Page 105 of Amidst the Insidious Courts
“Savage?” I blink. “But… why would he…?”
Before I can think through the answer to my question, Lore and Jaro reappear. The shifter is naked but uncaring as he searches me out.
“It was nothing,” he says quickly. “Just a little hiccough.”
Biting my lip, I frown at the gash still weeping blood across his side. “And that wound?”
“Persuasion,” Lore singsongs. “Wolfie needs to learn that my knives are bigger than his teeth.”
He… stabbed Jaro? My displeasure thrums along the bond.
“It was nothing,” the shifter assures me. “We both lived.”
I let it go but do my best to express with my eyes just how little I like them fighting. I’m not sure if it works, but I can hope, right?
Thirty-Two
Jaromir
“You’ve got to tell her,” Bram says, leaning against the wall of the dimly lit cargo hold.
All of us have snuck down here while Kitarni is keeping Rose occupied with reading practice. I don’t like it, but Bram was right; if I’m going to be a liability, the rest of the Guard should know. When I went to the fox shifter for his advice, I hoped he would help me avoid this, but here we are.
“Tell her what?” Drystan asks, eyes narrowing.
“Wolfie lost control of his wolfie,” Lore singsongs, the lamplight glinting off his white hair. “And the foxie can’t fix it. Luckily, I’m a qualified wolf wrangler.”
“My wolf is feral.” It feels like an admission of failure and vulnerability all at the same time.
Ever since Rose charmed me and made me shift back, he’s been battering the walls of my mind. The playful, puppy-like creature who’s been part of my psyche for so long is gone, destroyed by visions he couldn’t understand. I’ve lost my best friend, and in his place is this wounded, terrified animal that just wants to rage and kill everything he sees.
The bond between us is warped. Nothing I do can get through to him.
“And her fear is a trigger.” Bram shifts closer to me, his posture supportive even though the words are grim.
“Fix it,” Drystan snaps. “We already have two unstable Guards—”
He cuts off as Bree’s ears flatten on his head, and my chin dips as I cringe in second-hand embarrassment. Damned unseelie never mince words, do they?
“Why thank you,” Lore beams like the insult is actually a compliment.
The winter lord pinches the bridge of his nose. “You know what I mean. He’s the best equipped to protect her with his magic. If he’s off tearing chunks out of everyone he sees, she’s vulnerable.”
I slump down to sit on the crate and let my head fall into my hands. “I can’t fix it. I don’t know how. I thought Bram might but…”
“But my fox was never feral,” Bram finishes for me. “I retreated into it to survive, but the animal was sane the entire time. Jaro’s case is different.”
“Every other feral shifter in history has been put down before they could become a danger to the populace.” Drystan apparently feels the need to state the obvious. “You can’t die.”
“Which leaves eternal imprisonment as our only solution.” My fingernails dig into my scalp, drawing blood before I realise that they’ve part-shifted to my claws.
“But feral shifters are only put down because they never shift back.” Bram pushes his spectacles up his nose and brushes silvery strands of his own fur from his jerkin. “Jaro did. He’s already in uncharted territory. No one except a Nicnevin could’ve forced him to return to his fae form.”
“You want to rely on her gift to keep him from shifting? She’ll never agree to it.”
“Just as a last resort,” Bram continues to outline his idea. “Lore can force him to shift back by knocking out the wolf, but that’s unnecessarily traumatic for the beast. Imprisoning it forever will only make it worse. From my own experience, and everything I’ve read about shifters with traumatised animals, it needs to feel safe. In Jaro’s case, it may even be helpful for it to interact with Rose, to remember its mate is still alive. If he gets out of hand, Rose charms him into shifting back.”
“You honestly think that will work?” Bree is asking me rather than Bram.
