Page 170 of Scars Like Wings

“What happened? She was fine just a second ago,” Maisie asked.

Someone tenderly touched my face, and I felt a slight warmth that was both foreign and familiar to me at the same time. It was magic, but it felt… different. What about his magic felt like an old friend to me? Then I heard Thompson’s voice, realizing it must be him. “She looks to have expelled a lot of shifter magic and still is in her current form. It’s exhausting her.”

“You’re exactly right, Thompson. We need to get her back to her human form for her to fully recover.” I opened my eyes when I heard Talli’s voice. She smiled when our eyes met. “Hi there, Byrdie-Bee.”

“What are you doing here?” My voice was heavy and deep with sleep. Every time I blinked, I was scared I wouldn’t be able to open my eyes again from how drowsy I was.

“As soon as you broke the spell, Everett and I were flooded with memories. I teleported here as soon as I could, and we caught Thompson up. Let’s get you to the couch. Maisie, Thompson, sit near me, okay?”

“Wait, is Teddy a fitch, too?” I asked, as I felt myself being carried into the living room by Everett.

“Not quite, honey, but I am still pretty rare.” He winked. “I’m a shifter witch.”

“A shifter witch?”

“It’s like a hybrid between a shifter and a witch, but really it’s just a kind of witch,” Maisie explained. “They are ridiculously cool because they have the magic of a witch, but they can shift like a shifter. Izzy iskind ofa shifter witch. They are pretty connected to shifters in general, which is why he was able to sense your magic and know it was depleted.”

“When you touched me…” I trailed off.

“It was my jaguar calling to you through the magic. He really likes you.” Teddy smiled, an image of a purring cat coming to my mind.

“Dragons have an affinity for other animals, especially cats. Set her down on her stomach, Everett,” Talli instructed.

Everett gently placed me on the couch on my stomach. I readjusted to get comfortable, my wings pulsing slightly to settle on my back.

My newly returned memories reminded me that I had been here before, laying on my stomach with my fresh wings andTalli about to do magic on me. My dragon growled in my head, and I had to fight the desire to do the same. But that was the difference. Last time, she was fighting to get out to protect me from falling apart. This time, we were connected as one. I calmed her, reminding her that we were doing this with good reason this time and that nothing would separate us again. I was a dragon-shifter forever like I had always dreamed. This was enough to get her to curl up and relax.

Speaking of relaxing, Dinah yowled loudly over to the couch and jumped onto the arm. I petted her biscuit-head and was rewarded with some of the loudest purrs she had ever done.

“She has beenholleringsince we got our memories back.” Everett shook his head at the chunky dark ball of fluff.

“It’s because she was worried about her mommy.” Teddy smiled. “Pets can often be like familiars to shifters and witches, especially. It’s why they choose them and come into their lives at the right time. But also, Dinahreallyloves you.”

“She is her mama’s baby!” I cooed, scratching Dinah under her chin. Somehow, her purrs grew even louder.

“While I prepare,” Talli said, rummaging through a duffel bag next to her and pulling out various glass bottles of herbs, liquids, and powders. Maisie and Teddy sat on either side of her, while Everett leaned on the back of the couch. Simone sat on the floor near my head. “Why don’t you girls tell us what happened? What made you shift and remember everything, Byrdie?”

I caught them up on the events of tonight from my dream about Mom’s last moment to when I was awoken by Zaria’s attack to now. Simone and Maisie interjected when they could with additional details. Throughout it, Thompson was wide-eyed, but Talli kept her face measured as she listened and continued to arrange what she needed for her spell. When I finished, a crack resounded through the room and the couch began to whine and buckle. Din-Din, the cat I got to help withmyanxiety, jumped down to curl up on a different, safer couch.Scaredy cat.

“Hey! I like this couch, sir! It took us months to find it!” I protested to Everett who was softly growling.

“It took months for you todecideon it,” He corrected.

“Tomato, potato.”

“How can you be so cavalier about this? What if your dragon really had been sealed away forever where you couldn’t manifest? Then what?”

“Simone and Maisie would have helped me. They were prepared to do that. Not to mention, Quinn was there?—”

“You could have died tonight, Byrd.”

“I’m well aware of that.” I leveled him with a look. “But I didn’t. We could talk all day and tomorrow about what could have, would have, should have happened, but the point is that I’m alive. I’m here, and I’m okay, Ever.”

He shook his head, but some of the tension did manage to leave his shoulders.

“Now, you need to apologize to Din-Din for scaring her. You know she has anxiety.”

Everett snorted. “The TV coming on scares that hairball.”

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