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Hector settled a hand on my shoulder. “A mother wolf tends to her pups for a time too.”
This was different. Theirs was a love that would last past separation, past death itself.
“You will stay with her, or you will send Everence to accompany her. One of you will remain by her side at all times.”
Hector’s arm fell. “Fine.” He stared down at the two barns illuminated by dim moonlight. “My advice, though I know you don’t want it, is to let her fall in love with you. At least, that way, you will find happiness. The path you are currently on will lead to you keeping your curse forever and eventually losing your mind.”
I scoffed. That kind of happiness would forever be tainted by what I’d done to attain my freedom. But only days ago, it had seemed so right.
“She’ll never fall for me now anyway. I wounded her too deeply.” There was a freedom in knowing she was safe, but I frowned as I watched my reflection.
Hector remained silent so long I punched his shoulder. He jumped and finally answered. “If I had any sense, I wouldn’t say this to you, and perhaps I might keep my brother and see you finally healed.” He turned to me. “She is still very much in danger of falling in love with you.”
“I made her think I didn’t want her.”
“Did you see the way she held your hand when Sinsorias arrived? Were you oblivious to the way she was looking at you in the library?” He rolled his eyes. “After you left the dinner table, she could barely stay present in the conversation.”
“She was angry at me.”
“Don’t be an idiot.”
Thunder rumbled gently in the distance. I snapped my gaze back out to the gardens below. “I was certain she was safe, that I had cut off all possibility of… If Sinsorias saw what you saw, he will—”
“Take her to Fabian.”
I grasped Hector’s shoulder, pulse rising. “I will find her.”
Hector gripped my arm and squeezed hard. “If you really want to keep her safe, you could always just let her see you.”
I shoved his arm away and leaped out the window, landing catlike in the weeds, my dagger still clutched in my fingers. My eyes closed as unbidden memories brought out by Hector’s words surfaced. In those early years—when the change was still fresh and I hadn’t yet learned to shut down my mind and heart against what I had become—I had been tormented and angry. I had courted many women in the hopes of finding one capable of loving me, but every time, the moment they’d seen me as a bear, they’d fled.
I raced through the garden, heading for the one place I assumed she would go. The distant storm flashed madly in the sky. Low thunder echoed my footsteps. The barn was lit, which meant people were there, but when I charged into the bright light, I saw no one. The horses looked up. They were all awake.
“Where did he take her?”
The nearest horse said, Away. Another said, He took her, yes. Another voice in my head answered, Tall man, short girl. Gone. Yes.
Lily was best at communicating complete thoughts. She’d been practicing with me the longest. I darted to her stall.
“Where did they go?”
Lily nudged my hand with her muzzle, hoping for a treat. They argued, but she followed him. He said she needed to come with him.
I slapped the wood. He must have ensorcelled her, which meant she had eaten fruit. Dinner had been prepared with cayenne and garnished with St. John’s Wort, both for her sake, but fruit would reverse their effects at warding off evil.
“Where, Lily? Where did he take her?”
He said home.
Curse every star that ever shone its light on me. I sprinted from the barn, taking a route through the garden that led around the house. Thorns snagged my ankle, and branches slapped my face. If I was too late…
If my brother managed to get his hands on her, I would tear out the very foundations of his castle and bury him in the rubble.
The massive carriage still sat in front of the house. Even the winged horses were still in their harnesses. That fool had hoped to leave quickly.
I heard the voices before I saw them.
“All right, fine. You can pet them.”
