Page 33 of Dewitched

He wouldn’t wish his curse on his worst enemy. No way in hell he would allow his mate to take on the burden.

“Hey, easy.” Fenix crossed the room and knelt in front of him, resting his hands on Owen’s knees. “Breathe,talei.”

“Did you know about this?”

“No, but I don’t care.”

Yeah, well, that made one of them. “I won’t do it.”

“Hey, hey, listen to me.” Fenix’s large, warm hands came up to cradle his face, forcing him to meet his gaze. “I can handle it. I can control it. Let me do this for you.”

His eyes stung, and tears welled along his bottom lashes. “Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” One side of the shifter’s mouth curved into a smirk. “Because I love you.”

Well, that did it. The tears spilled over to streak down his cheeks, and it took everything in him not to dissolve into a blubbering mess. “I love you, too, which is why I can’t say yes.”

“Don’t you trust me?”

Owen sob-snorted. “That’s so unfair.”

“Do you?”

“You know I do.”

“Then, let me do this.”

“I’ll do it,” Iliana said, speaking for the first time since she had entered the cabin.

“No!” everyone else answered at once.

She folded her arms over her chest and mumbled under her breath. “It was just a suggestion.”

“So, what’s it going to be?” Orrin asked.

Fuck, he didn’t know what to do. Fenix had the control. He already had magic in his blood. If anyone could handle it, he could.

“Are you sure?”

His mate leaned in to brush their lips together. “I’m sure.”

Owen turned to the prince, took a deep breath, and prayed he was making the right choice. “Okay.”

According to Hollywood, the whole process should have been fairly dramatic. It wasn’t. Actually, he’d go so far as to call it anticlimactic. No flickering lights. No angelic music. No one’s eyes or skin glowed. He didn’t even get a single whirling cloud of golden glitter.

Yet, while he didn’t see anything, he definitely felt it. The first sign that something significant had happened was when the crackling energy in the room dissipated. Well, more accurately, he could no longer sense it.

When his abilities had first manifested, they had been accompanied by a constant, low-level thrum he likened to a guitar string that had been pulled too tight. Years later, he barely noticed it anymore.

Until it was gone.

Both his mind and body quieted, and the most incredible sense of stillness came over him. Slowly, almost reluctantly, his muscles in his neck and shoulders unknotted. The constriction in his chest eased, allowing him to take his first deep breath in years. His pulse slowed to a nearly meditative rhythm, and all those intrusive thoughts burned away like dew on a summer morning.

“How do you feel?” Orrin asked a moment later.

He took time to think about it, giving the question the weight it deserved. “Free.”

All eyes turned to Fenix. He didn’t look any different, and he showed no signs of distress. Rather, he wore a bemused smirk on his face.

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