“Oh, yeah, no. Go for it. I’m so not dealing with any of this again.” I shake my head, reviewing kidnapping with the distaste of someone leaving a 1-star review on a local coffee shop. 0 Stars, the Wi-Fi is terrible. “Claw to your heart’s content. As long as I’m in your arms, I’m home.”
Moth’s lips quirk. “You can have everything, my flame,” he says. “I will make certain of that.” With Moth—there’s no doubt.
“Get married already, you two!” Oak shouts, making a face.
“We intend to,” Moth says, draping an arm around my shoulder before he pulls me in for a kiss.
After everything that’s happened this week, tomorrow is finally the day.
I can’t wait.
22.
Moth
Sleep comes easily with the warmth of my flame beside me but does not last. Reaching to feel her body next to mine, I find only blankets and pillows.
She is gone.
Startled, I sit up and race to the door.
Sprout sits on the porch, his tail happily thudding as he nods his head in the direction of the woods. Heather is there, among the trees, her body transformed and beautiful under the soft moonlight. I inch closer to get a better look, but as I approach, her eyes widen, pulling her human features back over herself like a security blanket.
“Wait!” I order, stroking her feathers just before they vanish.Soft.
Even in this form, she is stillso soft.
“It’s weird for you though, isn’t it?” she asks, still half-shifted. “I know how you’re used to seeing me.”
“You are beautiful.”
“Beautiful,” she echoes. “I knew you would accept me but… you really think I’m beautiful?”
I cannot help but smile. Perhaps now she understands the confusion I felt the first time she kissed me while transformed. It is not a form mortals are accustomed to, but she is no longer a mortal—and every inch of her is mine.
“What was it you said to me all those years ago now?” I muse, still holding onto her hand. I raise it from where it had rested over my heart to my lips. “’You are so,sopretty.’”
“I really am a wordsmith, huh?” She sniffles, her chestnut eyes dewy. The moon hits the defined curves of her body. Yet in this half-shifted form, she looks so small and uncertain.
“And Iloveyou,” I say, trailing a claw from her shoulder to chin, a gesture that always makes her shudder. She trembles and leans into me, seeming just a little more relaxed. Her skin returns, and though her warmth is welcome, I am eager to see her full power.
“Does transforming get easier?” she asks. Flexing her hand, the nails grow and retract. “Almost every time it’s happened, I’ve been like so angry that everything becomes a blur…”
I hesitate. I’ve been able to shift forms since I was a child. It’s hard to say if it’s something that she will adapt to or not. “I will help you practice.”
“Yeah…” She nods. “I mean if you want to. I would like that.”
“Heather…” I begin, pinching her chin between my fingers. “Again, I will repeat myself: you are beautiful. I will keep telling you so even if it takes an eternity for you to believe me.”
“But do you…” she begins, rocking on her heels. I attempt to study her body language, but cannot imagine how, in a form so exquisite, she could doubt herself.
I have told her she is beautiful, accepted… but with the way she squirms, I don’t think she believes it. Unless there is something else she is waiting to hear.
Oh .
“You are desired.” The words are an understatement. I could never describe what burns in my chest for her.
Still she blinks at me.
