Page 73 of The Librarian’s Familiar

“Pimples, fur, and being fucking horny all the time.”

“All the time?”

August turned his head to look at Charlie, as much as he wanted to be able to see him in his periphery, he felt better knowing Charlie was on his blind side. He’d see something before August would, even if he couldn’t see as well in the dark. “There’s always a rush of lust after shifting back to human. Lust and shifting heat are so closely tied, and as a sixteen-year-old…fuck. I was more terrified of accidentally shifting than getting an inconvenient hard-on in the locker room.”

“And did you ever?”

“What? Shift, or have an inconvenient hard-on?”

“Both?” Charlie stared at him, waiting for an answer.

“Were your teen years not filled with inappropriate erections?”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t in locker rooms surrounded by guys.”

“No, I never shifted in a locker room. But there was a close call or two when I needed to hide in a cubicle and pretend I was busting for a crap. Imagine a polar bear crouched on a toilet, praying no one peeks over the top.”

Charlie laughed. “I’m sorry that’s not funny.”

August smiled and bent down to pick up a nice, smooth rock that was less than an inch across. He handed it to Charlie. Rocks were better than leaves since rocks apparently had an ordered atomic structure. Now he had two. “It is, in hindsight. I told my grandparents, and we did have a serious discussion about binding my abilities so I couldn’t shift. But I liked the edge it gave me when I played.”

Charlie weighed the rock in his hand. “This one is different.”

“You can tell that without looking at it?”

“Yeah. The structure is different.” He put it in his packet with the other one. “People expected you to be in the first line…you held back.”

August was well aware of what people expected from him, and what he was capable of, but he’d also been warned by the Coven to watch his claws—as if he hadn’t already been given that warning by his grandparents and his parents and anybody else who wanted to offer their opinion on him going pro. “Yep. And I’m trying hard not to be bitter about it.”

“Does it hurt when you shift?” Charlie touched his cheek just below his eye socket.

August frowned, not quite sure how to answer that. “Shifting hurts anyway. So it doesn’t hurt more, but I am aware of it moving in my face. The surgeon was a witch, so she made sure that it wasn’t going to give me grief. It does feel a bit weird, though, when the pins move.”

Charlie shuddered and made a gagging noise. “You feel them move in your face?”

“Yeah, it’s weird. What about you? No major injuries? Does your magic hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt. It’s like another sense that I’m aware of all the time, in the same way you’re always listening. If there is nothing for it to do, I start to feel an itch, and it is much better that I scratch. Of course using it too much carries the same dangers as any magic.”

August paused, waiting for him to share what that meant. When Charlie didn’t give any details, August pressed for information. “Such as? I’m not a witch, so I have no idea. And I feel like it’s something I should be aware of since my job is to make sure you have everything you need to do this.”

“Magic uses energy, which sometimes means it draws from me. I’ve heard of witches having migraines and bleeding from their noses, ears, and eyes. Some have died from heart failure or brain aneurysms from using too much magic.”

“I feel like this is something you should’ve shared before we set off to confront the storm.”

“It’s not only me I can draw on. Since we’re mates, I can draw on you, and you can also draw on me. In theory, you should be able to learn how to use my magic, and I should be able to learn how to use your ability to heal fast. Many fated mates learn how to communicate without talking, sharing thoughts and images.”

“Again, this is something we could’ve been working on.”

Charlie flicked him a smile. “Right now I’m trying to stop my magic from unraveling the bond.”

“Aww, do you need me to kiss you again? Or do you need something more?”

“One last fuck before we confront the storm?”

“You said it, not me.”

Charlie wrinkled his nose. “The threat of death isn’t doing it for me.”