Shadow wolves: The Demon Hunter (Book 9)

Chapter 10 - An island holiday

Skye

After trying to shift, I felt exhausted, and we returned to the house. I must have fallen asleep along the way as Theodore carried me because I woke up in our bed.

“Hey.” He smiled and leaned against the door frame. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, how long was I out?” I rubbed my eyes and sat up trying to focus.

“You were out for almost a day.” He laughed.

“WHAT?” I focused on him and swung my legs down the side of the bed to stand up, but dizziness overcame me and I lay right back down.

“Yup, you clearly need more rest before you can shift. In the meantime, do you want to eat in bed or at the table?” He walked away shouting from the kitchen. I tried to sit up again, and thankfully this time the room didn’t spin.

“No, I want to get up.” I pushed myself off the bed and a searing pain shot through my back as I fell onto all fours. “OR MAYBE NOT!” I screamed out in pain, and he rushed to my side to help me back onto the bed.

“Okay, okay, take it easy.” He frowned with concern as he tucked me back into bed. “You are staying in bed for now.” He walked out of the bedroom and came back with a bed tray packed with food. My stomach growled at the smell and I grabbed the first flapjack I could get my hands on, glaring at him as he laughed at me. “At least, you have an appetite.”

After stuffing my face with food, I thanked him as he took the tray away and helped me to the bathroom, so I could take a warm bath and get cleaned up. The heat from the water eased the pain in my back a little.

We sat outside on the porch after my bath and looked out at the forest as I listened to the sounds of nature. It was so peaceful there. If there was anywhere in the world one could rest and recuperate, it would have to be there. Theodore hadn’t told me how long we were going to be there, and I wanted to take in every moment.

The Demon King

I hated having to wait for anything and depending on a witch to get me what I wanted was even worse, but the thrill of being in control made it worth my while. I carefully watched as she did the spell and went into a trance.

The candles flared with fire, indicating that whatever she was doing was working, and I could feel her power surge through the room. My eyes immediately went to the map on the table in front of her and the blood started to move slowly while she chanted. A sudden gust of wind ripped through the room and all the candles died out.

“There, she’s there.” She pointed at a spot on the map in the middle of the mystic fairy ocean. Of course, they would hide her on some invisible island! But I had my ways. All I needed now was a portal through the defenses and I would be able to grab … No, what if something went wrong? This would be the perfect opportunity for someone who wanted to take over from me to get rid of me. That and the fact that my strength was deteriorating.

“You will go there and bring her back to me.” I slammed my hands down on the desk, towering over her, and ordered her to do it. Her eyes grew wide for a split second before she started to shake her head.

“No, you told me I would be free if I did this spell for you!” Her voice sounded like that of a wild jaguar who was going to attack at any moment. I loved it when her voice sounded like that.

“I changed my mind.”

Skye

Theodore allowed me to help set the table outside on the porch for dinner, but I wasn’t allowed to help him prepare anything. I wouldn’t admit it out loud, but I was grateful to just be able to sit and not have to move around. I was in more pain than I was letting on and could only hope that he didn’t see it, but it wasn’t just the pain.

Something else was wrong. Something felt missing, but then. A huge piece of me had been cut out. Could it be that? Was my body reacting to the fact that the demon part of me had been cut out? Could I actually refer to it as part of me? I mean, it has been in my body for most of my life.

“What do you do for a living, Theodore?” I tried to start a conversation to get my mind off the ridiculous direction my thoughts were going in, and couldn’t believe we hadn’t discussed it yet. We spent so much time talking and never got around to it.

“I am actually still a student. I mean, I was, until I met you. I’ve taken some time off to spend with you.” He put the food down on the table, and we started to dish it up as we talked about what he was studying and what he wanted to do when he graduated. “I can’t actually put prince as a job title on my resume.” He laughed.

I wanted to help him clean up afterward, but he started a fire in the fireplace and told me we could clean up later. He handed me a glass in the form of a ball with some red liquid in it and I sniffed it before taking a sip. Sputtering and coughing, I smacked his arm when he laughed at me.

“What is this?!” My eyes grew wide as I stared at the glass.

“Wine. I thought you would enjoy a little wine while we cuddle in front of the fire.” He grinned, and I took another sip, only this time a smaller one. It warmed me all the way down to my stomach as I leaned back into his arms and stared into the fire. The heat of the demon caves came to mind and I took a deep breath and closed my eyes to try and get the memory out of my mind.

“Where are you?” His voice pulled me back from the depths I couldn’t climb out of.

“I was just remembering the demon realm.” I didn’t want to look at him for fear I would burst out into a stream of tears that would never stop. Why was I feeling so emotional? “I guess it will always be a part of me.”

“That is true, but you don’t have to let it define you, you know?” He sat up a little and turned me to look at him. “My beautiful wild thing, you have come such a long, long way since that first day we met. I won’t ever let anyone hurt you like that again.” He left a kiss on my forehead, and although I wanted to believe him, I couldn’t.

If there was one thing I knew for certain, it was that the demons got what they wanted and nobody could stop them. Yes, they were scared of Esmeralda, but those were just stories. I had not seen any of it happen myself.

I had no way of knowing whether it was real or whether she would be able to protect me against them. It wasn’t as if she could stay by my side for all eternity to protect me. The thought that they would come after me at any time was still in the back of my mind and was slowly starting to surface again, especially now that I wasn’t able to shift.

“Why don’t you tell me more about your family?” I snuggled into his embrace as he laughed and told me more about his sister and brother and the things they got up to as children. Theodore wasn’t just your average werewolf. He was some kind of mixture between a werewolf and a witch, and by the sound of things, his mother had her hands full with the three of them growing up.

“I don’t know if I would be able to handle magical triplets as naughty as you three!” I burst out laughing after he told me how they stole the airship for a joyride on their sixteenth birthday.

“To be honest, I don’t think I would be able to handle one magical child, never mind three of them!” He laughed at me. It was a strange thing to be sitting there talking about future children. We hadn’t even gotten to the point where we really talked about our future that much.

“Theo, where are we going to live? I mean, if you are a student. Will we be able to live in the dorms together?” My heart started to race at the thought of being separated from him.

“No, we will get an apartment. Who knows, you might even want to study something yourself.” He shrugged.

“Uhm, yeah, I never went to school.” Aaaand there it was again. I sighed. Would I ever be able to get away from what happened? Move on and live a normal, happy life.

“That’s not a problem.” He sounded almost cheerful! “There are courses you can do to catch up. It might take a little longer, but we have the rest of our lives to figure it all out. You can do whatever you put your mind to.” I thought about it yesterday and trying to shift seemed impossible at the moment. I wasn’t able to do something that was meant to be natural for me.

“Theodore.” I sat up and looked into his eyes. “What if I can never shift again? I mean,” I took a large sip of the wine. “We thought of all the worst possible things that could happen if the operation wasn’t a success, but what if I can never shift again?” Fear pushed up my throat and my heart raced. Would he still even want to be with me?