ALTHEA
Every memory. Every moment we'd shared. Every reason he had to come back.
Feel me, I whispered through the bond. Feel how real I am. Feel how I'm not afraid of you.
You should be, he breathed, but I felt his breathing start to slow.
I'm not, I insisted. Because you're in there. And you're stronger than this. Stronger than the nightfall.
I kept pulling and grounding him. I flooded the bond with everything I felt for him until there was no room for the panic and the poison.
Slowly, agonizingly slowly, I felt him start to shift.
The massive form began to shrink, his fur receded, bones reformed.
And then Thorne was beneath me in his human form, gasping for air, his skin slick with sweat.
"Thea," he choked out, his hands coming up to grip my fur. "The retinue—"
I know, I said. We have to go back.
He nodded, his whole body trembling as he pushed himself to his feet. I shifted back beside him, and together we ran.
