Stonebound: Shifters Forever Worlds (Skeleton Key) Read Online Free

his torso.
    Tino raised his hands to his torso. Except—
    That wasn’t what happened.
    He didn’t have hands anymore. He had furry paws attached to large-knuckled legs. Lion legs.
    The pain continued, ripping through him with the force of a tornado holding a nail-gun.
    And suddenly—
    It was over.
    Just like that.
    The pain was completely gone.
    And life was normal.
    Except—
    He glanced at the reflection in the large doors that led to the veranda.
    A fierce lion, dark-maned and broad chested stared at him.
    Only that lion, was him.
    A flash of fear coursed through Tino, but instantly vanished, and he couldn’t imagine why his fear of the beast went away.
    Tino shook his head in confusion.
    In the reflection, the lion shook his head, mighty mane flowing from the effort, as if it were being windblown.
    Tino opened his mouth to talk, but all that came out was a chuffing sound.
    God. Now I can’t talk?
    What if the help came in?
    I’m so screwed.
    They’d call the authorities and—
    Dead lion.
    Dead Tino.
    Tino sat back on his haunches—correction: he thought. He sat back on his lion’s haunches.
    Now what?
    The lion cocked his head at the reflection.
    Wait. I didn’t do that. He did it. You did it. Tino addressed the lion in his head.
    The lion roared.
    And crazy as it sounded to Tino, and he’d have no way to explain it if anyone ever asked, he understood exactly what the lion said.
    The lion asked if he was ready to listen to him.
    I am.

    * * *
    H ours and hours passed . While Tino was in his lion’s form, the blood stopped flowing and his body healed, as the lion explained to him, was the way that shifters healed.
    He told Tino about a hibernation process that would heal him even if he was on the brink of death in his lion form.
    The lion told him how he’d been suppressed by the witch’s spell and kept at bay. The witch’s spell had deteriorated enough so that when Tino was weakened, the lion could come forth.
    Now what? Tino asked the lion, confused about this unchartered territory.
    His lion told him he’d rather not be buried anymore.
    I don’t know how to handle this, you, me, all of it.
    The lion grunted a chuffing sound, told Tino to find someone who could help him.
    Like who? Tino studied the full-maned beast half of himself in the reflection. Who the hell could help me with this without wanting to kill me?
    The answer came to Tino right before his lion could tell him.
    My father.
    Of course, a lion shifter could help him with his lion shifting. With how to handle this, how to manage being both a man and a feline.
    In the reflection, the lion’s eyes glowed amber with pleasure.
    I’ll go find him first thing tomorrow. Right after I get a haircut and make myself presentable.
    The lion growled.
    Tino was pulled from his thoughts, wondering what troubled the beast.
    Before he could ask what was wrong, the lion had leapt to his paws, and was making for the other side of the room, heading toward the open French doors.
    I’m not sure this is wise, Tino tried to warn his lion. It would not bode well for them if someone saw him in this form.
    The lion assured him it would be a short excursion.
    Thirty minutes later the sun set. After a short nap beneath the shaded canopy of an olive tree near the brick wall that surrounded the villa, his lion bounded to his feet and loped toward Tino’s apartment.
    Slipping inside the doors, the lion stopped and turned to face the reflection in the now darkened room.
    I can see in the dark.
    The lion chuffed a small sound, then apologized.
    For? Tino asked.
    The agony they’d have to deal with, the lion said.
    A tremor ran through Tino, a growl of pain came from his lion’s lungs as the planes in his face shifted, as his body adjusted, shrinking, realigning, pushing him back into his human form.
    Tino looked down. He was fully human. Covered in his bloody clothes, except the clothing looked like he’d been wrestling with an army.
    Felt like he had, too. His body