Page 55 of A Moth to the Flame (Utopia #1)

Chapter

Thirty-Nine

DUKE

I don’t remember falling asleep, so I have no idea how I ended up in Cordie’s bed. I sure as shit don’t know when her lousy familiar decided to make his not-so-grand reappearance.

He’s licking his butthole way too close to Cordie’s pillow.

Her voice sounds like I swallowed a shot of sand when I say, “You only show up when it’s convenient for you, huh?”

He untwists his body from a feline pretzel, then glares at me. “I loathe you.”

“Feeling’s mutual,” I mumble as I sit up to put a little more distance between us. I’m not about to let him get his claws near Cordie’s face again. “Where is she?”

“Down in the library,” he answers, his annoying voice glum. “She hates me, too.”

I blink at him. “Why do you think that?”

“When I introduced myself to her, she did not seem impressed, nor happy to finally meet me. She did not so much as allow me to accompany her or aid in her research. She ordered me to keep watch over you. ”

Why the hell is Cordie in the library instead of getting some much-needed rest before we head out tonight to perform a very important spell? We already know everything we need for that. More importantly, why do I feel bad for her asshole familiar?

And then it hits me—I’m pretty sure we’re both assholes.

Cordie said she didn’t want me to tell her I love her until she could say it back. I had no business saying such a thing to her, not even as a joke. Those words mean something to her. All of this has meant something to her, but she’s been so busy trying to tread water that she can barely breathe.

“She’s been through a lot in the past month,” I explain. “It was bad enough when her granny died. It’s a miracle she’s still sane after everything else. Give her some time.”

Cornelius twitches his whiskers. “Time is one thing that may not be on our side.”

I don’t want to think about that.

Just like I don’t want to think about the sensation between her thighs. The cat’s watching my every move, so I excuse myself to the bathroom.

By the time I pad out into the sitting room, I have questions about a few things. When I can’t see the staircase that leads down to the library, one question moves to the top of my list.

“Cornelius!” I bark.

He leisurely strolls into the room, sitting at my feet. “You called?”

I gesture toward the shadowy corner of the room. “Has she been trapped down there all this time?”

I don’t even know how she got back in or why Wallace and the witches aren’t still hanging around, watching our every move. Judging by the hazy sunshine that streams in from all the windows, it has to be early evening. The last time I was awake, it was the middle of the night.

Cornelius licks his paw like he’s not concerned. “Of course not. It’s her library.”

“Yeah,” I bite out, “but she’s in my body. She doesn’t have the right blood with her. How long does this thing stay open after she unlocks it? ”

The cat’s eyes widen. “Shit.”

“Ya think?”

If she was really in trouble, she could’ve called for me. She heard me when she was in a coma, so I would’ve heard her from a basement library. That tempers my worry, but only a little.

Cordie? You okay down there? Are you stuck?

Her response is immediate. You have no idea. A little help, please.

I mumble the magic words.

Cornelius laughs, and it sounds like a crackling hiss. “You need to draw her blood for the spell to work.”

I fume as the stairs come into view. “She’s already bleeding.”

Just another reason Neveah didn’t need to do what she did.

The way is dark, so I go slow. The last thing Cordie’s body needs after all it’s been through is to take a tumble down a whole flight of stairs.

Two beams of green light shine ahead of me about halfway down. I glance over to see Cornelius looking like a feline flashlight.

“Neat trick,” I say, by way of thanks.

“Neat trick,” he mocks.

I shake my head and wonder if Cordie can trade him in for a better model. Maybe we can adopt a dog to keep him in line.

By the time we reach the last step, a whole damn library is visible from a different kind of light that glows along all the shelves.

I whistle under my breath. “This has to be five times the size of the house.”

“Cordelia hails from the witch line that is responsible for the guarding and recording of magical history,” Cornelius informs me. “Her ancestors took great pains to bring this collection to the new world.”

That might be the first bit of information that makes me genuinely smile. Her life might have been stolen from her, but the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Cordie was always supposed to be a bookworm. It’s in her blood.

“Cordie!” I yell. “Door’s open! Come on up! I’ll make you something to eat! ”

Okay, but first, you have to promise you won’t scream.

Her words make me as nervous as her not saying them out loud.

Secondly, please don’t be mad.

“Why would I?—”

The first thing I see slipping out from between two bookshelves is a giant wing.

Oh, fuck. I’ve seen a wing that size before.

“Cordie! Hide! He’s here!”

Shit, I don’t even have the sword. I haven’t seen it since Neveah almost bled Cordie’s body dry.

Cornelius hisses and positions himself in front of me like he can possibly do any damage against Mothman, who’s standing out in the open, staring at us with the red, glowing eyes that I remember. The same eyes that put Cordie in a trance.

Fuck. That’s why she’s not talking out loud. She can’t. This must’ve been a trap to lure her body down here.

“All right, you fae fucker.” I push Cordie’s hair back and bounce between the balls of her feet. I was faster than him once. I will be again. “What did you do to my mate?”

It’s me.

The words are so quiet that I almost don’t hear them over the pounding of blood in her ears.

I stop moving and stare. Blink. Stare some more.

This bat-man doesn’t give off the same dangerous vibes.

The edges of its wings drag on the ground.

The dick hanging between its legs isn’t standing at attention.

The dead giveaway is the clothes, though.

My favorite flannel shirt is in tatters and hanging from slumped shoulders that are way too big to fit through the arms. I’m guessing my jeans didn’t make it at all.

“What are you doing, idiot?” Cornelius hisses. “Run while I distract the monster. Find Cordelia and get her out.”

Cornelius leaps forward, but I catch him at the last second.

“Unhand me this instant! We must protect my witch!”

“Cordie?” I whisper, ignoring the way Cornelius scratches at her arms .

Yeah. The monster nods.

“Holy shit,” I draw out as I drag her eyes up and down a form that’s so tall, I have to crane her neck to get a good look. “How did this happen?”

“Dear gods,” Cornelius says with disgust. “She has taken on the feral fae form.”

Not just any fae form, I realize. My fae form. This is what I look like when I turn into Mothman. I don’t have bright white wings. Mine are so black that they almost blend in with the darkness surrounding us.

I sway a little on her feet and wait for her to tell me that she read from the wrong kind of spell book.

I tried to go upstairs hours ago , she explains. When I realized I was trapped down here, I kind of, um, panicked.

I nod, still staring at a terrifying version of myself with wide eyes and nausea churning in Cordie’s gut.

After I was trapped in my mind so recently, it took me a while to calm down , she continues. I told myself that I’m safe down here, and I love libraries, and you or Cornelius would come looking for me eventually. But I, uh…I haven’t changed back. Did I mention that it’s been hours?

Why didn’t you call me to help you?

I didn’t want you to see yourself like this. You said Mothman’s dick was going to give you nightmares, and… She gestures between my thighs, with my hands that are tipped in what resembles really long hawk talons.

Cornelius peers up at me from where I’m still holding him. “Is she speaking to you?”

I nod. Blink. Swallow down bile. Nod some more.

He rolls his eyes, then leaps out of her arms. “What is she saying?”

She makes the same kinds of clicking and hissing noises that we heard from the original Mothman. I can’t talk like this. That’s why we couldn’t understand him before. The long teeth and tongue get in the way.

“She can’t figure out how to change back,” I mumble.

Cornelius doesn’t really need to know about my long teeth and tongue and whatever else. He’s already getting a real good look at my monster cock.

I can’t stop staring at it, now that I’m thinking about it.

I wasn’t kidding when I told Cordie I wasn’t jealous.

Any woman with half a brain would run for the hills after catching sight of this thing.

Even soft, it’s way too long and thick. What does a female fae look like, to be built to take this thing?

“Shall I fetch Wallace?” Cornelius asks as he rubs his furry body against my ankles. At least he’s not still trying to claw my monster form.

No! she shouts.

I wince. Damn. That was loud even in my head. “Why not? I hate to break it to you, Gingersnap, but I didn’t know my body could do this. I sure as shit don’t know how to get you out of it.”

“She does not wish for me to summon the fae?” Cornelius guesses.

I shake my head. “She’s being stubborn.”

I’m trying to look out for you , she hisses, then flicks my scary long tongue out between my even scarier long teeth. If anyone finds out that you can shift into this form, imagine what they’ll do.

I don’t want to imagine that, actually.

Tell Cornelius to help you find any books down here about faekind. Maybe we can get your body back to normal on our own.

If you’ve been stuck down here for hours, then why haven’t you been reading all about it?

She lifts one of my clawed hands. I don’t want to damage anything, and…I can’t even see the spines of the books.

What do you mean, you can’t see?

I mean, the letters look like they’re moving. Like they’re buzzing on the page, almost.

I stumble back a few steps.