Page 23 of WitchBorn

“Okay,” he said, waiting as if I needed to hide from him to do it.

“But I can’t.”

“Why?”

“If I knew fucking why, I wouldn’t be freaking out right now!” I shouted at him. Stupid fucking human. “Don’t turn around!”

He stopped. “Okay. I’m going to grab your hoodie and walk backward to hand it to you. Okay?”

“Stop saying okay.” I couldn’t breathe, what the hell was wrong with my power? I stared at my hands and legs, hoping I hadn’t completely lost my other form. Finn might think the Stag a majestic beast, but he’d laugh at my fawn side. Everyone did. I’d hate to have to kill him when I’d fought to keep him alive.

He bounded forward, picking up the hoodie and patting it, then setting it back down and grabbing the other, which had been his, and picking that one. I would have protested, but he slowly walked backward, holding the hoodie over his shoulder. “This one’s drier. They are both a little wet. Your pants are soaked.” His stomach grumbled again. How long could a mortal live without food and water? A few days? Months?

I snatched the hoodie out of his hand and tugged it over my head. At least it landed mid-thigh. The one I’d been wearing wouldn’t have covered much. Had he been thinking of that?

“I saw a bush with some berries when I was relieving myself,” Finn said. “Fae world and all that, I didn’t touch them, thinking they might eat me. But if you’re hungry I can show you where they are.”

How fair was that ifhecouldn’t eat them? “We need to focus on getting you out of here.”

“Can I look now?”

“There’s nothing worth looking at, but whatever.”

He turned, his gaze hesitant, but he didn’t stare or gloat. “Do you have a plan to get us out?”

“Do I look like a guy with a plan?”

“Yeah, actually. I mean you know more about all of this,” he waved his hand at the world. “More than I do. What can we do to get out? I know that dragon thing said it’s your mate, but I don’t buy the ‘no choice’ thing. Can’t you ask your Summer king to help?”

“If we could get word to him, maybe. But this world is blocking the outside from leeching in, and us from getting out. Iwandered for days before running into you, finding only circles of sameness.”

Finn puffed out his cheeks as he blew a breath and put his hands in his hair as though that helped him think. He walked the clearing for a dozen or so paces, keeping his distance from any trees or brush. “You said something about wandering through a portal.”

“Yes. Most mortals are drawn that way. Portals can look like anything. The Summer king called them buttholes to other realms, but they can be the back of a closet or a ring of mushrooms, or a section of the forest filled with weird flowers.”

“Buttholes to other realms. I might like your Summer king.”

“Most people do,” I grumbled. “He can open doors. Summer always has that power.”

Finn paused to stare at me.

“We are in the Autumn realm. The dragon is the Autumn king. His realm, his rules. He doesn’t seem to want outside influence.” But kept Finn here for some reason.

Finn nodded and resumed his pacing. “Is there anything special about Autumn we should know? Weaknesses?”

“Me.”

“Mate, right. Is that a weakness? Like does he have to do what you say? If you walk up to him and say, ‘Let us go,’ what does he do?”

“Burn the cabin down.”

“Point.” He wandered in a careful line around the area, avoiding the thick lines of clover.

“The clover isn’t dangerous.”

“But your other form likes to eat it, right?”

“Yes.”