Page 43

“No. I think Mazvyn has a damn good reason why he’s waiting,” I say, shaking my head. “Leli cares about Lilith beyond just doing her job.”

“I’m sure she does. You’d need to when you dedicate yourself like she has.”

“Oh, Mazvyn said if you shift, don’t fly out over the water. They have some barrier up, and I’m assuming it’ll fucking suck for you if you hit it.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s some sort of protection spell,” he says. “I’ll keep it to land.”

“What happened to the guard?” I ask.

“His name was Bertolf. He admitted to doing it, then Callum face-fucked him with a dildo gag. I slit his throat and let the creature come up, then pushed him in,” Daemon says casually.

“Well then, I guess that solves that,” I laugh.

“We are in for a shit storm,” Daemon says after a second.

“Yeah… Whatever is coming isn’t going to be pretty,” I agree.

Chapter Twelve

Lilith

Six Days Later

Thelastsixdayswe have been doing nothing but training. The guys have been taking turns being with Leli and me at the library. I thought they would get bored, but they seem to enjoy watching us. They encourage me every step of the way with every spell I try. Leli always seems to be tired during the day, but it doesn’t seem to stop her.

The only thing I have struggled with so far is shifting into a fox. I feel like I’m almost there, but then nothing happens. She keeps saying I’m psyching myself out and it’s blocking the magic, but I don’t know how to shut that off. That’s all I have been working on today in case I have any reason to shift tomorrow. We don’t want to run into a situation where I get discovered at the crowning.

“Why is this so hard?” I complain.

“Because you are making it hard,” Leli says. “Just focus and clear your mind. Once you shift the first time, it won’t be hard going forward. It will become second nature.” We are standing outside the library, and the guys are standing off to one side watching.

“If I can’t shift and…”

“Stop it,” she says. “Stop worrying. You will get it. If you have to shift tomorrow, you will. No one will figure it out. Close your eyes and focus. When it hits you, just breathe through the pain.”

I sigh heavily and close my eyes. I focus on the movement of my breath. I let everything around me disappear. I focus on my body from my head to my skin to my feet touching the ground. As I exhale, something shifts inside of me. Pain sears through my body as I feel my bones breaking as they rearrange themselves. I try to breathe through the intense pain, but small whimpers escape me as the feeling of being crushed takes over. I can feel my fingers shorten as soft white fur grows.

All of a sudden, the pain disappears. I open my eyes. My view is vastly different. Everything seems much bigger. A flash of white catches my attention, and I turn myself around to find it. It takes me a few turns to realize that I have a tail, but I go one more turn and catch it in my mouth as I roll myself. I feel elated in this form. I forget others are around until I hear Leli giggle at me rolling around. I get up and shake the leaves out of my fur. I feel free, and it’s giving me so much energy.

I yip and jump straight up but come crashing down on my face and Daemon laughs heartily. “This is just too fucking cute,” he says as he picks me up from the ground. His scent overwhelms me, and he smells delicious. Callum and Kael get closer, and they smell just as intoxicating.

“You are so soft and fluffy,” Callum says as he pets me. I start to purr when they are all petting me and giving me chin scratches. I roll in his arms, and Daemon smiles brightly and scratches my belly. I am in heaven with them fawning over me.

“Such a cute little thing,” Callum says. “It’s not even shocking that she’s this tiny.”

“Yeah, I kind of thought that she’d be small. This is fucking adorable though,” Leli says as she pets me.

“Yeah, this form is not for fighting,” Kael laughs as Daemon sets me down. I focus on shifting back, and my body goes back to normal with far less pain and less effort.

“That was fucking amazing,” I say with a bright smile as Daemon hands me my dress. I pull it on and Kael kisses me.

“That was the cutest thing I have ever seen,” Kael says.

“We’re proud of you,” Daemon says as he hugs me.

“Thank you. You guys have been very patient with all of my complaining,” I say.

“It’s hard when you get in your own head,” Callum says. He kisses me when I pull away from Daemon.