Page 12 of Shared By the Werebears
She was back almost as fast, carrying a full tray that looked too heavy for the thin, stick-like arms that stuck out of her black and white maid’s uniform. That was an illusion though—Brownies are surprisingly strong. As any of the male guests who tries to mess with them quickly finds out. Goody A doesn’t tolerate anyone abusing her staff and she encourages them to fight back, if necessary.
It’s not usually a problem though. Not many guys are horny enough to go after a Fae who looks like she’s made out of wood. Still, you do get the occasional drunk who can’t keep his hands to himself and winds up with some painful splinters in unmentionable areas…
We all got our cups and sighed in delight—or grunted, in Ronan’s case—when we took a sip. Nobody makes better hot beverages in town than The Red Lion Inn. Well, except for my own diner, of course.
“Now let’s have a few introductions and you can tell me what’s going on,” Goody Albright said.
I introduced the two of them, omitting the fact that it was the lust tea that had called them to me, and she nodded.
“All right, now tell me why you’re here,” she said, looking at Ronan and Finn. “And tell me the truth, too—I’ll know if you don’t,” she added warningly.
Ronan scowled mutely but Finn jumped right in.
“We’re under a curse,” he said quickly, leaning forward to look earnestly at Goody Albright. “A really bad one—it makes it almost impossible to change back to our Human Form once we Shift.”
“Hmm, Ithoughtyou were Weres—you have a very strong animal energy about you.” Goody A nodded in satisfaction, as though she’d guessed correctly and was pleased with herself. “All right, so how did you acquire this curse?”
“That’sourbusiness,” Ronan growled, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
“Ronan, stop—how can she help us if we don’t tell her?” Finnobjected, frowning. He looked at Goody A again. “Goldie here tells us you’re an expert at breaking curses.”
Goody A’s green eyes widened slightly behind her cat-eye glasses but she nodded calmly after shooting me a quick glance.
“Well yes, I’ve seen a fair few curses broken in my day. So maybe if you tell me how you got yours, I can see the way it must be broken.”
“We don’t—” Ronan began, looking more stubborn than ever but Finn was already talking again.
“We were hunting in a part of the forest we’d never been in before,” he said quickly. “We were following this white deer—a buck—it had pure white fur that glowed like moonlight. I had never seen anything like it.”
“Oh dear…” Goody A shook her head. “I think I know where this is going but please, do continue.”
“Well, like I said, it led us into this new part of the forest,” Finn went on. “I remember everything was so much darker inside, once we crossed over under the canopy of trees. And then we caught it—well, Thorne caught it, anyway,” he added.
I frowned. There was a third Were?
“Who’s Thorne?” Goody A asked.
“He was the leader of our Clan,” Finn said sadly. “The strongest of us all—I never would have thought he’d be the first to fall.”
“What happened when Thorne caught the deer?” Goody Albright asked.
“Everything.” Finn’s eyes widened. “I mean, as soon as he tore out its throat there was this massive lightning strike, right in front of us! It was so bright it lit up the whole forest, and that’s when we saw her.”
“Sawwho?”I asked impatiently.
“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “But she was tall—as tall as one of the trees. And her eyes wereon fire.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Goody Albright nodded knowingly. “I think I know who you saw and where you were—you wandered into The Blighted Forest. The guardian there isn’t really a sorceress—she’s a demi-goddesscalled Madam Locasta. Also known as ‘She of the Weeping Woods.’ And I’m guessing the stag that your friend killed was one of her special beasts.”
“I’m pretty sure it must have been,” Finn said glumly. “Because the minute she saw what Thorne had done, she cursed us.”
“What did she say? Do you remember the words of the curse—it might be important,” Goody Albright said sharply.
Finn shook his head.
“I’m sorry—it’s kind of a blur.”
“I remember it,” Ronan said, surprising me. “She said:
