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Maybe she could rush the lema to the castle for help. Did they have veterinarians on this planet? Then again, why would they need vets—or physicians—when witches could apparently heal animals and people with their brains?
Oh, God, this poor creature is going to die because of me.I have to do something.
He’d said to imagine the wound healing. To see it and believe it, so she closed her eyes and pictured the blood crawling back over the lema’s soft fur, every molecule of it inching back into the creature’s veins, the gash on its neck closing, its little heart beating with new life.
A spark of something warmed the base of her skull. Tingles raked her skin from her shoulders to her back and down to her toes. A strange sensation brushed her fingertips.
“That’s it,” the man said. “You’re doing it.”
She opened her eyes to find a mystic light surrounding her hand. Honest to goodness magic! She marveled at the sight. The blood subsiding, the stain retreating. The light in her palm grew brighter, hotter, and she nearly jerked her hand away, but she resisted the urge because something miraculous was happening.
When the lema sucked in a tiny breath, she too gasped, her eyes burning with unshed tears. It blinked up at her and it made a soft trilling sound as though thanking her.
“Hi, little guy.”
“Very good,” the man muttered. He still hovered too close for comfort. Apparently the lema felt the same. Folding its big ears straight back, it hissed at him, showing tiny, razor-sharp fangs. In the next instant, it shimmied out from under her grasp and moved with a stunning swiftness, crawling up Jessie’s torso to swipe a clawed paw at him.
Of course, he was faster, sifting back to the safety of his branch.
Jessie cradled the animal, cooing and trying to soothe it. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay now.”
Above, a crack of lightning split the sky. The lema jerked at the sound and then burrowed its face into Jessie’s arm.
The man once more gazed into the forest as though searching for something…or sensing something. “I’m afraid I must go.” He showed zero remorse for causing the lema harm. That alone told her everything she needed to know about him. “I will return to you for your answer soon.”
It was a promise…and a threat.
Then he vanished from her sight. Even though she knew little to nothing about how magic worked, she sensed he wasreallygone. It was almost as if the sudden absence of his essence left a kind of hole in his wake.
“You’re safe now,” she told the lema, still processing everything that had just happened. “Let’s get you back to your home.” She tried to encourage the creature to climb back up the cliff, but it clung to her with all four of its claw-tipped paws.
She gently ran her fingernails between its pronounced ears. “Come on. It looks like rain. I’m sure you’d much rather be in your cave, where its dry.” Still, the creature resisted. She sighed, then carefully began to climb the cliff face, the lema still clinging to her. There were many pockets in the rock, so it didn’t take too much effort to make it to the burrow’s ledge, which was just big enough for her to sit with her legs dangling. Again she encouraged the lema to return to its hollow, but instead of going to its cave, it curled up in her lap.
“Jessie? What the hell are you doing!?” The familiar rough voice spiked her adrenaline.
She glanced down to see Orik staring up at her, unabashed fury lighting his eyes.
15
Fear gripped Orik’s chest in a way he’d never experienced before. Jessie was holding a dangerous lema in her fucking lap! The cloying scent of magic was now a secondary concern.
“Get away from that thing! Now!” His heart slammed painfully against his ribcage.
Bewildered, Jessie glanced down at the vile beast in disbelief. That creature could maul her at any moment. By the gods, if it got those deadly teeth around her neck…
“Shove it away and jump down. I’ll catch you.” Even on his own, he wasn’t sure he could outrun it, but while carrying Jessie? He only hoped it wouldn’t come after them.
Instead of following his directive, she gently placed the beast on the ledge beside her and petted it. “Go on, sweetie. Go home.”
“That thing is no’ sweet,” he told her.
And yet, the little beast actually arched its back, as though content to have Jessie scratch its hindquarters then, true to form, turned to bare razor-sharp fangs at Orik before vanishing into its burrow.
While Orik was relieved it hadn’t attacked, he knew it could still return. “All right, come down now.” He held out his arms. “Hurry, before that thing comes back.”
She didn’t move. Just gazed down at him, her expression muted.
“Come on. What are you waiting for?”
