Rowan presses his mouth into a thin line. After a moment, he sighs. “Yeah, okay.”
Ash begins walking toward the livery stable. “I’ll meet you in front of your shop, Kit.”
Once he’s gone, Rowan and I are alone—or as alone as you can be in Moss Hollow on a festival day. People are still in the street, slowly making their way back to their vacation rentalsand the hotel. The crowds are thinning, but no one seems to be in any particular hurry.
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow…” I say.
“How about I ride with you?”
“How will you get back to Marshall’s?”
He smiles to himself, looking into the dark night. “I thought I might fly.”
“Do you think you can change on your own?”
“If I can’t, I’ll have a long walk. It seems like good motivation.” He rolls his shoulders. “And I feel the magic pressing me to change. I don’t think it’s going to be that difficult.”
“Is that why your shoulders have been achy?”
“I believe so. It’s a good time to test it.”
“Except it’s late. What if you can’t change, and a wolf eats you on the way back to Marshall’s place?”
“The only wolves we have in Moss Hollow are shifters, and I don’t believe they’re much of a risk.”
I laugh, stopping myself from reaching for him by crossing my arms.
He notices and steps forward, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Are you all right?”
“I don’t know about this shadow pixie business. The risk seems too high for the reward.” I wrinkle my nose. “Or lack of reward. If it works, then what? We won’t be bonded anymore. Doesn’t seem like a great incentive to go through with this.”
He rubs his thumb over my shoulder. “We need to know how we feel without our magic manipulating us. If we don’t do this, we’ll always wonder if it’s real.”
“What if the shadow pixie magic drives you mad, and you’re trapped in a nightmare for the rest of your life?”
“When Ansel said worst-case scenario, he meant the mostoutlandishscenario. Even if I don’t expel the magic immediately—which I plan to do—it shouldn’t linger in my system for more than a few hours. I think I can handle it.” He drops his hands. “If we’re being honest, I suspect the side effects from the broken bond are going to be more uncomfortable.”
“It’s going to hurt?” I ask quietly, not liking that. I’m not super stoic when it comes to pain.
“I don’t think it will hurt you, but now that we know I’m a shifter…I’m not sure what to expect.”
“I’ve only known of one shifter who endured a broken mate bond—my old boss’s brother. His wife died.” I begin to shake my head. “If this is going to be anything like that, we can’t go through with it. Rowan, it was awful. He was miserable foryears.I don’t want that for you.”
“Our situation is quite a bit different. You’ll still be around, even though our magic won’t be connected. I think in my case, it will be a mind-over-magic sort of matter. My magic might tell me you’re gone, but I’ll know better.”
“I want you to think about all this tonight—really think about it. If you decide you don’t want to do this, we won’t.” I search his eyes in the dim light. “I mean it.”
“Okay,” he promises. “I’ll let you know in the morning.”
The sound of a cart draws our attention, and we look over to find Ash approaching.
“There aren’t two seats in the cabriole,” I say, just realizing it.
“I’ll stand on the luggage rack in the back,” Rowan answers.
“I’m sure Ash will love that.”
He chuckles, taking pleasure in the thought of annoying his cousin.
