Page 39 of Bound and Beguiled

Efa nodded.

“Is it like Werewolves, where you have just the one animal? Or can you be whatever?” At least for the moment, my curiosity eclipsed all other concerns.

Efa’s orange and white head tilted, then she held up a paw, a single clawed digit extended.

“Fascinating. Are you all badgers?” Efa shook her head no, and I touched my tongue to my teeth, mind racing. What animal forms did the others take? Would they let me see if I asked? Was it rude to ask? “That’s so fucking cool,” I breathed.

Efa nuzzled me, her warm weight as comforting as a fire on a cold night.

Scritching behind her ears and running my hands down her fuzzy sides, I lost myself in the rhythmic strokes and the quiet. Gradually, the buzzing energy tormenting me began to settle, forming itself into chains of thoughts. I turned them over in my mind to the increasing pound of my heart.

“I should be afraid,” I whispered. White-tipped ears twitched, listening. “So many things could go wrong today. Even if everything goes as planned, there’s no fairytale ending here. I’m losing my family. My home. Everything I’ve planned for my whole life.” My hands stilled, and I lowered my head.

“But I’m not afraid. I’m pissed the fuck off. I’m godsdamned furious, and I can’t stand it. It’s all so unfair!” I gritted my teeth. Tears dripped down my cheeks, tasting of rage and betrayal. “I was achild. I trusted them—my mother, the Keepers—to tell me what was right, and they led me straight into a trap.” My breath was coming fast and hard, but I couldn’t stop the words from coming out. Somewhere inside me a dam had broken, and the wave was too big to hold back.

“My mother knew. Knew he hurt me. She didn’t care. Herimagewas always more important than me—and gods, she never let me forget it.” My laugh cracked. “None of them did. ‘Don’t embarrass the family, Tereza.’ ‘Remember your oaths, Tereza.’ ‘Don’t beselfish, Tereza.’ As if begging not to be hurt again was fucking unreasonable.”

Efa growled, a guttural sound that seemed like it should have come from a larger animal. I wrapped my arms tighter around her, more grateful than I could express for her outrage.

“The more I carved away at myself—the more I shut myself down—the happier they were. Franklin fucking enjoyed watching me bleed, only to turn around and scream at me for staining the carpet.”Literally and figuratively, I thought, suppressing a shudder.

“I don’t understand why they did what they did. I don’t understand why I was so much less than worthless in their eyes.And I don’t fucking care.It was wrong. All of it. Unforgivable.”

Tingling heat bathed my front, and I opened my arms reflexively. An instant later, Efa’s badger form was replaced by her familiar two-legged self. She knelt before me like a knight about to go into battle and cupped my face in her hands.

“Yes. It was. And by tonight, everyone’s going to know it.”

∞∞∞

I bit into my muffin, chewing mechanically. The juicy blueberries, sweet cake, and crunchy sugar coating the golden top were perfection, but I was too distracted to enjoy it—focusing instead on the battle plan brunch had turned into.

“How do you feel about bareback, Reza?”

I choked. Emyr patted my back with false solicitude, his eyes laughing at me.

“I meant on a horse, you naughty thing.” Emyr winked. “I already know how you feel about the other.”

My face turned into a tomato. “It’s irrelevant,” I replied, as if I wasn’t thinking about filthy, sloppy sex. I wasn’t. This was a serious moment, damn it all. “Mother will have a horse waiting. A white one, as is traditional, with a fancy tooled saddle and flowers braided into its mane. For appearances’ sake.”

“It can wait forever,” Emyr said, leaning close with a cocky grin. “You’ll be riding in on me.”

Of course, my libido couldn’t have waited untilafterthe showdown to return. That would’ve been too convenient. I struggled to catch up to what the tempting ass had actually said.

“Your other form...is a horse? And you want me to rideyouto the ceremony?”

“Most definitely,” he purred.

Katarina chose that moment to walk into the bar—Sid and Fenn by her side—and I could have kissed her. I’d been wracking my brain for some way to say, “yes, I can ride bareback” that didn’t sound like a dirty joke, and failing completely.

“So, what’s the plan?” my cousin asked, snagging a seat and a handful of grapes. “Are we going in guns blazing, or is this a stealth infiltration scenario?”

Fenn lounged next to her, idly playing with the ends of her hair, while Sid slipped to the bar and started pulling out champagne and orange juice.

“What’s this ‘we’ you speak of?” I challenged, crossing my arms over my chest.

Katarina flapped her hand at me. “We’re coming. Deal. I can’t miss my beloved cousin’s binding ceremony. It would be the height of rudeness.”

Fenn chuckled and she fluttered her eyelashes at me, grinning.

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