Page 34 of Witchbane
“Liam?” Shouldn’t this have released? Maybe I had to be awake for it? Or was I still stuck? Unable to release the kitsune? The creature moving around, that amount of power inside, was like having a bowling ball rolling around my guts. I knew it couldn’t be physical, yet it certainly felt real enough.
“Breathe, baby.”
“What if I can’t let it out?” The power would tear me apart.
“We will figure it out.”
I let those words process.Wenot me, not him,we.They churned for a few minutes, not really making sense, but ringing true. Liam wasn’t going anywhere. No matter what happened. If he had the chance to stay with me, he would. I wasn’t alone. “The last time I was here I called monsters to me. Ate them.” And that was it, wasn’t it? Those monsters, or at least the energy of them, were stuck inside me, churning, fighting and clawing their way to freedom, and I was nothing but a vessel on the verge of cracking.
“But you’re already overfull,” Liam reminded me. “The magic side of you.”
Was I? Deep down in the place the kitsune raged, it didn’t feel that way. I felt ravenous, and brimming with something all at once. The forest god said I was about to pop. I sort of felt that way. Teetering on the edge of too much while needing something else.
“Liam…” How could I begin to explain?
He held me fiercely close and kisses rained over my face again. “You and I are fated to be together. Do you think it was for such a short time?”
“Fate can be cruel,” I pointed out.
“Yes,” he agreed. “However, I think it wants something from us. Something we haven’t quite figured out yet.”
“I wish it would give us a damn memo already.”
He chuckled, squeezing me tight for a second, and rocking me gently. Thankfully, nestled safely in his arms, the level of panic didn’t overwhelm me. A cool breeze of calm helped keep it level. Because Liam said we would work it out, I believed him. There was a magic in sharing worries with someone that during my years alone I could never have fathomed.
“Where are we?”
“The sign didn’t have a name. The instructions said to stay near the fire until someone comes.”
“Sign?”
“It’s written in a dozen languages, posted outside this little village or whatever. There wasn’t much standing other than this hut.” Liam let out a long breath as though worried to share, but he continued, “I’m not sure I’ll be much help to you here,” he admitted.
“Why?” I couldn’t imagine not needing him.
He looked at his hands as if they were foreign to him. “I’m human here.”
Human? “You mean your wolf is gone?”
Liam nodded. “I can’t feel it. Or the pack. And when we crossed over, I was tired, and I could barely carry you. I should be able to carry you forever. It’s not like you weigh much.” He glared at the door. “There’s smoke outside. Choking, terrible smoke, like the world is on fire. I couldn’t breathe. If not for the sign… I’m not sure we would have made it.”
I struggled to my feet, tired but needing to see for myself. Liam helped me up, though he kept a distance behind me as I opened the door. The world outside blazed. A true orange and whipping gray of smoke, heat, and flames. And they were close. The tiny cottage would have already been engulfed by flames if not for the swirling edge of magic holding it all back. A ward or some sort of spell, it had to be. I couldn’t see any distinct lines or patterns to create it.
I glanced back at the fire, remembering Nick’s fire. It had been the core of the ward to keep the village out of notice from the monsters. Maybe this worked for the wildfire too? Some fae magic?
And here in Underhill, Liam was human. Completely without his shifter strength. How was that even possible? Nick said werewolves had come through before and been unable to enter his village. Maybe it was a part of the ward? A change to allow shifters to enter the sanctuaries?
I shut the door and stared into the fire, pulling Liam close. We would figure it out; I wasn’t willing to give up yet.
“My wards feel amateur to whatever this is,” I said after a moment, waving my hand at the room.
“Your wards are amazing. This is something else… I’m not sure how to explain.”
“You can feel the magic?”
“I feel something? Safe, mostly. A sense of calm that I know isn’t mine. Like something telling me to be calm.” He looked around the room like he expected a trap. It was a very wolf-like motion, searching for danger. But he’d lived long enough to be wary.
“No wolf?” I said quietly.
