“You, young man, are going to set your pants on fire with those lies,” Susan answered, her voice clipped.
His father appeared behind him and looked just as shocked. Joshua’s shoulders slumped as he made his way toward them, shaking his head to clear it. It only caused a new throbbing to echo up from the base of his spine.
“The doctor checked me out. I’m not as badly injured as some of the others,” Joshua said. His head snapped around as he saw shadows moving in the corner of his eye, but again, there was nothing. Fatigue hallucinations. They were within the protective bounds of the town, and his house had protection over it as well. There were no demons here.
His parents made him drink some soup broth as they helped him clean up and redid his bandages. By the time they were done, his head was nodding against his chest. His wolf was already laid out from how exhausted he was, and it was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open. They helped him up to his room, where he collapsed into his bed.
“We can stay the night in case you need anything,” Susan said, stroking the hair from his face.
Joshua shook his head. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
Neither of them spoke again, or maybe he just fell asleep too quickly. His dreams were shifting and uncertain. He found himself standing on the edge of a ravine, darkness creeping in around him. Then, suddenly, he was running through the forest after something. First, it was a demon; then it was Kira running straight for it. Each dream jerked him back awake, making him aware of his surroundings just long enough for him to know it wasn’t real before he sank back into it.
Voice murmured around him. The word ‘curse’ echoed again and again. Joshua groaned as the fuzzy, half-forgotten faces of his first parents appeared in a mist. They were smiling, the way you do in pictures.
“Watch out!” he tried to tell them, but they didn’t hear him.
“There’s dark energy lingering around him,” said a voice somewhere behind him. “It’s almost like he’s been poisoned.”
A phantom warmth brushed over his arm. It made him realize just how cold he really was, and he shivered, curling in on himself to preserve what little warmth he had. The sensation spread over his back and shoulders. It was as though fingers were lightly playing against his skin, touch seeping warmth into him.
It wasn’t real. He knew it wasn’t; it was the same half-dreamt hallucinations that kept crowding his mind. But the scent that wafted into his nostrils felt so much more real. Kira. The thought of her nearby chased away the nightmares. He breathed more easily, the cold fading to the background as the warmth spread over him.
Blindly, he reached out. He grasped her arm, feeling more solid under his grasp than it had any right to be. The heaviness was returning, and he drew her close to him, touching his lips to her temple.
“Stay with me,” he whispered. His voice cracked, rough.
It was only then that he realized he wasn’t dreaming. His eyes cracked open, and he saw her face, peering close to his. A resinous smell mingled with her scent, and Joshua frowned. There were other voices, seeming to be muffled, like whoever was speaking had decided to hide under the bed.
“Is he awake?”
“More awake,” Kira said. He couldn’t quite keep up with the movement of her lips. It made his world tilt, and he felt as though his brain was twisting in his skull. A thudding bumped into his chest, and he groaned, closing his eyes again.
There was too much happening. And he was so tired…
Kira started to move out of his arms, and he whimpered, holding her tighter. She was like water, drifting out of his grasp.
“I’m still here,” her voice said, but it came from so far away. How could she be here?
The warmth came back, tracing along his back. Some of the fog dissipated from his mind, and when he opened his eyes, he saw his parents nearby. The resinous scent was stronger now. Something lay over his back, and he twisted slightly. Kira knelt on the bed beside him, her gaze focused as she spread something over his skin.
“Wh-what are you doing?” he asked. His teeth clipped together, and he realized he was shivering.
“Shhh, baby.” His mother shifted closer, stroking his hair the way she did when he had nightmares as a child. “You werehurt worse than the doctor realized. Kira is using a potion to help you heal.”
Joshua nodded and let his eyes shut again. Everything felt more present now, but he was still utterly exhausted. Kira’s hands were firm and steady on him, spreading the warm mixture over his body, then covering it to let it soak in. He didn’t feel like he was especially in pain, but he could still feel something working inside of him. Like sunlight under his skin, warming him from the inside out. Though he wasn’t convinced that was the potion. That was Kira, being so close to him, her touch grounding him.
Joshua started to drift off again, his body sinking into a more relaxed state. He roused himself, lifting his head. “Are any of the other special ops showing similar symptoms?” he spoke slowly, attempting to enunciate each word.
“No. We reported to Rafael when we realized something was wrong with you,” his father said, his voice rumbling with emotion. “He has them all under observation for the same signs, but so far it seems like you’re the only one to react this way.”
It was the curse. Witch hunter and witch. Was it coming to fruition? His birth parents had already suffered the curse’s wrath. Maybe this was his time. The demons returning, the magic he interacted with—it all ignited the curse that was destined to doom him.
The chill started to steal back into his skin.
Kira adjusted her position, moving to smear the potion against his neck and shoulders. “I keep sensing these surges of dark energy. It’s like whatever the demon did is fighting back.”
“You think the demon did this?” Joshua asked darkly. Didn’t she see that it was the curse?
