Page 50 of Witchbane

Nick shrugged. “They used to be fae. What you call monsters are simply corrupt versions of beings like Creshna. She helped raise Kiran. One of the few happy to find him free, and she was willing to serve. Her loss will have him brooding for a while.”

“You say that like losing her shouldn’t bother him,” Liam said quietly.

“We all do what we must to survive,” Nick said. I wondered at how many horrible things he must have done to have survived.

“How often does he have to eat the fae who are refuged here?” Liam asked.

“Depends on how often the corrupt attack. Sometimes he can feed on them.” Nick was quiet for a moment and glanced toward the windows. “It’s bad to eat the corrupt.”

“How many are left uncorrupted?”

“Not many. Within the walls they are safe. Those who remain outside…”

“There isn’t a way to stop it?” Liam wanted to know. “What if we open a door to the other world? Can the fae escape through? And what will happen if Underhill collapses? Will all wild magic die then?”

“The forest god is wild magic,” I said. It had to be. It didn’t cast spells or rely on symbols. “Elemental magic. A god-like creature, that all sounds like wild magic, right?” I looked to Nick for confirmation.

He nodded after Liam gave him a quick explanation of what we had seen. “It does. And there had to be some wild magic for your world to exist at all.”

“It was your world too,” Liam reminded him.

“For a handful of years? I’ve been here long enough that I don’t know of any other place.” Nick gathered a few more books.

“The giant thing came from within Underhill?” I asked. It hadn’t felt like Underhill, but I also knew nothing like that existed in the mortal world because it would be really hard to hide.

“If so, it came from an area that has long been inaccessible,” Nick said.

“The symbol you made for the door looked like alchemy,” I said, recalling the handful of things I’d seen the last time I’d come to visit. “Structured magic you call it. It’s a spell from fae magic.”

“Yes,” Nick agreed.

I needed to think about that. I had a lot to think about.

Chapter 13

Liam’s stomach growled. That was going to be a problem. “I’m fine.”

His gaze told me not to push. The idea of him starving, hungry at all, made me anxious. How long before it started to be a problem? A few days? What about water? Could he drink the water here? My anxiety ratcheted up another level. He looked at Nick. “Do you have information on scions? How the spells work? The exchange? Anything?”

Nick nodded and grabbed a few more volumes, handing them over. “There isn’t a lot of information since not many used it before. The last one in the stack are things I’ve recorded over the years.”

“Thank you,” Liam said and flipped through the first one. “A scion directs wild magic, right? Sort of like a witch would with a spell.”

“A scion shapes wild magic into structure,” Nick simplified. “It’s a bit more complicated than that, but that is the general idea.”

“How does it differ from our mate bond?” I asked. “Should Liam already have access to use my kitsune power?”

Nick appeared to think about that for a minute. “I think your mate bond is more a soul bond… how to explain? Kiran and I are not soul bonded. His magic is bound to me, allowing me access to his power.”

“But he’s not in your head? You can’t feel his emotions or hear his thoughts?” Liam wondered.

“No. He can speak mind to mind with me. That is part of the magic, but it’s something we do purposely, not something that just happens.” A bit of pink touched Nick’s cheeks. “Kiran and I are not intimate partners, we are simply tied by magic and necessity.” And that made sense. It also made me breathe a bit easier about Nick being bound to Kiran.

Liam paged through the book like he was putting things together. He was quick that way. “When you opened the portal, did you use any symbols or spells?” Liam asked me.

“No. Never really do. Except when theHuntattacked. I thought of the alchemy symbol for home, and it opened portals to here.” I stared at my mate as he made his way back to the chair beside the window. “What’s in your head?” I wished I got more from him, like he did from me, rather than just a glimpse of emotion.

“You’re a structured magic creature trying to use wild magic without structure…”