The Moonlit Curse

Ch 34: Three Days

Kiya suddenly drew in a sharp breath, drawing August's attention away from his work in the small cooking space. Her eyes fluttered, and her chest rose and fell rapidly. In the last few days as the full moon drew closer and closer, the visions had been coming on faster and getting harder for her to snap out of.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, August brushed the back of his hand across her cheek. "Kiya," he called in a low voice. "Kiya, wake up."

Her hand flew up to grab his, and she squeezed her eyes closed for a few seconds. When she opened them again and they focused on his face, she gave him a sheepish smile. "Another vision?" she asked in a raspy voice.

"Yeah. Do you remember anything."

She shook her head and leaned further into his touch. "You must be so tired of this," she murmured. "Goddess knows I am."

"I don't mind. You're trying, and that's the important thing. It's still dark out and there's nothing waiting for us in the morning. Go back to sleep."

"What about you?" She reached up to brush her fingers through his hair. "You haven't been sleeping. Don't try to hide it. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I never sleep well so close to the full moon."

Kiya's eyes narrowed suspiciously. She could sense that he was lying but couldn't explain how she knew. Probably by the guilt written all over his face or in his voice. Eventually she sighed and shifted over in the bed. "I'm cold," she said simply.

He couldn't help but laugh and followed her implicit instruction to lie down next to her. The bed was so small that he had to lie on his side, and even then, he was practically crushing her against the wall. It didn't matter. Kiya instantly snuggled into his chest. A soft moan escaped her lips as his warmth surrounded her, and her shivering eased slightly.

August, too, let out a sigh of pure content. Like her, the only way he felt a comfortable temperature anymore was when she was pressed into him. It was the only time he felt like everything was right in the world. Or rather, everything was right with his magic.

That wasn't something August could control on his own. He couldn't just will his body to burn hotter. There were a lot of long nights in his past that would have been a lot more bearable if he had that ability. August's magic had sensed Kiya's needs and reacted to accommodate. So now that she subconsciously sapped away his excess heat, and Hadyn's words replayed over and over again.

Soul tie.

That was the term that the northerners used. Fate bonds were more common among the island kingdoms. The human legends called them soulmates. Those few couples who were brought together by the power of the goddess herself to mimic the bond she had with her hunter consort.

The oracle that served his family once said that those bonds were reserved for the goddess's most devoted servants, and neither of them matched that description. August had abandoned his family and responsibility, and Kiya was a monster hunter and once admitted that she wasn't sure she stood with the faith. Then again, Kiya had been blessed with Io's sight, and he, like Hadyn, could trace his family line all the way back to the first of the lycanthrope. So maybe 'devoted' and 'loyal' had looser definitions than he would have thought.

As Hadyn pointed out before, August barely noticed Kiya's existence before she was cursed. He was only barely more aware of her because she was the second in command of the hunter squad living in his inn. But the oracle also said the bonds could only exist between two magical creatures of the same type. Werewolves with werewolves. Vampires with vampires. So it stood to reason that he wouldn't have felt their connection until after Kiya had been cursed.