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When she had the spell she’d created in the first place, she began reworking the arrangement of power-threads. As the healing began to flow, she watched the spell form colorful streams of pulsing light. Her hands felt warm as they released the healing energy.
As though from a great distance, she heard Cole murmur, “Oh, my God.” But it was a sound of profound relief.
~ ~ ~
Cole had lived with his knee pain for two long months. Sometimes it had been worse, sometimes better. Sometimes he could barely stand. Yet the moment Lauren’s healing waves had begun to flow through his skin and deep into his knee joint, he felt every nerve draw back into place and finally relax.
The pain that had gripped his tail-bone and flashed in pulses along the sciatic nerve simply disappeared. He stretched out flat on her spellroom floor, a horizontal position that usually caused him agony. Heaven.
He heard a meow and saw Lauren’s black and white tuxedo cat come prancing up to him. She then jumped on his chest and he petted her.
Pain was a real bitch and now it was gone. He felt at peace with the world.
“How you doin’, Janey?” Lauren had named her cat after the best friend she’d left behind in the human world when she’d become an alter. The cat purred her contentment.
“She always liked you, even though you must smell like dog to her.”
Her use of the word ‘dog’ zinged his temper. But when he glanced at her, ready to make a strong retort, time stopped. She was sitting on her heels, her hands on her thighs and smiling. Her light, wavy brown was hanging forward and framed her beautiful face.
She was half-cute, half-exquisite and her smile g
ot to him.
His heart began to ache. He’d loved her before she’d zapped his knee. Hell, part of him still did.
But this time, right now, wasn’t about how he felt or what their relationship had been. They had a teenager to rescue and they needed to get on with things.
He picked Janey up and set her on the floor, then rose to his feet. He tensed, however, in anticipation of pain that was no longer there. When he realized yet again that it was gone, his frustration about being close to Lauren gave way to gratitude.
This time, he smiled. “Thank you. I know I was being stubborn.”
“You’re welcome. I’m just sorry you had to live with this for two months.” She glanced toward the window of her spellroom. “Listen, I’ve had a thought. Before we continue, why don’t we head over to the park. At this hour, there won’t be anyone around.”
“You mean so I can shift.”
“I know you need to. That much I remember from our time together.”
She was right. He’d had a few tough nights this past week during his patrol shift. Going wolf was necessary for his overall mental and physical health, but the process had added pain-on-pain with his knee injury, so he’d been avoiding it.
Now his pain was gone.
“That would be great.”
He removed his weapons belt and phone then left both in her living room. A few minutes later, they were in the air and flying toward the park. When his feet hit the ground, he shifted and began to run. One of the miracles of the alter wolf state was the absorption of whatever he wore into the shift, like his clothes, then the return of the same elements to their former state. Weapons and phones tended to drop off and land at the point of the shift, at least for him, but clothing and his hair clip went along for the ride.
So much feel-good flowed through his veins that he raced over the grass as fast as he could go. Being in his wolf form felt as natural to him as his human shell. There was something magical about the earth beneath all four paws. He felt like he could do anything.
Lauren tracked with him as well, levitating above him and moving as fast as he could run. She even laughed then gave a shout. Looked like they both needed to let loose.
He could have continued running for the next hour, but there wasn’t time. After only a few minutes, he drew to a stop and shifted again. Once in his human form, he flew quickly with Lauren back to her house.
He felt better than he had in a long time and he was grateful. Without the constant pain, however, he would have to work hard to remind himself why the witch, just like the rest of her kind, couldn’t be trusted.
Chapter Three
Sweat poured off Cole by the fourth attempt to enter then leave Lauren’s invisibility shield. He’d at least learned not to shout in pain when he moved inside. But it was as though his whole body was put through a meat grinder then reassembled on the other side.
“Jesus H. Christ.”
