Page 27 of Bear Protector
“What the hell, Kiera? You are late!” Coco whined.
“By what? Five minutes? Who cares,” she huffed.
“What got into you?” her familiar asked as she stripped off her clothes. Today, she only wore undergarments below her cloak.
“We need to talk when we get to my room.”
Coco studied her, reading her thoughts. She transformed into bird form. “It appears I do!” she squawked.
The three were quiet all the way home. Kiera dismissed Aleena for the day so she could give Coco a piece of her mind.
Coco had not yet taken on her human form, but Kiera could not wait this time. She was so enraged when they were finally alone, she shouted, “You betrayed me, Coco!”
Her familiar shifted and found her bathrobe hanging on the back of the door. “You are angry,” she deadpanned, sliding her arms into the robe as though it was commonplace for Kiera to raise her voice.
“What did you expect would happen when I found out? You had to have blocked me out of that part of your mind for years, and I didn’t even know it.”
“Wait one minute.” Coco faced the door, waving her hand as she uttered her go-to boundary spell so no one could hear them. “Don’t be mad. I had no choice.”
“I had a right to know!”
“Newsflash on a little tidbit, Kiera. In case you didn’t already realize, if you let your emotions get out of control, that boundary spell on the door won’t do a damn thing to stop the Chancellor from reading your thoughts. Because he won’t have to read your mind when your mouth is spewing everything out just fine!”
“Who the hell cares what he knows anymore. I have a week to live!”
“I do too!”
“Yes, but you found out and kept it from me for all this time.” Kiera sat on the side of her bed. “How could you keep something so big and ominous and horrific from me?”
“The Chancellor does not want any of the Chosen to know. Or their familiars. Do you really believe anyone would think it is such an honor to die for the sake of a stupid shifter transformation spell? You think witches would be lining up outside the fortress begging to be selected? Look outside your window. There are probably some waiting right now! That would not be the case if they knew the cost that comes along with being a Chosen.”
“That is not the point, Coco. I will deal with the big picture when I get to it. I’m talking about you and me right now.”
“So wait. Do you believe I would have come forward as your familiar and volunteered to fuckingdieafter living for over three hundred years?”
Kiera pondered that for a few moments. “Probably not. Why did you?”
“Because I did not know back then! Christ, you are daft!”
“Well, you obviously knew before I did. I had to learn this from Xander, of all people, andyoudid not tell me. Right now, we are discussing trust, or the lack of it…and our supposedly unbreakable bond. There is no bond or trust with this level of deception and betrayal. I don’t even know if I can forgive you.”
“Well, that is a big problem.”
“It does not matter anymore. We’ll be dead in a week.”
“We’ll be dead either way, but if our connection is not strong, there is absolutely no way in hell that we will complete the transformation spell.”
“What? Why not?”
“Do I have to spell it out?”
Kiera took a breath as she considered it. Then she remembered. “No. I understand. Trust between the Chosen and her familiar must be implicit,” she said, parroting one of the transformation preparation scrolls.
“Exactly.”
“Wait one second, Coco. Howdidyou find out? And when?”
“Do not be pissed.”
