Hell. Should I be worried about being poked up the backside by a pair of antlers? Glancing around, I couldn’t see any rabid deer in the vicinity, but that didn’t mean they weren’t hanging around.
It wasn’t long before I came up to the clearing. I could see the break in the woods ahead, and my heart began to thump wildly. Deciding to sneak, I stepped off the path and ducked behind a tree, then darted to the next, getting closer each time. Ferns brushed against my shins as I lingered, and I was pretty sure my covert operation wasn’t as covert as I intended. I knew nothing about the wilderness, and it showed in the racket I was making hiding in the underbrush.
Concealing myself behind the closest trunk, I leaned around and searched for Boone. I sucked in a sharp breath as I saw him pacing back and forth in front of the hawthorn, fully clothed this time. Thank God.
Yesterday, I wanted to check him out, and maybe let him kiss me, but that was before he flashed me in my bedroom. Ugh, I was never going to be able to keep a guy interested long enough to fall in love. Typical!
He stopped and glanced around, sensing—or hearing—my approach.
“Skye?” he called out.
Sighing, I knew I’d been made, so I stepped out from behind the tree and into the clearing.
“You’d better not have lured me out here so you can chop me up into little pieces,” I declared.
His gaze shot to mine, and he swallowed hard. “Skye, I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to find out like this…”
“Start talking,” I demanded, not wanting to entertain any groveling.
“I was in my cat shape, and I fell asleep by accident,” he declared. “After the wolf bit me leg, it took time to heal, and it always drains me energy. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
“Wait. The wolf?” I scowled. “What’s a cat shape?”
“I made a promise to Aileen that I would protect you,” he said, rushing through his explanation. “She asked me to help you, so I have been helpin’ best I can, but I couldn’t tell you. She said you had to find out for yourself, but I guess it’s a moot point now.”
“What are you talking about?” I exclaimed. “Slow the hell down, and just say it already!”
Boone took a deep breath and declared, “You are the last of the Crescent Witches, Skye.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right.”
“You are. The Crescent Witches are the most powerful coven there ever was,” he said defiantly. “Aileen bound your powers when you were a babe to protect you. Robert told me he unbound them when he visited you in Australia.”
“He what?” I exclaimed.
“He unbound your powers.”
I thought about it for a long moment, then remembered the lawyer’s solid gold pen and his all-around weirdness.
“He zapped me with his pen!” I was outraged, and then I dissolved into fits of laughter as I realized how stupid this all was. A little Irish lawyer had gone all the way to Australia to zap me with his magical golden pen to unlock my hereditary witch juju. Next Boone would be telling me Robert O’Keeffe was a leprechaun!
“He zapped me with his magical pen, and now you’re telling me I’m a witch,” I exclaimed. “But not a plain one, a real badass.”
“Yeah.” He looked totally serious, and I snorted.
“And you can turn into a tabby cat?”
“Not just a tabby cat,” he grumbled. “I can be lots of things.”
“I hope so because that’s really lame! Hello, my name is Boone the badass, and I can turn into a house cat.” I snorted again and burst out into peals of laughter. “Lame!”
“Hey!”
“You’re mental.” I threw my hands into the air. “Completely off the charts. I’ve heard some pretty creative excuses in my time but shapeshifting and witches? You could’ve said you’d slept walked, and I might’ve believed you and not pressed charges, but this?” I snorted and turned away, determined to put as much distance between Boone and me as possible. This was not the scenario I’d pictured when I’d decided I wanted to see his bare ass. Not at all.
“Wait!” he called out. “What if I can prove it to you?”
I hesitated.
“I can show you… I can…”
I glanced over my shoulder. He was standing in the middle of the clearing, his hands curled into tight fists.
“The fox is me familiar,” he murmured. “It’s the first shape I remember bein’.”
“Then show me,” I challenged. I faced him, knowing he would choke and reveal his lie. “Show me, and prove it.”
He shucked off his jacket, and I recoiled.
“I don’t want to see your bits again!” I shrieked.
“Wait…” he murmured. “Watch…”
Boone kicked off his boots and stood completely still. Then something strange began to happen. His body began to shrink, his face and arms sprouted russet-colored fur, and his nose began to grow. The sound of snapping bones echoed across the clearing, and I flinched as his arms twisted and his elbow began to bend at an unnatural angle.
“Boone…” I said uneasily, but it didn’t make any difference.
My mouth fell open as he disappeared among his clothes, and a bushy tail shook free of his jeans. Then another almighty shake as he shucked off his T-shirt.
“Holy Mother of…”
A red and white fox stood where Boone was a moment ago, his back paws buried in the leaf litter. Swishing his tail back and forth, he let out a yip as if to say I told you so.
Kneeling in the leaf litter, I stared into his honey-colored eyes in shock. I reached out with a shaking hand, and he head butted my palm gently. His fur was wiry to the touch, but his black-tipped ears were soft as silk.
“Holy…” I whispered. “I’m going mad. This isn’t real. This…”
Boone nuzzled against my hand and yipped.
“You were limping yesterday… You were… You saved me from the wolf!”
