Nox let out a deep, rumbling purr that vibrated through my bones. He blinked up at me slowly, then settled into my lap for a nap, letting our magics hum.
The bond was sealed. Not a chain, but a cornerstone. And for the first time since my world had shattered, I felt a part of my own foundation click firmly, unshakably, into place.
“Thank you,” I told my new friend. Nox snorted and tucked his nose to tail as if the whole thing had been exhausting. Sincemy stomach grumbled with hunger, I had to agree, and dug into the amazing food my hot boyfriend provided, ready for the next hurdle, even if it meant facing shadow demons and cult crazies.
36
I shoveledAngel’s amazing omelet into my mouth, and I felt clearer. The constant, staticky buzz of my power had a new channel, flowing smoothly into the calm, ancient well of Nox’s presence. With Angel at my back, devouring his own food while he flipped through emails on his computer, I felt grounded as I couldn’t ever recall experiencing before.
Ivan stirred, blinking blearily. Peanut Butter wriggled free of the blankets to headbutt his chin. “Ow,” Ivan grumbled. “Butthead.” Peanut Butter licked his nose, which made Ivan hiss in disgust. “Tuna breath.”
“Food’s on the counter,” Angel said. “Or there’s cereal if you don’t want eggs.”
Ivan just nodded, looking small and lost in Angel’s oversized T-shirt, and shuffled to the kitchen, stared at the omelet with a side of fresh berries, then dug out a fork. At least the kid was eating.
I polished off the giant plate of food, fruit, and veggies, and found myself still hungry. Strange.
“There’s another plate in the microwave, Ivan. Can you bring that over for Jude?” Angel asked my little brother.
Ivan opened the microwave, grabbed the plate, and brought it over. I was surprised to find it filled with breakfast sandwiches but instantly dove in.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this hungry before,” I complained, downing two before coming up for air.
“You closed a Veil tear yesterday and bonded with a familiar this morning,” Angel offered in explanation.
Ivan blinked at us. “You closed a Veil tear?”
“Yeah. It was sort of an accident. Don’t tell anyone.”
“How do you accidentally close a Veil tear?” Ivan mumbled into his plate. “Only you…”
Angel turned his computer screen my way, showing the chat between the team as they reviewed information. The consensus was that they needed to find Cassidy to locate the cultists and stop the murders as well as the weakening of the Veil. But the sheer volume of tears, across not only the state but the entire country, and probably the world, meant this cult was bigger than Cassidy alone. Maybe he was the leader here, but did that mean that to stop the tears we’d have to find every faction of them?
“Should we tell them?” I wondered out loud. Angel knew the team better than I did. And I thought he trusted them. Even Ezra, who seemed to hate me. Remi might be new, but that he was in on the private group chat, I thought meant they trusted him. My question was less,shouldwe tell them, and more, did he trust them enough to risk our lives?
“I trust them,” Angel said. “But I leave the choice to you.”
The problem was that it wasn’t only my life anymore. Even if this power was mine. The longer I stared at Angel, the more detailed his weave became. Part of having Nox bound to me, or simply the depth of our growing bond?
The snags in his aura weren’t all that different from Nox’s, though Angel had at least a half dozen. Near misses of death? I hated the idea of that and wanted to soothe the rough edges toease the strain. How much of this shaped who he was now? And what right did I have to change any of it? I wasn’t a god.
Angel slid his fingers into mine, squeezing my hand. “What are you seeing?”
“Trauma,” I growled, understanding what it was even without knowing all the details. The snags were old, long before we met, but that didn’t mean they didn’t hurt him.
“Too bad you can’t see your own weave,” Angel remarked. “Might be worse than mine.”
The thought stole my breath. Was it true? I looked down, but my own design was a blind spot. I could only see the strands that reached for me, or out of me, like the ones to Nox and Angel, not how I was woven together.
“I’ve never heard of a weaver who could see their own design.” Angel pushed another sandwich toward me. “Eat. You’re feeding Nox now, too. He needs the strength.” He nodded at the cat in my lap. “Maybe then he’ll quit stealing sweets and show us his dragon form.”
My hand hovered over Angel’s thigh, the temptation to smooth away his pain a palpable itch. “I could take it away,” I said, the words slipping out.
“You could. But what would it change about this moment?”
Nothing, I hoped. Because if he left, I would unravel. And if I healed his soul, wouldn’t he realize he deserved someone better? My gaze caught on the thread between us—thicker now, with new loops binding us. I could weave it tighter, I knew, but that would be a choice, not a natural growth. I could have gotten lost in the lines of him forever, but we had a world to save from a shadow god and my traitorous ex.
I blinked, and the world snapped back to normal. “Feels a little Matrix-y,” I grumbled.
