Joel growled, ‘Open the door. I’ll deal with them.’
“No, there is no need,” Gail told him, watching the witches approach.
‘But-’
“My aunt has protections in place,” she told him. “And hers are much better than mine. They’ll never get through them before she comes back. We’ll be okay.”
‘Okay,’ he huffed, but not an inch of him relaxed.
“Any minute now they’re going to realize their mistake.” She held her breath as she watched them get closer… and closer. Her stomach tightened. “Odd.”
‘What? What’s wrong.’
“Oh, nothing. It’s just… I must have miscalculated where my aunt placed her spells.”
Gail breathed in the pine scented air, her body relaxed at the smell. Memories of her parents taking her on hikes filled her. A warm, bittersweet sensation filled her. God, she missed them so much.Gail gave her head a little shake and focused on Joel in front of her. He had yet to explain what his idea was, only that he wanted her to go with him into the woods. That alone almost sent her aunt into a conniption, but even dear ole Aunt Rose was out of ideas, too. She had no other choice but to let Joel try his ideas, even though he wouldn’t explain what they were. Before leaving, Gail’s aunt insisted she take a silver-coated dagger for safety.Unable to push her curiosity aside, Gail asked, “So what is the plan?”‘You’ll see,’ he replied and said no more until they reached a
As Gail and Joel neared her aunt’s house, the curse returned and forced Joel back into his husky form. Gail sighed and picked up the blanket. “Sorry.”‘This time it was longer than last time. That was only maybe fifteen minutes max, this time had to be closer to thirty.’“Oh great, so perhaps in ten years you’ll get to spend a day as a human.” Gail couldn’t hide her bitterness at how ineffective her attempt had been.‘Hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day.’She blew out a breath, folding the blanket haphazardly. “You’re right, but it still sucks. Let’s find Aunt Rose.”‘You go ahead. I’d bet she’d be more willing to he
“Joel,” Gail called out as he stumbled back, pain etched on his face. “Couldn’t have waited just five minutes,” he growled, taking off his t-shirt, tossing it to the ground. “You’re shifting back?” He nodded, then cried out as the crack of bone echoed through the woods. Gail sucked in a breath and turned her back. She didn’t want to see that again. How could he stand to go through that every day? Guilt tugged at her heart. This was her fault. If she had figured out how to break the curse, he wouldn’t have to go through this. She jumped when Joel nudged her leg with his snout. ‘It’s done.’ Gail looked down at him. “I’m sorry.” He
Gail walked into the kitchen, tiredly fixing herself a cup of coffee. ‘How did it go?’ Joel asked as he trotted into the kitchen. “It’s going,” Gail said with a tight smile before taking a drink of her coffee. ‘Is that good or bad?’ “A little of both,” Gail said, eyeing the door. After her talk with her aunt, Gail thought it was best if she put some distance between her and Joel, but they were staying under the same roof, which made it more than a little difficult to avoid him. ‘Meaning?’ “I haven’t found anything that can help me free you.” ‘I see and that’s why you haven’t taken me with you in the last week?’
Gail ran her fingers over the leather bound spines of the books. None of the golden embossed titles called to her as books that might help her break Joel’s curse. Residual anger still stewed deep in her stomach as she remembered her conversation with Aunt Rose. After all this time, only now did Gail discover her aunt had a small library filled with books about magic. Perhaps if she had known about the library sooner, Gail might have been able to break Joel’s curse and avoid confessing her feelings to him. Two days had passed, and every time she was around Joel, the awkwardness was so thick it almost drowned her. Any time he started to say something, Gail would run out of the room, overwhelmed with an insane mix of fear and hope he’d tried to talk to her about it. As if she didn’t have enough to worry about, now this. It was all just too much. Gail needed to break this curse before she went insane.
Gail flipped through the old book with a sigh. “Nothing in this one.” ‘I didn’t think I’d ever say this, but I agree with your aunt. It seems these books have nothing about your magic or my curse. Your magic is rare, so rare I am surprised that both your mother and you both had it,’ Joel told her, stretching out his front paws. “Fine, okay,” Gail said, closing the book and setting it to the side. “But I’m getting pretty good with my magic and using it how I want. Why haven’t I broken your curse yet?” ‘I don’t know, but I’m sure you’ll figure it out.’ She sighed and shook her head. Gail wasn’t so sure she would. Not after all this time. Nothing new had come to her. She hadn’t made a single step towards coming closer to freeing Joel.
Joel sat on the back patio. He sniffed the air, searching for any hints of witches besides Gail or her aunt. The only witch scents he detected in the air came from them. The coven didn’t even come close to the house. If they weren’t spying on them, what did the coven do during this time? He hoped his brother and friends were still safe. Joel heard Gail from the kitchen making her way out into the backyard. He whined, hearing her aunt following her. “But why do you want to come?” Gail asked as she joined Joel out on the patio. Her aunt followed behind her. “Well, to help you, of course,” her aunt replied. “It’s been a few weeks now. I figured you wouldn’t mind the company.” Her tone took on an edge of hurt, but with one sniff, Joel could tell the hurt didn’t go farther than her voice. What did Gail’s aunt have up her sleeve?
Gail sat, crossed legged. She ran her fingertips over the blades of grass, trying to decide if she should ask Joel what was wrong or not. Ever since she’d come back that morning, he’d been distant and quiet. Even now they had taken their habitual walk to the forest clearing, Joel laid in the grass, looking up at the sky. He hadn’t said more than a handful of words to her. Something upset him, but she hesitated to ask what in case he might be mad at her. Gail didn’t think she had done anything wrong. Perhaps it was about her going off with her aunt that morning, but Joel agreed to stay behind. Or perhaps he only said that to get on his aunt’s good side and expected Gail to insist that he go with them? She clasped her hands together, twisting her fingers. She would never figure it out if she didn’t speak up. Gail sighed and looked down at a small patch of dandelions next to her.