Page 61 of Cam's Treasure

Cam and Micah, who'd been walking in front of us, turned around when they realized we'd stopped, then made their way back to us.

"Are you hurt?" Cam asked with a frown, his eyes falling to my bloody hand.

"He has a head wound. It isn't healing."

Yeah, that would be because that bastard stole my magic. When I got my hands on him...

"I'll text Raph to come over to our place," Cam said, then smiled at me. "He's a healing mage."

I stiffened at the mention of a mage, and Micah stepped closer, taking my bloody hand in his.

"It's okay. Raphael is a good one. He left Ravenshire years ago."

"He also saved my life when I was a kid," Cam chimed in as he tapped on his phone, and I swallowed hard, nodding.

Even though I couldn't sense the mate bond they said we had, I still found myself trusting them instinctively. Part of me was afraid it would come back to bite me in the ass, but the other part of me just wanted to do as they said.

I'd never gotten along well with my own kind. I didn't know why. There weren't any major disagreements between us, and they'd never hurt me. Yet I found myself happiest in the water, alone.

When Osric had found me as he drove around on his big boat and invited to me to come visit his home on the mage island, it'd taken me a while to warm up to him, and then I'd paid for it with my coat.

But with these three, everything felt natural. Like that was the way it was supposed to be. Was this what the mate bond did?

"Here." I blinked as Cam unbuttoned the last two buttons of his shirt, then grabbed the edge andtore. Once he had a long strip of cloth, he held it out to Ember. "Tie it over the wound for now so he doesn't bleed out." Then, he grinned over at Micah. "Look, princess. We match."

Micah's eyes slid from him to his shirt that now ended just above his belly button, and he snorted. "Very fashionable."

Once Ember had tied the cloth around my head, we started walking again. In less than a minute, we stepped out of the woods and into a clearing.

On one side, docks lined the edge of the land, leading out into the river, while the other side led deeper into the town of Mistvale.

Cam and Micah headed that way, and Ember and I followed after them until they stopped in front of a small car. Cam unlocked it with a beep, and I stared at it as he opened the door.

"Uh..."

"Everything okay?" Ember asked softly, so close to me I could feel the heat coming off his body. Was that a phoenix thing? Or were land-dwellers all so warm? Osric or any of his goons certainly hadn't been warm.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I just hadn't ever been in a car before.

Ember opened the door, then waved me inside, and I carefully slid into the seat.

I knew enough to know I had to put my seatbelt on—especially now that I was practically human—but I struggled with the damned thing for so long that Ember had walked around the car, slid into his seat, and then reached over to help.

My cheeks flushed as he slid it in with a simple click, but he didn't mention my ineptitude as he slid his own seatbelt into place.

As Cam started driving, I glanced out the window, taking in the town.

The first thing I noticed was how fucking green everything was. Green and brown seemed to be the dominant colors of Mistvale, and the stores and houses popped among all the greenery, no matter what color they were.

My stomach swooped a little when Cam drove over a bump a little too fast, but other than that, it was a fairly pleasant drive.

We slowed in front of a large house, made of a mix of stone and wood, and Cam slid the car into the driveway before turning it off.

Twisting in the seat to face me, he smiled widely. "Welcome home!"

I blinked, then nodded cautiously as Ember undid his seatbelt, then mine, showing me how to do it so I'd know next time, then slid out of the car. He rushed around to my side and opened my door, but before I could assume it was because he thought I was completely incompetent, he did the same for Micah.

I gazed up at the house as Cam locked the car, then followed the others up the three steps.

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