Page 115 of Found in Obscurity

“It’ll heighten your senses,” Lorin said. “Not the five main ones. Those, you don’t need. It’ll make your familiar side stronger to sense fractals of magic.”

“Fractals?” the man asked, reminding them that he was still very much there.

“Large sources of magic give off auras in different ways, power surges around it,” Lorin explained. “It leaves a mark. Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish, but I think a shifter might be able to track them better. A shifter that’s also a familiar could be even better.”

“Do it,” Kit said.

Lorin nodded, not fighting him on it, instead leaning in to kiss him once, twice, three times before they had to stop themselves.

The incantation meant nothing to Kit. The words that reached his ears were unfamiliar and heavy. Language only Lorin would understand. The meanings only he would know. Kit trusted him with his life, so he didn’t care what the magic did to him. Lorin would make sure he was safe.

He allowed the power from his mate to rush through him, let it bathe him in nothing but the scents and sounds of his species. He saw a kaleidoscope of colors, flashes of magic like the DNA of the world had been unlocked for him and put under a microscope. It was hard to distinguish what was what, until his fox raised its nose in the air and a spiderweb path of golden light opened up before him.

He ran.

Blind.

Deaf.

Without feeling the ground beneath his feet or the wind on his face.

There was nothing but the long line of his ancestry, the collective magic that made humans able to turn to animals running through him. Guiding him.

A deep part of him knew Lorin was close behind.

So he ran. Toward the call. Toward the magic that reached out to him, embracing him as it became thicker and thicker.

It stole his breath, but he didn’t think he needed it anymore. Not when it didn’t carry the scent he needed to find his people. He dove into the static headfirst, reckless and uncaring, welcoming the feeling of finally being able to do something after years of feeling helpless.

He was going to take the chance. He was gonna throw his all into it and help, as best as he could. He was…

He hit something that rattled him to his core. It rang in his ears, bringing the rest of the world back in a rush that made him dizzy. Sounds sharpened around him and his vision came back full force.

He slammed his palms against whatever was blocking his way, but there was nothing there. Just the endless expanse of the woods and the maddening emptiness that still echoed with the voices of shifters they couldn’t find.

“Where…” He spun wildly in place.

“Exactly where we manage to get to every time,” the man spoke, before cursing. “Damn! I really thought you might be able to find a path.”

Kit turned to look at him, ready to question why the man hadn’t volunteered this information before when his eyes caught on something else.

Lorin was staring straight ahead, not moving, not blinking at all.

“Lorin,” Kit called out to him. “Lorin, what do you see?”

“What makes you think he sees anything?” the man asked.

Kit glared at him without responding before turning back to his mate, stepping closer. “Lorin?” he asked again.

Lorin finally snapped out of his haze, looking Kit directly in the eye. “They couldn’t find the shifters…because they’re under the pathfinder spell.”

Chapter twenty-one

Lorin

“Fuck,” the man said,staring at Lorin, his expression mirroring Kit’s perfectly. It all made sense. The barrier that kept them from going any farther, the sense that something was there that they couldn’t find. “Are you sure?”

“I can feel it,” Lorin said. It was unlike any other magic. Unmistakable. He looked closer at the details, trying to find the source or anything unnatural. “The ground has been cleared in that circle, there are no leaves or roots. We should get closer.”