Page 28 of The Witch & the Wolf

“No.” He took a sip. “And they would’ve stayed hidden if we hadn’t stumbled upon them. It seems so odd to me that Emilia’s parents didn’t press for more answers.”

“Maybe they weren’t that close, to begin with.”

“And Emilia’s friends?”

“Didn’t seem she had many. She’d moved from Archon.”

“She didn’t transform to save herself, either…” Arlo thought of the pills. “She was likely taking the pills. Probably the ones that kept her human.”

“God.” Holly nuzzled his cheek. The intimacy relaxed Arlo, and he felt just a little less troubled. “It wasn’t fun to be trapped in Emilia’s head. I think that was what Chloe’s vision was actually hinting at. The tunnel Emilia was trapped in. Charles managed to crawl through to some hidden compartment that opened up to the well, only to find he wasn’t exactly alone down there. Their stupid frat-boy friends running off and leaving them there because it was a full moon. Can a werewolf transform out of stress?”

“It can happen.” Arlo sipped more coffee. “If you’re placed in a highly stressful situation, you can transform automatically – it’s meant to be the survival instinct kicking in.” He frowned. “But I doubt he would risk something like that for someone he loved. I’m betting someone tampered with his medication.”

“Oh…” Holly sounded pissed. “God, how shitty would that be? Your ‘friends’ tampering with your meds, then locking you in with your girlfriend. Then you kill your girlfriend and then die down there. No wonder his spirit was pissed off.”

“And they got away with it for so long, too… it’s not fair. You’d think finding the culprits would be easier in a magic school. I…” He sighed again. “It bothers me a lot. To think you could hurt someone you love. This happens over and over. Charles and Emilia. My mom and dad. Everyone around me, just…”

“Are you worried about dating? About relationships?” Holly now sat up straighter, and Arlo found himself facing her, both of them gripping their mugs. “Talk to me, Arlo.”

At first, he shook his head, unable to really explain the odd feeling within. With more prompting from Holly, a soft hand to his cheek, the reluctance opened up into words. “If we continue this – I’m worried if we do fall more in love… that it just won’t be enough.”

“It’s not,” Holly said, which took him completely by surprise.

“What?”

“Love is not enough.” She gave him a peculiar smile. “It’s wonderful and big and exciting, I’m sure – but a relationship needs far more than just love. It just depends on how willing you are to put the effort in. There’s no sense worrying about the things you can’t change. The only thing we can do now is to focus on what is in our control.” She then grinned. “Besides, I don’t think we’ll end up being locked in a crypt and being forced to eat each other or something.”

“You never know. Our magic isn’t exactly the fluffy bunny kind of magic,” he replied, but already, he was brightening. “They’re going to be sending us to a lot of weird places in the future. And if we decide we want to pick careers doing this sort of work.”

“Might be better if we can do it side by side then.” Her eyes sparkled, and the grin turned into a beam. “Since we already established that our magic can actually work surprisingly well together. It will be an honor to work with you.”

“And an honor to date, as well,” he added, prepared to turn it into jest, but Holly flushed and nodded.

“I’d like that. I think we already took things pretty far. Maybe we can slide it back a bit and try dating. Though I want us to go to that little cinema soon, thanks.”

“You… you’re really not worried? About dating a werewolf? About our families, our magic?”

“I am,” Holly said. “I just don’t see the point in worrying about it all the time when I have a good thing going with you.”

Hard to argue against that. The words alleviated another worry within him. They didn’t need to take things fast. They could use the time to think things through, process events, continue to learn more about each other, and figure out the ways they worked together physically, emotionally, and magically.

“We do have a good thing. I’m… I’m happy to hear that. I like you.”

“You like me?” She blinked at him, and he stared back blankly.

“Was that not obvious?”

“Ah. Sorry. Don’t mind me. For the record, I like you as well,” she replied, blushing like a tomato. “I’m still pretty new to all this, though.”

“Then let’s take it slow.”

He leaned forward, and their lips met, soft and warm with promise. The warmth dug deep into his body, his soul, and for the first time in a long time, he let go of his fears of the future, of relationships and just let himself be.

The kissing grew a little too distracting, though, since Holly spilled a little of her lukewarm coffee on the bed, and they both yelped and pulled apart, splashing even more. “Okay, that was stupid! Uh, tissue, towel, something…”

He laughed, helping her locate a cloth and placing the drinks aside. She tried hard to clean, but somehow, that little cleaning attempt ended up with them both on the bed, actively wrestling with one another, with him snatching the cloth away and her trying to reach it with little to no luck in doing so.

He couldn’t resist whispering one more thing, though – something weighing heavily on his thoughts, but something he tried to push away. “I… I don’t regret coming to Dreadmor.”

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