Page 15 of Hexes & Heartstrings (Shifters of Bastion Keep #2)

"I'm your boyfriend, though. I should go and help make sure you're safe." Bruin heard him whine, once. "But I'm a coward."

Bruin squeezed Russell right back, then pulled his head down for a few rapid-fire kisses, preemptively reassuring his boyfriend because he knew—he knew —that his scent would have immediately become irritated, and he didn't want Russell to think he was upset with him .

"Russell, I want you to listen to me carefully.

" Bruin put his hands up on either side of Russell's face, stroking his fingers down the sides of his temples.

"I do not think that you're a coward. No one who knows you thinks you're a coward, only jerk assholes.

In fact, I think you're incredibly brave. "

"I—"

Bruin gripped the side of Russell's cheeks, and rather than try to talk over him, he thought super hard about how much he cared for the big guy, hoping to make his point by way of scent. After a moment, still with a confused look on his face, Russell nodded for him to continue.

"First, I'm going to remind you that there are different kinds of bravery.

Asking two guys out at the same time like you did is brave.

Keeping a promise you made to your lazy boyfriend by throwing him in the shower is another kind of bravery.

But even if we ignore those, then twice now, when things were dangerous, you stepped up.

You defended me when the shadows attacked the keep three months ago, and you carried me into the Umbral to rescue Sergiy, even though you could have let another guardian do that.

So please don't repeat what awful people say about you, okay? "

Russell stared at him, but eventually gave him a single nod. After a moment, more like an afterthought for Bruin's benefit, Russell smiled.

"Besides, shadowlings are scary!"

Russell snorted, then pressed Bruin's face into his chest while patting him on his head.

All too soon, though, Bruin's ten minutes were up, and he gave his big-hearted wolf a last, tight hug.

"Wait for me? I want to see you first thing when we get back."

That idea seemed to please him, and Russell looked around, then sat himself right down on the ground where he was standing. He grabbed his feet and pulled them up to his body, then wiggled his shoulders, giving every indication that he was now planted to the ground and had no intention of moving.

Making sure he had his bag, Bruin joined his fellow witches, and the four of them each paired up with a shifter to be taken across; there were charms and rituals to facilitate passage between realms, of course, and Arthur at the very least would be able to manage on his own, but this way wouldn't take time or energy.

Roland was apparently Bruin's own ride, and Russell's dad shifted into his werewolf form so he could take hold of Bruin's arm in an iron grip.

Marka made a final howl, slapped a hand on the obelisk to thin the veil even further in the immediate area, and then Bruin found himself pulled across a void.

It was not unlike walking down some stairs and miscounting, expecting the floor and only finding empty air beneath your foot.

One second Bruin was on the earth that he knew, there was a vertigo-inducing tugging where Bruin felt like he was nowhere at all—not a comforting thought—and then he appeared in the Umbral.

Bruin was immediately discomfited, and he hopped from one foot to the other, not wanting to put both feet down.

"Something the matter, lad?" Roland asked, releasing his arm.

"Ground feels weird." Fighting back the urge to squirm in his shoes, Bruin knelt down to run his hand through some dirt. "It feels hollow, or something? It's unsettling."

"Eh, you'll live. Alright, witches! Take a gander around. What you're looking at is the first layer of the Umbral realm."

"Fascinating," Lux said, staring up at what passed for the sky.

Bruin looked up, but there was no sun, no clouds here. Just a semi-fixed color, like the glow of an old television, except that it would ripple like an ocean's surface. And everywhere except for immediately around the lantern staff that Lux was carrying was monochromatic.

"Initial impressions?" Roland asked.

"It feels a lot like everything is missing a part of itself," Rosemary said, being led towards them by Marka. "There's sound, but it's like it's coming from another room.

Lux chanted a few words, frowned curiously, then repeated the same words while gesturing, and a small yellow light appeared in his hands.

"I agree that at first glance it all feels porous, but I can sense a kind of presence filling in the gaps.

Echos of itself, perhaps. Arthur, any expertise to share? "

Bruin saw Arthur step closer, then look out at the surrounding terrain, hands on his hips. Seeing him from the side, it was odd, seeing half of him in color from the light of the lanterns, but his front half in black and white. Then Arthur turned back to them, a blush on his cheeks.

"No, I think you have it pretty spot on," he said.

"The Umbral realm is sometimes thought of as a reflection of not just our world, but many similar ones as well.

A shadow cast by one man has no substance, of course, but what if you had all the shadows of an infinite number of you, from different realities made from different choices you could have made? "

"Oh, that sounds interesting!" Bruin said. "Wait, is that why you guardians have all the funny names for the spirit kings?"

"I suppose so, lad," Roland answered. "The stronger shadows tend to embody concepts. Like how a river is Wet, or grass is Green."

"It's the same with people," Arthur gushed, stepping right up to Bruin and touching him as he spoke, getting more animated by the second. "If you took a thousand copies of Bruin, and each one cast their own shadow into the same place, what might that dark reflection be?"

"Oh, gosh. Maybe the concept of Lazy Gardener, or something."

"I was thinking more Shirtless Healer," Arthur said with a bobbing of his head, tapping him on his sternum with a cheeky grin. "I don't think I've seen you wear one yet. Allergic?"

"I could see him surrounded by canines, too," Rosemary added, looking over her shoulder as she watched Marka giving patrol orders to her pack. "That way you'd always have something to pet."

Lux shook his head, apparently in good humor. "Let's save the hypotheticals for later. We'll take a walk around in a few minutes, but first things first, we need to see how the Umbral affects our charm casting. Just follow the list of experiments I gave you, let me know of any peculiarities."

Staying together in a group, each of the four witches proceeded to run through the simple charms that Lux had suggested—in Bruin's case, he pulled out the written notes for reference.

"No trouble drawing or channeling white light," Rosemary remarked.

"Implements also work," Arthur said, having traced a jagged line through the air with a dagger, like a cut through cloth. Lux murmured agreement, doing the same with a crystal-tipped wand.

After several more tests, they went for a walk around the immediate area, which was disorienting at times. Strangely bent trees rose from crags, no, from a river, no, from dirt that was so flat and glossy it almost appeared like glass.

As Lux began working through a series of celestial rituals, aided by Rosemary and with Arthur watching, Bruin knelt on the ground, sifting through the dirt again. He shook his head.

"Still don't like the feel of shadow dirt?" Roland asked him, apparently having decided to keep an eye on him. Considering how Bruin knew that he had a penchant for wandering off, the older man was a welcome presence.

Bruin made a face. "I wasn't expecting it to feel so empty. It's like picking up a large stone, only to find out that it's made of styrofoam. You know what I mean?"

"Aye, lad, I do. I have to be cautious when asking for blessings that affect the terrain."

"Yeah. Damn it, I think I might end up being the most restricted out of all of us in what charms I can manage here, unless I can figure out how to work with the shadows."

"I'm sure you'll make your coven proud, regardless," Roland said. He then stepped closer, lowering his voice. "By the by, I heard what you said to my son, about him being brave."

Bruin flushed. It still caught him off-guard a lot of the time, just how sharp the ears were of the shifters.

"Ah. Hopefully that wasn't wrong to say?"

"No, you did fine. My son adores you, and so as long as you don't break his heart, I won't have to toss you into the dungeon for what short years you'd have remaining."

"High Priest!"

"Nay, lad, it's Roland, if you recall." He laughed, patting him on the shoulder before looking around.

"But nah, I'm just pulling your tail. One more thing I want to tell you, though, about my son's hesitance with the Umbral.

I'll let him tell the full tale, but I know he won't mind me mentioning this much. He got lost here, once, years back."

"What?How?"

"Well, my own fault, it was. He wasn't but a small pup back then, and I was sharing what I knew of the Umbral as part of his teaching.

I underestimated his curiosity, and one night he stole away from the castle, found himself an anchor, and somehow managed to slip across, easy as anything.

Most shifters flub their first few attempts. "

"It wasn't during an incursion, was it?"

"Nay, thank all the gods and goddesses. But he were young, and hadn't yet developed his werebeast or large dire forms, just a lone wolf pup.

Russ wandering away from the castle to find a quiet spot wasn't unusual for him, so we didn't worry much, at first, but by the next day and still no sign, well… "

"I have brothers and sisters much younger than me. I can imagine how I'd feel if one went missing in the city."