12. Blade
BLADE
“I know you don’t need to hear it again, but I’m going to say it anyway. If something goes wrong, I’m not going to blame you forever. I might be frustrated for a while but I’ll get over it.” Henley had repeated it enough times that I thought he believed it even if I didn’t.
He would be the type to carry a grudge and tell me about it at least once a week until he died of old age…and then he’d come back and haunt me over it.
So the goal was definitely for nothing to go wrong.
Running one hand over my head as I stuck it between the seats of the truck, he sighed as he turned into Singletary State Park. “This area is growing on me even if the whole sand instead of dirt thing is weird.”
He thought a lot of things about the area were weird, so I wasn’t worried about the sand. I’d actually never noticed it as a kid. I’d always lived close to the beach, so the sandy soil had been normal to me. The dark dirt or clay other areas had were the weird ones.
“You’re going to have to tell me at some point how you ended up in this area.
If I’m remembering correctly the ranger made it sound like you were from here, but if he said any specifics, I missed it.
” Sitting straighter as we made our way down the long road that led deeper into the park, he forced himself to look confident even though I could sense his anxiety.
“I think I need to start making a list of questions in a notebook because I’m positive I’m starting to forget them.
” He was not, however, forgetting how to worry because he’d gotten a lot of practice over the past few days.
“I’ve run into a few people who talked about the importance of keeping a journal to pass down important stories but I can’t decide if writing about this would be a good idea or not.
You’re going to have to think about that and tell me what you think later. ”
He was right. I’d have to think about that one.
“Later could mean tonight if we have to go back to using the tablet or as in when you get another form again.” Glancing down at me, he forced his smile wider. “I’m getting used to this one.”
Ugh.
I was not.
I looked like the monster the newspapers had called me.
My huff got a snicker out of him that contained actual happiness. “I can’t decide if you’ve just got a big ego or if you’re actually as attractive as you’re making it out to be.”
Both.
“But either way, I’m going to be glad for a human form and I’m going to appreciate getting to know you.” Shifting nervously like he did every time mate-type topics came up, he brought his hand back to the wheel. “Looks aren’t everything and I’m going to be happy to see the real you.”
My mate did not have anything to worry about as long as they put me back the way they’d found me, but this was a wait and show him later kind of issue. Insisting I was attractive in both my other forms would be hard for him to visualize.
“It’s…well…just to overshare, looks aren’t what draws me to a guy, so we’ll be fine either way.” My mate was doing his best to look totally at ease with the conversation, but he’d been more relaxed when he’d thought I might eat him.
He didn’t have anything to worry about desire-related issues either because I’d already figured out what turned my mate on.
Being restrained.
Deliberately or accidentally, if he was tied up, he was turned on.
That was not a conversation I was having one letter at a time, though, so I just softly ran my nose against his arm getting another laugh from him. “Stop that. You’re distracting.”
He was going five miles an hour. I wasn’t worried.
“Okay, I thought this road was longer but somehow we’re here.” Mumbling about sand again, he slowed even more. “I think parking at the back of the park is the best bet, right?”
Nodding against his arm, I stayed low even though the dark film on the windows he called tint kept me mostly hidden.
“Okay, we’re on the same page.” His mind was working so fast his chattering slowed to quiet grumbles about how the sand was going to get everywhere and what he’d do if the ranger was stupid again.
By the time we made it all the way to the back of the small state park, I was amazed at how everything had changed and my mate was filled with anxiety. “It’s going to be fine.”
I wasn’t sure repeating that would help him believe it, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it for now besides cuddle him as much as possible. But since he was driving Batman’s truck at the moment, it didn’t feel like I was doing enough.
That was currently the most frustrating thing about being trapped in my monstrous body.
“Wow. We’re already here.” The tiny parking lot at the back of the park looked familiar but I had to admit that a lot of the details from when we’d originally been in the park were hazy at best.
Because the idiot ranger had shot me with a dart gun.
“Okay. I’m going to back in so we can get away quickly if we need to and…
and we’re just going to hang out here for a while.
” Neither of us was happy with the plan but most of the locals weren’t on the paranormal internet he’d found and we weren’t sure the best way to meet the right people.
“This is where we saw him last time and he seemed fairly informed about what happened.”
It was also better than driving around town and trying to guess who wasn’t human and if they’d be helpful or dangerous.
When I’d been a functional member of society, I’d known everyone magical and nonmagical in the area, but now I wasn’t any help at all.
Henley seemed to meet interesting people every time he went out in public, but he had an almost inhuman ability to put himself in danger, so I wasn’t going to let him go anywhere on his own.
Mate or not, he was mine, and I was going to keep him safe.
We’d prepared to wait for hours to get his attention but it seemed like our friend the ranger was paying attention to the people in the park. It only took half an hour for him to pull up beside us aiming the opposite direction, so he could easily gesture for Henley to roll the window down.
I’d pressed my face between the door and the seat, but I stayed low enough that I didn’t think the ranger could see me.
“So you didn’t get eaten. Good to know.”
He was rude.
“That’s rude.” My mate’s insulted tone made me smile. “You’re a terrible representation of the local magical community and the state park system. The national parks are much better staffed.”
My mate was adorable.
The ranger sighed and probably rolled his eyes based on the sound in his voice. “Your mate has been attacking local animals for the past seventy years. Forgive me for being cautious.”
Henley huffed and shifted one hand so he could stroke my face where the door hid the movement. “It was obvious that I had the situation under control. You shot my mate.”
He was getting more and more comfortable saying that word.
“Your mate might’ve been planning on eating you.” The ranger seemed convinced he was right, which wasn’t endearing him to Henley.
“If you can’t be trusted to understand that he was defending me from your slightly problematic behavior, why should I trust you on anything else?” My mate’s wonderful question had the ranger making more dramatic sounds. “What if you overreact again?”
“This is the most insane conversation I’ve ever had.
” Coming across as being too dramatic to be in charge of anything, the ranger sighed.
“I’m not going to defend my actions because I still think I’m right.
But moving away from that, have you decided to ask for help in getting your feral mate fixed? ”
“No.” My mate was back to offended again and glared at the ranger. “I’m asking for help to make it easier for me and my mate to communicate, and to get him back to his original form.”
“Communicate?” The reactive man seemed to get stumped on that one. “You want to help make it easier to communicate?”
“I don’t know a good way to ask this, but are you the right person I should be having a conversation with?” Sitting back, my mate frowned. “Do you understand what’s going on?”
My mate wanted to know if he was stupid.
I could understand why the ranger started muttering curses but I still didn’t approve.
“For fuck’s sake.” When he finally stopped grumbling, the ranger took another breath. “I’m not an idiot this is just insane. I’ve spent the last three days wondering if he’d eaten you. I’ve been looking for your body.”
“He’s my mate.” Henley’s tone said he was back to thinking the ranger was stupid. “Even I know what that means.”
His tone was adorable but my favorite part was the way Henley rolled his eyes like a frustrated teenager. “God. How do I keep meeting such stupid people?”
It was either luck or magical shenanigans.
“I had no idea that meant he couldn’t eat you. My bad.” The ranger’s wording was odd but I understood the sarcastic tone…and didn’t appreciate it.
But I’d promised not to come out of hiding unless my mate was in danger.
Frustrating tones were not dangerous…unfortunately.
“Thank you…because you didn’t use your brain at all.” My mate’s words had me wondering if he’d understood that the ranger was not apologizing. “If we’re going to move forward, I’m going to need your promise that you’ll stop shooting my mate with anything and that you won’t be a danger to him.”
“I was trying to make sure he wasn’t a danger to you.” The ranger still wasn’t going to back down with that. “He’s been feral for seventy years.”
He wasn’t going to let that drop.
“And whose fault is that?” Pausing, my mate looked a bit like a teacher I had in high school. “No comment?”
He was really good at that…it was sexy.
“He did not do this to himself.” My mate clearly thought the locals were stupid. “This happened to him because he turned down the advances of a woman who everyone else should’ve known wasn’t sane.”
I was on the fence with that one but my memory of that time was still foggy. I had my memories from childhood and up through being an adult back, but from what we’d pieced together the few months around the spell were the most confusing or just gone.
I wanted to think I’d have noticed someone was having what he called a mental health crisis but I could only vaguely remember thinking she simply had a strong temper and wide mood swings. That probably hadn’t added up to dangerous to me, but Henley didn’t see it that way.
The ranger didn’t argue with him but he did let out another long breath. “It was a different time. We didn’t understand that we could be affected by mental health stuff. It’s only been recently that we realized the more human relatives in a family tree, the more susceptible we are to human issues.”
My mate huffed. “Not my mate’s fault.”
“You’re not going to move past my trying to keep you safe, are you?
” The ranger really couldn’t understand that but he clearly saw the answer on my mate’s face.
“Fine. We’ll just agree to disagree on that.
I promise not to shoot your mate or do anything to deliberately harm him unless he attacks other people. You’re on your own.”
“Thank you.” Henley perked up, taking the ranger at his word, but in this case, I didn’t think he was misreading the situation.
Everything I could sense from the ranger said he was being honest.
“Now, what is the plan for fixing my mate?” Considering how uncomfortable that word made Henley, he seemed to be using it a lot with the ranger. “If you can’t help, I’ve got other options, but if your people here already have a method to undo the spell, that would be easiest.”
My mate had met the strangest people in his travels, but unlike the ranger, he hadn’t pissed them all off on first meeting.
“Half the coven thinks I hallucinated you, so I need to make a few phone calls.” That seemed more frustrating to him than Henley’s stubbornness. “I think the plan will be meeting at the coven house…the main house…fuck…I don’t know what to call it anymore.”
He was strange.
“Are you okay?” Henley didn’t seem to feel the need to be polite about how odd the ranger was any longer. “You never make any sense.”
Was he back to wondering if the ranger was having mental health issues as well or just thinking he was stupid?
The man’s groan seemed to think something close. “I’m fine. This is just more confusing than you understand.”
Shrugging, Henley wasn’t ready to be nice to the man. “Not my problem. You guys let my mate get magically tortured.”
I wasn’t going to forget that my mate could hold a grudge.
“One person made a bad decision and we’ve been paying for it for years.” Grumbling, the ranger made more dramatic sounds that my mate ignored. “Trust me, the coven learned its lesson.”
My mate’s huff said what he thought about that so far.
The ranger must’ve realized it was pointless to get sympathy from my mate because he shifted to a more professional tone.
“I need to get my replacement over here early and make some phone calls. I think it’ll take about half an hour and then I’ll be able to take you to the coven. Do you need to go get…your mate?”
Henley looked down at me before pushing the button on the door that worked the windows. As he lowered the one in the back seat, I lifted my head and glared at the ranger.
“For fuck’s sake.” Eyes going wide, he took a second to go back to looking bored. “That takes some getting used to.”
My mate’s eyes rolled again. “You’re very dramatic.”
He was so cute I leaned over and licked his cheek.
“How do you let those teeth so close to your face?” The ranger’s question got an even more hostile look from my mate.
“Because he won’t hurt me.” Crossing his arms over his chest, his expression grew tighter. “Is this about him being a man?”
Hands flying up, the ranger shook his head. “No. It’s about his eating habits over the past seventy years.”
And my mate’s eyes went round and round again.
“He’s never hurt people. That’s what’s important.” When the ranger couldn’t argue with that, my mate nodded like it was settled. “Half an hour then we’ll follow you to the coven.”
Wherever they were currently located.