14. Blaine
BLAINE
The fog wanted to take over, but my mate held it back.
Something about being back there and all the magic made it feel like the world was tilted the wrong way, but Henley was good about sticking right by my side.
“You know, I’m pretty sure you could clear that fence in one jump. Just remember that.” Running his hand over my head again, he dropped his voice. “And remember where we’re staying for the time being.”
Yes.
Mentally walking through how to get back to the trailer, I kept that at the front of my mind as we slowly walked toward the group of people who were waiting for us. Most were women, but there were a few men standing around.
Part of me said I should know everyone because I’d always known everyone in town, but they were all strangers. That was probably fucking with my head too, but I did my best to ignore it and focus on my mate. Not the house. Not the people. My mate.
He was safe.
He had a plan.
He could threaten very well.
It was amazing actually.
My mate looked sweet and almost na?ve right up until he talked about killing someone.
It was an impressive skill but one that clearly kept throwing the ranger off because he stayed well clear of all of us as he came out through the back door.
For someone who clearly had magic, he didn’t seem to belong to the coven and parked himself on the porch.
“Serena. Everyone. This is Blaine and his mate.” Frowning, the ranger finally seemed to realize my mate had never given his name. “I’m not sure I got his name. Our first introduction was slightly chaotic.”
My mate gave a genuine-sounding chuckle and shook his head. “You were unexpected but we got through it.”
Still no name.
My mate was more devious than he looked.
“It’s nice to meet everyone, but we’d like to focus on fixing my mate, not social niceties.” Henley had made it very clear on our drive over that he’d get to know them as long as they didn’t turn out to be the bad guys.
Intentions first, manners second.
It wasn’t the way I was raised but I could see his point in our situation.
As they all kind of blinked and looked around, clearly not expecting that response, he gave them a little push. “How will this work and what is the plan?”
For someone who’d repeatedly said he had no idea what he was doing when it came to helping me get back to my original form, he was very good at looking calm and confident in new situations.
Provided he wasn’t tied up.
Then I wasn’t sure what my fascinating mate would do.
“Um, yes.” Standing straighter, Serena looked around at the group. “Let’s get started.”
That brought everyone back to life and seemed to remind them that they all had jobs to do before they could fix what my mate had called a clusterfuck. Several women seemed to be getting a circle in the yard ready and others were moving around with a purpose but I wasn’t sure what they were doing.
I’d spent most of my time growing up avoiding the local coven because they’d all been very marriage-focused women at the time, so I only had the barest knowledge about what they were doing.
As Serena looked like she was going to step toward the house, Henley smiled politely and stopped her. “We’re ready for you to break down what kind of magic was actually used on him and how you’re going to fix it.”
She blinked but nodded after a moment. “Yes. That’s a good idea.”
As my mate would’ve said…duh.
Taking a breath, she did a good job of focusing on us both and not just Henley.
“My grandmother was the one who cursed you. From what she remembered later and what the handful of witnesses who were around saw, she tried to punish you for rejecting her advances and at the same time tried to force a mating bond on you.”
We’d never even dated when I had to pretend to like women.
What the hell had she been thinking?
“The two very conflicting spells along with her own mental health issue at the time backfired in an unexpected way.” Serena seemed genuinely sorry for the situation and was being honest as far as I could tell based on her scent.
“It seems like part of the result was due to the combination of the spells and her wildly out-of-control mental state, but we also think some of this might have been his own internal magic trying to protect him.”
This was protecting me?
“How?” My mate asked very good questions.
Frowning, Serena didn’t seem to like the question. “Once she was able to receive the mental health help she’d needed, well, based on what she could get back then, she admitted she didn’t know if she wanted to hurt him, mate him, or just kill him.”
Great.
“We really had no idea that when humans were introduced into a bloodline, at some point their physical and mental issues could affect us as well.” Shrugging, she still seemed surprised over that.
“It’s taken a long time to understand that and even longer to find medications that work because of our differences. ”
Henley nodded slowly. “So because intent is a large part of magic, when hers was so conflicted it threw a wrench into her plans.”
I’d seen mystery movies as a kid that sounded more reasonable than the nonsense I was living through.
“We never expected Mr. Singletary to find his mate, so I’m hoping this makes unraveling the original spell easier.
” Nothing in her scent changed, making me think she was still being honest about that.
“I’ve spent my entire life going over this plan and my mother before her.
This is a dark part of my family’s legacy and we’re going to fix it. ”
“You can’t be held accountable for what your grandmother did.” Frowning, he studied her closer. “Your mother probably wasn’t even born when this happened.”
Serena smiled softly. “She wasn’t, but I’m the only one left, so it’s up to me.”
Looking around at her coven, she smelled of sorrow but I could almost see the bonds between them. “The whole coven at the time realized it was their fault as well because they should’ve known something was wrong.”
Turning back to me, she lowered herself until we were eye to eye.
“From that night, we vowed to fix what she’d done.
I know this won’t be enough after you’ve lost so much, but your family’s property and money went into a trust. We’ve done our best to protect your home and keep it ready for you when you returned. ”
Finally letting myself look up at the house I thought I’d never see again, I barely held back a whine as Henley petted my head.
“I know he’s going to have questions, but thank you for looking after his home.” My mate sounded completely relaxed, but I could feel his stress finally easing down to a more reasonable level.
“It was our responsibility.” Rising, she took a deep breath and looked around at the group. “I’m not sure I ever expected us to get to this point. It almost doesn’t feel real.”
My mate was too sweet for his own good because I could feel his anger receding too. “We’ll figure it all out one step at a time. Right now we’re just focused on getting him back to his original form. Everything else will wait.”
Everything else would wait.
I leaned into his side and did my best to keep my body and my mate at the front of my mind. If intent mattered at all in this situation, I wanted to make sure the magic knew getting back to my mate was what I wanted the most.
I wasn’t sure if that would work, but I wasn’t going to do anything to send conflicting signals out to the universe.
Being with my mate in my original form was the only thing that mattered at the moment.
“Hey.” Henley turned and lowered himself to the ground as I straightened, and smiled when we were face to face. “Is there anything you need to communicate before we start? Should I get the tablet?”
That he’d asked meant he didn’t think we were in danger and I had to agree with him for the moment. Life could be turned on a dime, I’d learned that firsthand, but for the moment nothing felt wrong.
Shaking my head had everyone turning to look at us, but Serena was better at controlling her reactions. “You use a tablet to communicate?”
“Yes.” Henley gave me a tight, quick hug around my neck before standing. “It’s got an app on it with an oversized keyboard that makes it easier for him to touch the letters.”
Her genuine smile got a softer one from Henley. “That’s a great idea. I’ve been so focused on other aspects of this I never thought about what he would need if he could process what was going on around him.”
Shrugging, Henley smiled down at me. “We figured it out. He’s smart and was patient with me while we came up with different options.”
Before Serena could respond, an older woman in a long dress spoke up. “We’re ready, Serena.”
I couldn’t place her but something about the woman’s eyes looked familiar. When she realized I was watching her, her heart rate jumped, but she calmed quickly. “You knew my great-grandmother.”
Miss Ida.
Nodding slowly, I could see the family resemblance even though Ida had always been old as far back as I could remember. I was fairly certain her hair had been gray when I’d been a small child but those memories were hazy.
Looking up at Henley, I nudged his side to prompt him to start chattering. “You must look a lot like her. How did they know each other?”
Before she could continue, Henley shrugged. “He can’t give me any stories yet and I’m dying of curiosity.”
His easy way of talking to anyone put the women at ease, completely forgetting he was actually dangerous and I was still a monster.
“She was his nanny when he was little and worked for the family most of her life.” The woman smiled as she turned back to me. “She was so angry when she realized what had happened, no one heard the end of it until she passed.
The way the woman rolled her eyes said that wasn’t the end of the story.
“She’s even been haunting the old hospital where she died.
She was pissed about not dying here too.
Evidently your father promised her she could pass at the house to wait for you but they didn’t tell anyone else about that plan. ”
She was still around?
As everything slowed, Henley knelt down in front of me again and ran his hand over my head.
“Even if we don’t get the whole package doesn’t match the interior thing fixed today, we’ll go see her and just explain that we’re working on the problem.
I’m sure she’d love to see you even if she has to do most of the talking. ”
Henley would do most of the talking.
“Stop that.” He fell back on his ass as I licked his cheek, trying to pout and huff instead of laugh like I knew he wanted to. “You’re a handful, and I hope I get to some good stories to hold over your head.”
Henley looked like he was paying no attention to anything going on around us, but my innocent-looking mate was taking everything in. His eyes even twitched as another woman shifted in what had to be his peripheral vision. “I think I’m going to need the ammo with you.”
The chuckles around us had clearly been his goal and he smelled very pleased with himself as he stood and rested his hand on my head again. “Alright, what do we need to do?”
We.
My mate was staking his claim clearly with words and deeds, and I knew everyone around us could see it as unmistakably as I could. He might not have expected to find me on his journey, but so far, he’d thrown himself into the challenge.
I wasn’t sure if he could feel the magic binding us together or if it was just his personality, but I couldn’t wait until we could actually communicate. As much as he loved to talk, my mate couldn’t be the one to hold our relationship together forever.
Eventually he’d want to do more than cuddle and watch shows together because while that was the start of a relationship, it wasn’t what I’d always imagined having with my mate.
“We’ve walked through this once a year for as long as I can remember.
” Standing straighter, Serena seemed to be doing her best to project confidence but her heartbeat and physical reactions told another story.
“All he needs to do is stand in the middle of the circle. We designed the spell so it would work whether he was conscious or not, but we expected him to be resisting us.”
Because before Henley, I would’ve done more than that.
“We don’t have to worry about that any longer.” Still petting my head, Henley felt calmer than anyone else around us. “Can I sit with him or will that mess up the magic?”
That was a very good question and one that took nearly twenty minutes to answer.
It took me a while to figure out that he’d asked it deliberately, though. I wasn’t sure what he’d have done if they’d given him an easy answer, but something about their debate and how seriously they took the question had his confidence in them growing.
Eventually they decided it might actually help, so we both walked into the center with Henley plopping down on the ground. “Come here.”
Resting my head in his lap, I let the shifter part of my senses watch what was going on around us and kept the human part of my brain on my mate.
It’d been so long since I’d felt the clear divide between the two it almost felt strange.
Even in the trailer there was nothing else to distract me from him and it was good to feel normal again.
“From what I’ve researched and what Serena said, intent is everything.” Barely whispering as the group formed around us, Henley kept his gaze on mine. “We’re both just going to think about you being in your regular form again. That’s what matters.”
No.
Lifting my head, I licked his cheek again and grumbled low until he sighed. “Fine. I get your point.”
My form and our bond.
Those were the only things that mattered and the only things I kept in my mind as the coven started to chant and the magic started to grow.