"Ash, I can't promise we'll never hurt you, but we won't do it on purpose. Just like you don't know you won't ever hurt us. Mistakes happen. I can promise that we do want you with us, and that we will do our best to avoid causing you pain."
He tilted his head so that he looked at me through the long fall of his hair. My Viking demon was breaking my heart with his fear, but I couldn't make this decision for him.
Ash took a deep breath and called his amber magic. He took a step closer and kept a hold of my hand, but tension sang through the uneasy set of his shoulders. His amber magic melded with our dark blue and lavender, creating a colorful lightshow that stood out against the white backdrop of snow that covered everything.
"Ready?"
"Yes," Nikolai answered for both of us.
Ash let go of my hand and moved so he could touch both of our shoulders. His warmth washed through us as we let him into our bond so he could direct our efforts.
"Oh," I gasped as the raging fire of his magic washed through me. I'd felt it before, when I'd taken his magic from Doc, and my body accepted it, pulling more from him and feeding it to Nikolai.
The Russian rumbled in pleasure. "Benefits to working in groups you trust," he murmured.
Ash didn't respond, but we could sense his cautious hope at our acceptance. After we all had a moment to get used to being melded together by our magic, Ash gently took control. I could see what Nikolai meant about trust, though. Ash could have controlled both of us completely, instead of just directing our magic.
Still, we had a cabin to build and the land was willing to aid us. Now I understood what Nikolai meant when he said he wasn't good at elemental magic. Where he could shape some of the land's magic to his will, the environment around us practically begged for Ash to take its magic and use it.
"It helps that the land likes us," Ash explained when I commented on it. "It wants us to stay."
Slowly, we gathered the elements we needed from the land around us. At some point we also pulled energy from Ed, Allan, and Doc and mixed it in with the power from the land. Our pack bond flared to life as we told the land everything we hoped for in our new home.
The power of this place responded enthusiastically. Trees nearing the end of their lives volunteered, stone, soil, and even the transient nature of the snow came at our call and solidified as Ash wove the energies into the design we had come up with over the last week.
I didn't know how long we worked, all of us joined with our land to build our new home, but Ash was right, we did get the shell done in one go. After it was formed, he slowly released us.
"Wow." Darkness had fallen but the moon was full and though our immediate area was bare of snow, it was bright enough that I could see what we had created.
Doc, Ed, and Allan came over to us. Ed put his arms around me and I leaned against his solid warmth. Exhilaration at what we had done warred with the fatigue that pulled at my limbs. Ed kept me upright. Doc supported Nikolai, and Allan stood close to Ash in case the Demon needed help, but he seemed okay.
"That's amazing," Ed breathed out.
Managing to push some of the weariness away, I walked forward until I could touch what we'd created. Stone gave way to logs as I ran my hand up the wall. Slate covered the roof. I touched the storm shutters and lightly ran my hand over the smooth glass before peeking inside.
"Go on," Ash suggested.
I hurried to the door and worked the handle. Lever style so wolves could open the door easily.
Grinning, I rushed inside. Beautiful wooden floors creaked ever so slightly under my feet as if the house spoke to me as I moved from room to room. It was just as we had imagined it. The large fireplace, a bigger kitchen, individual rooms for everyone, and a large master bedroom. I ran my hands over everything as I explored and the energy of the house responded to my touch, tingling up my arm and down my spine, caressing me.
I stuck my head in the master bathroom. Large shower, large bathtub. I couldn't wait to give them all a try. Each room had a window seat with a fantastic view. Something else I had wanted, and the others had agreed with.
Laughing with joy at what we had created, I ran back outside and gestured for the guys to come inside.
"This one won't burn," Nikolai said as he explored. "Magic won't allow it. Land will fight back if this place is attacked."
"The land likes all of us here," Ash said again. "It resisted when I burned the old place down. It simply didn't have the power to fight me then."
I went over and hugged Ash. "In reality, you did us a favor. Look at what we've made."
His lips curled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
Allan came over and put his arms around Ash and me. "You really did. This is fantastic."
Ed joined in the group hug, then Doc and Nikolai, all of us pouring our love and appreciation into the frightened demon.
He spoke hesitantly after a few minutes. "You're welcome? I guess?"
I laughed. "It all works out. Guys, can we move the bed in here. I want to sleep in our new cabin tonight."
"You three rest," Doc ordered. "We'll take care of moving everything we have over. We can make a list of the other things we need to buy or make and build a plan while we're snowed in."
∞ ∞ ∞
Sure enough, the next storm hit hard. We could have used magic to
