War and Peace and Pancakes

Alone

When Sam was pouring sweat and panting from exhaustion, Timothy finally walked up to her and pulled her into his arms, signaling for her to stop.

Clutching her, he marveled at how small she felt against him. If he hadn't just seen her fucking destroy a forest and blow up several boulders that were larger than him, then he could easily understand how people would assume his witch was weak. People underestimated his Sammy all the time.

As he reached down to brush a sweaty lock of hair from her forehead while trying to push his concern over the whereabouts of their mate from his mind, he asked, "Are you sure you're OK to take us home, honey? You used a lot of magic."

She shook her head, resting it tiredly on his chest as she spoke, "I'm fine. Maybe...maybe Urdie will be ready to talk about things now."

Timothy fervently hoped she'd be waiting for them at home, but as he felt Sam's magic shift and take them both there, his hopes quickly fell. It was as he'd feared while he had watched their enraged demon disappear, leaving them standing confused in the living room; he couldn't sense Urdu in the place anymore.

In fact, he couldn't even smell her scent anywhere, and he fought to contain his growing concern as Samantha too noticed the lack of Urdu's presence around them.

Even when Urdu was in her own realm and away from home, they could both feel her around them. Their mate's essence was ever-present, and they could unfailingly smell her scent. Since she'd started living the majority of her life with them, Timothy had grown accustomed to their smell, the mingling of all three of their scents that permeated, well, everything.

But, the only scents he picked up now were himself and Sammy's smell of roses.

No Urdie.

He felt Sam stiffen in his arms. "Timmy...Urdie's magic is gone. What-"

With growing panic, he gently released his witch and stalked into their bedroom, digging through his closet until he found the ugly hoodie of his that their demon always wore. Holding it up to his nose, he smelled...nothing. It was like her scent had never been on it in the first place.

Concerned, he walked over to the misshapen stuffed bear Urdu had gotten for Samantha as he noticed his witch watching with worry, her hand resting on the bedroom door frame.

He held the bear to his face and breathed, still smelling nothing but him and Sam on it. He should smell Urdu on it, too. Urdu always slept with them and the damned teddy bear Sam loved so much.

"Timmy?" His witch's voice was soft, questioning, revealing all the worry he felt himself but was too scared to show her. Through their bond, he felt her mounting anxiety over what had happened with Urdu as well as her exhaustion following exerting so much power.

Likewise, Samantha could probably feel his own panic through their connection, but he was doing his best to try and shield her from it.

He gingerly returned the bear to its spot on the bed then walked over to Samantha. Planting a kiss on her head, he spoke, "I don't smell her, but she loves us. I'm sure she'll be back."

Expression desolate, Sam spoke, "But...her magic's gone, too."

Timothy shugged, trying and failing to seem unaffected. "Urdie was upset. I'm sure she said things she didn't mean and took her magic stuff with her out of anger. She'll realize people fight sometimes and that we can all talk about it. We will work it out."

Expression revealing her uncertainty, Sam broke eye contact with him to stare blankly at the floor as she replied, "I don't know, Timmy. I was so mean to her. I shouldn't have told her to leave. She thinks I really don't want her."

When the witch looked back at him, she was crying again, and he felt his heart shift. His Sammy had been upset with the demon, yes, but the poor witch hadn't been unnecessarily mean to their mate.

Still insisting on blaming herself, though, Samantha added, "I made her leave. It's my fault."

"No, sweetheart. I'm sure that's not it." He embraced her again, breathing in the scent of roses as he rested his chin on her head. She was worried about Urdu, physically tired from expending so much energy, and emotionally drained. Samantha needed sleep.

"Let's go to bed. We'll talk about it in the morning. Maybe she'll be back. If not, we can go look for her."

Samantha nodded mutely against him, and he released her then, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the bed, stopping at the edge to unzip her dress for her then tug of his own clothing while Samantha removed her remaining clothing and slid under the covers.

Clutching the bear pitifully, Sammy looked at him as he slipped into bed and laid down next to her. "I can't figure out why we can't feel her, Timmy."

"Neither can I," he answered honestly as he reached out and ran his fingers through her hair, prompting his witch to move as close to him as possible, pressing her nude body against his own as if the skin-to-skin contact would somehow bring them both more comfort.

With her face next to his, Timothy turned so that he could kiss her deeply as he wrapped his arms around her back and squeezed her tight. "I'm here, Sammy."

She buried her face in his neck as she clutched the bear under her left arm. "What did I do, Timmy?"

"You didn't do anything, sweetheart. Go to sleep. I promise I won't leave," he assured her while rubbing small circles around her back until her tears began to subside and she fell into an exhausted yet unsettled unconsciousness.

All Timothy could ask himself as his witch agonized in her sleep was, What had they done?

However, a few moments after falling asleep, Sam joyously awoke from a dream in which Urdu was in bed with them. He sensed her overwhelming happiness then heartbreaking pain when the grogginess of her sleep cleared and he told her softly that it was just a dream and that Urdu hadn't returned.

As Timothy quietly lulled her back to sleep while wiping away her fresh tears, his thoughts shifted. Now, he asked himself a different question:

What had Urdu done?