Page 42 of Titan’s Mate

We must find them, her bear whispered inside her.

Are you crazy? They’ll rip us into little tiny pieces and then we’ll be dead and also demon food.

Do not be afraid, her bear told her.

Of course she was afraid. Titan’s bear was at least three times as big as her, and lost in a fury of grief. He probably had no idea what he was doing.

But then she remembered him sleeping by her bed the last two nights, huge and warm and strong and brave, making her feel safe. She remembered Titan making her Spurkeys and introducing her to the turtles, opening himself up to teasing from his crew just to borrow a sweater so she could feel pretty.

Titan and his bear had been nothing but good to her this whole time, despite how unfair she’d been to ask him to help her.

They deserved better from her than cowering on the front porch. Even if she wasn’t a very brave bear.

She stood up. It wouldn’t be hard to find them. She knew where they’d gone. The one place they couldn’t stay away from, no matter how much they might want to.

Sure enough, when she got to the graveyard in the forest, the bear was crouched in the middle of the circle, growling.

She could feel his pain from across the clearing—so endless and so strong that he no longer knew where to go or what to do.

And all of a sudden Mari wasn’t scared of him anymore. She came around to where he could see her, so she wouldn’t startle him. His feral eyes were glowing red like they did when he was angry and out of control, but he didn’t move.

He just watched her, that constant half-growl, half-snarl in his throat.

Mari approached him slowly, never taking her eyes from his. Finally she was up next to him, and she slid her arms around his thick muscled neck, holding him to her, feeling the vibrations of that audible pain.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, burying her fingers in his thick fur and rubbing him gently. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to ever hurt you. I didn’t understand what I was asking you to do.”

She continued talking to him, rubbing his neck and fondling his ears, telling him how strong and brave he was. How good.

Gradually, the growl grew softer and softer until it died away entirely. The bear gave an enormous sigh, and then, with a huge shudder and cracking of bones, he was Titan again. He drew up his knees, head resting on them as he’d done in his studio.

Mari leaned on his shoulder, rubbing his back with one hand, running her fingers through his silky moonlight-colored hair like she’d always wanted to do. She didn’t know what else to say, or what she could do for him, but she still felt like she hadn’t done enough.

He was still hurting. She could feel it inside her, like broken glass in her chest.

Finally she said softly, “I saw you in the studio. Smashing the sculpture.”

He tensed a little, then slowly relaxed.

“Sometimes I have to do that.” His voice was a little muffled by his knees, but she could still hear him.

She nodded against his shoulder. She didn’t need to ask why. Sometimes his rage and grief were too big to be contained.

They sat there for a while, and then he said, “The demons took my people.”

Tears gathered in her eyes. “I know,” she whispered. “Brock told me. I’m so sorry.”

“Ever since then, whenever I look for their spirits, all I can see are the demons that stole them. Tormenting them. Tormenting me. I dream about them at night—when I can sleep. I see them when I’m awake. Not all the time, but…”

But way too often.

“So you put them in the stone,” she said.

He nodded, still with his head on his knees. “I give them shape. Sometimes I put them in the yard, when I feel like I deserve to be reminded.” Now she knew why some of the sculptures that decorated the outside of his cabin were so scary.

He went on, “And sometimes, I smash them, trying to take away their power.”

He didn’t have to finish that thought. Nothing had taken away their power. She’d seen that here just a few nights ago.