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“And how old are you really?”
“I have no idea. As old as time.”
She was nuts. “Can you do magic like Clay?”
“Not like Clay. His anchor is Flo. She’s the goddess of Earth and Fire. I’m Animal and Soul. I carried the magic for Baer and Grey. There are other things I can do, like conjure some things.” She pointed to the counter and a cake appeared.
Dane’s eyes grew wide as he stared at the cake. It was a two-tiered, decorated dessert, down to the writing on the top. Magic is real, it read.
Hard to dispute that now. He walked to it and stuck a finger in it. He sniffed. It smelled like chocolate. Looked like chocolate.
Jo chuckled. “It’s perfectly safe to eat.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” He tore off a paper towel and wiped his finger.
Jo gave a little sniff. “You’ve had no problem eating my food in the past.”
Dane’s stomach clenched and suddenly went queasy as he thought back to the countless meals he’d shared over the past month with Clay and the others. So many of them had been cooked by Jo, Flo, and Willie. But had they really cooked? Or just magicked them up and he didn’t know it?
For now, he shoved that thought aside. It was better to not look too closely at what he’d blindly done in the past.
“If Grey can read minds, I’m guessing he’s soul, but what can Baer do?”
“He can understand animals and shapeshift into them.”
That seemed too weird to be real, but still pretty awesome. Who hadn’t imagined what it would like to fly like a bird or run through the woods like a great cat? “Now, that I’d like to see.”
“You will,” she said, then tacked on in a whisper, “I hope.” There was no denying that Baer was badly hurt, and there had been zero talk about using magic to heal him.
Jo walked forward and placed a hand on his arm. “You’re thinking about leaving. We’d really like for you to stay.”
He blinked at her. “You think I’d stay, knowing all this?”
Jo’s smile turned a little sad. “I know it’s a lot, but we can’t keep you prisoner. There’s a small chance the pestilents would target you, but my sisters and I can manage a little magic to cloak you from them. But it would mean never coming back here. Never seeing Clay again.”
The thought staggered Dane enough that he had to grab for the counter to steady himself. He pressed his free hand to his heart and rubbed, half expecting to feel a seeping wound. Yes, he was still pissed at Clay, but it had never occurred to him that they couldn’t get past this. They’d shout and say some hurtful things, then apologize and hold each other. They’d be stronger than they were and return to their normal lives.
But there was no more normal for them.
There were now powers and aliens and world-ending, life-and-death battles.
“Is…is he even human?”
“Yes, Clay, Baer, and Grey are all still very human. They have human thoughts and feelings.”
It didn’t matter. He’d known that even before Jo started talking.
His mind drifted to that morning, waking next to Clay and the way the man’s brown eyes had softened when he found Dane gazing at him. Clay had rolled over on top of him, staring down at him. He’d softly kissed him. Neither had worried about morning breath as the kiss had lingered. His belly had fluttered, and his heart had started to beat hard in his chest.
He loved Clay.
Completely and utterly loved that stubborn man.
Jo patted his arm again. “Love is a beautiful thing, Dane Briggs. A precious gift. Don’t give up on it because you’re angry. Talk with him. Try to understand what he’s going through. He was never given a choice, his course charted the second he was born. He’s scared and has every reason to be. Right now, he needs you.”
Dane shut his eyes, knowing he wouldn’t be going anywhere. He couldn’t leave. Not when he was in love with the damn man. And not when he knew Clay was in danger, and there could be a way Dane could help him.
“Did you really tell him not to tell me?”
She nodded. “We were trying to keep you safe. That’s all. We’ve never had any outsiders in this battle, and we planned to keep it that way.”
“And if I stay, no more secrets?”
“You know everything the Weavers know.”
Oh, he caught that fucking dodge, but he bit his tongue. If the goddesses were keeping things from the Circle, that was their business. He just wanted to know as much as Clay about this strange world.
But there were important things he still didn’t know, like how Clay felt about him. He had an idea—something he’d seen in the man’s gaze that morning—but he needed to hear it for himself.
