The sky was shades of pink, purple, and orange. I was content to sit here and watch the sun set until it had sunk all the way behind the trees. I could hear the faint tinkling of water and the crickets were just starting to hum their evening song. It was still a strange sound to hear insect life in my garden. I sighed as I took a sip of my earl gray tea. She was on my mind again and sitting here wasn't going to change that. The almost red hues in the sky reminded me of her hair, bright like a fire.

I could hear footsteps coming up the path near the house and I could tell by the shuffle of feet as they approached it was Quen alerting me to his presence. I knew what he was going to say. All I heard this week is how I needed to keep my mind off of Rachel. I didn't need to see Rachel. I didn't need to call Rachel. I didn't need Rachel's help to find the cure for the demons that I now had to figure out as if Rachel's life depended on it. It might. I reminded myself.

"Good evening Quen." I said as he came into view as I sipped my tea.

He smiled at me and I was waiting for it. "Thinking about her again?" He asked me as he followed my gaze to the sky.

"Always." I answered not making eye contact. I couldn't stand to see him look so disappointed in who I had feelings for. After all I thought he and Rachel were on good terms. They hadn't butted heads in quite some time and she seemed to have a fatherly affection towards him. He also seemed to care for Rachel even more now that Ceri has become his partner.

I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye but he said nothing for which I was thankful. I knew my snide remarks were starting to wear on him but I couldn't seem to help myself. He didn't approve of my choice of affection towards Rachel but I was not going to let him change my mind because she is a demon and not an elf. I am no longer in need of heir and now I could pick someone I truly loved to be with.

I still didn't know where Rachel's feelings were towards me. She is attracted to me, anyone could see that but I found myself wanting it to be more than that. I had so many scenarios playing through my head about having a conversation with Rachel about our relationship but if I was honest with myself I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to face her rejection which was a real possibility. Quen cleared his throat snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Just say it."

"I just thought I would let you know that Rachel is here. Ceri invited her over for tea." Quen smirked.

I jumped out of my chair. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to interrupt your daydreaming." Quen chuckled as he went inside.

I sat back down, not following Quen inside. I wanted to see Rachel. I wanted to touch her. I wanted to kiss her again. I needed to calm my thoughts before I went inside otherwise I would do something very inappropriate in front of my family. Looking back up at the sky seemed to calm me slightly. For a second I just took in all of its beauty without comparing it to Rachel.

"What do you mean he's having tea?" Rachel's voice carried through the halls and out of my back office doors. She was heading this way and I felt my stomach drop not knowing what she could need to say to me in private. I could hear Quen's protests and barely caught Rachel's comeback and threat to remove Quen from the door. It must be important if she's throwing out threats.

"Let her in." I called to Quen through the door knowing he could hear me.

Rachel immediately slammed the door in Quen's face and made her way to the patio. She looked good. Really good. She was in her usual working leathers and black boots with a green tank top that accented her eyes. Who knew someone could make leather look so appealing.

"Oh." She said when she found me sitting at the table with my cup of tea.

"Would you like to join me?" I gestured to the other open chair across from me.

She took the chair at an awkward angle and positioned herself so that one leg was hanging over an arm and her back was towards the wall. I felt my eyebrows rise but it was more for appreciation at the way the woman moved. I generously took in her trim body before meeting her eyes. She smirked at me knowing I had been checking her out. I felt my ears start to turn red but I couldn't seem to take my eyes off of her.

"What seems to be the problem today Rachel?" I asked lifting my cup to give my hands something to do.

"I, uh, I have something for you." She said looking up at the sky.

My mouth opened in surprise but I didn't know what to say. Rachel wasn't big on gift giving when it came to me. I'm fairly certain I had never even received a Solstice card from her. "For what?" I managed to get out.

"I told you I wanted to fix that." She answered looking at the missing digits on my hand. Ah, my fingers. She was giving me the curse to fix them.

"Thank you." I said shortly.

"I feel like it's all my fault and the least I could do is make it right again." She took a deep breath, pulling a vial from her pocket. It looked like mud. I had a feeling I was not going to enjoy this.

"What will I turn into?" I asked her reaching out for the vial.

"A horse. I used a hair from Tulpa. I thought it was a good fit for you." She smiled. "Just let me know when ever you're ready to do this. You won't need salt water or anything. I just have to say the words and you'll be back to your normal self."

"Let's do it now." I said unscrewing the cap.

"Now?" Rachel's eyes were wide.

"Why not? Do you have somewhere else to be Ms. Morgan?" I hesitated. I didn't want to swallow this curse if she had a date or something.

"No, I'm just a little surprised you're so willing to take it." She shrugged.

"I trust you." I tipped the vial back and swallowed the sludge. I think it was the most horrible thing I had ever put in my mouth. I think it tasted like a combination of hay and burnt leaves. Not something I would want to take again.

"We should probably go out into the pasture. Just to be sure you have enough room to change. I'm not sure how big you'll be." She explained getting up from her chair. "Should we tell Quen?"

"No." I was short but I didn't need to go into detail about Quen. I set the vial down and lead the way back towards the barns. We walked in silence with Rachel close behind me. She had been riding with me quite a few times now and she new these woods almost as well as I do. We could see the barns but I stopped at the clearing well before.

"Ready for this?" She asked me.

"Will it hurt?" I said rubbing my hands where my fingers were missing.

"No. And just in case you were wondering I take the smut." Rachel said.

"Rachel, I can take my own." I said.

"I don't know how to give it to you anyways. I take it." She made eye contact with me. I nodded but I felt bad that she was taking smut for me. Rachel backed up about five feet before I felt her tap the line. She held out her hand towards me seeming unsure if it was necessary or not.

"Equus." She whispered. "I take it. I take this."

That was the last thing I heard before it sounded like a tornado was ripping through my head. She was right that it wasn't painful, but it was uncomfortable and loud. The next thing I knew I was standing there again but I felt different. Like my knees were in an odd place and that I needed to stretch.

"Oh my god. Trent you're beautiful." I heard Rachel gasp. I turned to her feeling like I had to hold my head at an odd angle to see her.

'What do I look like?' I tried to ask her but even I could hear it came out sounding like a horse.

She seemed to understand what I was asking and moved towards me. She reached out and stroked my mane. "It's blond just like your hair. You're brown and you remind me of Tulpa. You're big like him, and you have the shiniest coat I've ever seen on a horse." She moved down my mane to stroke my neck and my back.

'Why are you uncomfortable to touch me as a man but as a horse you can?' I asked knowing she wouldn't have any idea what I was saying.

"Ssshh." She said as she ran her fingers through my hair. I leaned into her hand. "Oh, you like it?"

I sighed. I wondered if this was as close as I was ever going to get to Rachel. This might be a chance I never get again. I would stay a horse as long as she doesn't say the words to change me back. I used my head and bumped her side to get her to move towards my back.

"Trent!" She stumbled but went the direction I wanted her to go. I nudged her again and shook my head up and down.

"You want me to ride you?" She asked looking at me like I was crazy. "No way."

I reached back and took her hand in my mouth being careful not to apply too much pressure.

"Hey!" She yanked her hand back. "Ok. Ok. I can do this. I'm going to ride Trent Kalamack." I saw her face redden and I chuckled at that.

"Shut up Trent." She grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled herself onto my back. She felt light as a feather up there. I only hoped she would have enough sense to hang onto my hair. As soon as I felt her settle and she still had my hair in her grip I took off. I felt like I was running faster than I had ever ridden in my entire life. I think I was faster than Tulpa. I took Rachel through the woods, deeper and deeper into the back part of the land that I know she hadn't been to. I could hardly feel her fingers intertwined in my hair. I felt her body moving against mine as I jumped over fallen trees and ducked under branches.

"Where are we going?" She asked as we started to slow. The sun had almost set and my vision was actually becoming better as it got darker. Rachel's on the other hand would not improve as it became night. I finally stopped at the place I was looking for. It was a lake that few people knew was here.

"Wow." Rachel said as it came into view. It was in a clearing and the sky had the last of the pink fading from it turning gray but it reflected on the water and it was beautiful. I would have rather enjoyed this with Rachel as myself but if this is all I can get for now I would take it. "Trent, why were you hiding this? It's just, wow." She patted my neck and she hopped off to move closer to the lake.

I followed watching as she picked up rocks from the shore throwing them into the water causing it to ripple. I stood and watched her as she watched the water and the sky. I couldn't tell what was more beautiful, her or everything around her. I had never felt this way about a woman before. I swallowed hard knowing I couldn't let this be the last moment I had with Rachel like this.

Rachel heard and turned my way, "We should get back. It's dark now and I really can't see." I waited for her to get onto my back before slowly making my way back to the barns. The moon was high and I felt Rachel relax against me. I wished I could wrap my arms around her and tell her how beautiful she was but all I could do was sigh which came out more like a neigh.

"I think it's pretty too." She rubbed my neck. Her touch zinged through me causing me to miss a step. I felt her jolt but she didn't lose her balance. She had always been good at riding even without a saddle. "You better not kick me off."

I made it all the way to the barn door before Rachel hopped off. "So um you're going to be naked when you change back." I wasn't expecting that. I hadn't brought any extra clothes out here. I'm sure I could find something to put on in one of the rooms upstairs.

'You did that on purpose didn't you?' I asked her.

She laughed. "I have a feeling you think I'm just trying to see you naked." She closed the barn doors as we went inside. Tulpa raised his head at our entrance but only snorted. "I won't look. Not that you have anything to hide. You know you look good." It was my turn to snort. Rachel waits until I'm a horse to tell me I look good and she wouldn't mind seeing me naked? What is with this woman?

"Ok, so I'm going to face the doors, say the word and get you changed back. I won't turn around until you tell me to ok?" Rachel said stroking my hair once more. I leaned into her nearly knocking her off her feet. "Go over there." She pointed towards the middle of the room putting me within a few short steps of the stairs. I did as she said. She turned to face the doors away from me.

"Equus." She said.

It felt like the tornado was in my head again and then I was standing on my own two feet again, completely naked. I gasped feeling everything shift and almost falling forward.

"Trent? Are you ok?" Rachel called but didn't turn around. She really was going to respect my privacy.

"Fine. I'm fine. I just lost my balance." I looked down at my hand and my fingers were back. They looked exactly as they had before. No scars, just perfect new fingers. "You did it. I have them back."

"That's great Trent but are you going to just stand there naked or what?" She tapped her foot as she looked at the doors.

"Right." I turned and ran up the stairs to one of the rooms that the on site vet teams used. I found a pair of pants in the employee lockers but nothing else. Well this would have to do. At least I would be part of the way covered. I came back down the stairs to find Rachel still facing the doors.

"I'm dressed. You can turn around." I said only to be met by a look of shock I think as she took in that I was still half naked.

"I thought you were dressed." She couldn't take her eyes off of me.

"I could only find pants." I shrugged. "Ready to go back up to the house?" I moved towards Rachel and the doors taking in her eyes running all over my body. I felt my ears redden at that but I found I liked it, a lot.

She finally made her way up to my face. "Crap on toast!"

"What? Did I not turn back all the way?" I panicked and touched my face. It felt normal so I wasn't sure where her choice of words were coming from.

"Trent, I didn't know. I didn't know that it would fix that too." Rachel couldn't meet my eyes.

"What? Fix what!" I was going to go into full blown panic mode if she didn't start talking.

"Your ears Trent. I fixed your ears."