Page 86 of WitchCurse

I rose to four paws, stretching and sliding my side along the thick trunk of the tree in a good scratch. The bond with Nick felt strong, but I couldn’t hear his thoughts like I normally did, all that came back from him was…chaos? Where were my scions? Had we lost? Where was Toby?

Go to him, bring him back, stop the storm,Sebastian begged. His thoughts in my head were like a bell ringing, insistent, unfamiliar, and loud.It’s a lot of work to make you hear me,Sebastian said.

I slunk out from beneath the roots, sliding along Sebastian’s side and shocked by the sensation of home and calm coming from him. Magic yes, but part that he belonged to me? I paused to rub my face on his. His omega strength or something more?

Worry less about me and more about Nick and Toby.

But the bond was bright so that meant they were okay, right? Why weren’t they here with me? Did they not like the divine nest of warmth and calm beneath the tree? I thought briefly of Nick and his love for books, and Toby who enjoyed playing among the trees as his wolf, or reading with us. We would need more than the small nest. I looked at the trees surrounding us and they began to reform, becoming a house, probably not the most modern in design as I hadn’t been part of the human world long enough to study the structure. Maybe they would like something more like the camper?

Kiran, Sebastian called again. The baby jumped up, landing little paws on my side, reaching up to tug my fur.Build later, pull Nick back first.

Only Nick? Where was Toby? I reached for the bond to him and couldn’t find it. My heart flipped over. Was he gone?

Memories of the battle flickered through my mind for a few seconds. Was he still in the clutches of the fae? And where was Nick? I grabbed onto the bond and pulled, finding it lodged like an anchor, unmovable. But it was tied to me, so I could follow it. I leapt forward, surprised when my paws danced on air rather than needing the ground, but launched myself forward, following the bond like it was a rainbow and Nick my pot of gold on the other side. Was Toby with him?

Sebastian and the baby vanished behind me, seeming unable to follow.

The storm hit long before I reached Nick, whipping winds and torrential rains, with a force that blew over trees and could rip apart buildings, though it raged mostly over the ocean. I was able to fly through the mess, all of it only feeling like a warm breeze, or caress of moonlight.

In the center of the storm, a break in the insane winds, sat Nick and Toby. Both curled up together as if asleep, but Toby was very still, his form wrapped up in icy layers of magic. I didn’t like the look of that, and raced down to their side, plucking the magic free from my wolf and encasing a blaze of warmth around them to ease the chill.

Neither moved, and my heart stuttered as I realized I could see them, feel the bond linked to them, but not hear their thoughts or even their heartbeats. Were they dead? Was this how mortal life ended? Why were they protected by a hurricane of wind and magic?

I shifted to my human form and reached out to touch both of their faces, fearing they would be cold and lifeless. But my palms on their cheeks sent a ripple of something through the bond, a spell breaking? The whipping wind died down, sky clearing, and waves fading. All that strength rippled backward, pouring into me as if it had always been mine, nestling deep, and calming, in subtle waves like an ocean tide. A barrier rising within, mostly empty, but inside where the drip of darkness would begin to refill.

They lay still and unmoving, and my heart flipped over in fear. I gathered them into my arms, and used my magic to tug them back into the safety of the tiny nest beneath the tree and away from wherever the storm had died. We would need a bigger nest.

A bit of magic yanked at the boundary of my tiny sanctuary, and I blinked to find Sebastian and the pup return. Sebastian’s relief was instant.You found them.

I had, but why were they still? I changed back to my kitsune form and settled down beside them. Toby’s skin began to warm and I added another layer of heat around us, hoping they would wake soon.

Sebastian seemed sad. The little fox whined, sticking close to Sebastian’s side.Kiran…they are gone. Let them go.

But I just got them back. I snarled at him. They were mine. Both willingly accepting my bond.

Sebastian didn’t run away, instead stepped in close to nuzzle my jaw. It was strange to feel tears in this form, from his fox to mine. Rain fell, starting with little drops and soon shifting to giant swells. I trembled, watching my men as neither stirred, but the roots began to grow, wrapping around them, as if wanting to devour them. I leapt away from Sebastian, latching onto a root trying to rip it away from Nick, but it happened in the blink of an eye, both of them disappearing, wrapped up in roots, and the brightness of the bond exploded, like whiplash, back at me.

They were gone, almost as though they were physically dissolved back into the land? The rain began to recede and flowers bloomed, the grass rising, like all of this place was telling me they were still here, used to refuel life in this world? That wasn’t what I wanted. I trembled, the loneliness and grief hitting hard. Had I somehow survived and lost both of them? What was the point of living?

Physically I felt energized, unfettered as I never had before, like I could rise up to the wind and never come down again. Was this their power? Or my magic returned from them? If that’s what it was, I didn’t want it. Freedom at the price of their lives?

I sank down into the roots where they had been, thinking this world didn’t deserve them anyway. I felt the last lingering kernel of them, little more than a seed of energy I hoped to nurture. If I let it grow, gave it love, rain, warmth, and sun, it would flourish? I clung to that hope and nestled in beside them.

I opened a door, or portal, or something, a tear in the world, and shoved Sebastian and the baby out. They didn’t need to see my tears, and I didn’t want to see their joy at having each other when I was all alone. Freedom meant nothing without Nick and Toby.

Within the ground, beneath the trees, that kernel of their energy pulsed with warmth and peace. Like a rare flower I would pamper the seed of them, even if it amounted to nothing. The delicate touch of it calmed my heart, and I thought of all the things I had wanted to provide for them. I failed at all of it, keeping them safe most of all, but I could protect this seed, and nurture the remnants of their lifeforce.

I funneled all the extra energy I had into building a home they would have liked. Not a castle or the mansion style of thing I recalled Sebastian had lived in, but similar to the camper, cozy. Could it be home without them? I didn’t think so, but continued to build in memory of them.

CHAPTER28

Toby

Iwoke up feeling like I’d had the best nap ever, stretching, joints popping, and yawning huge. Nick was curled around my back, weight like an anchor, but feeling warm and delicious. I thought for a moment about rolling him over and giving him the ultimate good morning hello, but found our surroundings bizarre.

We seemed to be in some sort of tree type of hut? Was this Underhill?

I sat up, staring at a sprawl of roots that made the walls and ceiling, no windows or doors, and wondered how we got there. Nick muttered something, and I let my mind slide down the bond to find his sleepy brain lingering on the edge of a dream. Something about a dance?