Chapter 10

Ten

WESLEY

“ T he ghost wolf was in the mortal realm?” I opened the door to the cabin, relieved to find it the same as I’d left it, with a lamp lit in the corner. Though I knew it couldn’t be plugged into anything, it glowed like it had a modern-day bulb rather than a flame of any sort. I stepped inside, and my new friend Finn tried to follow but the leopard stood between us.

“Let him in,” I said. “I can keep track of him better once he’s inside, and I’d like to warm up.” The chill of the evening invaded my bones, plus wet clothes and the seeping of mud in between my toes made me desperately want to light the fire in the stove, eat a bit and curl up under the blankets until warmth seeped back in.

The leopard stalked by me, rubbing against my side as it slipped into the cabin. Finn trailed inside slower, keeping me between him and the cat. I closed the door.

“Lighter?” I held out my hand.

He dropped it in my palm, the heat of his touch making me wonder if he was cold at all. I still planned to light the fire, even if that meant he had to sleep outside because he would be too hot once I stoked the flames to remove the chill. I made my way to the wood stove and opened it. Decades of convenience couldn’t override a century of experience, and soon the stove bloomed with fire and heat. I sank to the thick rug at the base of it to soak up the warmth.

“I have a video on my phone of the wolf,” Finn said. “But not much battery life left.”

I flicked my gaze his way.

He held out his phone and tapped the screen to show the video. The replay, while dark, showed some movement. If I had never encountered the shadow wolf before I might not have known what it was. A ghost, perhaps, or simply a trick of light, while there really was none. But it lunged at Finn. The video echoed the movement of him throwing himself backward and running in the opposite direction. Shaky camera and labored breathing.

He tapped the screen to turn off the replay, his face red with embarrassment, but running from something like that was smart. Maybe it was part of the Hunt. His instincts were good. Death or running away? I was a fan of living another day, it was part of what the Stag was.

I stood and stretched, the fire warming the space. “I’m going to shower off the mud. Don’t touch anything.” I glanced at the cat. “I’m sure my leopard friend will be watching.” I made my way to the bathroom and closed the door. The shower beckoned. I forgot I had no other clothes for a few seconds until after I’d stepped beneath the warm spray of water, leaving the mess of them on the rug.

When I glanced back they were gone. Reabsorbed back into the world?

I put the open room behind me and closed my eyes to bask in the water. A cake of soap and a soft cloth waited on a ledge, untouched. I grabbed them and scrubbed, my skin tingling from the shadow beast’s touch. None of its magic clung to me, and I searched for it, dropping and shifting my glamour in a dozen ways. My status as the Stag meant I generated fae magic, but had limited abilities to create things. This realm and all the magic inside, were beyond my skills, though the Summer King could have done it with ease. I really hoped he was learning to use his power rather than running from it as he had for years.

When I stepped out of the shower, a fresh set of towels and clothing sat on the stool beside the door. Rather than the jeans and a hoodie, it left me pajama pants and a sleep t-shirt. I studied them, as I’d never really used that sort of thing. Another gift of the world? Tiny cakes were printed on the fabric of the pants. Was this the Summer King’s world? Was he messing with me? Cutting me off from everything and everyone to pay me back for working with Winter?

We all did shitty things for survival. Especially us half-breeds.

I tugged them on, the fit perfect, and thankful the world had given me underwear as the pants were too thin to give reasonable coverage.

The door opened and I prepared to rage at Finn, but it was the kitten, back to its tiny size, staring at me with big eyes. I sighed and picked it up. “Not Summer,” I told it. Summer wouldn’t have nights dropping near freezing.

I cupped the kitten in the crook of my arm, holding it like a football while it purred, and headed into the main part of the cabin. Finn stood in the kitchen mixing something in a bowl.

“You can use the shower,” I told him. I wondered if the world would let him. I stared over his shoulder and found a bowl of some sort of bean salad, using some of the ingredients I’d gathered, and a lot of beans I knew I didn’t have. “Where did you find the beans?”

He blinked wide eyes at me and opened the upper cupboard nearby. A display of perfectly lined up cans of beans filled all three shelves. “Not yours?”

I stared at them, glanced down at the cat in my grip and back to it. “Any nuts by chance?”

“Walnuts,” Finn said, stirring the salad and lifting a spoon to show me some chopped up in it.

“Were those in the cupboard, too?”

“No, it was in the pile of berries and roots on the counter here,” he pointed to the pile I’d left from foraging. There hadn’t been any nuts when I set them there.

“I hope you didn’t use all the carrots and onions. I wanted to cook them.” The complaint sounded petty to my ears and I was the one who said it. But he glanced at the counter top, some carrots and onions remained, but not a lot. I sighed.

“Sorry,” Finn said. He put the spoon in the bowl and took a step toward the shower. “I’ll go clean up if that’s okay with you.”

I grabbed his face, searching it, while he gulped, eyes wide.

“You sure you’re not fae?” I asked him.

“I thought you said you were fae. I’m nothing, just a guy looking for ghosts.”

I couldn’t sense any magic from him, but maybe he had really powerful glamour? I frowned at him, which he mirrored. “I’m going to search you for magic.”

“Huh?” He asked a half second before I pressed my lips to his.

I expected him to jerk away, but he sank into my kiss, lips opening, which was exactly what I needed to unravel any glamour he might be using. I slid my magic into him with my tongue, exploring his mouth and his soul at the same time. He hesitated for a few seconds, but returned the kiss, careful, and sweet, which I hadn’t expected at all from him. Sloppy would have fit his bro-persona, but I enjoyed the boy next door tentativeness as I searched for lingering spells, magic, or anything meant to fool me.

Finally, I pulled away, mind churning to continue to explore his lips, especially when he stared at me with wide eyes, flushed cheeks and smelling of desire.

“I thought you said you weren’t a nymph?” he asked.

“I’m the farthest thing from a nymph you’ll ever meet. But there’s no magic on you.” I took a step away, needing the distance else I’d jump him and pin him to the counter to discover just how far his desire went.

“I told you that already,” Finn said. He touched his lips as if tracing our kiss.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone you kissed a boy and liked it.”

“ You kissed me,” he protested.

I waved a hand at him, annoyed, and wondering if the world would spit him out when he stepped into the shower. Would it give him clothes? “Go clean up.”

He hesitated, something needy in his gaze.

“What?” I asked.

He shook his head and darted around me, into the bathroom.

“Don’t send him out naked,” I told the world, wondering how much it listened. The cabin remained the same, set up like a studio apartment. One room that was the living room, bedroom, and kitchen, and the separate bathroom. I stared at the tiny twin-sized bed heaped with blankets. The chaise too small for anyone to sleep on without sitting up. “How about giving us another bed?”

The room remained unchanged. I sighed as I heard the water run in the bathroom and picked up a pan and the knife to heat some carrots and onions. I’d never done it before. Watched the Summer King a lot, and even had a favorite restaurant or two that would serve some delicious food. It couldn’t be that hard, right?