We sat there in the tree's foliage until the sun started to set, just me and Sass, Sass and me. When I finally set him down beside me, my hands sweating from holding him so tight, he shifted slowly, growing in size and form, until his human shape perched next to me, amber eyes still sorrowful and worried but more himself than when I'd first appeared again.

"Nice," I said, smiling. "You've come a long way in controlling the ...