Page 153 of Shifter Situations

“Are ye ready?”

“No.”

“Come on, then. Let’s get it over with.”

I groaned loudly, taking his offered hand so he could pull me from the chair I’d ended up in. The last hour was a fog of confusion in my mind, but I straightened my shoulders, anyway.

I stood right outside the circle he’d drawn, and he smiled reassuringly as he recited the first line of Latin. We chanted in unison, our voices carrying around the expanse of the yard.

The nape of my neck prickled with awareness as I felt the magic blanket over him.

It was too late to back out now.

The circle lit with a thin line of fire, each flickering flame no bigger than what you'd find on the wick of a candle. They didn't touch; the magic in the air kept them dancing until we finished the verbal portion of the spell.

One last word.

I was going to hate myself for this.

We spoke together, his voice tight as he nodded for me to keep going.

“Ignis.”

I slung my arms up, pulling the flames from within me into my hands. Then I threw my hands down, feeling the milliseconds drag on as I watched the pillar of fire surround him, engulf him.

Palmer didn’t make a sound, but I saw his mouth open in a silent scream.

I closed my eyes, counting to six. He’d said ten, but seconds had already passed.

Three.

Two.

One.

I called the flames back to me in a frenzy, headless of the scorching heat as it entered my body. My eyes flew open, regret crushing my lungs as my gaze fell upon my mage.

I collapsed onto the ground beside him, angry at myself for going through with the spell, knowing it would hurt him. In my head, I knew witnessing this would be something I would carry with me for the rest of my life. But I didn’t know it was going to be this bad.

I hadn’t prepared myself for the extreme amount of guilt and agony that came with it, knowing that what I was seeing had been caused by me.

Doubts spiraled around me until all I wanted to do was curl up and take his place. I wrapped my arms around my legs and rocked back and forth while I tried to think through the agony.

Think, bitch.

Calm down.

I put my hands on his chest, shoving with all my might, trying to force the bond between Palmer and me to seal itself.

I’d never paid attention to when exactly the bonds were formed, but they’d all been at intimate moments. And I couldn’t be intimate with him right now.

His skin was charred and blistered, and I just…

I couldn’t.

My heart ached, feeling as if it was being ripped into strips.

And I had done this to so many others before.