Freya I know would fight for every flower, every tree, every person in this town. She wouldn't roll over and let bureaucrats decide her family's legacy was too dangerous to continue."
"What if they're right, though? What if I am too dangerous?"
"Then we figure out how to make you safe again." Kieran's voice carried absolute certainty. "As partners. Like we promised."
For a moment, hope flickered. Then it died, replaced by resignation that made his heart ache.
"I'm broken, Kieran. My magic kills instead of heals, I've destroyed half our town, and I don't even know how to begin fixing any of it." Her voice cracked with exhaustion. "Maybe it's time to admit I'm not strong enough for this."
Kieran stared at his mate, seeing the woman who'd always been too stubborn to quit reduced to hollow defeat, and felt something fundamental shift in his chest. If Freya had given up hope, then he'd have to carry enough for both of them.
"Fine," he said, standing abruptly. "If you won't fight for our future, I will. Stay here and feel sorry for yourself if that's what you need. But I'm going to find answers, whether you help or not."
The harsh words made Freya look up with surprise and hurt. Good. Hurt was better than empty resignation.
"Where are you going?"
"To see what Edgar found about incomplete mate bonds. To research alternative binding methods. To talk to every magical practitioner in three counties if that's what it takes." Kieran moved toward the door, his tiger pacing with renewed purpose. "Someone has to fight for Hollow Oak, and if you're not ready to do it, then I'll do it alone."
"Kieran, wait..."
But he was already gone, leaving her to sit with his challenge echoing in the cottage's sudden silence. Sometimes love meant gentle comfort, and sometimes it meant refusing to let the person you cared about destroy themselves with self-pity.
Freya could give up on herself if she wanted. But he'd be damned if he let her give up on them.
.
25
FREYA
Kieran's harsh words echoed in the cottage's sudden silence, and Freya sat staring at the closed door for several minutes before his challenge fully sank in. He was right. She was wallowing in self-pity while their home faced destruction, letting fear and guilt paralyze her when action was what Hollow Oak needed.
But the thought of attempting another ritual, of risking more catastrophic failure, made her stomach clench with terror.
She spent the afternoon pacing her cottage like a caged animal, her magic sparking erratically with every emotional surge. Two more of Maizy's plants withered at her touch, and by evening she was afraid to go near anything living. The corruption inside her felt like poison, turning her healing gift into something toxic and wrong.
Sleep brought no relief. The moment she closed her eyes, nightmares crashed over her like black tide.
She stood in the center of Hollow Oak's town square, watching corruption spread outward from her feet like spilled ink. The Griddle & Grind Café crumbled as twisted vines consumed its cheerful facade. The Hearth & Hollow Inncollapsed into blackened timbers while Miriam's screams echoed from within. Moonmirror Lake boiled with toxic foam that killed everything it touched.
"This is what happens when guardians fail," the Thornweaver whispered from everywhere and nowhere, its voice like rustling dead leaves. "This is what you've brought upon them with your weakness."
Maizy fell to her knees as corruption ate through her fae-touched magic, her pointed ears wilting like flower petals. The Tansley brothers tried to run but the spreading blight caught them, turning their knowledge and wisdom to ash. One by one, everyone she loved succumbed to the evil she'd failed to contain.
"You could have stopped this," the ancient voice continued. "But you chose to play with healing herbs instead of learning real power. Chose to pretend you were strong enough when you're nothing but a frightened child."
