Page 77 of Found in Obscurity

“Hello,” he repeated, a little dumbly.

Kit grinned with all his teeth, then shivered.

Lorin realized he was completely naked still, and despite the heaters running, it was winter.

Lorin fought his blush in favor of worry.

He grabbed the nearest blanket to wrap around Kit and adjusted it across his chest. When he glanced up, Kit was already staring intently at him, his hooded gaze fixed.

Stars, those eyes…

Lorin licked his lips. “Do you want to shower? You’re all green.”

He didn’t really want to let Kit out of his sight. Or his arms. He had no idea how long they had together, and he didn’t want to waste a single second of that time.

Kit shook his head, cuddling closer, tucking himself tighter inside the blanket and Lorin’s arms. He reached out for the notebook and wrote, before showing it to Lorin.

I don’t want to be away from you, it said, and Lorin felt his heart stutter in response.

Kit

Kit hadn’t thought life could get much better than being swaddled in warmth and his mate’s arms. Somehow, the fact that Lorin’s ritual had failed, that they still had zero idea why it failed, and they still had no clue how to help Kit take back control of his shift was a distant problem in Kit’s mind. Kit allowed himself the luxury of being present in the moment, where Lorin smelled so good and his fingers in Kit’s hair felt like magic.

Disappointment and stress could wait until he shifted back again. He didn’t want to waste this precious time when he didn’t know when it would be taken from him again. History said that would be sooner than either of them wanted.

He purred. Or tried to. The sound started in his chest, but his throat protested. Loudly.

He flinched, the sound cutting off into a pained squeak.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Lorin whispered into his hair, tightening his hold on Kit’s body.

Kit shook his head and nuzzled closer, but his throat was still spasming from being irritated and he was hard-pressed to suppress the small coughs.

Lorin pulled his head back to look down at him, brow furrowed deeply. “We should make that recipe Glenn left while you’re still human. We don’t know how much time we’ll have.”

Kit pouted as Lorin let him go and moved to the note on the small table covered in pots. Kit trailed his steps like he did when he was a fox, going up on the balls of his feet to try and peer over Lorin’s shoulder. His balance still wasn’t the best in this form, however, so he stumbled forward, catching himself on Lorin’s back.

Lorin looked back at him with a small smile, his eyes flicking over his features before the smile dropped. “I’m sorry I’m not figuring this out faster.”

Kit blinked before grabbing the notebook and writing,The recipe?

“Your shift.” Lorin sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. A few strands stayed upright like sprouts. Kit wanted to bat at them. “Apparently I’m not that great at my so-called calling.”

Lorin was often self-deprecating. He didn’t have a lot of confidence in his own abilities and often took to overthinking a lot. Kit could think of nothing else to do but reach out and pinch Lorin’s lips together.

Lorin’s eyes widened and he tried to mumble, but Kit shook his head firmly. He released Lorin’s lips and wrote,It’s not your fault. You’re doing everything you can and I appreciate it.

He shoved the page under Lorin’s nose, making him go cross-eyed as he tried to read it.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s enough,” Lorin said.

The fact that you care this much is more than enough.

“Of course I care,” Lorin said after he read. “I want you to be whole again.”

I want that too,he wrote with heavy fingers.But even if I can’t, it’ll never be your fault and I want you to know I know that.

I was hoping to find my mate because I was hoping I’d be able to connect to a witch more closely and find a way tocommunicate what happened to me. But I never wanted you to think you were solely responsible for helping me.