Page 127 of Elora and the Crow

“I’m positive. But believe me when I say you never want to have someone yank a tree branch out of your stomach.”

“Jonah?” Caleb’s hoarse voice made him whirl around.

He stared at his brother, who stood behind him with a look of confusion. “Where are we? Why are you naked?”

He peered around Jonah at Ronin. “Why is that guy naked?”

Jonah grabbed his brother and pulled him into his embrace, hugging him hard.

“Dude,” Caleb said, “you’re naked.”

Jonah burst into laughter before grabbing Caleb’s face and kissing his forehead. “It’s a long story.”

Caleb gripped his arm. “The witch! Nimera, is she -”

“She’s fine,” Jonah said quickly. “She and the baby are okay, I promise.”

Caleb blew his breath out in relief before rubbing his arms. “Fuck, it’s cold out.”

“Tell me about it,” Ronin said before grinning at Cece. “Little Ronin is usually much more impressive. You can ask my lady.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Cece said.

The five of them stared silently at each other before Ronin said, “Tacos?”

“I could eat,” Jonah said.

Ronin grinned and jumped to his feet before pulling Cece into a standing position. “I know the best taco truck in the city.”

“Maybe we should get you and Jonah some clothes first,” Cece said.

“Taco trucks don’t have dress codes,” Ronin said.

“Pretty sure they have rules about penises waving around unfettered,” Cece said as they started walking.

Ronin laughed hard. “You might be right, tiny tree witch.” He turned to Caleb. “So, I hear you’re a pretty good musician. You ever sing any Celine Dion?”

As Caleb joined Cece and Ronin, Elora wrapped her arms around Jonah’s waist. He smiled at her, smoothing her hair back from her face. “Hi.”

“Hi. You shifted.”

“I did,” he said.

“What happened to all your ‘the hippo is the most dangerous land animal’ talk,” Elora teased gently.

“Turns out, a rat is much more effective at taking down a dark witch.”

She kissed his naked chest. “Thank you for saving me.”

“You saved me,” he said.

She shook her head solemnly. “No, Jonah. We saved each other.”

They stared at each other before Elora started giggling. “Shit, I am so goddamn corny. You sure you want to spend the rest of your life with me?”

He kissed her hard. “There is nothing I want more, baby.”

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