Page 23 of Magic Betrayed

There was nothing. Only the mingled scents of a thousand faceless pedestrians, the sting of exhaust, and the cold, bitter smell of city air.

So where had they gone? And where was the one who carried the miasma of stale beer? He’d run from me, gone downstairs, and…

I was an idiot.

I’d probably walked right past the intruders last night. As I’d made my way into the building in the dark, barely even glancing at the windowless van parked at the curb, with the name of an electrician on the side…

There was only one way to be certain. I needed to call Faris to confirm, but if I was right? I’d just found our first clue.

SIX

Of course,before I could ask anyone anything, I had to shift back.

Which meant yipping at Callum and bouncing up and down until he got the hint that I wanted to go back inside, to where my clothes were.

And then facing the inevitably awkward moment where I had no idea how to return to a shape with opposable thumbs so I could put them on.

But as Callum picked up the heap of borrowed clothes, carried them into the bedroom, then knelt down to place me on the floor, it seemed he already anticipated both my needs and my awkwardness.

“Remember how it felt when you found your fox. When you welcomed her, consciously allowed her to be a part of you. This next step is just a reversal of whatever that looked like for you. If it was an awakening, it’s allowing the fox to sleep. If it was a joining, it’s envisioning yourself as separate entities. It’s a very individual thing, and you’ll need to find your own way, but if for some reason you can’t find it this time…” He hesitated, as if he knew I wasn’t going to like what he was going to say.

But I was in a hurry, so I yipped and butted him with my head. Apparently, the fox was an impatient little devil, and I would likely be paying for it later with a hefty dose of embarrassment.

“…I should be able to help by commanding your fox to sleep,” Callum finished in a rush.

Nope, didn’t like that at all. But I also suspected it might not work on me. Where his bossy stare seemed to cause other shifters to show him their throat, it had only ever put my metaphorical hackles up. Made me want to out-stubborn him, even before I’d known his name.

So I glared at him until he stood up and backed away, a hint of a smile on his face.

“Okay. I’ll be right here if you need me.”

I glared a little more.

“Well, notrighthere.” With an almost nervous sounding laugh, he ducked out of the bedroom and shut the door.

At least I wasn’t the only one feeling awkward about this. With a tiny little fox sneeze, I turned to the heap of clothing that smelled of smoke and paper and a little brimstone and… tea. Yup, that checked out.

But I needed to focus. So I dove into my own head, trying to brush past the swiftly moving currents of information flowing in from my nose and my ears to wherever my human shape was hiding.

This whole experience should feel so much weirder than it did—this feeling that I had another creature sharing my space, my thoughts, my impulses. Why was I not freaking out more? Yes, I’d been a fox before, but I hadn’t really had time to think about what it meant. Hadn’t had a chance to process this weird new piece of my reality. Now, however, I had no choice but to embrace it—not if I wanted to find Ari and Logan and Kes.

But for the first time, I felt maybe just a teeny bit grateful. Even hopeful. This magiccouldbe more than a curse I must atone for.

The swirling currents of scents and sounds eventually parted, and… was thatme? A human shape slept, curled up, foxlike, on her side. She was like me, and yet not. Her hair was white and thick, but it glowed faintly, and the strands moved as if stirred by a slight wind. Her eyes were closed, but her face… That glowed too, like her pearlescent skin could barely contain the magic within. She looked peaceful, and there was no blood in her hair. No scars on her hands. She was simply… herself.

I needed her to wake up, and yet I hated to disturb her.

Thumbs.

Her eyes flashed open, glowing with blue. She sat up, and from within the circle of her arms, a fox stretched, yawned, and winked at me before bounding away and fading from view.

My eyes opened to the glorious sight of my own scarred human hands.

I’d done it on my own!

“Raine?” The voice was muffled by the closed bedroom door, and I almost yelped in panic.

“Just a minute!” I’d never scrambled into my clothes so fast in my life, and the moment I was dressed, I yanked open the door. “Callum, I need you to call Faris.”

---