40. Farren
Farren
M orning light shone through the opening in the tent, and I was surprised I could sleep as deeply as I did. When I sat up to stretch out the kinks of sleep, I looked around and blinked sleepily at the naked bodies on either side of me. Ah, that would explain it. I mused as my eyes devoured the miles of bare flesh.
I startled a little when I realized it was Locke and Benny who’d ‘tucked’ me in last night. I had not expected that Locke would be that willing to play nice so soon after meeting the demon.
Movement from outside the tent caught my attention, and I grabbed my clothes on my way to see what was going on. Roan had been digging through the bags and found what looked like the cooking supplies. I just stood and watched from the door of the tent as he prepared what could have been a breakfast for an army with a soft smile on my face.
How had I managed to get so lucky to find so many caring men?
Warm, lithe arms encircled my waist and I was startled as Benny rested his chin on my shoulder. We just stood watching Roan cook what could very well be our last meal.
“Cheer up, Goddess. We won’t let anything happen to you,” Benny whispered in my ear as he stepped aside and joined the spirit.
Locke joined me not long after and instead of just standing with me to watch breakfast get cooked, he steered me away from camp and to the edge of the cliff. He sat down and let his legs dangle off the side as he pulled me down to land in his lap.
“The demon is right, you know,” he murmured in my ear. “Nothing will get to you without getting through us first.”
My back stiffened and I started to shake in his arms. No, please don’t die for me.
“I understand that you’re worried. Hell, I’m a little worried about what’s going to happen, to be honest.” My head whipped around to meet his gaze, and I knew surprise was written plainly on my face. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s not the most encouraging thing I could tell you. But I don’t want to lie. I don’t want to give you any false sense of hope. All our fates are in your hands, and on the small possibility that you should fail, just know that none of us will blame you.”
“No pressure.” I laughed harshly.
“Sorry, not sorry. It’s just not in my nature to blow out hot air.” I felt him shrug under me.
“So, do you really think I’m going to fail at breaking the curse?” dread filled me as I asked the one question that had haunted my thoughts since we’d discussed coming here.
“I think the results of standing up to the curse are completely in your hands and depend solely on you. I think that to break the curse, it’s something that you really, deeply, truly need to want,” Locke intoned solemnly.
“Think about in terms of how Big Bear here has been working with me to manipulate the world around me. I had to not just want something but had to push my will into the act to make it happen,” Roan added as he sat beside us.
“Enough heavy talk before breakfast!” Benny called from the fire. “You’ll both give her indigestion if you keep this up.”
We laughed as the boys helped me stand and carefully moved back from the cliff’s edge.
Despite the guys’ attempts to lighten the mood during breakfast, I was too focused on what could go wrong. I had never heard of a curse as powerful as mine ever being broken so I had no idea what the possible backlash could be.
What if I succeeded but the blowback was so powerful that it blasted us out of existence? What if I failed and we all died? Or worst of all, what if I succeed and lost one or more of my guys as the price?
“Remember, my mate, we are strongest when we stand together.” Locke wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek.
“Would you feel better if you rode into that village like a goddess upon her war bear?” Roan asked.
I flushed but nodded. Locke spun me and kissed me deeply enough to make my toes tingle before he stepped away. Unlike every other time he shifted for me, he was slow and deliberate in his movements. It was like he was putting on a show as everything expanded and sprouted hair. When he was fully shifted, he towered over us as he released an earth-shaking roar and fell onto his forepaws.
Benny turned and grinned mischievously at me as he set small fires on Locke’s coat with a casual wave of his hand. As the flames burned away, they left behind a set of gleaming obsidian armor. Benny approached me and held my cheeks in his hands as his lips locked on mine and I felt sparks race through my body. When he finally released me, I looked down and saw that my dusty, worn, torn traveling clothes had been changed into a shining ancient Greek-style golden gown.
Roan gave a wolf whistle as Benny helped me onto Locke’s back and my bear started a proud and steady trot along the cliff’s edge towards the village that held all our fates.