Page 40

CHAPTER 40

J onah had never felt pain like this before. It tore through him, turning his body inside out, making him feel like his organs were being liquefied, and his blood turn to lava.

He screamed as Malencia laughed, her mouth turning into a sneer. “After I kill you, shapeshifter, I’ll kill your little fire witch and hang both your heads on my wall.”

“Elora,” Jonah whispered, his body jerking and twitching as the pain grew more intense.

Through the haze of agony, he saw Elora rising in the air behind Malencia. Her entire body glowed a brilliant bright blue, the light pulsing from her in soft waves. Nearly a dozen trees burst into flames with a crackling roar as Elora flicked her hand at Malencia.

The pain ended abruptly as Malencia flew through the air like a rag doll. She landed on the ground as Elora floated toward Jonah. He climbed to his feet, staring at Elora as she smiled at him.

“My love.”

Her voice was low and deep, and he shuddered all over at the blank look of madness in her gaze.

“Elora,” he whispered.

Her smile widened at the sound of his voice, and an invisible fiery caress brushed across his cheek.

“Bitch!” Malencia was back, and she screamed out an incantation. Elora turned her terrible blank gaze toward Malencia, and the dark witch faltered, the incantation dying on her lips as she held up her hands. “No, wait.”

“You tried to kill my love,” Elora said.

Malencia licked her lips, falling to her knees as she held her hands out. “Mercy. I beg for mercy.”

Elora cocked her head, but before she could say anything, Malencia jumped to her feet, her hands thrusting desperately toward Jonah, the yellow light heading straight toward him.

It stopped a few feet from him and Elora laughed, the madness in it sending more shudders through Jonah’s body. Her voice low, Elora stared at Malencia and said, “By my power, flame and flower, let the fire consume you from within.”

Malencia burst into flames, and she screamed piercingly. She fell to the ground, writhing and shrieking as the smell of burning flesh hit Jonah like a punch to the face.

He looked away, his stomach churning, but Elora watched with a small smile as Malencia’s screams died out. When he looked again, all that remained of the dark witch was a pile of ashes lying on top of the snow. The wind picked up the ashes, and they floated in the air for a moment before dissipating in the breeze.

As Elora slowly descended to the ground, Jonah turned toward Cece. Ronin was with her, and they were both sitting on the ground, leaning against the tree and staring at Elora. The branch embedded in Cece’s stomach was tossed aside in the snow, and while blood soaked Cece’s shirt, he had no doubt that Ronin had healed her.

He approached Elora, studying her cautiously as she stared at her hands. “Elora?”

“Jonah.” She lifted that terrible blank gaze to his.

Fear creeping and crawling through his body, he said, “Are you okay, baby?”

“I can feel it, Jonah. It wants to be free.”

“What does?”

“Dark magic,” Elora said with a sigh.

“No,” he said as the fear took a stranglehold on him. “No, baby. You can’t let it take you.”

“It’s always been there, inside of me. I’ve held it back for so long, but it’s too powerful now.”

“No.” He gripped her face, the blue light radiating from her cold and icy against his skin. “You’re good, Elora. You are kind and good, and the magic in you doesn’t control you.”

“I’m not strong enough to stop it,” she said.

“You are,” he said fiercely before pressing his mouth against hers. “You are the strongest person I know, little witch. I need you here with me. Don’t let it take you away from me. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whispered.

“Then fight it,” he said, giving her a little shake. “Fight it, Elora. Come back to me.”

For a moment, he thought it was too late. He could feel the magic humming through her, could hear its siren call, and sense the power that called to her.

He locked eyes with her, cupping her face before he said, “I love you. I will always love you, Elora.”

She closed her eyes, her slender body trembling against his. The light surrounding her faded, and when she opened her eyes again, it was only his sweet Elora staring back at him, her blue eyes shining with love.

“Jonah,” she whispered.

“Elora,” he said, his throat tightening as tears pricked his eyes.

She hugged him hard, and he peppered her face with kisses, kissing away the tears that were sliding down her face.

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you too.”

Her eyes widened. “Cece!”

She whirled around, and he took her hand and squeezed it gently. “She’s okay.”

“Oh God!” Elora let go of his hand and ran to Cece, dropping to her knees beside the blond witch and staring at her blood-soaked shirt. “Oh, Cece.”

“Looks worse than it is,” Cece said with a faint laugh. “Thanks to him.”

She jabbed her thumb at Ronin, who winked at her. “I told you - one hell of a party trick.”

“Are you sure?” Elora tried to pull Cece’s shirt up, but Cece batted her hands away.

“I’m positive. But believe me when I say you never want to have someone yank a tree branch out of your stomach.”

“Jonah?” Caleb’s hoarse voice made him whirl around.

He stared at his brother, who stood behind him with a look of confusion. “Where are we? Why are you naked?”

He peered around Jonah at Ronin. “Why is that guy naked?”

Jonah grabbed his brother and pulled him into his embrace, hugging him hard.

“Dude,” Caleb said, “you’re naked.”

Jonah burst into laughter before grabbing Caleb’s face and kissing his forehead. “It’s a long story.”

Caleb gripped his arm. “The witch! Nimera, is she -”

“She’s fine,” Jonah said quickly. “She and the baby are okay, I promise.”

Caleb blew his breath out in relief before rubbing his arms. “Fuck, it’s cold out.”

“Tell me about it,” Ronin said before grinning at Cece. “Little Ronin is usually much more impressive. You can ask my lady.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Cece said.

The five of them stared silently at each other before Ronin said, “Tacos?”

“I could eat,” Jonah said.

Ronin grinned and jumped to his feet before pulling Cece into a standing position. “I know the best taco truck in the city.”

“Maybe we should get you and Jonah some clothes first,” Cece said.

“Taco trucks don’t have dress codes,” Ronin said.

“Pretty sure they have rules about penises waving around unfettered,” Cece said as they started walking.

Ronin laughed hard. “You might be right, tiny tree witch.” He turned to Caleb. “So, I hear you’re a pretty good musician. You ever sing any Celine Dion?”

As Caleb joined Cece and Ronin, Elora wrapped her arms around Jonah’s waist. He smiled at her, smoothing her hair back from her face. “Hi.”

“Hi. You shifted.”

“I did,” he said.

“What happened to all your ‘the hippo is the most dangerous land animal’ talk,” Elora teased gently.

“Turns out, a rat is much more effective at taking down a dark witch.”

She kissed his naked chest. “Thank you for saving me.”

“You saved me,” he said.

She shook her head solemnly. “No, Jonah. We saved each other.”

They stared at each other before Elora started giggling. “Shit, I am so goddamn corny. You sure you want to spend the rest of your life with me?”

He kissed her hard. “There is nothing I want more, baby.”

* * *

“Are you sure, one hundred percent sure, about this?” Elora asked.

Jonah crowded up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist. “Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Why wouldn’t you… Jonah, your house is, like, super bougie and everything in here costs an arm and a leg.” She waved her arm at the altar in the corner and the bookshelves that now overflowed with spell books, parchment scrolls, candles, and a rat skeleton. “My things don’t exactly fit the decor.”

“This is your house now, too, and I want you to be happy and comfortable.”

“Yeah, but I could have all my witch stuff in a spare room or something,” Elora said. She loved that Jonah was so cool with having her stuff everywhere, but she was also worried that he might grow to hate it.

“I like it right here in the living room,” he said. “It makes this place feel like a home, remember?”

She sighed. “Your cleaning lady is really going to hate me now.”

“She’s already told me she wants a raise,” Jonah said.

Elora swung around to stare at him as two cats, one a tabby and the other black with a blotch of white on its chest wandered into the room. “Shit, are you serious?”

“Yep, although she referred to it as danger pay after that spell book bit her.”

“I told her not to dust the spell books,” Elora said indignantly.

Jonah laughed. “It’s fine. I agreed to give her a pay raise, and she agreed to stop touching your books.”

Elora relaxed in his arms, throwing her arms around his shoulders as the cats rubbed up against their legs. “Are you happy, Jonah?”

He glanced at the cats. “Despite the cats living in my house, I am incredibly happy.”

“You don’t like cats?” she asked.

He laughed. “Nah, they’re fine, but I will admit I never expected to see Caleb so gaga over cats. He treats them like they’re his babies.”

“It’s adorable,” Elora said. “I can’t wait to see him once Nimera gives birth. The baby will probably never leave his arms.”

“Probably not,” he agreed. He rubbed her back. “Are you happy, Elora?”

“I am.” Her face turned solemn. “I know you’re worried about your past, that it will come back to hurt me or our future family, but I -”

“I’m not worried,” he said. “Not anymore.”

“Are you sure?” Elora asked.

Jonah smoothed her hair back. “Baby, I’m pretty fucking sure you’re now the most powerful witch in the whole city. If we are in danger, it’ll be you who saves our asses, not me.”

She hugged him hard before asking, “Did you hear back from the university?”

“I did,” he said, loving how her face lit up with excitement.

“And? Don’t keep me waiting,” she said.”

“I start in the spring,” he said. “You’re looking at the newest student of Ashdale University. I’ll probably join a frat and become super obnoxious.”

She squealed and kissed him hard. “Oh my God, that’s awesome!”

“About joining a frat?” he said.

“No, you dork. No frat joining. You’ll be too busy getting your business degree to go to keggers.”

“Are keg parties even still a thing?” he asked.

“Yes.” Caleb walked into the living room with Nimera right behind him. “But you’re not going back to school to party.”

Both cats hurried over to them, meowing and rubbing up against their legs. Caleb bent down and petted each of them as Elora said, “That’s what I told him.”

“You two are boring,” Jonah said.

Nimera laughed, wrapping one arm around Caleb’s waist and resting her hand on her belly. “Congratulations, Jonah.”

“Thank you, Nimera. Don’t worry, though. I will still have more than enough time for babysitting duties.”

“I appreciate that,” Nimera said. “We both do.”

“We do, but that does lead us into something we need to talk to you about,” Caleb said.

“What’s that?” Jonah asked.

Caleb glanced at Nimera, who gave him an encouraging smile. “Nimera and I found an apartment.”

Jonah stiffened against Elora, but before he could protest, Caleb said, “It’s not far from here, and it’s in a safe neighbourhood. It’s also a paranormal friendly building, and they have no problem with a fae living there.”

“I told you that you could stay here for as long as you need,” Jonah said.

“I know, and we appreciate it, but you and Elora need your space, and we need ours,” Caleb said. “Especially once the baby arrives. We can’t all be sleep deprived, right? Especially if we need you to babysit so we can catch up on our sleep.”

Jonah laughed. “You make a good point.”

“And before you ask,” Caleb said. “I was offered a regular gig at Walker’s Bar, so no, we don’t need money.”

“Holy shit, that’s awesome! Congratulations, little brother,” Jonah said with genuine enthusiasm.

“Thank you. My first show is this Friday, and you’re both invited,” Caleb said.

“We’ll be there,” Elora said.

“Good.” Caleb squeezed Nimera’s hand. “We’re heading out for a while. We need to shop for a few things for the new place.”

He and Jonah did an elaborate fist bumping, hand shaking thing before he and Nimera left. The front door slammed shut, and Jonah put his arms around her again.

Her cell phone buzzed, and he leaned back so she could pull it from her pocket. She studied her screen, a faint frown crossing her face.

“What’s wrong?” Jonah asked.

“Cece is cancelling our coffee tomorrow.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she just took an extra shift at the greenhouse.”

Elora tried to smile at Jonah, but he said, “I know you’re worried about her.”

“I am,” she sighed. “She’s been acting differently since…”

“Nearly dying and being healed by a phoenix shifter can mess you up,” he said.

“I know, but it feels like it’s more than that,” she said. “But she won’t tell me what it is. Just says she’s fine and changes the subject.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

She took a deep breath, pushing her worry for Cece down for now. “She’ll tell me when she’s ready.”

They smiled at each other before Jonah said, “So, alone at last.”

“We are, and I have the perfect suggestion for what we can do.”

“Is that right?” He leaned down and nuzzled her neck. “What’s that?”

A glass jar full of a swirling pink liquid rose from the bookshelf and floated toward them.

“You can help me with a new potion I’m working on,” Elora said. “All I need is for you to drink this liquid.”

“Hard pass,” Jonah said.

“What? C’mon, just try it. For me?” Elora said.

He shook his head. “The last time I drank one of your potions, my feet turned orange, and my feathers sprouted mushrooms for three days.”

Elora laughed so hard that the jar of liquid quivered wildly in the air before she sent it floating back to the bookshelf. “Okay, but in my defense, potions on an animal are harder to perfect, and I am a much better witch now than I was last year.”

“Don’t care, still not drinking it,” Jonah said.

“Fine,” Elora gave him a fake pout that made him laugh.

He nuzzled her neck again. “If I promise to take you upstairs and eat your pussy, will you forgive me for not being your potion guinea pig?”

“Yes,” she said as his big hand squeezed her breast and a slow heat unfurled in her body. “I heartily endorse this plan.”

He grinned and scooped her up in his arms before carrying her out of the living room. “I love you, little witch.”

“I love you too, Jonah.”

Keep reading for an excerpt of Book Eleven, Cecelia and the Bear, releasing in 2025.