Page 59 of Tethered Magick
“Not before she’s stable. Lorn’s still trying to deal with her new hunger. Come on.” Dason held out his hand, and I moved to take it. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Thank fuck,” Axel breathed. “This place is depressing.”
“Yeah.” Kota turned in a circle, taking in the ravaged buildings. “I’ve had enough negative shit to last me a lifetime, thanks.”
Dason’s palm was rough and warm against my cold skin. Would I ever get used to the difference in our body temperatures? I missed feeling warm.
“Where are we going?” I inquired, letting him pull me to an empty intersection at the heart of the town.
“You’ll just have to wait and see.” Dason’s lips quirked up, and he created a portal.
Magick fizzledover my skin like tiny hot bursts of rain as I stared at the black and brown house. Normally, that color combination wouldn’t appeal to me, but the black wooden siding and the walnut colored trim around the windows and doors contrasted well against the vibrant evergreen forest behind it, even in the moonlight.
“Uh, Dason…” Axel commented as he stared through the faint, wavering light of the warded barrier.
“Yeah.” Dason ran a hand back and forth over his short hair. “I keyed the barrier to my pack, but things are fucked up right now. Hold on.”
“Just set our Facebook status to ‘it’s complicated.’” Axel smirked and sent me a wink. I giggled while Dason placed his palms on the ward and let his magick do its thing. I didn’t understand how it all worked, but shortly, we were passing through the ward that’d previously kept us out.
“No one else will be able to get through it unless invited.” Dason’s assurance set me at ease, and soon the phantom sensation from the zaps of magick that’d denied us entrance faded away.
I climbed the mossy front yard, leaving Axel and Kota, who were goofing off, behind.
Quietly, I studied the house.
“This place is new.” There were still stickers on the windows and construction materials outside. “Whose house is this?”
Dason stepped up beside me, and I looked at him, catching Chayton smirking in the background as he rubbed the patch of hair on his chin.
“You going to tell her, or should I?” Chayton knocked his arm into Dason’s silent frame.
Dason’s voice was lower, almost intimate, when he gazed down at me. “It’s yours.”
My mind blanked as he walked off, leaving me with that little bomb of a comment.
Mine? What in the ever-loving world did he mean?
I glanced, open-mouthed, at Chayton, whose sunny grin was in full effect.
“Come on.” Chayton nodded toward the house and held out his hand.
I hesitated to take it, worried how he’d react to my new core temperature, but decided it would be better for everyone if things returned to normal as soon as possible. My fingers slipped across his roughened palm and then intertwined with his.
His smile deepened, growing wider at the edges. His chocolate brown eyes practically glowed in the evening light as Chayton studied me for a beat longer than the moment called for, and a shared understanding passed between us—the knowledge that if last night had turned out differently, we wouldn’t be standing here now, holding hands.
Never again would I take the time I had with my mates for granted, because the hardest part of the undeclared war we were fighting hadn’t even happened yet. Mara and the shadow touched men who’d wanted me for their own were the least of our problems, which was saying something.
Hell, we didn’t know who was summoning the shades, why, or how to stop them. But I was determined to find answers to all three.
Chayton tugged me toward the house, and I followed him up the yard to climb the five front steps that led to the door. The wood still smelled like stain, and the windows were so clean they shone like diamonds.
“Someone care to explain how this is Lorn’s place?” Jolon piped up from somewhere behind me, and I held up a finger.
“Me too. I second that question.”
Dason just fiddled with the keys and unlocked the door, pushing it open and letting us all pass until we stood in a wide-open entryway.
The main room was off to the left, and I dropped Chayton’s hand as I explored. The floors were a beautiful light oak hardwood, and the walls were white, at least where they’d been painted. The ceilings, which would have been tall anyway, spanned two floors in the main room and were decorated with rustic beams. A humongous modern fireplace stretched from floor to ceiling. It looked to be shiplapped but painted a modern gray. A stack of logs sat neatly piled beside it, and a huge sectional filled the floor. A bank of windows lined the back of the house, bringing the forest inside.