Page 97 of Found in Obscurity

“You weren’t going to offer it to me?” Lorin asked suddenly. “When I asked for my magic to be taken away.”

“I was going to find any other way,” she said, her face twisting uncomfortably at the very thought. “Never that.”

They shared a moment before Lorin nodded resolutely. The simple “Thank you” he uttered said more than Kit or Glenn could parse out.

When the moment passed, Kit turned to Lorin, the growing despair and terror in his chest shifting to carry a hint of hope.Of possibility. They could lock them away for good. They could really end it.

Lorin looked back at him with a determination Kit couldn’t help but feel rush through him like a river. “I will do anything for you. We will stop this.”

“Does it say how?” Grandma asked, gesturing to the book.

Lorin pushed his chair back from the table slightly and pulled Kit into his lap before he turned back to the book—a solid reassurance. Even in his human form Kit still fit there perfectly, so he curled up, nose in Lorin’s neck as he listened to him flip the pages, looking for more information. He could almost convince himself they were back in the cabin, when things had seemed simpler.

No one spoke as they waited. Glenn left once to grab some water for them and check in with Stella. Lorin’s grandma seemed to be meditating, staring into the middle distance with both hands clutching her staff.

“It looks like we were right about what helps,” Lorin said finally.

Kit jerked his head up as his heart jumped, narrowly avoiding knocking Lorin in the chin. “Right?”

“Magic,” Lorin said. “My magic being shared with you is what counters the ritual done on you. According to this, the ritual has to be repeated occasionally to…to stop the shifter from gaining control of the shift again.”

“What happens if it’s not repeated?” Glenn asked.

“The magic shared with the shifter breaks the binds eventually,” Lorin read out. “The shifter gains control of their shift again. They stop being a familiar.”

“No!” Kit gasped, the words registering in his mind like the worst curse he had ever heard.

He just wanted to be himself again. He didn’t want to not be Lorin’s. That wasn’t what this was about at all. He gripped Lorin’s shirt, shaking his head and pleading with his eyes.

“I don’t think that will happen to us, Kit. I wasn’t the one forcing this on you. You sought me out yourself. Your fox is my familiar with no outside interference,” Lorin assured him.

Kit deflated, allowing himself a hint of relief.

“But—” Lorin continued, and Kit tensed again. “—even if it did break the familiar bond, I’m still your mate. You’re still mine, Kit. Always mine.”

“Yours,” Kit repeated. “My mate.”

Lorin brushed a lock of white hair out of his face, leaning in and stealing a kiss like they were alone in the room. It burned in the best way, making him feel feverish and delirious. He kissed back, wrapping his arms around Lorin’s neck and inhaling him until he heard the clearing of a throat.

They broke the kiss and Kit gave the two witches across from them an uncharacteristically shy glance. “Sorry.”

“I had a daughter with a mate. I understand,” Grandma said with a wry expression. “But we do have more pressing matters at hand. Kit, you don’t remember where they took you when you were first taken?”

Kit shook his head.

“Long,” he said, mimicking the walking with his fingers on Lorin’s forearm.

“You walked for a long time?” Lorin asked and Kit nodded. “Anything else you remember?”

Kit scrunched up his brows and tried to force himself to remember, but he’d been scared and captured and pretty sure he’d been hit with a tranquilizer of some sort because he knew he wasn’t fully aware for the entirety of the trip they took him on.

“Cold?” he said, unsure if that was because of the weather or just generally because of the fear he was feeling at the time.

“Right,” Lorin’s grandmother said.

Kit flinched. He knew he wasn’t helping at all, but he was doing the best he could. “Sorry,” he said again.

She leaned over, forcing his face up with a thin knuckle under his chin. “You do not apologize for any of this. This was not your fault, and you will not be taking any of the blame on yourself. Have I made myself clear?”