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When his eyelids fluttered open, she found herself staring into familiar indigo orbs, pupil and all.

Alistair reached up to her face, the webbing and claws gone. His brow furrowed before he lifted his head off the sand and looked down.

Niera followed his gaze.

And gasped, jerking around and squeezing her eyes shut.

Alistair laughed, his hand on her arm. “I would have warned you if I realized what had happened. We don’t keep pants in our wardrobes.”

“Apparently,” she squeaked.

Holly released a strange sound she swore sounded like a laugh.“You got yourself a good one, Niera.”

“Ooh, you sly little feline.” She scooped the cat up and tucked her against her chest. “You can’t whip up some pants, can you?”

“Do I look like a magician?”

“Whenever you cats are around, things go crazy,” Alistair said, scanning the beach. “What was the difference this full moon? Care to share?”

Holly purred as Niera scratched her head.“You hadn’t crossed paths with Niera yet. You couldn’t leave until that happened.”

“She said we had to cross paths before you could leave.” She placed Holly on her lap and shimmied out of her jacket. “Here. It’s not much, but it should cover your parts until we can get you home.”

Alistair caught her hand as she held out the jacket. She looked at him, her face on fire. Nothing could distract her from the love in his eyes, an emotion that resonated deep in her marrow.

“I don’t know how to explain this”—he jutted his chin to his legs—“but I’m not taking a thing for granted. Come home with me. Stay with me from here on out. We’ll figure something out to counter the spell on you, but this, all of this, brought us together. Wishes, magic, curses, spells. We got through it together.”

Niera reached over and slung her arms around Alistair’s neck.

“You’re right. We did this together, and together we’ll be.”