Page 80 of Dangerous Heat

“He’s not going to die,” she said with a laugh. “You should consider yourself lucky. My curse is saving his life.”

“If he won’t die, heal him already!”

“Impatient little thing, you are. Oh well, I suppose it’s a downside of you being in heat. Being an Omega would have been such a pain in the ass. I’m much happier with my lot in life,” she said. I’d vaguely noticed she was a Beta when we entered the room, but her designation had been far from the top of my mind.

When she stepped forward a feral part of me wanted to hiss at her to stay away from what was mine, not wanting her near Shan, Cas, Nolan, or especially Ozzy. I calmed that instinct, letting her place a hand on my familiar. The words she whispered weren’t in Latvian, which was the most common spell language for witches. I didn’t recognize the tongue, but when she pulled the arrow out of his body, he let out a little mewl. It was the most responsive he’d been, and I gasped, surging forward.

Her hand on my shoulder kept me back, her touch dragging a growl from Shan. “I would stay back, if I were you. He’s going to need a bit of room. Or, if I recall correctly, a lot of room.”

Eyebrows drawing together in confusion, I did as she suggested. Oswald’s body rippled and twitched, a groan leaving him that sounded more human than feline. Then, he grew. As his size expanded, his limbs changed, growing longer with joints in different places. His fur retracted and skin darkened, the smooth surface of his body forming until it was distinctly human.

I gasped when his face formed into a human face, recognizing it as the image I always had in my mind while I was in heat with Ozzy helping me. He had a strong jawline and tidy facial hair, thick eyelashes fluttering as his eyes stayed closed. His entire body was that of the man I’d pictured. I hadn’t been using my imagination at all. The picture had come from somewhere else, though I couldn’t imagine where.

“Ozzy?” I asked, my voice faint.

He groaned again; the tones sounded deeper this time. Where his injury had been before, he only had unmarked skin. It was like he’d never been injured.

“Let me remind you again that you’re lucky to have me,” the witch said, peering at Oswald and cataloging every visible piece of his bare skin, as if to ensure her spell worked. “He definitely would have died. I feel the need to warn you, though, he’s going to be quite hungry. There’s four of you and plenty of recently deceased bodies around. I’m sure he’ll be able to manage without killing anyone.”

Before I could ask what she meant, she vanished.

I had no idea how she’d done it, no magical signature left behind in her wake, but questioning it was pointless. She’d been the one to curse Ozzy, but she was also the only reason he was alive right now.

His eyes blinked open and I rushed to sit in front of him.

“Freya,” Shan said in warning, trying to pull me back. “She just warned us he would be hungry.”

“I’ll feed him,” I said, refusing his efforts. “I think he’s a vampire. All he needs is some blood.”

Nolan shook his head, coming out of the daze he’d been in since I arrived. “No. After a trauma like that, he could take too much. I’ll feed him first.”

“He’s my familiar,” I said, though that wasn’t technically true anymore. He wasn’t a familiar at all, which had to void our contract.

“He saved my life. I won’t repay him by allowing him to hurt you.”

Nolan crawled in front of me, his fingers stroking through Oswald’s short, curly black hair. The touch was intimate, like they were lovers. Ozzy was processing slowly, his gaze darting between the two of us as he struggled to move his limbs. I imagined after years of being a cat, moving as a human was an odd adjustment.

Pulling his hand back, Nolan used his own fangs to create a small slice in his wrist. Oswald’s nostrils flared, pupils dilating. When Nolan put his wrist back in front of the man’s face, he latched on, his teeth sinking into Nolan’s skin. The groan Nolan released was downright erotic, his head falling back as a bulge formed in his pants.

My body heated, trying to respond to the arousal like I should while I was in heat, but I pushed it down.

Oswald was alive and free of his curse. Although vampires still swarmed the building, trying to capture me for their own gain, having him with me was all that mattered.

TO BE CONTINUED