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Emmie had been upset. Her friends had left, shunning her.
Was this the life that she was destined to live, to be shunned by others for the rest of her life?
“She’ll have shifter friends where she’s understood, if we can get her into a pack,” Circe said when I voiced my concerns. “She’s not the only one, and the shifter community is well-established with systems in place and help. She’ll be okay with friends, Danna.”
Circe worried her lower lip, her eyes sliding to the side.
“What is it?” I asked. “What are you not saying?” Circe and I had been friends for long enough that I knew her tells. She wasn’t who I’d thought she was, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t know her in a lot of ways.
“I’m worried about her magic,” Circe said.
“Why?” If Circe was worried, then there wasn’t hope—I was already a nervous wreck about the whole thing.
“It’s very strong for someone her age. It’s very strong for a fully developed shifter with a beast that’s already shown itself, in fact.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means the source of her magic isn’t exactly what we think it is, and it’s attracting the wrong people.”
I shook my head, confusion and panic warring with each other.
“I don’t know what you’re saying.”
Circe hesitated. “What I mean is that these attacks are too frequent and too specific.”
“They’re aimed at Wesley,” I said slowly.
“I don’t know if they are,” Circe admitted. “We’re working with too many coincidences here. Emmie starts to display magic, and suddenly, you’re a target for kidnapping. Wesley is at the penthouse, but you’re attacked at the safehouse. You’re at the park alone with Emmie, without Wesley here, and then this happens. It doesn’t add up.”
I shook my head, trying to fit the pieces together, but I knew nothing about this world and nothing about Wesley’s pack and how he ran things here. I couldn’t put anything together to create a picture I would understand.
“How are we supposed to fight that?” I finally asked. If I didn’t know what was wrong, could I find a solution?
“I’m going to do a spell that will protect her, hide her. Her magic might break free of the cloak I want to put on her, but I think that might help her, at least for now.”
“Can you do a spell that keeps her magic suppressed, too?” I asked, hopeful that this thing I couldn’t control could be postponed, at least, if I wasn’t able to make it go away completely.
“Oh, no,” Circe said, shaking her head. “I can’t do that, and I won’t even try. It’s never good to suppress a shifter’s magic. The magic needs to be set free. Shifters need to learn to control it, but pushing the magic away asks for trouble. The shifter will lose control, and if they suppress their animal, refusing to shift for long enough, it will make them go mad. Shifter magic isn’t something I’m going to mess with.”
It all sounded so ominous, and that only made me feel more dejected than I already felt.
“I can try to help her any way I can, but we have to figure out what this is all about and manage it rather than sweeping it under the proverbial rug. I wanted to do the same for Wesley, putting a cloak of protection over him.” She sighed. “He refused, but that’s up to him to decide.”
“He doesn’t want your help?” I asked.
Circe shook her head. “He’s not exactly happy with the fae.”
“Why not?”
She lifted one shoulder. “I have no idea. Not really my problem, you know? I offered help, and I’m here if he wants to take me up on it. I just want him to be careful. He’s so set on protecting you that he might forget to protect himself.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
I finished my hot cocoa and leaned over to put my empty cup on the coffee table that stood in the middle of the intimate circle of couches.
Circe did the same before she hugged her knees to her chest.
“You’re bound to him,” Circe said. “You’re his fated mate.”
