Page 146 of The Unbound Witch

I brushed my thumb across Nym’s cheek, wiping the tears that fell. I’d had the time to accept the shattering of my bond with Scoop. I’d mourned him long before he’d left. But this was fresh for her. A cavernous wound on her heart.

“Will it ever stop hurting?” she asked, rubbing her chest.

I pressed my lips to hers, closing my eyes as I breathed in the tried and true feeling of her textured lips. The taste of her salty tears. The smoothness of her skin beneath mine.

“I don’t think so. But I’ll be here to help you through.”

She gripped the ends of my blonde hair, desperate to deepen the kiss I’d teased her with. But I pulled away with a sly smile.

“Save it, pretty witch. We have a room in that shiny new castle to christen.”

“Fucking hell,” Atlas said with a groan.

I turned around just in time to see him studying the new markings covering his arms. He closed his eyes, tossing his head back as he swallowed. “I’m going to miss that beast.”

“Oh, Atty.” I fell to the ground beside him. “I’m so sorry.”

He opened his eyes, studying me for only a second before wrapping his arms around me and squeezing until I couldn’t breathe. And I let him. For as long as he needed.

“Plus side, free hugs,” he whispered in my ear.

“Free gut punches, too, so behave yourself.”

He forced a laugh, but as I pulled away, I could still see the sorrow on his face. There was nothing he loved more than being a shifter, commanding the night beneath the power of the moon.

Torryn cleared his throat, moving to his feet without a word. Turning his back to us, he hung his head for a moment, likely feeling just as lost as the rest of us. Shared misery. Raven forced herself to get up, stumbling to Tor so she could wrap him in a hug.

He bent down, his deep voice unable to soothe anyone as it cracked. “I guess this is it,” he said. “We’re witches now.”

“It’s not all bad.” Raven gestured to his arms. “It looks like you have a good amount of power.”

The way her eyes dropped when she said that final word struck me.

“Try it out,” I urged Atlas, desperate to pull away from the tension.

He flopped his hand back and forth and a marking on his forearm turned red. A wicked smile crossed his face as a spider with long, hairy legs appeared on Torryn’s beard. The beast of a man leapt backward, swiping at it while reciting every curse word known to man.

“Well, this is going to be fun,” Atty said.

Tor growled and flicked his wrist, lifting the pup from the ground and hanging him upside down. Bastian stepped in, casting his shadows to cover Atlas’ eyes as he hung suspended, then waited a beat before punching him in the gut.

With an oomph, Atlas clutched his stomach. “You’re such a dick, Bash.”

“That was Nym, I swear,” the king lied, flashing her a grin.

Dropping my hand, she moved to stand in front of Atty. When the king let his shadow magic vanish and the pup saw her standing there, he winced. She threw a hand on her hip and lifted an eyebrow.

Torryn dropped him to the ground and he jumped to his feet, dusting the dirt from his chest. All sense of sadness gone, though likely just a façade, as he swung an arm over my shoulder and then twisted his face, turning away.

“Holy hell, Kir. You fucking stink.”

I shoved him away. “Oh please, when was the last time you bathed?”

He looked at Bastian and then Torryn, something sat unspoken between them. He turned and sniffed Nym, and she brought her knee up and kicked him square in jewels. He fell to the ground in pain, cursing her.

“You’re shifters,” he managed, grunting. “You changed just like we did.”

I could do nothing but shake my head. I would have known, felt it, I thought. But there was nothing aside from that void where Scoop had been. Nym didn’t disagree, though she slipped her hand into mine and squeezed.Everythinghad changed. Again.