Page 113 of Found in Obscurity

“You need to be safe.” Lorin’s grandma cut him off with a pointed look. “If not for you, then for your family. And Lorin.”

Those words were sobering. Lorin. His mate. His soulbond. If anything happened to Kit, Lorin would be next. Just like Lorin’s parents. They were no longer just two entities tied together. They were one.

He glanced over at Lorin, who looked scared but was obviously trying to school it, to let Kit make his own decisions. Lorin, who had dried blood running in lines from his ears from trying to protect him. He threw himself into Lorin’s arms, burying his face deep and shaking his head. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I want you safe. Always safe.”

Lorin cradled his head. “Nothing to apologize for.”

“Time for you to go now. I know you want to see the ending of this,” Grandma said. She pulled out a small set of binoculars from her robes and handed them to Lorin to hold on to. “If you can find a spot far enough away with a clear view, you can watch if you want to. But it has to be far enough away not to hear even a whisper of the commotion that’s about to happen. Not a single sound of it.”

“Grandma—”

Her name was being called urgently, and Kit looked into the distance to see flames rising as the coven prepared their own spells.

“Off you go. I’ll see you on the other side.” She didn’t wait for them to respond. She turned around, her robes swishing behind her as she took her spot between the largest two pentagrams overlapping at the center of the ritual.

She was taking the lead.

She was going to be the anchor for the magic.

Kit looked up at Lorin and found him staring at her, his face pinched into a frown as his heart beat wildly under Kit’s palms.

“Lorin…”

“She’s gonna be okay.” Lorin looked down at him, brushing their noses together for a split second before pulling Kit away from the scene. “Let’s get you away.”

He rushed them through the woods, trying to keep a straight line. Kit knew he was doing his best to make sure Kit had the chance to see the final showdown while still protecting him as best he could.

They tripped over rocks and branches, running as fast as they could, as far away as they could. Kit’s lungs burned. He felt his breath come unevenly, and his chest struggled to hold it in. He felt lightheaded with it. He’d spent the last five years on the run as a fox, he was in perfect condition. But he was struggling with his human limbs.

And there was something else in the air that was sending signals to his feet to stop, not unlike the spell that had been cast upon him. The feeling of murmurs in his head, echoes of voices that spoke through scent seeped in. They sang a crescendo, demanding notice.

“Lorin…” He paused his run, pulling at Lorin’s hand and stopping him too. “Lorin, please, we have to stop.”

“Why?” Lorin asked, dark eyes tight with worry. “We can’t stop now, Kit. I promise, just a little bit farther away. We have to get more distance between us.”

He tried to tug him, but Kit wouldn’t relent.

“No.” He shook his head, still listening to the compulsion. “We have to stay here. Something is here. I can…I can feel it. We have to find it.”

“Find what?” Lorin asked, his hand around Kit’s waist the only thing keeping him from flying into the unknown.

“I don’t know but it’s here, I know it’s close, Lorin. Please.”

“Let him go, witch boy.” A voice came from behind them and Kit snapped into action, planting himself between Lorin and the stranger that emerged from the woods.

The man was tall and lanky, dressed in dirty clothes, with claws at the ends of his fingers.

Another shifter.

“Who are you?” Kit demanded.

The man tilted his head toward them both. “I could ask you the same thing. Never seen you here before. Didn’t know this coven had friends to drop by for a visit.”

Kit’s insides turned at the insinuation that he was anything to those vile creatures the elders were trying to fight.

“We’re not friends,” Kit spat, the word like acid on his tongue.

“What are you doing here then?” the man asked, and Kit squared his shoulders, trying to make up for the difference in height with attitude and courage he truly didn’t think he had.