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“I love you, Toto,” Leo says, his gruff voice softening in a way I’ve never heard before.

It’s the first time I’ve ever heard him say those words to anyone. Apparently, Leo does have a soft side.

His eyes narrow on me as I bite back a grin.

Right. I’m not supposed to notice he’s a marshmallow under all that fur.

Toto smiles like Leo has just handed her the moon.

Then she turns her attention to me, her cheeks the prettiest shade of pink I've ever seen. "What do you say, Nick?"

My heart may no longer beat, but it turns out I can live without one if I have the love of this woman.

I nod. "With Leo and Granger, I'm willing to share."

There was a time when the thought would have driven me fucking crazy, but looking at the three of them now, it doesn't feel like giving up part of Toto. It feels like finally admitting what has probably been true all along: we all love her.

And if this is what makes her happy, I'm in.

"All right, then it's settled." Toto puts her hands on her hips, emphasizing her curves. "You know, I've been wanting to try a few things from my books, but they require a lot of hands."

My cock shoots to attention. "At once?" I ask.

She blushes, but nods.

Jesus Christ.

"Now, let's go take care of this wicked bitch for good." Toto turns and starts down the path as if she didn’t just give all three of us something entirely different to think about."

Doesn't she realize it would be better not to have an erection when facing mortal danger?" Leo grumbles.

Granger claps him on the back. "Think of it as a fear-rection and lean into it." He adjusts himself, his eyes glued to Toto's ass. "If we don't make it through today, at least I'm going down thinking about, well, going down."

Leo glances at me and shakes his head.

I shrug. "Not a bad way to go."

We follow Toto through town toward the border of Fable Forest. By the time we reach the clearing where we transformed, the joking has stopped. We stand at the edge of the clearing, staring into the trees.

Somewhere beyond them is a witch who’s stolen years of our lives, our memories, and more magic than we even knew we possessed. And we're about to face her—if we can find her.

Toto links her arm through mine, then loops the other through Granger's. Leo takes Granger’s free arm, and together we step into the shimmering air, just as we did the first time. Only this time, we know what we’re walking into. Or at least, we think we do.

As we cross through the tingling veil, a faint cackle floats toward us on a breeze.

Looks like we won’t have to find Vera.

Sounds like she’s found us.

Leo's wings twitch, but he keeps them tucked tightly against his back, his jaw clenched. He spent most of last evening practicing, and although he still needs to build his stamina, it's impressive how quickly he's getting the hang of flying.

We've agreed that Vera doesn’t need to know about that particular ability. Any element of surprise we can bring to the table is an advantage, especially when the one thing she desperately wants is something we don’t actually have.

Vera believes Granger knows where the amulet is. We’re going to let her keep believing it for as long as possible. It's a hell of a gamble, but with our new abilities and Vera potentially weaker than she's been in centuries, we might just have a fighting chance.

"Here goes nothing," Leo says, taking the lead down the path.

Granger and I exchange a look before letting Toto go ahead, keeping her safely between us as we follow Leo into the trees.