He released my wrist, and I felt my body involuntarily lean toward him. I wanted his hands still on me. I liked it when we touched. It was a heady desire I was finding hard to shake now that he was so close.
“So, you know that much was real? Without a doubt?” he asked.
What sort of angle was he playing here? What game was this?
“Yes. Without a doubt,” I insisted.
I remembered the pain. The way it had felt like the inside of my skin was on fire as the venom made its way through me. How quickly it had spread from my ankle to my thigh. The nausea. The dizziness.
It was something I’d never forget.
“Take off your bandage.” Liam nodded to my ankle.
I stared at him. Was he serious? “Why?”
“Just take it off.” He took a step back, as though giving me space to do what he asked, and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Okay.” I bent to pick at the tape securing it in place. The way Liam stared at me freaked me out. His gaze was intense. It made me nervous about what I’d find beneath the bandage. It came off easily, and when it did, it revealed nothing. No bite. No swelling. No redness. Nothing. My gaze locked with Liam’s. “What the hell?”
I didn’t understand. A snake had bitten me. It had.
The room spun, the air suddenly too hot. Had I been drugged? Was there something off going on here, and I was too blind to see it?
Crap. Maybe there had been something in the coffee Liam had given me this morning.
I took a step back, placing more distance between us. Had I been a fool for trusting him as much and as quickly as I had, for thinking that I was safe here? Lord knew I wasn’t the best judge of character lately—Corbin was proof of that.
“You heal. It’s a huge part of being a Mystic,” Liam said. His voice was soft and gentle, but his words made my mind spin even more and panic pumped through me. “That’s why the snakebite is gone. Your power as a Mystic healed you. Healed it.”
My eyes narrowed. This couldn’t be real. At some point today I had to have been drugged and was still feeling the effects.
Without thinking, I lifted my hands to smooth over my face. When I came to my cheek, I winced out of habit, but there was no pain. I pressed my cheek with my fingertips. Nothing. I glanced at my palms, knowing there would be marks there. I’d reopened a wound while grabbing a branch along the trail to steady myself. Again, there was nothing. My skin was smooth and perfect. My tailbone didn’t ache like it should. I looked at my knee, the one I remembered busting on the rock when I jumped, but there was nothing their either. Not even a slight indication of a bruise.
How was that possible?
“I’ve lost it. I’ve gone absolutely bat-shit crazy,” I muttered. My mind felt like it was on the verge of shattering any second. “None of this makes sense.”
“It does. You just have to give yourself time to process.” Liam placed a hand on my forearm. His touch calmed my racing heart and taught my lungs how to properly breathe again. His touch seemed to be everything. “You’re the Mystic. The magic chose you. Did the woman in the waterfall, the previous Mystic, tell you there’s only one born to every generation?”
“Yeah,” I whispered.
“Well, in this generation that’s you.” His eyes grew bright in that eerily beautiful way I’d seen before. It only seemed to happen when he was either pissed off or excited. I imagined this was a time when he was excited. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
“We?”
Liam nodded. “Shifters.”
Shifters? Mother trucker. What rabbit hole had I fallen down?
Chapter Nine
I didn’t hear him right. There was no way he’d just said shifters. As I stared into his eyes, waiting for him to show any indication he was pulling my leg, I realized that he believed what he’d said.
Liam believed in shifters, which was crazy talk.
“I have to go.” An empty feeling settled in the pit of my stomach and my mouth grew dry. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but shifters aren’t real. They’re fictional. I read about them in books and watch them on TV shows and in movies, but they don’t actually exist.” The words rushed from my mouth, and I wasn’t sure who I’d said them for more—me or him.
“Deep down, you know I’m telling the truth,” he insisted. His eyes burned bright again, becoming that light honey color that made them have a near animalistic quality. “You saw me, and not just once.”
What was he talking about? When had I seen him?
“I didn’t see anything.” I shook my head. “Because none of this is real. It can’t be. Shifters aren’t real and I’m not a Mystic, or whatever.”
“How else do you explain what you saw at the waterfall? Or your bite mark and other wounds healing so fast?” he pressed.
My mind spun. “I don’t know.”
I didn’t, but I knew that I didn’t believe in shifters.
“You’ve seen enough today to make even the most skeptical person a believer.” Liam’s jaw tensed as he ground the words out. Something in his stance shifted then, and he grabbed my hand.
I tried to pull it from his, but he gripped it too tight. “What are you doing?”
“Trust me.” Liam pulled a knife from his pocket.
It wasn’t large, just a simple pocket knife, but alarm rushed through me at the sight of it. I struggled to get free, but before I could, he flipped the knife open and stabbed it into the tip of my index finger.
“Liam, what the hell?” Anger raged through me. Was he insane? “You just freaking stabbed me!”
He released my hand and I pulled my finger to my lips. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth as I shot him a death stare.
“I didn’t stab you. I pricked your finger.” He grinned. “There’s a difference.”
“Not much,” I insisted, checking my finger to see if the bleeding had stopped. It hadn’t. “I’m guessing you did that to prove I could heal. That this whole being the Mystic thing was real. Look. Still bleeding.” I shoved my finger in his face, and then stormed past him, ready to head downstairs and find my things.
He didn’t try to stop me.
“Tris,” he called out to me once I’d descended the stairs and stepped into the living room. My feet faltered at the sound of my name falling from his lips. I glanced up at him. He was still upstairs, leaning against the banister, staring down at me. God, why did he have to be so sexy? “Look at your finger.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What?”
“Just do it.” His sexy grin grew.
I glanced at my finger, not because he’d told me to, but because of curiosity. There was nothing there besides a smear of dried blood. No puncture wound. No cut. Nothing. It was as though he hadn’t stabbed me at all.
“That can’t be right. I saw the blood. I felt the prick,” I said. I pressed my thumbnail against the tip of my finger, squeezing in an upward motion, hoping to draw out even the tiniest bit of blood from the wound I knew should be there. Nothing happened, because it had already healed. “None of this makes sense,” I muttered.
“Magic never does,” Liam said. He’d come downstairs to stand beside me without me noticing. “Like I said, you’re the Mystic. You can heal yourself and others.”
“You say that like I should be proud, but I don’t even know what it means.”
“But you believe it now?”
I didn’t want to, but the proof was undeniable. I was the Mystic.
“Yeah,” I said. “I guess so.”
“Good.” A wide smile stretched across his face. “Sorry for pricking your finger. You’re just stubborn, and I couldn’t think of any other way to get you to believe what you are.”
“And how do you plan to prove to me your other claims?” I held his gaze, knowing I shouldn’t press my luck, but also that I needed to know if he was sane.
He stared at me. “That shifters are real? Or that I’m one of them?”
“Either.” My tone soun
ded calm to my ears, but I knew it was a lie because I could feel my insides quivering as I spoke.
I wanted what he said to be true for the simple fact that it meant I hadn’t been wrong about him, that he wasn’t in need of professional help or delusional. On the other hand, I was scared his claims were true because of how they would alter my world.
“My cabin is too small for me to shift inside. Should we step outside?” He nodded to where my shoes and backpack were near the front door. “We can head out the back. I’d prefer to do this back there.”
“Sure.” I tried to hide my trembling hands as I slipped my shoes on and grabbed my bag, but I knew if he was what he said, then there would be no way I could. Animals sensed emotions. At least that was what I’d always heard.
“After you,” he said once I had my shoes tied and my backpack hoisted over my shoulder. He held the back door open and motioned for me to step outside first.
Once I stepped onto his back porch, a part of me wanted to run. To bolt down the steps and back to Ruby so I could get my stuff and get the heck out of here. However, there was a larger part of me that wanted to stay and see how this situation unfolded. I needed to know if Liam was nuts or if the world was larger than I knew.
That was the part I listened to whether it was foolish or not.
“I can’t believe you called me stubborn,” I said, hoping to break up the awkward silence we seemed to be trapped in as we walked farther out into the backyard.
“I didn’t mean it as an insult.”
“I didn’t take it as one,” I insisted. “I’ve been called worse. And honestly, worse has been done to me than someone pricking my finger against my will. You’re forgiven.” I flashed him a grin.
Anger flared through his eyes at my words, and I knew then that he was most likely flashing back to what my face had looked like before the Mystic magic in my system healed me.
“All right, so what are you?” I asked, hoping to shift his focus. His anger seemed to leave him, but it was quickly replaced by a look of unease that took me by surprise. Did he not want me to see him shift, or was he uneasy because I’d caught him in a lie? “I’m curious to see what type of shifter you are.” I tacked on. It was true, but it was also a lie. I was scared, but I knew I couldn’t turn back.
“I’m a bear.” His eyes never wavered from mine when he spoke. “You already knew that though, didn’t you?”
I blinked. Liam was a bear. Deep down, I guess I’d already known it. On a subconscious level at least. He’d been in the woods, watching me in his bear form. He’d sniffed my ankle. Then, he’d shifted into himself again and carried me to his cabin. Heck, he’d probably been the bear I almost hit when I first came here.
With all the bear stuff around this place, I should have known.
“Do you want to see?” Liam scratched the back of his neck, his eyes never wavering from me. “For more proof.”
I licked my lips. “Yeah. I do.”
“Why don’t you go over there and sit,” Liam said as he nodded to the furniture on the back porch. “That way there’s some distance between us. My bear won’t hurt you. I just don’t want you to be scared.”
I nodded and then started toward one of the chairs. My mind and body felt numb as I walked. This was really happening. I was about to see Liam shift into a freaking bear. My mind didn’t know how to process it.
As I situated myself in the chair, I stared at Liam. While I’d walked, he’d been walking too. He now stood near the side of the house, hidden as best he could be from those in the campground. He’d also taken off his shirt. I tried to keep my eyes on his face, instead of his abs illuminated by the porch lights. Liam unbuttoned his shorts and my breath hitched. I averted my eyes as my cheeks heated.
“You’ll miss the shift if you aren’t looking,” Liam said. My eyes snapped to him at the sound of his voice, and I noticed a crooked grin twisting his lips. “Nudity sort of goes with the whole shifter thing. Clothes just rip in the process. It’s too costly not to strip down first.”
My cheeks warmed even more as I held his stare, trying desperately not to look at his body. “That makes sense.”
“Ready?” Liam asked when he was completely naked. I nodded. “Okay. Remember, I won’t hurt you. Don’t be afraid. My bear likes you.” He scratched the back of his neck as though that was the only thing he was embarrassed about when there seemed to be so many others—mainly his nudity.
“Okay,” I said.
I sat at the edge of my seat, watching as he closed his eyes. Nothing happened right away. He seemed to be focusing on his breathing—or maybe his bear. I fully expected the shift to happen slowly, for his bones to pop and him to be in loads of pain.
I’d expected it to be a gruesome sight, but it wasn’t.
One minute Liam was there with his eyes closed, and in the next instant, a big ass brown bear had taken his place. I’d been right about this bear. It was the one I’d seen that first night. The same one from the woods too.
Holy shit. It was Liam. He was a bear. Shifters were real.
The brown bear stared at me as though gauging my reaction to him. His eyes were the bright color of Liam’s when he was angry or excited. Were those times when his bear was just beneath the surface?
I was fascinated.
I exhaled the breath I’d been holding and stood. Liam’s bear watched, but didn’t move, as I walked slowly toward him. As I grew closer, I noticed his nostrils flare as he sniffed the air at my approach. Was he trying to get a sense of how I felt? Or was he simply getting to know my scent? I paused when only a few feet remained between us, and stared into his eyes. They were Liam’s eyes. It was strange to witness them on an animal. Without thinking it through, I reached out and brushed a hand over his soft brown fur. He made a noise, but didn’t move away from me.
“You’re amazing,” I said.
A huff came from him that brought a smile to my face. He nuzzled his head against my hand. I laughed. Something in the air shifted. Electricity charged it. My hand fell to my side, and in the next instant, Liam stood beside me and the bear was gone.
“I’d say you believe me now, right?” Liam asked. His eyes were bright still, like his bear’s.
I folded my arms over my chest, unsure as to what I should do with my hands now that he was human again, standing incredibly close, and naked. “Definitely.”
“You think I’m amazing, huh?” he asked with a smirk as he reached for his boxers.
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t let it go to your head.”
“Noted.”
Awkwardness built between us. It pressed against me from all angles and I hated it. “So, what happens now?” I asked.
I had no idea where we were supposed to go from here. Was I supposed to be sworn to secrecy?
“What do you want to happen?” His tone was low and rough. It sent warmth pooling through my lower stomach.
“Um. Questions,” I said quickly, trying to gain control over my sudden raging libido. “I have some I’d like answered.”
“Okay. I’m sure I can answer them.” He pulled his shirt over his head. “Are you hungry? I can make us something to eat, and you can ask me whatever you want.”
“Food would be good. Sure.” I walked with him to the back door of his cabin and then inside. When we stepped into the kitchen, I sat on one of the barstools along the island. At the mention of food, I realized how hungry I actually was. “What are you planning on making?”
Liam stepped to a cabinet and pulled down a box. “Are you a fan of mac and cheese? Gouda mac and cheese?”
“Sounds fancy.”
“It’s not.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” I smiled.
I watched him move around his kitchen to fill a pot with tap water and place it on the stove. All the while I tried to think of what questions I wanted to ask him first. There were so many.
“You can ask me questions now if you want. You don’t have to wait for the mac and cheese to be
done first,” he said as he poured in a little olive oil to the water for the noodles.
“Right.” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to start with questions about him being a bear, or about my being the Mystic. I decided to ask about the Mystic stuff first since that affected me the most directly. “What do you know about Mystics?”
Liam leaned his elbows against the island countertop across from me while he waited for the water to boil. “They’re special. In case telling you there’s only one born in every generation doesn’t hit the point hard enough, learning that Mystics are the key to shifter survival might.”
No pressure there.
“How?” I asked.
“You can heal us from the curse meant to wipe us out.”
As though everything I’d seen and learned today wasn’t shocking enough, the knowledge that curses were real as well nearly sent me over the edge. What else had I been blind to my whole damn life?
“How does this curse work?” I asked, knowing it was probably something I should learn about, considering I was supposed to heal it when it struck.
“It’s a sickness.” Liam moved back to the stove and poured the noodles into the boiling water. “One placed on all shifters years ago by a powerful witch. Legend says one of her loved ones was killed by a shifter, which sparked a war of hate between witches and shifters. It led to much bloodshed before this particular witch decided to create a curse that would change everything. In this curse, shifters are plagued by an awful sickness. One that seeks its victims out at random. There are no rules to it that we’ve noticed over the years. No signs for when or who it will strike. All we know for sure is that when it hits someone, they’ll die a painful death. Sometimes the infected live for a few months. Sometimes only a few weeks. And others—like in the case of my parents—a few days. It’s because of this sickness that our numbers as a whole dwindled and remained so low over the years. Not just my clan, but all shifters.”
“And, I can break this curse?” I asked, my brows furrowed. “As the Mystic?”
Liam shook his head. “No, but you can heal those who’ve become infected recently. Your presence will also allow the curse to remain dormant for a time.”
Chosen: Gem Creek Bears, Book One Page 9