Page 107 of Witchbane
Liam was hugging me fiercely. I hadn’t realized until that moment that I’d been half moving toward the door as if to stop them. I sucked in air and tried to clear my head.
“Sorry,” I said again, feeling horrible. “The kitsune wants his power like a starving man wants a donut.” I turned into Liam’s embrace, pulling the mate bond around me, basking in the warmth of it, and trying to soothe the kitsune. “I love you,” I told Liam.
“Even ifZephyris a tasty treat?” Liam held me tight enough to hurt.
“Even if. Let’s go find our kid. I need to tell you what Carl did.”
“What did I do?” Carl demanded as he entered the bunkhouse. “Not run away like some people.”
I turned to glare at him. “I didn’t run.”
“I recall seeing your ass disappear through a portal.”
“To get to Al at the garage and save your ass from becoming a permanent frozen wolf without all the songs and glamourous snow play,” I shouted back.
“Sounds about right. Leaving the vampires and changed wolves attacking your home.”
“They followed me!” Which I admit I hadn’t really been thinking of at the time, being more panicked, trying to keep the bulk of the wolves from changing. Dylan had insisted I find the leader, which I had. “And look who’s giving me shit after he gets taken over by some curse while Toby kicks his ass.”
Carl’s face turned red. “Toby is stronger than he realizes.”
“And didn’t get corrupted by the fae,” I pointed out. “Neither did Dylan.”
“Their ties to you are stronger,” Liam said. “I suspect it is more a trust level that we’ll have to work on within the pack than an actual weakness of particular wolves.” His gaze found Carl and was assessing.
“I didn’t run,” I informed my mate. I sort of had, but not away. “It was complicated.” I sucked in air, hoping to convey everything without words through our bond, and Liam seemed to absorb it all. “By the way, we need a stock of Hershey bars. I found Robin and he understands portals?”
Nick nodded. “The pucks were the first to really travel between worlds. The first to really leave Underhill to explore, and bring back magic from this world.”
Liam tugged on my braid, looking stern for a minute, but super-hot. Yeah, I still had a kink for him. Giant fae dude or not. “Sounds like a good task for Carl.” He looked at his second.
“Getting candy bars?” Carl gaped at his alpha.
“Did you get rid of the gorgon already?” I asked about Liam’s ex-wife.
“She’s been taken to a hotel. Not that she’ll stay there.”
“Good, then candy bar retrieval sounds about right.” I waved at him like I were some sort of royalty. “Off with you, peasant.”
Liam snorted a laugh. Carl scowled, but Carl always scowled. He turned and stomped out of the bunkhouse muttering something about “fucking foxes” and butt boyfriends. Which reminded me I needed to fill Liam in on the bad word coloring book and my weird growth in power, which our child called oopsies. He seemed to absorb all of that knowledge without me even trying.
“This new wide-open bond thing is a perk,” I said.
“It does save time,” Liam agreed. “Perhaps an easier way to learn and control the portals? My experience only extends so far as I have to use your power. I think I have the basics down.”
“It will take practice,” Nick said. “Since you have other issues to attend to, it’s probably good that you spend some time learning the magic.”
“Other issues?” I wondered.
“The Volkov?” Liam asked, reminding me ofApain stone. “Giant fae lord, who I’m sure won’t vanish into the night.”
“All fae desire more power,” Nick agreed. “Curing Kiran should be there somewhere too. I recognize that is not your issue, but mine.”
“We are willing to help if we can,” I offered. “I hope he doesn’t have to eat fae while he’s here.”
“He’ll have to align with you. Which would mean offering to serve, much like the stag did,” Nick informed me. “But it’s a bit symbolic as without the blight he’d be strong enough to have his own court.”
I had questions on what he would do with a court if he had one, but we could answer that down the line. “And the military collecting vampires?” I asked Liam.