Kurt's head felt like it was stuffed full of spiderwebs. His entire body ached, though he was resting against something delightfully comfortable. He groaned as sudden pain split through his arm.

There was a gentle pressure on his shoulder and a soft sniffing near his face. "Kurt? Santana, I think he's awake." Smokey breath drifted across his nose and he coughed. "Oh, sorry Kurt!" Mort sat back down on his haunches as Kurt opened his eyes. He realized with a jarring start that he was leaning quite heavily on a sleeping Blaine. The jolt sent shocks of pain from his arm into the rest of his body and he groaned again.

"You're not gonna be slaying any monsters for awhile, but hey, you're alive." the mysterious Santana from the village was sitting on the edge of the mattress. He looked at her in confusion as she handed him a mug of water. "Blaine can explain it to you when he wakes up," she said, looking out a nearby window with a pained look. "I won't be of much use in a few moments."

Before he could ask what she meant, there was a gut-churning yowl and suddenly there was no Santana.

Or more precisely, the space that Santana had been sitting was now occupied by a familiar ebony cat with burning yellow eyes.

The cat eyed him, as if daring him to say anything. Kurt gulped, the water in his mug starting to ripple with the movement of his shaking hands.

Strong, calloused fingers tugged the mug from his unsteady grip. Blaine was awake, scrubbing his free hand hand through his hair. "I suppose you'd like an explanation,"

"Damn right I would!" Kurt tried to put some distance between him and Blaine, but his throbbing limbs protested greatly at the movement. "What the hell just happened with Santana, and why you can't leave the clearing, for starters!"

Blaine smiled ruefully, setting the mug on the endtable beside the bed. Mort, who had curled up in Kurt's lap and was currently radiating heat like the furnace he was, looked up.

"It's the same story, though."

"Hush, Mort. Though I suppose you're right,"

"I'm always right."

Blaine flicked his nose. Mort hissed and moved to bury his face in Kurt's neck, his horns poking into the delicate flesh there. Kurt winced. "Get on with it, will you?"

Blaine sighed, reaching out to pull Mortimer off Kurt. "You know the miracle man, right?"

"Everyone knew that old arse."

Blaine's chuckle was humorless as he dropped a wriggling Mort to the bed. "Then you also know that Santana and I weren't exactly volunteers when it came to working for him."

It was no secret that the man had kept orphans as slaves. It was just something the villagers put up with, no matter how much they disapproved. "Yes," Kurt murmured. "I know."

"The bastard's been dead for years but he still got us a good one in the end. She and I thought we'd be free when he croaked, but no such luck." Blaine reached down and pulled the silver chain into view. "This is my curse. That," he nodded towards the disinterested cat now licking her paws. "is hers. He gave me knowledge, but I can't leave to share it. He made her a shapeshifter, but after sunset, she's stuck like that. If she tries to change back, it's apparently like knives stabbing into her very soul."

Kurt absently stroked Mortimer's fur, who had wormed his way back between them. "How are they broken?"

"That's the thing," Blaine looked down. "Ebenz always said that neither of us could have a true love because we preferred our own gender. That's how we know they're True Love curses. Problem is, the nutcase had all the books that included True Love enchantments charmed to go up in flames when he died. We don't know the specific details of either of them,"

"So you don't know exactly how to break them," Kurt finished. Blaine nodded sadly. "Is that why Santana's been chatting up Brittany for the last year or so?"

"Oh, the mysterious lady now has a name?" Blaine's voice took on a teasing edge as he turned to look at Santana. Her yellow eyes narrowed dangerously and she hissed.

"Santana says she'll slit both your throats if you bring up Britt again," Mortimer translated sleepily, snuggling into the side of Blaine's thigh.