Page 7 of Bound By Blood
She kept her fingers threaded through his as she shrugged. "It's scared, and it wants a home. And I have a home."
For now. The pit in her stomach deepened. Nan or Loto weren't likely to kick her out any time soon, but this really was only temporary. If one or more of their granddaughters ever came back from the city, they would take over the soup cottage, and then where would she be? It wasn't as if she had come up with a particularly good plan for her life.
"That's enough, isn't it? Can't you see it's frightened?" she asked.
"I never meant for it to get frightened. That was never supposed to happen. The problem is that the longer the apparition is out, the more it starts to become, —well—real. It probably is in distress now."
"What happens if you don't take it back at all?"
"It will become a real dog. And it will be influenced by the personality and the life force of those nearest it. Though I doubt it'll have much to do with what it was supposed to be originally."
"What was it supposed to be originally?"
He stared down at the ground, his shoulders rigid.
She tilted her head. "What were you trying to create that you made such a cute dog by accident?"
"A winged garm." He huffed.
"A garm?"
She glanced back over her shoulder at the house. The door was still open, and the little dog with the crooked wings was now at the threshold. Apparently, he'd figured out how to escape the chest.
"If that's what you were trying to create, then you really did fail. I don't think he looks remotely wolf-like."
The blood fae shook his head, his silky hair shining in the moonlight. "Oh, you noticed that, did you?"
"Just because he isn't ferocious doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to live."
"Now, listen to me. If it turned out that he really was a real dog, I wouldn't harm him. But I need a garm. This isn't magic that I want to practice, but it is essential. There's no point for an apparition who just looks cute. Even if it does turn into a real dog…eventually."
She leaned back, her hands tightening around his. That was an odd thing to say. He sounded almost sad when he said it.
"What should I call you?" she asked.
"Oh, are we at the stage for exchanging names?"
"You can call me Erryn."
"Ryul."
She smiled. "I figured it'd be something like Prince Blood Bath or Lord Clotting Veins."
"Well, it doesn't feel like we're on particularly formal terms right now. Also, no one has a name that stupid."
"Are you in pain right now, Ryul?"
He scoffed. "Would you let me go if I was?"
"I'd try to make it better. I know this is unpleasant and awkward."
"I'm wonderful."
"All right." She nodded. "Well, Ryul, I think that the point of that dog is that he is him. He doesn't have to be a wolf or terrifying or any such thing. He just exists, and I love him."
"You do not. You cannot actually love that thing."
"Actually, I can. And you don't know me, so don't make assumptions. I think we can agree that your apparition has gone on too long. Even if it wasn't supposed to have feelings or become real, it is now, so you can't kill it. But you need your magic replenished?"
