Page 80 of The Librarian’s Familiar

August nudged him with his nose; he licked his cheek, smeared dark with blood.

Fuck. It was that witch thing when they used too much magic.

The storm chose that moment to break. Sleet sliced through the sky, driven by a wind that sought to get beneath his fur.

Fucking witches.

He gave Charlie another lick, but his eyelids didn’t even flutter.

He wanted to panic, to shift and shake him. But shifting to human wasn’t going to help Charlie. It only helped when he was hurt.

Think.

He didn’t know any plays for this. There was no coach, no captain, no teamates, and the person who was in charge of this mission didn’t look so good. His older brothers weren’t here, nor were his parents or grandparents. All the people he’d relied on to give his life direction and help him when he got off track weren’t anywhere near enough to be useful.

He was on his own.

Not part of a team.

Not part of a family.

But he was still a familiar…or at least he was as long as Charlie was alive, and the witch was still alive because his heart was beating, even though it sounded wobbly.

He’d promised to take care of him, and all he was doing was blocking the sleet from getting on his face. At least Charlie wasn’t going to drown while passed out. No, but he might become hypothermic from the cold if August didn’t do something more than stand over him.

He glanced around looking for something that might pass for shelter. There was a rocky outcrop, which may give some protection if he got on the right side of it. It was better than being out in the open. For several heartbeats, he considered the best way to move Charlie. Shifting and carrying him wasted energy, but he wasn’t sure that dragging Charlie was any better.

The longer he stood there, the worse it was, so he grabbed the shoulder of Charlie’s coat with his teeth, so his head didn’t bounce on the ground, and hauled him toward the rocks. It took him a few steps to find the best way to do it, even though he should’ve known straight away that dragging a deadweight was no different to dragging a fresh kill.

He was not going to start thinking about what might happen if Charlie died. Charlie wasn’t allowed to die. They were mates, and August wasn’t ready to die.

If he had to jump up and down on Charlie’s chest to keep him alive for the rest of the night, that’s what he’d do. What he really wanted was for Charlie to wake up.

He nudged Charlie a little closer to the rocks and licked the sleet off his face, hoping Charlie would open his eyes like he’d needed a nap because he’d used too much magic. A little fresh blood trickled from Charlie’s nose. That wasn’t a good sign.

It took a little maneuvering, but he got Charlie on his side in something approximating the recovery position and then curled up around him, protecting him from the weather and keeping him warm. When the weather passed and the magic dissipated, he’d be able to do more than pray to the Fates that Charlie survived.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Charlie struggled to wake up even though he was too hot. It felt like he was being smothered, and there was a weight on his chest stopping him from breathing. His mouth tasted weird, and he couldn’t breathe through his nose. It took him several goes to wriggle his fingers, longer to finally gasp and take what felt like his first full breath of air.

The weight on his chest eased, and something snuffled far too close to his face. He cracked open his eyes and found himself nose to nose with something large and white and hairy.

He didn’t know if he was supposed to play dead or run…but what he managed to do was make some weird noises that weren’t words and flap his arms and kick his heels because his limbs weren’t working and he was pinned down by the thing.

The thing licked his cheek, rocked back, and then melted into a man.

“You’re awake!” August said, grinning like Charlie wasn’t still having a heart attack from being pinned down by a polar bear.

“Ngh.” He wasn’t sure what he was trying to say. His brain was still flooded with adrenaline, even though he now realized the polar bear had been August. And August was naked and crouched next to him.

He blinked. They weren’t in the tent, which was where he had gone to bed.

August’s eyebrows pulled together, and he ran his fingers through his hair. “Did the magic break your brain? I should’ve dragged you to town.”

“Wha?” He managed to prop himself up on one elbow, peering at August in the dark. His heart was still beating too fast, but at least it was no longer trying to break free of his chest. “Why were you… Where is the tent?”

August wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close, which was quite uncomfortable as his arms were pinned and he didn’t have the strength to break out of the shifter’s grip.