Page 167 of Shifting Hearts 1
I handed him a rag and poured him black tea laced with willow bark and nettle. He drank without bothering to ask what was in it.
Smart man.
Or maybe he was just too tired to care.
We sat in silence for a time. Him watching me like I might disappear. Me watching him like he might bite—which in truth he might.
Eventually, though, he broke it. “You have my fang.” A simple statement. No malice, maybe a hint of confusion, but otherwise calm.
“You had my tooth,” I returned, slightly less calm. More panic. I didn’t understand why, and I wanted to,neededto.
His lips curled at that. Not a smile, not quite… not with teeth bared. His wolf was close.
“Fate’s funny like that,” he said.
“No,” I said. “Fate’s cruel. There’s a difference.”
He looked down at the stitched wound, flexed his fingers, and winced. “You saved me.”
I shrugged. “I was curious.”
“You stitched me with your hair,” he said. His tone was a mix of awe and accusation, as though he couldn’t quite decide whether to worship me or curse me.
“And you bled on my altar,” I deadpanned.
Another beat of silence passed. The air was thick with all manner of unspoken things.
“What are you?” he asked finally.
“Half bone-witch,” I said. “Half dark fey.”
His eyes darkened. “That explains the teeth.”
“And the dreams, and the death.”
He nodded slowly. “You feel it too, don’t you? The thread binding us together.”
I hesitated, just for a moment. The truth lodged like a shard between my ribs, one I wasn’t sure I should voice but did, anyway. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we’re fated. It could still change.”
“You sure about that?” he asked. It felt almost like a challenge. One I wasn’t sure I wanted to pick up. So, I chose truth… again.
With a shake of my head, I looked him dead in the eye and said. “No.”
He slept again before dawn, this time in my bed, body wrapped in old quilts and spells of protection.
I sat beside the hearth, staring at the fang in my palm.
Still pulsing.
Still tethered.
I could burn it. Snap the thread. Sever the bond. There were rituals for that. Costly ones. Bloody ones, but as I stared into the flame, I knew I wouldn’t, because whatever Brannan was… whatever was chasing him… it was bigger than just him.
Fate hadn’t found me by accident.
It never did.
And deep down, in the part of me that still listened to bones and shadows and dreams…
