Page 6 of Woven Souls

“I know, Kwil. I brought her up the moment I realized I was going about this the wrong way.” He squeezes his eyes shut, his nostrils flaring. When he composes himself, Theo opens his eyes and adds, “You can’t try to run off again, Kwil. She’s not doing well. Willow needs to be here with all of us.”

My hands curl up at my sides as I glare at him.

I want to point out that she wouldn’t have run if he hadn’t stabbed her. It sits on the tip of my tongue, ready to be slung at Theo. But I let it die before it slips out. It takes a few minutes, but I manage to wrangle my anger down until it’s manageable.

“Let me go to her.”

Theo nods as he lets his hand drop away from the door. He says Willow isn’t doing well, but he looks pretty sick himself. For the past week, he’s been beating himself up. Fasting, refusing to sleep… It’s all catching up to him.

“You said this house is protected?” I ask him.

Theo nods. “It’s spelled to muffle all magic inside and keep spells out. Monsters and demons should leave us alone as long as Willow stays inside.”

“Good. Then go get some sleep. You look like shit.”

I fling the door open and head to the next room. When I enter, Jonah is sitting up in bed beside Willow. He stiffens, and his tail twitches beside him as his eyes fly towards me.

Jaw clenching, Jonah asks, “What do you want?”

I raise my hand up in surrender. “I want to be here to help with Willow’s recovery.”

“You sure it’s not to spy on us?” he counters. “Or to guard us to make sure we’re not going to slip away?”

My eyes flicker towards Willow’s body. She doesn’t lift her head, but I know she’s awake. Jonah’s hand lands on her back as he glares at me. I work hard to not let it bother me. For whatever reason, I’m struggling with him touching Willow. Since seeing them on the street together, running away fromme, the monster I’ve become feels the need to claim her as ours.

He’s taking care of her, I remind myself.

She’s ours,the voice in my head whispers back with barely suppressed anger. I bite my tongue, hoping that reply doesn’t slip out unintentionally. I’ll deal with this jealousy later.

“I’m no spy.” I scowl. “And if you decide to slip away, I want to come with you.”

Jonah hesitates. I can see his body tense as he considers it.

With a sigh, Jonah finally caves. He moves off the bed and says, “Fine, but if you touch her other than tohelp—”

“I get it.”

As much as the monster protests Jonah’s hovering,Iappreciate that Willow has at least one person truly looking out for her in all of this mess.

I move towards the bed.

Something slams against the bedroom window. I jump before sliding into a crouch with a snarl.

“Relax. Willow said it’s just spirits that have been hanging around the house for the past few years.” Jonah glares at the window. “If you guys could give it a break for liketen minutes, that would be great!”

I stare at the window as it rattles in response. It cuts off a few seconds later.

“What do they want?”

I straighten out of my crouch, but my body is wired with nervous energy.

“To talk to Willow of course, what else?” He walks over to the window and peers out of it. “According to her, they can’t come in for some reason.”

Ah, this I have an answer for.

“The house is warded against all types of stuff. They’re probably affected by some of the spells.”

I walk around the bed and take the place that Jonah left warm. The man glares at me.