“You know I have always thought of you like a brother.” Maida grinned. “How wonderful is it to learn I wasn’t that far off.”
“Distant cousins,” Will corrected, but he was smiling too, his eyes skrinkling up.
“Goodnight, Zani,” Maida called over her shoulder. “Please don’t go anywhere else without letting me know?”
“I’ve got far too much work to catch up on to go anywhere for the next few days.” Zani groaned, thinking of the work she’d need to make up.
Out in the hall, Will waited for her with a blanket. When she emerged from the foyer, he bundled her up and gave her a hug.
“I don’t know about you, but I think I’m going to sleep like a log tonight.” Will yawned. Tenderly, he kissed the top of her head.
Zani was tempted to tip her head back and catch his lips, but she wasn’t sure where they stood. His jealousy of Cosimo felt a lot more like distrust of her. She linked her arm through his.
“I know you don’t trust Cosimo,” she said as they walked up the stairs. “And I understand why.”
“Do you?” Will’s voice was carefully neutral. “You two seemed quite friendly. In both centuries.”
Zani stopped, turning to face him. “He could have killed me in Versailles, but he didn’t. He opened up to me instead. And if it weren’t for his help in Romania, I might not have made it out of that vampire’s den alive. So, yes, we formed a connection of sorts. But that doesn’t mean I trust him completely, either. That’s why we’re consulting the Director.”
Will looked away.
“Besides,” Zani continued, a hint of humor in her voice, “you’re not one to talk about forming connections in the past. You found your entire family tree.”
That earned her a reluctant smile. “Fair point.”
As they reached the door to Zani’s bedroom, Will adjusted the satchel that was slipping down off her shoulder. Then he leaned in for a quick kiss. He held up one finger in the air and closed his eyes.
“What are you doing?” Zani asked.
“I’m tracing the ley lines. This is the one between me and you.” Will ran his finger from his heart to hers, as though he were sliding it along a gossamer silk thread. “It’s a powerful line, Zani. Can you feel it?”
She could have sworn she did. Even more so when he kissed her again. This time, like he really meant it.
“I’ll never leave you behind, Zani. This is how I’ll find you. Anywhere. Anywhen.”
She wanted to believe him. But she knew that even as he kissed her, the earth’s alignments were subtly shifting, moving inexorably toward an eclipse that might change everything. Again.
The abundance that flows from connected ley lines isn’t about wealth or power. It’s about possibility. Each connection is a door that might open when you need it most. The universe crafts itself with such intricate complexity that even those of us who spend lifetimes studying its patterns can only glimpse fragments of its design. This isn’t a failure of our perception. It’s a gift.
BURNSIDE PORTER,THE WAY OF THE LEY
Chapter26
A Meeting at the Museum
Will stepped through the ornate gilded mirror at the top of the twin staircases in the Museum of Natural Magic, the familiar vibratory sensation of a port still shaking his bones. They’d already come so far in such a short time that the distance between Boston and Los Angeles felt trivial. It was almost anti-climactic. But any port with Zani still felt special to Will. There was no one else he’d rather navigate oblivion with. He felt braver and stronger in her presence.
Zani clung to his back, her arms wrapped securely around his shoulders, her breath warm against his neck. He steadied himself on the polished hardwood floor, allowing her to slide down and find her footing.
“That never gets old,” Zani said, adjusting her jacket. “Though I’m still not entirely sold on the piggyback position. We should experiment.”
Will couldn’t help but crack a grin. “Would you prefer I carry you bridal style next time?”
“Sure, why not?” Zani shrugged nonchalantly, but Will could see the bloom of a blush coloring her cheeks. So he wasn’t the only one imagining carrying her across a different kind of threshold. Their kiss from last night had already replayed a thousand times in his dreams. Despite their exhaustion, he hadn’t wanted to step away.
The Georgian mansion that housed the Society for the Protection of Natural Magic was hidden in plain sight, disguised to Ordinary eyes as just another boutique-y museum on a palm-lined Beverly Hills boulevard. The two-story central gallery where they’d emerged featured white walls adorned with framed paintings that extended from the chair rail to the crown molding. Above them, a domed ceiling soared, wearing its golden celestial mosaic like a jeweled tiara.
Will noticed that many of the magical paintings had shifted around since his last visit. What was once a bleak stormy seascape now enjoyed fairer weather. And in the space where a larger than life-sized oil portrait of a stern-faced wizard once was, there hung a colorful gesso of a young witch tending her greenhouse full of carnivorous plants.
