Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Leaning sideways, I kissed his forehead, and he grunted in his sleep.
Getting up, grabbing my robe, I went through the house, not surprised to find the dogs gone or the hearth still blazing. It made the dash to the back door so much nicer than the normal arctic temperature of a November morning. Of course this was nothing compared to January, but I hated the cold and was always in layers.
Stepping outside, I dropped the robe, dashed forward, thought fly, and took to the air, needing to check the rift for myself.
When I arrived, landing in a maple tree, not about to shift and freeze to death, I saw nothing out of the ordinary before getting closer and landing on a fallen log. I saw it then, a mangled body thrown from the rift, landing hard, in a splatter of blood and tissue.
In seconds it was smoking, and then there was a whoosh as flames consumed the corpse and blew hard back into the rift, as though sucked by a vacuum.
Two more came in quick succession, and the answer from the land, from my land, was repeated. Cleansing fire, instantaneous combustion, and ashes blown into the rift. Five came next, and I understood then as I took to the air to return home. They were going to throw out bodies to make a path, like a raft on the ground. What was perplexing was that for them to even throw anything through, there had to be bodies or blood already on my side.
Arriving at the back door, I shifted, or tried to and realized I wasn’t a flock of birds but just one like my grandfather had been. And instead of being where I thought I was, I found myself standing over the house, staring at everything at once, and had to blow the clouds away so I could see the land. When I saw the flock of ravens, it hit me.
“Shit,” I said.
“Wake up!” all the birds yelled at me.
Sitting up in bed, I looked around carefully and found I was alone. The room was well lit, which told me it was later in the morning, and I smelled coffee of all things.
Getting out of bed, I went to the antique armoire in the corner of the room and pulled on briefs, sweats, socks, and a long-sleeved T-shirt before going into the living room.
“Good morning,” I greeted Lorne, who was sipping a mug of coffee.
“Good morning to you,” he said, smiling at me.
“I need to tell you something.”
He looked worried suddenly. “What?”
“Did you wonder last night why you found my clothes at your place?”
“I did. And so you know, I brought those with me, plus everything that was in my car that belongs to you.”
I nodded.
“But yes, if you don’t mind telling me, I’d love to know why you left my house naked.”
I took a breath. “My line, the Corey line, was blessed by a goddess, and that blessing, in me specifically, allows me to turn into a flock of ravens.”
He just stared at me.
I stared back.
“I’m sorry?”
Exhaling deeply, I said, “I turn into a flock of ravens.”
“You turn into a flock of ravens?”
Clearly, he was having trouble with this. “Yes.”
“Okay.”
We stood there, me feeling awkward and unsure, and him… I couldn’t tell what he was feeling at all.
After several moments he cleared his throat. “May I see?”
“Certainly,” I replied, walking toward the sunroom.
Once I was at the back door, realizing he was right behind me, I stripped fast, opened the door, and rushed outside. Thinking the word fly, I took a running leap.
Instantly, I was soaring over the house, circling it once, and again, and since I was already shifted, I flew to check on the rift. It took only moments. I flew low, landed on the ground, which I never did—I was far too vulnerable that way—and then hopped closer, inspecting the land, the trees, the very air.
Wanting to make sure everything was solid and safe, I called out to the land and was answered that all was well. Rushing away, I was airborne in seconds, flying home.
Lorne must have moved because he was holding my clothes, but he was still staring up at the sky when I returned. I dropped down and landed, as myself, and he was there to wrap an arm around me and rush me inside.
Pulling on my clothes and shivering, the second I was dressed, he swept me off my feet, literally, and rushed me over to the hearth, where he gently put me down but didn’t leave me. It was really amazing to have him there, worried, caring for me, and I was both thrilled and terrified at the same time. Already, that fast, he would leave a hole in my heart when he left. And he would leave, because who in their right mind wanted to be wrapped up in my world?