Page 21 of Capricorn Blessed

“Is she okay?” the second voice asks. It sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place it.

“I would hope so. You were the last one with her yesterday before she lost consciousness,” Dennis snaps back.

“I didn’t do anything to her,” the angry voice answers.

I fight against the pull of darkness and force my eyes to open a slit, seeing both Dennis and Kenric on either side of me.

“Where am I?” I mumble, hoping they can understand me.

“We came back to my house,” Kenric offers, stroking my hair back from my face.

“What happened?” I mumble, blinking to bring the room into focus. “I remember getting the locket, but then it all goes fuzzy.”

“The glass cut your arm when you got the locket out. You were bleeding pretty badly, but luckily we had a doc on hand, and he stitched you right up,” Kenric answers.

I glance down at my arm and see the gauze wrapped from wrist to elbow.

“At least you had the foresight to wear the locket,” Dennis says. “It is on the coffee table, if you were wondering.”

I turn my head and see the locket just where he said it would be.

Another thought enters my head, making me sit up right fighting off a wave of dizziness.

“You’re the white wolf!” I yell at Kenric.

He nods. “Yes. I’m a white wolf.”

“No.” I shake my head but have to stop quickly. “You’re THE white wolf. The one from my dream... You’re my mate.”

“I have distant memories of a dream. It’s what made me want to stop and help you in the cafe,” he says. “I knew there was some connection between us. Was there more I should know about the dream?”

“Yep,” I say. “We have to find the four relics: sword, locket, cup, and combs. Then find the temple to Capricorn and perform a ritual on the Winter Solstice to stop the council from consuming all magic and bring balance back into the world.”

His eyes grow wide as I speak.

“Oh, shit!” I shout. “We have to go back to the house!”

“No, we don’t,” Dennis answers. “You were almost killed the last time we were there. We have no reason to go back.”

“Yes, we do,” I say. “The tiger that attacked us is my third mate, and we need to figure out what his problem is.”

After some yelling and a lot of convincing, we load back up in Kenric’s car, and head back to the castle.

The drive seems to take longer than the first time, and my leg jumps around nervously. Kenric rests a hand on my knee, stilling the anxious movement.

“It’s going to be okay,” he rumbles.

“Is it?!” I snap. “One of my mates, who I need to finish this quest, just tried to kill me. And you, if you remember correctly. Wait, how are you not hurt? I saw the blood on you.”

“Shifters heal quickly,” he answers with a shrug. “Luckily, the wonky magic hasn’t affected that yet.”

We stop the car farther from the gate than last time, hoping for the element of surprise.

Exiting the car, we walk up the driveway, looking around the curve toward the gate. Movement catches my eye and makes me throw my arm out and stop all of us.

A tall man paces back and forth inside the gate. The sun reflects off hair that looks more orange than red, almost matching his tiger’s fur. He’s slim, his plaid shirt and jeans hiding the lean muscles I know must be hidden under them. I’ve never met an out-of-shape shifter and doubt he’d be the first.

He stops at the opening, his gaze locking in our direction.

---