Page 62 of WitchBorn

“What?” I asked.

“It’s a sleeping potion,” Toby said. “Meant to get you deep into your subconscious, which should help you connect with Xander.”

“I know nothing about Xander,” I grumbled, irritated that they seemed to know the mate I was mated to more than I did. How much alike were Finn and Xander? A thousand stories of the king of werewolves and Sebastian’s youth hardly led to a clear picture. Many painted Xander as a monster to be feared, which I could see especially when the wolf ruled, but also benevolent and protective, as he did everything he could to keep from slaughtering the wolves who lost themselves to their beasts. The first dreams of Finn’s parents lead me to believe he hated humans, yet there were dozens living amongst his wolves which he cared for as fiercely as he had any of his pack.

“Xiao will try to slip through when you dream. Robin will amplify his link through you.” Ari said. Their gaze lingered on Xiao, worry defined on their young face, though now the pair looked close in age. I wondered which was worse, fated to a broken Autumn king known for terrorizing shifters, fae, and mortals alike, or the reincarnation of Underhill itself.

I took the bottle from Toby, uncapping it to smell it, found it with a mild bite of alcohol.

“Sip it,” Toby said. “Don’t chug it all down, I’m not certain if you will wake up from that.” He bit his lip, staring at the potion. “It’s from one of Seb’s forbidden books. Remember the old adage that if you die in a dream, you die in reality? Try to follow that if you can, ‘cause it might actually happen with this. Strongmagic mixed with alchemy and part science. I didn’t tell Seb. He won’t ask. Liam knows, but they are leaving the choice to you.”

I put the cap back on it without drinking. The Summer court’s benevolence made me sigh. Choices weren’t my strong suit, not without a vision to guide me and I hadn’t had one since I’d left Finn’s side. “This sounds like a bad idea. Maybe we should find Finn’s moms.”

“And do what? Tell them he’s the torn soul of the fae Autumn king reborn? Witchborn, and cursed by Winter?” Toby folded his arms across his chest. “Do you want to know what the cards say?”

I pointed at myself. “I’m the seer.”

“Who’s blind to his own future. I got the hanged man and the lovers card.”

“Which, let me guess, means we’re doomed?”

“It means there will be a sacrifice for love. It’s not a bad reading, or a good one really. It could go either way. The choice is yours.”

“I’m fated to the man, how is that a choice?”

“You could walk away right now,” Toby said.

I couldn’t. The idea knocked the breath out of me. I assumed it was fate tying us together. A few days with him and I’d begun to feel something for Finn, a need to be closer. Sure, the sex had been good, but I wanted to know more about him. What if all he had left to show me was the trauma of his past that made him the Volkov, werewolf king of nightmares?

“Could you have walked away when you met Kiran?”

“I did. My wolf and I fought over it for months, the wolf tied us to Nick until the next step had to be Kiran. If I hadn’t been broken, there would have been no fight. He’s mine as much as Nick is. We are stronger together.”

And all a little crazy from the glimpses I’d caught into the Spring realm. Kiran refused to hold back and built a kingdomwith his magic that would rival the courts of old, while Seb hesitated, layering his magic more gently over the mortal overlap between his realm and the earthen one.

I turned away to sit on the edge of the bed, dry-washed my face with my hands and wished the constant headache I’d had since I’d first woken up in Seb’s realm, would go away. “I don’t know Xander at all. He doesn’t know me either.”

“But you aren’t looking for Xander,” Ari said. “You’re looking for Finn.”

I held up the bottle for Toby to see. “A sip? How fast does it work?”

“Fast,” Toby said.

“I’ll have food ready each time you wake up,” Ari said. “Xiao is going to try to get in, but it may take more than once.” They glanced at the pretty fox boy, heart in their eyes. If Seb didn’t know yet, he was either blind, or purposefully ignoring their relationship. “If it’s not safe for Xiao, I won’t let him enter the realm either.”

“Can you do that?” Toby asked.

“I would do a lot for Xiao,” Ari said.

“Creepy. You talk to your dads about all this? Get the birds and bees talk and all that?” I got under the blankets, uncapped the bottle and took a tiny sip, then set the bottle on the table beside the bed, expecting a one-two knockout punch. “Tastes like vodka and lemon?”

“I improvised,” Toby said.

“Birds and bees?” Xiao asked, gazing up at Ari.

“Sex,” Ari amended.

Xiao flushed, “Oh.”