Chapter 22 #6
Kane said something similar to me before, the night of the bonfire at the beach. Then, I wrote him off as being pushy. But he’d been right then, and I fear he might be right now as well. I know I feel off.
“I don’t know what’s wrong…” As I say it, I begin to list.
Kane catches me, his hand growing into a claw for a moment before reverting to a hand.
Memnon… Across our bond I reach for the sorcerer.
I feel his closeness, his love, his pride in me, and beyond it all is the violence that he holds back like water behind a dam.
Something isn’t right with me, I confess.
I will take care of it. I’m nearly there, little witch. Hold on just a moment more.
I stumble again, and Kane bends to scoop me up.
“Wait—wait,” I say, pushing him back, just a little. I feel…so faint. “Just, give me a second.”
Kane pauses as I catch my breath. Again, I hear that whine low in his throat. He, too, has a fine sheen of sweat, and I can see some of the muscles of his face twitching, like he’s fighting off the urge to shift.
Not good. Not good. None of this is good.
“Did Sybil bite you?” he asks.
A shiver works its way through my body. “No.” But now, under the light of the full moon, I can’t help but wonder if somewhere somehow I did get nicked. That’s the likeliest explanation for why I feel like shit.
“You still smell off,” he adds.
“Off like I’m turning into a shifter?” I ask.
My vision is going a little blurry. What in the Seven Hells is happening?
“No…” he says, just as puzzled as I am.
I stagger over to a nearby tree, my breathing becoming ragged. “I…don’t think I’m going to make it to my house.” Already, a cold sweat has broken out across my body, a chill coursing through me. “You can go,” I say dazedly. “Memnon is coming.”
“Hey,” Kane says, noticing my reaction. “I’m not leaving you.” But even as he speaks, another tremor works through his body.
“You’re going to need to shift.”
His jaw clenches in response. “I’ll be fine.”
I shake my head, a bead of sweat dripping into my eye. The ground beneath my feet doesn’t seem so steady.
“Selene?” he says again, alarmed.
Hold fast, Empress.
I can’t. I hate how weak my inner voice sounds.
You’re a Sarmatian queen. You’ve led armies into battle and faced down impossible odds more than once. You were born with a spirit of iron, and right now you will hold fast, my empress. I command it as your king.
So bossy, I say tiredly.
“…was that? Selene?”
“Huh?” I turn to Kane when I realize he’s been talking to me this whole time.
“Why was a demon after you?” he asks.
I press a hand to my temple and shake my head, leaning back heavily against the tree. “Long story.”
Before I can respond he says, “This is because of Memnon, isn’t it?”
No use denying it.
“He’s severing bonds,” I say grimly, meeting Kane’s gaze. I see his wolf at the back of his eyes.
“Tell me that doesn’t mean what I think it means.” His words come out as a growl.
I sigh. “It does.”
“That motherfucker.” Kane’s voice deepens until it’s hard to fully understand him.
I force my mind to focus so I can explain what I haven’t yet told Kane. “The Fortunas trafficked…everyone. Shifters, witches, even demons like that dude over there.” I point vaguely in the distance we came from, the action causing me to sway again.
Fuck, I feel like I’ve drank poison.
I lick my dry lips and continue. “Every demon they trafficked was first given a human to feast on. That’s why there were murdered witches coated in dark magic dumped in these woods. That’s the fate I might’ve saved Cara from.”
Kane stares at me for a long time, his features shifting as he fights his own change. “So Memnon’s killing off their bondmasters?”
I give a slight nod.
He gives a huff, like what Memnon’s doing is actually a smidge respectable, but he doesn’t want to admit that.
“It’s going to catch up to him,” Kane finally says.
Clearly it already has. These bondmasters are hurting Memnon where he’s weakest, which is apparently me.
My eyes begin to close, and my knees fold.
Distantly, I hear Kane curse, then he catches me. “Selene!”
“I’m fine,” I slur.
Kane makes a deep noise in his chest, then I hear him begin to curse again. “Fuck, fuck, fuck…” He says it like a mantra.
His hands slip from my body, and he lays me gently down. That’s all he has time for before he bows, his hands falling to the ground and gripping the earth tightly.
A single, intense ripple starts at the base of his spine and moves out. Muscles contort, bones shift, and fur sprouts from his back. His hands become paws, his nose becomes a snout, and a tail extends out from the end of his back.
It’s over in less than a minute. Where my high school crush once stood there is now an overgrown wolf.
Kane’s wolf comes up close to me, his wet nose nuzzling my neck. If I didn’t feel so goddess-damned ill right now, I’d be seriously concerned about how close his teeth are to my skin.
Instead, I slip a tired hand into his fur, idly petting the overgrown lycan while he sniffs my throat.
He makes a low whine, licking my skin softly before retreating.
“…’s okay,” I slur.
And then the world goes dark.