Page 15 of Elora and the Crow

“Until?”

“Until her mother showed up at her house Monday morning. I came downstairs, and she and her mother were making wedding plans for us.”

“You’re kidding,” Elora said.

“I’m not,” Jonah said. “It didn’t help that I was an asshole about it. I laughed in their faces when they said they had a dinner planned for that night so I could meet the rest of the family. Reminded the girl that this wasn’t serious and that we’d only met on Friday. That she was nothing but a fun weekend for me.”

He rubbed at his forehead, hating that Elora was hearing about what a dick he could be, but he wouldn’t lie to her. “She started to cry, and her mother was angry. She yelled at me about leading her daughter on, and I told her that her daughter had a few screws loose if she thought this was anything more than sex. That really pissed the mom off. I had no idea the mother was a witch until she started speaking an incantation, and yellow light glowed from her hands. That’s when I decided getting the fuck out of there was the best and only option.”

Elora stared at him in fascination. “So, you shapeshifted to a crow?”

“Not at that point. I headed for the door, still in my human form, and the mother shot a beam of yellow light from her hands that nearly took off my head. If I hadn’t ducked, I’m pretty sure I would have been fried alive. She ran across the room and blocked the open doorway, still muttering and glowing, and I wasn’t risking getting close to her. But there was a half-open window in the living room. I shifted to a crow and flew for the window. The last thing I remember was blinding yellow light and pain. When I woke up, I was still in my crow form, and I couldn’t shift back no matter how hard I tried.”

“That must have been awful,” Elora said.

He could hear the dry click of his throat when he swallowed. “It was… terrifying. My body wouldn’t -couldn’t- do what I asked it to do. I was in a cage in a car trunk, and I started freaking out, screaming and cawing at the top of my lungs. The trunk opened, and the witch was there. She grinned, and the look on her face… Elora, she was insane. Completely insane.”

He shuddered and clutched Elora’s hand like a lifeline when it slipped into his. “Where was the daughter?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I never saw her again. Her mother told me she’d cursed me to live as a crow forever, that the spell could never be broken. Then she carried me in the cage into the potions store and sold me to the owner.”

“Did she tell the owner you were a witch?”

“She told the owner I was a witch’s familiar who could no longer be trusted. She sold me to the potions store owner who had plans to make a potion to ‘rehabilitate’ me.”

“Jesus,” Elora said. “But she told me you were a trapped witch named Lilianna.”

“Lucky for me, she was dating a wolf shifter who took one sniff and told her I wasn’t just a crow. He couldn’t tell I was a shapeshifter, paranormals never can, but he could smell my human side. That’s when she decided I was a trapped witch and named me Lilianna.”

Elora shook her head. “Helen always told me that shop owner was a bit crazy.”

“She’s a fucking nutbar,” Jonah said. “You saved my life the day you walked into that shop, little Elora.”

She flushed. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

“I would,” he insisted, squeezing her hand. “I’d been stuck in that cage for a year. She never let me out, never let me fly… I was dying, Elora. You saved me. I owe you a great debt.”

“You don’t,” she said. “Why did you stick around after I let you out of the cage? I was sure you would fly away the first time I opened a window.”

“Well, at first, it was because I knew who your grandmother was, and I figured if anyone could break the spell, it would be Helen.”

“And after she made it clear that she wouldn’t help me break the spell?” Elora asked.

He smiled at her. “By then, I had faith in you, little witch.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long.”

He squeezed her hand again, ignoring his powerful urge to pull her into his lap. “No apologizing. You broke the spell, freed me, and gave me back my life. I owe you everything, Elora.”

She glanced at their clasped hands before staring at his face. Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and when she licked her bottom lip, that small pink tongue tormenting him, he leaned forward. He absolutely shouldn’t be doing this, but fuck it, he’d waited years to kiss Elora.

“Jonah,” she whispered, soft pink rising in her cheeks and her perfect lips parting.

“Elora,” he said in a low voice as he slid his free hand into her dark, silky mass of hair. “My sweet, perfect Elora.”

He brushed his mouth against hers, nearly groaning out loud at the softness of her lips. Her sharp inhale, followed by a barely heard moan, turned his cock to stone. He kissed her again, but her phone burst into loud quacking before he could deepen it.

She jumped back like a startled deer before releasing his hand and standing. She grabbed her phone from the coffee table, glancing at the screen. “I have to take this.”

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