Page 37 of WitchCurse

“No,” Nick said. “What’s done is done. We will not be devolving into that argument right now.” Argument? Had they been arguing? Did I get a say? I kept my mouth shut as that was one of the only things that had ever helped in the past. “Sebastian and Liam were already there. Zephyr was denying he knew where you were. ButIknew. We are bonded. No cage or iron barrier could keep me from telling where you are.”

“But you’re angry I bound the wolf,” I clarified.

“Thewolfis the reason you changed at all. He asked Ari to give you magic.”

Toby looked down at the food unwilling to meet our gaze. “Sorry. It will not happen again.”

I agreed with Nick, what was done, was done. Nothing could be changed about that now. “Should I have killed him? Let the final transformation take over? I’d have liked to smash through Zephyr’s court and snap him in half.”

Nick laughed; sarcasm heavy in the tone. “You sort of did. He lives, but half his court was decimated. We thought his court was bigger, but Wesley says it’s not, and this is a major blow. He’d been given his own court with the idea that he could make Sebastian submit, and that would draw others. Now he has little power left and even fewer fae, maybe not even enough to hold the magic of the court together.”

“Wesley…” I didn’t even want to get started on that nasty seer.

“I have not shared that yet with Liam or Sebastian,” Nick said. “Should I?”

That the Stag was a seer? “I have no idea,” I said throwing back the blanket, intent on getting up and speaking to the alpha myself, but was shocked to find the blight had receded, only mostly covering my legs.

“The blight is from starvation,” Toby said. He carried a tray of food our way, most of which pulsed with magic. “The wrong mix of magic. Underhill couldn’t feed you properly because you need some magic from this world, just not as much as Sebastian does.” He paused, eyes going gold for a moment, then back to blue. “It will take some practice, and trial and error, to get the mix right. Liam has given me some basics, but for the moment, we are still getting power from them. The other part of the problem is the bindings and curses. But we’ll worry about that once you’ve had something to eat.”

He set the tray on the bed beside Nick. The food looked like another of Sebastian’s special meals, but I wasn’t hungry.

“That’s a lie,” Toby said. “I thought fae weren’t supposed to lie.”

“He lies to himself all the time,” Nick added picking up a piece of bacon and eating it. Magic. Everything was laced with magic, structured and wild. He deftly separated the strands as though he’d been doing it forever, sliding the wild magic through the bond to me, intertwining a bit of the structured bits.

“Sebastian sent the cookies for you,” Toby added. “But I can eat them so he won’t know.”

Know what? I stared at the plate of round baked goods and tried to understand why they would be an issue. Nick didn’t even look at them. A stir of dark energy swirled in him for a moment. I tried to reach for it, but he shut down the link between us.

“We should go see the alpha. He and Sebastian are warring over us moving. Sebastian wants us to stay. Liam understands it’s a strain on his court, but moving puts us in danger,” Toby said.

“The fae will retaliate.” They would seek to cage me again; drain the energy I’d drawn until I was on the verge of the nightmare again.

“Wesley is sticking close. Liam is talking about giving his service to you,” Nick added. “He generates fae energy.”

“I don’t want the seer,” I said. They were bad luck, making prophecies and declarations that were always misinterpreted. “Look how his last little bit of help ended up.” I waved a hand at Toby.

“You’re both alive,” Nick said.

“At what cost?” I asked.

“I can still feel Sebastian’s omega powers, but Liam is no longer my alpha,” Toby said. “I am not bound to their pack.”

“That does not sound like a good thing,” I said. He’d been troubled enough before, his soul strangely separated. The pack had been trying to heal that, or at least Sebastian had been. I didn’t think being without their bonds would help him.

“It actually is,” Nick said, his gaze meeting Toby’s. “The wolf is not battling. It’s like not having the alpha bond has helped the wolf settle?”

“It doesn’t like being controlled by another,” Toby agreed.

Wasn’t he controlled by me? His gaze met mine and there was challenge there, like he’d fight me if I dared tug on his strings. The bond could force him to be little more than a puppet, but I’d never done it. Wasn’t even certain how it worked. Instead, I changed the subject. “We are a strain on Sebastian’s court?”

“Power within power,” Nick said. “We need to stay close as there is a lot of magic circling through our bond that I don’t know how to use. Toby needs the omega, and you need healing. However, this,” he waved at the camper in all the ways it had been expanded, “is a bubble of energy to tempt any kitsune. Even if it’s a mixed mess that only Ari could really use.”

“Is the child having trouble?” I asked.

“No, but Seb is struggling to contain his kitsune. He is still very young in fae terms.”

The fox wanted to eat us? Divine retribution for taking his wolf, I supposed.