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He knelt before me slowly, hands resting on top of my thighs, the tips of his fingers under my sleep shorts. I shrugged until the towel slid off me, falling into the bathtub.
Kelly’s eyes were shining, so human, but with the undercurrent of a born wolf.
I cupped his face.
I leaned forward until our foreheads pressed together.
My thumbs brushed over his cheeks.
His expression stuttered.
And I kissed him with everything I had. I put everything I was feeling into it, my anger, my despair, my hope and dreams that one day all of this would be behind us and we could be as we once were. That all would be well and nothing could ever hurt us again.
I pulled away, but only just, our lips still brushing together. I lifted one of his hands and pressed it against my chest, right over my heart. I needed him to feel it. I needed him to know. “I’m going to love you,” I whispered to him. “I’m going to love you, and I’m never going to let you go.”
My heart remained steady and true.
He laughed, though it cracked, and then he kissed me again and again and again.
The others were waiting for us as we descended the stairs, hand in hand.
They were still in the living room, curled together, though they were all awake.
Rico, of course, spoke first. He whistled. “Looking good, little wolf. Still got a weird-shaped head, though.” He rolled away, cackling as Elizabeth threw a pillow at his head.
Gordo stood, Mark’s fingers trailing along the raven in the roses on his arm. He stepped over the others until he stood before us. His gaze searched my face. And then he grinned, and my god, it was blinding. “Good to see you, kid,” he said. “Missing something, though.” He reached up, and I didn’t even flinch when he carefully put my glasses on. He tweaked the tip of my nose before stepping back. “There. That’s better. You look ridiculous with those on.”
Something settled within me, and it was warm.
We all turned toward the front of the house a moment later at the sound of an engine coming down the road.
Many engines.
“That’ll be them,” Gordo said. “We ready?”
Kelly squeezed my hand as I said, “Yeah. We’re ready.”
until the end/sharp sting
I bit back a scream as I shot up, covered in sweat, looking around wildly.
“It’s okay,” a voice whispered. “You’re okay. You’re here. You’re here.”
Kelly. At my back, breath hot against my ear. I nodded, rubbing my hand over my face.
“Jesus,” Aileen said as she slumped into Patrice. He wrapped an arm around her, though he too looked on the verge of collapse. Gordo was panting, as were two other witches whose names I hadn’t learned before they’d invaded my head. The others stood at the edge of the clearing, watching us with concern but coming no closer. Patrice had warned them to stay away. This wasn’t a matter of pack. It was magic. “That was harder than I expected. You feel that? It wasn’t like it was before. Something’s shifted.”
Patrice grimaced. “He’s fighting it. Learnin’ his place. It’s big. Dat ol’ magic Livingstone put on ’em is warrin’ with who he is. Pack. Duality. Split.”
“Is that good or bad?” Kelly asked, and I was grateful for his voice, seeing as how I couldn’t find my own.
Patrice shrugged. “For Robbie? Good. For Livingstone? I don’t know. Just might make him try all dat much harder.”
“We did the best we could,” Gordo said, his hand on his lower back as he stretched. “Put as much distance between him and the door as we could. How you feeling, kid?”
“Like you’ve all just fucked with my head,” I grumbled. I pressed my hands against my temples, trying to force away the painful fog.
“It’s a stopgap,” Aileen warned as the other two witches stumbled away. They held on to each other, both of them looking back at me with wide eyes as they headed toward the others. “Won’t last forever. Especially if Livingstone gets his hands on you. If we had more time, maybe we could—”
