I can’ t contemplate anything else before I need to rest. Too exhausted to make it to the living room or bedroom, I pull a cushion off a dining chair and use it as a pillow, curling my naked body around the glass pitcher containing the most precious thing I have.
Chapter 9
Chip
While my wife rests, I try to brainstorm.
In my brief period of captivity, the baker and his chef pulverized my mug, trying to figure out what part of it was enchanted so that they might recreate it. The only reason I am not completely separated from my magical soul, is because my wife was clever enough to find and collect a tiny piece of me when they were taking me from my home. That's what saved me.
It will take some work to create a new vessel, although this temporary one should do for now. If I wasn't mated, then it would be more of a problem. As it stands, what energy I get from my bond with my wife will sustain me for a little while without any bad effects on either of us.
She starts to stir and I pull myself together, shifting to full flesh so that I can comfort her properly. It's becoming easier every dayto hold this form, and the fact that I’m able to do it at all after that ordeal is a credit to how fiercely my wife cares for me.
Once Devon fully comes to, she blinks up at me from the bed where I've carried her, and I can see her gorgeous brain running through the events of the day, taking in the deep slant of the sun, and throwing her arms around me in a cry of surprise.
“You're here! You're really here! Are you okay? What did they do to you?”
“It was not pleasant, but I believe they were trying to create the most magical cocoa they were able to so that they could gain a business advantage over the coffee shop. The baker was in the crowd for our mating celebration and said he was so inspired by our performance that he wanted to bottle it up and sell it to his patrons.”
She gasps. “That’s sick! But how did they overcome you, my love?”
I’m ashamed to admit this part, but it’s necessary. “The baker came upon me while I was doing my morning disco routine; I have to stay fit for you. I usually do it outside so I don’t wake you, and I’m embarrassed to admit that the baker lured me in quite easily.
“They whipped up a large batch of soft, fragrant marshmallows, coated in an edible glitter, and I was so excited that I did not even stop to question why they were there. They presented them to me in a beautiful blown glass bowl and had imbued it with a trap.
“Once I jumped into those marshmallows, cocoa first, I became stuck. I managed to jump out at one point when they lost their hold on the cumbersome bowl, that’s how I got chipped. I tried for the safety of my mug. The marshmallows must have also been laced with something though, because I found my thoughtsgetting sluggish. I’m so sorry! I didn’t even think to share the marshmallows with you, I’m so selfish!” I begin sobbing, begging my wife for forgiveness.
She pets my head, soothing me. “Chip, you are allowed treats without me. I’m not upset. Well, not about that. I am, however, furious that you never told me you like to dance the disco! How could you keep such a secret from me? And out on the porch, where everyone could see?”
I begin to feel shame for an entirely different reason. “Oh. I…hadn’t thought about it. Do you…notlike disco?”
She jumps from the bed and runs out of the room, leaving me completely bereft.
I hear her digging through boxes she brought in from her van, and then she returns with a metallic jacket that she spreads over her shoulders, turning to show me the back.
Embroidered in bold, black custom stitching, are the words, ‘Disco Champion’. “I’m upset because you didn’t invite me! The neighbors will think I don’t care for you enough to dance with you, and even though there are hardly any neighbors at all that can see our porch, I do not want you feeling as if you must keep this part of yourself secret.”
I fall to her feet, sobbing like only someone so in love can manage. “My love, my beautiful, perfect dollop of aerated and sweetened cream, what did I ever do to deserve someone so wonderful? I beg of you; tell me this isn’t a dream! Promise me you are not jesting!”
She steps back and strikes a pose, then proceeds to do an incredibly elegant display of disco. “I never joke about disco,” she says when she hits her landing move, face serious.
“Yes, I can see that,” I say in awe. “I’ll never doubt you again!”
She rushes back to my arms, checking me over. “But how are you feeling? You went through quite an ordeal yesterday; I thought this town was safe, how could someone do something so evil?”
“Unfortunately, greed is one of the few evils that exists everywhere.”
“Well what will happen to the baker and the chef that tried to feed you to the town against everyone’s will? How do we prevent someone from trying to use you like that again? I can’t survive another yesterday, Chip. I was beside myself not knowing where you were.”
“They’ll be locked up and then forced into years of hard labor to atone for their sins. I promise you; as much as you regret yesterday happening, I imagine they’ll be regretting it even more. The baker and chef have given away the entire bakery to the township by attacking me, and now it will go up for someone else to use. We have a realtor on retainer in town that will deal with it and law enforcement headed and mostly run by a motorcycle club. We are safe, my love.”
She falls into my arms, sending us both sprawling across the floor. “I can’t lose you Chip, I just found you.”
I cover her heart with one of my hands. “As long is this is beating, I’m with you. There’s a part of me within you that you’ll never escape.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet. I love that.”
“No, literally, I embedded a drop of myself in there, encased in shifter magic. We truly are bound together.”
