Cast in Faefire: An Urban Fantasy Romance (The Mage Craft Series Book 3) by S.M. Reine

that.”
    “She’s not the only one I’m hiding from now.” Dana McIntyre was a child who’d grown up fostered in the sanctuary environment too, after all.
    “I hope you’ll tell me everything that you’re dealing with soon.” Rylie’s fingers inched over the coarse rock toward his. “I understand why you might not want to yet. And every resource I have at my disposal belongs to you. If there’s anything I can do to help, Seth, you only have to ask me.” Her eyes were the same color as the summer sunlight. “ Anything .”
    “You can start by having witches heal my human body.” They wouldn’t be able to save him completely—nobody could—but they would give him more time to decide if he wanted to take Lucifer up on his offer.
    “Done,” Rylie said.
    Their fingers overlapped on the rock, just a little.

    * * *
    R ylie had to dismiss a dozen guards before she could take Seth anywhere in private. Even then, privacy with the Alpha werewolf at her sanctuary was not much privacy at all; all those unfamiliar faces that had ignored Seth on his way into town were interested now that he was with Rylie. Even taking the back roads, they passed dozens of shifters on their way to the Academy.
    “The whole valley is structured to encourage socializing,” Rylie said apologetically. “We’ve found that shifters live longer, happier, healthier lives if we’re forced to be close together.”
    “It’s only been fifteen years. You haven’t had a lot of time for experimentation.”
    “We ended up with a shocking number of senior citizens returning from Genesis as preternaturals. We’ve dealt with more end-of-life care for shifters than you’d expect.”
    Seth actually did expect that. He’d seen his fair share of it in Ransom Falls. “Is that why you have a hospital?”
    Rylie nodded. “We’re employing Whytes again. Can you believe it?”
    “Whytes? People related to Scott and Stephanie? Really ?”
    “Really. We’ve got Stephanie’s cousins from the Half Moon Bay Coven.”
    Scott Whyte had been a therapist—and a witch—who had treated Rylie early in her werewolf life. Stephanie was his daughter, an emergency room doctor who had partially inspired Seth to pursue medicine. Both had ultimately betrayed the pack. Betrayal had been a common theme before Genesis, though. War between gods had radiated through the entire world, from the most important people to the most trivial, and it had hurt everyone.
    “How can you be sure they’re trustworthy?” Seth asked.
    “They’ve changed since Genesis. Everything has changed.” She bit her bottom lip and turned her gaze to her feet as they headed up the dirt road.
    Even with the reminder that Seth was one of those things that had changed, it was nice to talk old stuff with Rylie like that. People they used to know. And they were doing it in a place where they used to share a life together.
    A place where Rylie didn’t need him.
    “I have a class of witches at the Academy too,” Rylie said. “Graduates teach underclassmen. That’s why we’re heading there. Our coven is excellent and will be able to heal you if anyone can.” Her eyes flicked up to him. “Abel isn’t home, but he’ll be back soon if you want to see him. I know he’d like to see you.”
    If Rylie really thought that Abel would want to see him, she was being optimistic.
    Seth wasn’t sure he’d want to see Abel, either.
    “I’ll think on it,” he said.
    Rylie rewarded him with a smile like sunshine breaking through clouds.
    They reached the fence protecting the Academy. Seth took a moment to admire it while Rylie keyed in a code to open the gate. When they’d talked schools back in the day, he’d imagined something like a one-room schoolhouse. This was not a one-room anything. More like a hundred-room facility. A thousand rooms. It sprawled through the forest as far as he could see, and the gardens at its rear extended beyond that. The warded fence protected another small lake, and