Page 96 of Witchbane

“No, but I suspect your father was some sort of power that needed to be reshaped. He used your mother, who has fae blood, to become a vessel for you.”

“That’s weird.”

“No weirder than us creating Ari out of corrupted magic.”

“If Ari is made out of the mess of Underhill…” The idea didn’t bode well for our baby.

“Reshaped magic,” Liam corrected me. “The corruption was Underhill’s. I get the impression that magic is neutral. How it’s used is when it becomes an issue. I suspect they wanted to use you to recreate Underhill, but in a way that they could control.”

“I don’t ever want to hold that much power again.” I thought about all I’d been through for the past few months and wondered how often that would happen. Too much power hurt, and if I never had to be that miserable again, that would be great. Now that it was gone, I felt… normal? Was that even possible when I was some sort of mix of magics?

“Normal is good,” Liam agreed.

“But you said that Kiran was more fae. He would have been a better choice to recreate Underhill.”

“They chose to lock him in ice until the power trickling from him corrupted everything. Everything they did led to you draining more energy from everyone and everything around you.”

Which led to Ari. I frowned at Liam, finding a dozen more scars. “Liam…”

“Healing was a bit slow in Underhill for me. Some are from Ari. Accidents. Sometimes the last remaining fae would come at us. I protected Ari.”

“Shouldn’t they heal now that you’re home?” I tightened my grip in his hair, pulling him close.

“I think I’d have to open each one and let it heal. Maybe then they would vanish? Do they bother you?” Liam’s voice got soft. Uncertain.

“Only that I wasn’t there to keep them from happening.”

“I aged too. That seems to be receding now.” He reached up to cover my hand with his. “Underhill was not the best place for me.”

“I’m glad it’s gone,” I said. “I need you too much to ever think of losing you there.” I tugged him close for a kiss again. “Sorry I taste like burger,” I grumbled.

“Delicious. Burger and Seb. Two of my favorite things.”

We kissed for a bit, a dance of exploration without the normal intensity. Mostly because I was worried and a little upset.

“About?” Liam tried to prod me for clarification.

“You were hurt. You were gone a long time without me.”

“But I survived. I’m here. You’re here. I’m good.”

I stared into his face. The little lines around his eyes were receding, but not gone. There were a lot of tiny things different about him. More than the scars. He was leaner than I remembered, but didn’t look gaunt or tired. This had to be real. Not some dream, right? And that was the biggest fear. Had Hugo found the memory and exploited it? I tried to recall the ones he’d created out of Felix. They’d felt real while I was dreaming them, but looking back, Felix had been off. Kinder than he ever was. Perfect.

Maybe Hugo had learned from that and was creating flaws? Controlling me by making me believe Liam was here. That was a terrifying thought.

“Liam?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“How do I know you’re not a dream?”

The bond tightened around me. Squeezing with an intensity so that I could feel every member of the pack, including Liam. And it was then that his thoughts seemed to settle over me. He was worried that I wouldn’t find him attractive now that he’d aged and had scars. And he was suddenly feeling insecure about the tattoos he’d asked for, while he’d been proud of them before.

I growled at him. “Liam Ulrich, I fucking love you more than anything.”

He raised a brow at me. “For more than my hot body?”

“Um, yeah. You think I jump any hot guy I meet?”