He leaned forward, brushed his lips over my cheek. “Thanks for coming to help. I feel like we’ve been waiting forever.”
I smiled. “I’m glad to be here. I’m glad I finally found you.”
He nodded and turned back the way we’d come.
I stood where I was, and just watched the show. Suspended in the air, about as tall as the single height stacks of shelves was an orb of sparks and flares. It burst and crackled with every breath, seethed and snapped with every heartbeat. It was beautiful and terribly sad.
Tugging on my own magic, I fed a wisp to the fluctuating sphere. As soon as the tip of my magic touched it, the ball began to thrum and vibrate in a medley of healing. The thin black fiber that marked Kord as a shifter shot from the center of the orb and landed next to me on the ground.
It writhed on the floor like a snake. Slithering and sliding over the polished floor, it beat a hasty retreat back the way the younger Kord had gone.
“Hey,” I chased after it. “Hey, you’re supposed to be a bird.”
It kept running away.
“Kord Sova, get your slithering ass back over here, right now,” I shouted at it.
“My ass isn’t slithering and that’s rude,” the young Kord yelled back. “And hello! Library.”
I laughed even as I picked up my pace to keep following the thin thread of shifter magic. I rocked to a stop as it slid up the desk that sat in the middle of the room.
Young Kord was sitting at the desk, his back to me, head bent, nose in another book. His blue-black hair absorbing the light coming in from the high window on the wall.
“Kord, watch out!” I yelled as the shifter magic jumped from the desk to his small body.
He turned...just in time to get a face full of magic. Granted, it was his own magic, but it didn’t look comfortable as he tried to scrape it off his face.
I watched in horror as it spread over his face and slid into his body through his eyes, nose, and mouth.
His icy blue eyes went full, shimmering black as the magic settled beneath his skin. It pulsed just under the surface once, twice, three times. Then it faded away. Leaving him with the pale skin of an inside dweller. Or a librarian.
His body seemed to quiver and shake at the edges.
“Kord?”
His eyes wide, he shook his head in what looked like panic. “Something’s happening to me. What did you do?” He began scraping at his clothes like he was trying to get rid of bugs no one could see.
I hurried around the desk, grabbed his hands in mine. As soon as our skin touched, he settled. He looked into my eyes, his gaze direct and open. “There you are,” he said.
I smiled. “There you are. Feeling better?”
He smiled. Nodded. “I feel fantastic. Is this what it feels like to have all of my magic?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve never not had magic, and mine wasn’t ever a gift. You’ll have to tell me when I get back to the older you.”
With a cheeky smile, he pulled me forward and smacked a kiss to my lips. Just as I was about to push him away, he leaned back. “I had to kiss a girl before I got to sixteen. It’s a guy thing, you wouldn’t understand.” He shot me a wink as I laughed.
“Easy there, tiger.”
He sneered. “I’m not a tiger.” His icy blue eyes went huge. “I-I’m a freaking owl. He’s moving around inside me.” He shot me a gigantic, face-splitting smile.
With that pronouncement, he dropped my hands and his form exploded in black, icy blue, and silver sparks.
Once his animal form took shape, it was the blue-black of Kord’s and Oliver’s hair. The color seemed to pull light in and trap it. The top of its head was even with my hips.
The owl looked up at me, icy blue eyes keen in its heart-shaped face. Its head tipped to the side as if asking me a question. I shrugged.
“Well, let’s go then,” I said.
With a great flap of its wings, it lifted itself into the air and we walked out the main hallway.
“Have fun,” Younger Kord said from behind me.
I whirled around so fast, I almost lost my footing. “B-but you’re…” I pointed up to the ceiling where the owl flew in lazy circles.
He smiled. “We’re magical, baby.”
I laughed.
“Take care of me, yeah?” he asked, his tone no longer cocky.
My heart softened. “You’re one of mine. I’ll take care of you until my heart gives out.”
He nodded, looking much older than the kid in his teens he appeared to be.
Overhead the owl let out a “whoooooo” that brought a smile to Young Kord’s face.
“Show off,” I yelled.
Young Kord laughed while the owl gave another laughing “whoooo.”
I snickered and continued walking to the door to the physical plane. “Little jerk.”
I walked from Kord’s magical landscape back into my body.
The huge owl was waiting for me on the couch.
“We have a problem,” Oliver said from behind Kord.
Chapter 6 – Taryk
“So what’re everyone’s names?” I asked as we pulled another mattress from Scarlet’s old hideout. Most of them were still in the plastic wrappers. I wouldn’t have minded if Alok’s hadn’t been.
The female closest to me grabbed the seams of the mattress and chucked it through the air to the next person down the line. She made it look like she was throwing a piece of bread across the table, it looked so effortless. “I’m Araxalim.”
“Nice to meet you, Araxalim. I’m Taryk.” I scooted another mattress down the line.
She bowed her head low. “That is my sister, Ninleyn.” She pointed with her delicate chin at the woman who was catching the mattresses.
“You look nothing alike. Are you close in age?” Scarlet asked from the sidelines. Even the single mattresses were bigger than my mate.
Araxalim shook her head, a smile tugged at her mouth. “We are Warden sisters. Not sisters of the blood.”
“Oh. I got you. These boys all consider themselves brothers when really only Asher and Xander are blood relatives. Sometimes it’s the family you choose, not the one you’re born into,” Scarlet said. She looked up at me, her bottle green gaze soft and happy.
Araxalim bowed her head once more. “Yes, Princess.”
Scarlet’s face went blank. “So, what’s with that whole thing? Seriously, I was street trash until I hooked up with this crew a few days ago.” She jerked her thumb in my direction.
“And if I ever hear you call yourself street trash again, I’ll turn you over my knee for something less than fun, Cherry,” Asher said, his voice low as he flung another mattress out from the backroom.
Araxalim’s tricolored eyes of purple, green, and blues widened as she stared between Scarlet, me, and Asher. “You are so much more than street trash, your highness. Back home, you would live in a palace with a full contingent of your own guards.”
Scarlet snorted. “While that sounds like fun for a little bit, it seems not only lonely, but super boring. I’ll stick with my current life, thanks.”
“But you must come back. Your betrothed is waiting.”
“What the actual fuck?” Asher threw a mattress, tried to duck under it, got flattened. After battling it off of his prone form, he was up and creeping on Araxalim’s space. “She’s ours. Not some unknown tool’s. He can stick it up his ass.”