Page 85 of WitchCurse

Neither Kiran nor Toby stirred, my rage turned to despair, and tears began to slide down my cheeks and rain fell, like the world sought to wash away the soot of the dark court stain. I thought I should pursue the fleeing fae, but was unwilling to leave Kiran and Toby behind. My heart stuttered as I swept them into my embrace, my hands like those of the giant who had once tried to sweep Kiran into another world. I was not the beautiful and fierce dragon he had dreamed of being, just another corrupted monster of the fae. A once mortal child ripped from the human world and left to flounder in Underhill until saved by a magical prince.

It sounded like a fairytale, and would have been if we could be together. Though I suppose the tragic ending was on par with most books I read. Sad to think our story ended that way too. I’d rather wrap myself in the bond with them like Liam and Sebastian had in each other, burning bright together until no separation remained.

The rain splattered down on us and nothing but the patter of it hitting every surface echoed back. All was silent, even their heartbeats as I held them. I wasn’t supposed to survive without them. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. We were supposed to be together, me basking in Kiran’s rare, unguarded smile, or Toby’s teasing wit. The three of us snuggled together reading a book or watching an anime, eating the cake Sebastian provided.

All of it stripped away. Kiran lay in his human form, battered, ripped up in a dozen places, and Toby as his wolf, not the pretty blond human everyone tried to pretend didn’t unnerve them with the intelligence in his gaze.

I held them tight as the wind picked up, bowing my head over them. Would Sebastian and Liam have to end me now that I was some sort of giant thing? If I stood up, I knew I could see over the trees, but as the wind intensified, it tugged at me, like it was trying to pull me away. Darkness becoming a weight in my mind, but not holding my body in place.

Would we fly? Like those early days Kiran had in this world where he could take to the wind? He dreamed of it sometimes, letting me share those memories. I hadn’t known they’d been memories until recently, thinking only that they were dreams of the freedom he longed for.

I tucked Kiran and Toby to my chest and closed my eyes. There was so much magic, life and death, darkness and light, swirling in everything around us. How had Kiran existed at all in this world without the madness? It was like trying to focus on a whirling top, and wewerethe top, spinning until nothing had direction or purpose. I tried to weave us together with magic, thinking maybe the last dredges of my strength could return them to me, but they were already there, part of the whole, but all of it fading, even me. A triad of woven memories, magic, life, and now death. Somehow it felt fitting. Even in the end, they would still be mine, and I prayed the quickly fading light of my strength meant I would soon join them wherever all life went when their energy died.

I began to dissolve. At first, I thought it was snow. Fearing for a moment that the ice queen had returned, as I wasn’t at all certain she was dead. But when I turned my head, I realized it was my giant form, that begun to turn to ash, or snow, or rain, I couldn’t tell, but watched with fascination.

It didn’t hurt. Even as my vision began to dwindle. I could still feel Kiran and Toby in my grasp, though the physical presence of my hands crumbled and blew into the air. Until everything whirled in a current of air, the building, the trees, the remains of the dead, and my own vanishing form, all swirling like a tornado, lifting higher and higher. Something tugged us outward, away, a well of energy calling, and I reached for it, letting the sensation guide our flight.

I clung to Toby and Kiran; their souls nestled with mine like a handful of dandelion seeds caught in a storm. I wished they’d lived long enough to feel like a leaf gusting through the trees. It was a little like dancing, and I was reminded of the first time I’d met Kiran. Him nestled in a dream about a ball. Had he ever attended one? Had he only seen them from a distance? Or experienced them in stories? I’d never asked, fearing bringing him pain rather than a sweet moment in time. Would Toby have danced with us? Taking turns swinging around the floor to an array of music? I thought he might even know some of the dances, his memory and knowledge vast when not buried beneath the wolf’s strength. And I liked the idea of them, dressed to the nines, smiling and reaching out for the next round.

I sank into the memory, hoping it would be the final one before I was taken to whatever afterlife Kiran and Toby awaited in. And I became the young man again, awed by the beautiful prince who swept me into a dance, while the world around us faded away. He had always been beautiful. The original dream not revealing who he really was. But this new one was the real him I had only ever caught glimpses of in the past.

Without the glamour, his hair like fire, his skin darkly tanned, and still etched in the symbols of our bond. I traced a triangle on his chest with my fingertips, around his heart, etching the thought of Toby and I deep, and linking the bonds that bound the three of us together, until I finally felt like I could breathe again because he was ours. He would always be ours. The fae could throw him away a thousand times and he would still be ours.

I closed my eyes and let the world fall away to rest in the feeling of gliding in his arms, praying the dance never ended.

* * *

Kiran

Idozed in the warmth and protection of the trees, rolling over to stretch, feeling like the wild child I’d once been, and staring up into branches and a trunk with a face. It was a familiar face, memory long faded but roaring back as I gazed at it. A hand of spindly branches reached out to caress my fur, sliding over me with a careful stroke.

My kitsune form was warm and dozed, unwilling to rise when everything felt so calm. How long had it been since we’d been free of hunger, pain, and the dead weight of numb limbs? Centuries? It was divine to feel…nothing, and everything all at once. Painless but the breeze ruffling my fur in subtle swirls, and the branches tickling with light touches.

A little fox tugged at my ear.Uncle Kiran, the little fox snuffled my face, licking me a few times before prodding my ear again. It tickled, but I was warm, couldn’t I sleep? I nipped at the baby, trying to pull them in for a snuggle. We could be warm and safe together.

You have to calm the storm,I heard from somewhere. I tried to match a memory to the voice. It sounded like Sebastian, his face popping up a memory, as if my brain had only realized that second that I knew him. Strange.

I blinked, overwhelmed by suddenly feeling a thousand things at once. My body warm, awake, and alive, my mind tugged in a hundred directions, and my soul stretched in three ways. I yawned, the little fox dancing around me, a bigger fox sitting a few feet away. Not a fox that one. A kitsune, as he was streaked in white and almost as large as I was. The little fox, a poof of red and white danced around me excitedly, butt wiggling, two tails wagging, and playfully jumping forward to snuffle my ear again.

Annoying baby, I thought as the baby leaped away again.

Kiran?Sebastian called again, his omega strength pouring over me. A calming weight like a blanket wrapping me up until it was hard to keep my eyes open. I sank back down into the roots of the trees ready for another nap.No,Sebastian snapped,don’t go back to sleep. Call the power back.

I had no idea what he meant, and glanced around trying to understand. Nestled beneath the tree, protected and warm, what else did I need? There was room for Sebastian and the babe, but no one else was around.

Not even Toby or Nick.

I startled at that thought, feeling that stretch of my soul extending to them. They were still bound to me. Were they hurt? Why weren’t they there with me? A memory of an attack and Toby’s fangs piercing me brought a well of pain that made me flinch. But it hadn’t been him. He’d been buried in nightmares and darkness, the storm inside him taking over.

Storm? I felt the presence in the distance of something raging and recoiled, the magic whirling and a little crazed.

Yes, that,Sebastian agreed. He slid in close, as he rarely did, his snout nudging my shoulder.Can you follow the bond to Nick?

I could follow Nick to the end of the universe, I thought and let my mind seek that bond. It blazed bright, white-hot like the energy pouring from it would burn. I flinched, careful about touching it, but it didn’t hurt, though the second I reached for it the power jumped to me, like a million volts of electricity, shooting through me.

Okay that hurt, every nerve awakening. Life sprang up around us, flowers blooming, trees blossoming, the entire area awakening like spring on fast forward.

Sebastian stepped back, the babe hiding behind him. I didn’t understand this place as it didn’t look like the mortal world. Trees colored differently, sky a swirl of pink and purple, and the grass soft and blue like cotton candy. The tree and its massive spirit draped itself over me, protective but not caging. Sebastian kept a wary gaze on it, like he worried about the spirit attacking us.