Page 8

Chapter 8

Andy

I stood in the back courtyard next to my chaotic, unstable portal, waiting for River and Bis to return.

The shifter’s insistence on going back to Magea just for some silly sentimental memento was a ridiculous risk. But to make matters worse, when Hibiscus found out what we were doing, he threw an absolute fit. The little guy was still pissed at me for not letting him come out with us when Bella summoned us into danger. He had begged to go with us this last time and I told him no in no uncertain terms. Turns out I was right to deny his wishes, cold comfort though it was, since one of us had died on that particular cursed outing. For all I knew, we could have lost Bis and Hasumi if I’d let him come with us.

But this time, when he crossed his little arms and stomped his little foot, insisting that he wasn’t going to let River go back to Magea alone… well, Aahil is right to constantly accuse me of being stupidly soft. Bis had been curled up in a prickly ball of grief ever since we came back without Hasumi. And I knew he was growing quite attached to River. I could guess what he was feeling. That he hadn’t gone with us last time, and he lost Hasumi, and now he didn’t want to let his new friend out of his sight for fear he’d lose him too.

I ground my teeth together and looked at my watch. They had exactly ten minutes to step through that portal before I went after them and dragged them back. Not only would I be risking the attention of everyone who wanted to kill us the moment I stepped through that portal, I also was going to fucking murder River for making me do it. Then everyone else would murder me, for being idiotic enough to allow this dumb ass mission in the first place. So… best if River and Bis just hurried the fuck up and saved us all a whole lot of misery and murdering.

“Come on,” I whispered, crossing my arms over my chest and impatiently tapping my fingers on my arm. “Move it, jackass cat.” Zhong was quietly pacing in the background, and his anxiety only made my own fear that much worse.

I was two minutes away from stepping through that portal when I felt a shift in the magic and a grinning jaguar shifter stepped through with my best friend perched on his shoulder. “There!” he said with the first genuine happiness this place had seen in a couple days. “See, no harm done.”

He held up what appeared to be a slender case of some sort, and he had a weird-looking roundish bag slung over his shoulder. I waved a hand and dispelled the portal, hissing slightly as the frisson of unstable energy gave me a little smack on the way out. “ That’s what all the fuss was about?” I demanded, narrowing my eyes. That bag resting on his hip looked suspiciously like the ones some of the elder witches toted to solstice parties.

He better not have just risked his life for a fucking drum.

River sighed and gave me a sad look. “I know you have been cut off from having a coven or a clan—but it’s important. Ceremony. Coming together with a group of people who share the experience of being alive—in this case, people who share your love and pain. It can be healing.”

Seeing my mutinous expression (because fuck covens and groups of elitist witches, thank you very much) River shook his head. “Please let me do this for you, Andy. For me. For them .” He waved vaguely in the direction of the house, where the others were tucked away, unaware of River’s little side trip. “Since I failed so miserably at doing anything else to spare you this pain.”

Zhong stepped up beside me, for once not waiting for my decision. Not deferring to the wishes of his master. Apparently, he really did like River. That, or he was concerned that I would stubbornly refuse anything that might help me with this gaping black hole of grief that was eating at my core.

“What do you need?” Zhong asked the shifter. “Blankets? Cushions? Candles? Herbs?”

River gave him a soft smile of gratitude. “All of that would be lovely. Anything you think we need to make ourselves comfortable out here for a while. And maybe… wood for the fire pit, if there’s any left to spare? I know resources are tight here.”

Aahil snorted. “Don’t worry about the fire. I’ve got that covered, no fuel needed.” He had also been waiting nearby while River and Bis were away… but I think he had been more worried for our rodent child than the shapeshifter.

River nodded his head at the jinn in acknowledgement. “Thank you. Could you… maybe go fetch the others?”

Aahil rolled his golden-brown eyes and heaved a put-upon sigh, crossing his arms over his lean chest and popping a hip like the drama queen he was. “Do I look like a messenger service to you, cat?” he snarked.

I nudged his shoulder. “Aahil. Not now.”

“Fine,” he said with a huff, disappearing in a shower of sparks.

Bis chirped at me from River’s shoulder, but seemed content to stay where he was. I pushed away the tiny twinge of jealousy. Bis could make friends. It was fine. And besides, the little guy seemed so curious and excited about whatever River was planning. I’d rather that than have him curled up in a prickly ball of despair the way he had been before this little trip.

“River’s culture is so fascinating,” the hedgehog-skunk-rat hybrid informed me as River went to claim a spot in the grass and pull his hide drum from its bag. “Don’t you think so, mamma? Like witches sometimes, but not.”

I sighed and went to join them. “Yes, Bis. Or at least, I think so. I’m making assumptions. You’re part native American, aren’t you?” I said, addressing River.

He glanced up at me as he opened the slender case and got out an elegant wooden flute. “Hmm? Oh, yeah. A bit of a mutt. My mother is Apache, Navajo, and Japanese—a human with a little bit of magic from somewhere in our history. My dad was a shifter from Magea, but she didn’t realize exactly what he was until she was pregnant with me. The shifter genes are obviously dominant. But I think my mother’s side ensured that I got the rarer abilities. Something about how the latent magic from her heritage mixed with dad’s side.” He shrugged.

I smiled faintly. “That’s cool. You’ll have to tell me more sometime. If you’re willing. I’d love to learn more about, well… every part of that.”

He huffed a laugh. “Anytime. I love sharing about my heritage. I think culture is meant to be shared. It makes us all richer for the experience.” He looked up at me from under his long, dark lashes. “And maybe you can teach me more about your heritage as well? I only know the basics about witches. I was born in the Planus realm and raised there for a few years before my mom took me to Magea. But even though I mostly grew up in Magea, I spent most of my time with an isolated clan of shifters. I still have plenty to learn.”

I shook my head at him. He probably knew more about witches—and every other type of magical being in Magea—than I did. He lit up at any mention of learning something new. He was the biggest nerd I’d ever met. But it was… somehow really endearing. I could listen to him go on and on for hours when he really got going on some subject that enthralled him.

Eventually, Aahil and Zhong returned, and the others started to trickle in, pulling me out of my contemplation about my feelings for the strange, wonderful shifter. Everyone seemed curious but guarded. They all radiated pain and loss, their auras swirling with the dark colors of it. And I was sure my own energy was no different.

Hopefully whatever River had planned for us would help. Because I felt like we were all bleeding out.