I ran all the way to Irish Moon.
By the time I got there, I was completely out of breath, and my lungs burned. Considering St. Brigid’s was only a few hundred meters away, it was a sign I was terribly unfit.
Lucy was waiting for me out the front, a takeaway cup of coffee in her hands. When she saw me, her expression fell.
“Are you all right?” she asked. “You look terrible.”
“Thanks,” I said, making a face.
“Oh, I didn’t mean… Has somethin’ happened?”
“I’m really sorry, but I… I don’t think I’m going to open the shop today. Something’s come up, and it can’t wait.”
“Do you need any help?”
I shook my head, hoping no one had heard my argument and subsequent murder of Alex.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” I asked with a grimace.
“Tomorrow.” She nodded enthusiastically. “If you need anything, you’ve got me phone number.”
“Sure, thanks.” As I caught my breath, I watched her walk across the road to where she usually parked her car behind Mary’s Teahouse. “Hey, Lucy?”
She turned.
“Thanks,” I said. “For understanding.”
“Don’t mention it.” She smiled and continued on her way.
Shaking my head, I turned the corner and went around the back of the shop. That woman was super understanding. Mairead would’ve thrown an epic tantrum, then fleeced me for an extra fifty euros to look after the shop. I didn’t like closing and losing a day’s trade, but Boone was more important. He was the ultimate, you know?
I spent the day walking the forest right to the limits of the hawthorns, but Boone had disappeared. He had a strong animal nature, and if he didn’t want to be found, then he wouldn’t be found.
Completely defeated, I shuffled into Molly McCreedy’s as the sun began to dip low, hoping someone would’ve seen or heard something.
Maggie was behind the bar, polishing a pint glass.
“Hey,” I said, leaning against the bar. “Have you seen Boone?”
She gave me a dirty look and flicked her ringleted hair over her shoulder.
“Maggie.”
“Nay, no one’s seen him for a few days,” she said. “Not since… You know.”
“Give me a break.”
“You broke his heart, flouncin’ off with that Australian moron.”
“I didn’t flounce anywhere!” I exclaimed. “Have you seen him or not?”
“No, I haven’t.”
Turning, I surveyed the pub. A few groups of locals were sitting around tables by the fireplace, drinking and talking heatedly about something or other.
Listening closely, I heard Roy complaining about the absence of one of his farmhands.
“There’s been a fox hangin’ about the top fields,” Roy said, sounding irritated. “Wherever that boy has vanished, I need him up there watchin’ the flock.”
“Get Sean up there with Phee,” another man said.
“Nay,” the old man replied. “I can’t leave Sean alone for too long. I’m afraid he’ll turn up drunk as a skunk and cut off a limb.”
My heart sank. Boone hadn’t shown up for work in two days, which wasn’t like him at all. He was the guy who was always on time, always dependable, and always did his work to the highest standard. He even stayed late if he had to and refused to be paid overtime. To just vanish and not let anyone know was completely out of character.
I knew why he’d taken off, and it seemed like the entire village was currently debating which side they were going to take in the breakup. Team Skye, or Team Boone. Let’s just say, it was shaping up like all my high school PE nightmares. You know, the ones where I was picked last and shoved in the back because I was the weakest link. I was totally the kid who forged notes from her parent so she could get out of all forms of team sports.
The group of men had realized I was staring at them while I was off daydreaming about my teenage years and were glaring at me.
Grimacing, I hightailed it across the room and shoved outside.
Boone was lurking around here someplace. All I had to do was be persistent. I would wander around the forest all night if I had to.
Burying into my jacket, I shoved my hands into my pockets and headed for the path behind Irish Moon. Luckily, I wasn’t afraid of what lurked in the dark anymore. I’d conquered that fear weeks ago, but I hadn’t faced the fear that even if I did find Boone, he mightn’t want to come back at all.
Shoving away the terrible thought, I resumed my search. There was no other way.
The forest was dark, and the temperature was dropping.
Powering through the trees, I followed the paths, searching the night for the elusive fox. I reached the very edge of the boundary, then I turned back, looking in on the Druid’s cave we’d once sheltered in during an unexpected rainstorm. The heavy scent of earth filled my nostrils, but it was empty inside.
The night wore on and I was really beginning to worry.
I doubted Boone had been in any animal form for more than a few hours. If I was right, then he’d been a fox for two days. The longer he was an animal, the harder it would be for him to change back. His wild instincts would take over, and he’d… No, it wouldn’t come to that.
I carved a path through the forest, listening and searching for signs he’d been this way. I didn’t know a single thing about tracking animals, but Boone wasn’t an animal. Not yet, anyway.
The shrill cry of a fox broke through the air, and my head shot up. Boone.
I ran blindly toward the sound, desperate to catch him before he vanished. If he crossed the boundary and something happened to him, I would never forgive myself.
I’d been so stupid. I should’ve seen what Alex was hiding… I should’ve known.
My foot caught on an exposed root, and I fell. My shoulder hit the ground, jarring against the earth, and I rolled. Over and over I tumbled, careening down a slope until I crashed to a stop at the bottom, my back colliding with a fallen tree trunk.
“Ow!” I exclaimed, curling in on myself.
Gritting my teeth, I waited for the throbbing pain in my body to subside before moving. Where was he?
“Boone…” I moaned, pushing myself up. “Ow… Shite, that hurts…”
A low growl hummed on the still air, and I glanced up to find a fox sitting before me. He was watching me with a lowered head, his eyes flashing in the darkness.
“Boone?” I asked, knowing full well it was him. No fox would sit like that unless it scented the blood from all the grazes I’d gotten rolling down that hill and intended to eat me.
Impulsively, I reached out and sank my fingers into the fur either side of his face. He didn’t run away or try to gnaw my hands off, so it was definitely him.
“Where have you been?” I asked. “Everyone’s worried about you. They’re already marking out territory for both of us.”
He pulled back, tugging against my hold.
“Al—” I stopped myself abruptly. “You were right about him. He was a fae.” My grip loosened, and I sat back on my heels. “I… I took care of it, but I think you already felt my magic this morning, didn’t you?”
Boone blinked but didn’t move.
“So, there’s irrefutable evidence that I’m stupid and need you more than ever.”
He blinked again.
“I’m frightened,” I went on. “Something’s coming. Something really bad, and I don’t know what to do.”
I grasped his fur in my hands and pressed my nose against his snout.
“If you don’t change back, I’m afraid you won’t remember how. Boone, you’ve gotta come back. Please.”
He growled and shook his head, breaking free. Taking a few steps back, he lowered his head and bared his teeth.
“I killed him,” I declared, tears pricking in my eyes. “I killed Alex with my magic. He just…melted away, and that was it.”
Some of the tension left Boone’s body.
“I love you, Boone,” I said with as much conviction as I could muster. “I’ve never loved anyone before you, do you hear me? It’s you. It’ll always be you.”
He began to whimper, then let out a low keening sound. Shaking his head, I heard the snap of bones, and gradually, he began to change.
His snout shrank, his fur began to recede, and his legs started to grow into human arms and legs. His spine shuddered and snapped, and his tail merged into the small of his back. Before long, Boone was before me, crouched on all fours, his head bowed.
He trembled, giving away that his change had been more painful than usual. Not able to hold my tears any longer, I sobbed and threw my arms around his neck, forcing him to kneel.
“Skye…” he murmured, grasping my waist.
Pulling back, I traced my hands over his face, then his arms and chest, making sure he wasn’t hurt…and verifying he was indeed real.
“Please, please, please,” I muttered. “You can’t leave me. I need you. It has nothing to do with magic or destiny or whatever. It’s always been about you and me. Boone…”
“Skye.”
He sighed, then tilted my chin up. The moment our eyes met, something passed between us. Some kind of unspoken pledge entwined our destinies, and then he kissed me.
His lips were firm against mine, his touch desperate as I clung to him. I didn’t care that he was completely naked or that we were kneeling in a ditch in the woods in the middle of the night.
When he finally pulled away, I whimpered in complaint, not willing to let him go.
“The wolf…” he began, clutching me tightly. “The first night I remember… I was runnin’ from wolves in me fox form. I’d done somethin’, but every time I try to remember, I can’t. Me head splits open with a terrible pain. The wolf that attacked you… Who I was before… Carman… You used your magic again.”
“Boone, slow down,” I pleaded. “You’re not making any sense.”
“I think I brought it here. Me past brought it here, and whoever I was… It might kill you. Who I was might kill you.”
“Brought what here? The craglorn was my fault… Alex… He was my fault, too. They’re trying to trick us. They know we’re nothing without each other.”
“Nay…” he said. “Nay, the wolf.”
“The…” Remembering the wolf that had attacked me right before I’d found out Boone was a shapeshifter, I tensed. “The wolf whose eye I poked out?”
“I think it was there for me. Me past. I…” He winced as the curse of his amnesia tore through his skull.
He was having trouble explaining his fears, but I understood without him putting all the words together. He was afraid whoever took his memories, and even what they contained, might come back and hurt me. That was why he was acting so weird. Alex showing up had just amplified everything.
My heart twisted, and I thrust my fingers through his hair. “Is that why you were so distant?”
“I… I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“I don’t care who you were before,” I said. “It doesn’t matter. I know you now.”
“Skye—”
“Shh,” I said, placing a finger over his lips. “You don’t have to worry about anything. They tried to break us apart. They tried, and they failed.”
“You killed him…”
I tensed and dropped my gaze. “I had to. He was trying to lure me away.” I swallowed hard. “I had to.”
“He was a fae,” he said as if he were trying to convince himself.
“He was a fae,” I confirmed. “I saw his true face and felt his intent. He was going to take me from you. For Carman’s epic revenge plot.”
“No,” he muttered. “She will never get her hands on you.”
Boone grasped my face, and before I could catch my breath, he kissed me again, this time more feverish than the last. His tongue slid against mine, my temperature rising to unbearable. This was the moment he usually pulled away, but this time, there was nothing to keep us apart.
Laying me back in the soft leaf litter, he covered my body with his and continued his exploration. His lips traced the curve of my neck as his fingers unbuttoned my blouse, and the heat of his body fought off the chill of night.
“I love you, Skye,” he murmured, his gaze meeting mine.
“I love you,” I whispered before raising my head to catch him in a kiss.