Her magic surged into it, and the shadows retreated back into the monster, dropping her on the ground, pain springing through her knees as she landed. But she didn’t stop. She bit deeper into her tongue, almost like her body knew she needed the blood, and continued to push and push until the very monster itself was bowing to her.
Was this what the goddess meant? What she wanted her to find? Her shoulders heaved up and down, her chest burning.
She really did have magic. It wasn’t a fluke. Finally, she was fucking worth something in the eyes of the witch world. How sad that this is what it had to come to, just to be somebody. To have a place. And they’d go back to hating her if they knew her power came from a shifter.
Slowly, the monster retreated.
All that was left of him was a man on his knees, his head hung low.
Twenty-Five
Felix
Confusion swamin Felix’s mind as the world came back into focus. The mossy ground bit into his knees as he looked at his hands, his bare thighs, his naked torso.
Fuck.
The monster had come out.
Green walls still towered above him. So, he was still in the maze. His head throbbed as he grasped at memories, trying to figure out what had happened only moments ago.Avery. Where was Avery?
His breath caught as he saw her, almost a mirror of himself. Her pale skin glowed in the moonlight, and what was left of her dress, not much, hung in shreds that shifted with each breath.
She looked wild. She lookedbeautiful.And he had no right to look upon her if he had been the one to do that to her. Guilt grabbed inside him. Had he done that? The monster never let him remember. Sometimes that was for the best.
Avery moved, picking herself up off the ground and storming toward him. A little slither of fear gripped his chest. Felix scrambled to his feet before she came up to him like he was a redflag and she was the bull, bare-ass naked and furious enough to gore him.
She poked him hard in the chest. “You ruined my only dress, you behemoth.”
Really, that was her first concern? “If it’s any consolation, you look far better without it.”
A blush formed over her face as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Explain yourself.”
“About the dress? I think you know what happened to that, kitten.”
“No. The giant-ass shadow-cat-monster you just became,” she hissed, voice dropping like someone might hear them.
“It’s complicated,” he said, subconsciously mirroring her and crossing his arms. It wasn’t that complicated; he could be an itty-bitty kitty or a big scary kitty. Did he scare her? Obviously not enough for her to run away.
“Try me.”
“All shifters have a monstrous form, little witch. It’s powerful, but hard to control, and often burns us out for a few days,” Felix said. His monster was now locked away once more and sulking.
Her face softened. “So now you can’t use magic?”
“Temporarily, yes.”
She chewed at her lip, a bit of blood dripping from her bottom lip. He resisted the urge to wipe it away.
“And why was my magic able to stop it?” she questioned.
The air around him stilled. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, when I pushed my magic into you, you went back to normal.”
What?That was new. Usually, his form would just tire itself out. It had never been forcibly shoved back into its box somewhere inside him. Every damn day, there was somethingnew with this witch. With this bond. If only he had been able to control it himself.
“I’m sorry I lost control,” he said.
