Page 8 of Found in Obscurity

“Mom and Dad…”

“Were outliers in every way possible.” She shook her head. “They were soulbonded. One in billions. And there are no shifters among the potentials listed. Your father had to register to join.”

Lorin shook his head. It was the same conversation round and round. Even if the risk was low, it was still too much of a chance. The what-ifs kept him up at night, haunting both hissleeping and waking thoughts. But there was a secret part of him that wondered. The lost part that she had called out was always reaching into the distance, trying to push past the walls Lorin had erected…

“One ceremony,” she repeated. “And in return, if you don’t find your familiar, I’ll help you find a way to remove the markings.”

Lorin’s eyes snapped to hers instantly, his breath leaving him in one swoop. She couldn’t possibly… After all this time of fighting him on it. “You’ll…”

She hardened her face. “I’ll help you look for a way to remove your power for good.”

Kit

He shook his head to get the water droplets off his nose and ears. If he could he’d scowl at the world around him.

He had a hard time sensing what was going on around him from that far away as it was. Rain made things even harder. It stole the scent from the air and intercepted the wind as it carried it. It blurred the edges of his vision and weighed down his fur.

He was sitting in the same bush he’d been hiding in the day before, as the community set up the fences for the bonding ceremony.

Today.

It would happen today.

Kit had seen them bringing the potentials in in comfy-looking crates, filled with soft blankets and a lot of different foods.

None of it was for him though. Nobody could know he was there unless his witch was there too. Revealing himself to others risked him being hurt even more than he already was, and he didn’t want to give them that chance. There was safety in staying hidden until he knew for sure that the one he was looking for was there.

So he shook himself once more and burrowed deeper into his bush to wait. Maybe the rain would let up by the time the witches arrived. Maybe the winter sun would win its fight with the clouds and be on Kit’s side for a change.

He really wanted that to happen. He wanted something to go his way for a change.

He dropped down to his belly, wet head resting on his front paws as he watched the community bringing in a large tent with open sides. They set it up in the middle of the clearing, covering up the potentials—animals of all different shapes and sizes stirring about in their enclosures—and the seats and wooden tables they’d brought inside.

Everyone would be as comfortable as possible in the horrible weather. Everyone would stay dry, have enough to eat and drink and a chance to bond with their familiar if they were there.

Bonding ceremonies were joyful occasions for everyone.

Everyone but Kit.

Chapter three

Lorin

Lorin knew what hisnext step should be. Stepping out of the car. A task he had done countless times before without a single issue. Lift your hand, pull at the door handle, push the door open, and step out. Easy as breathing.

And yet, Lorin’s body refused to even try. Like it had been frozen in place, and he wasn’t in control of it anymore.

He stared out the window at the clearing, all decked out for the bonding ceremony, and all he could feel was cold dread settling deep into the pit of his stomach. The beautiful white tent covering half the clearing didn’t make him feel any desire to hide under it. The colorful flowers wrapped around it in an ornate arrangement did nothing to erase the darkness surrounding the entire event in his mind.

There were so many people there already.

They were milling around, greeting each other happily, chatting and enjoying the event despite the weather. There wasa buzz in the air. Lorin could sense it even from inside the car. A charge. Bonding ceremonies were celebrations.

Nobody else wanted to recoil at the sight of it all the way he did. Nobody else wanted to flee the premises and never be seen again. He had never heard of a witch who was anything but excited about the prospect of finding their familiar.

The idea of your power settling, growing, expanding, the idea of it finding a funnel it could go through to make it easier to control. Witches thought of it as an honor. A cause for immense joy. They rarely thought about the other side of the coin. The darker one. The more sinister one that left so many witches teetering at the brink of life and death just because so much of them was tied to another being. So much of their power depended on that other being staying healthy and close and there.

He wasn’t sure he was prepared for it.