The garden around us feels like a cocoon—soft grass beneath us, willow branches swaying gently overhead, the magical starlight casting everything in silver. I could fall asleep here, like this, with his arms wrapped around me, and my body completely sated.
I don’t know how long we stay like this, and I would be content to spend the rest of the night in his arms, but reality creeps back in. He has to leave. Then I remember my own surprise.
“I almost forgot. I have a surprise for you too.” I reach over, grabbing my jacket from our scattered clothes. My heart starts beating faster. I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to give him this.
“Oh yeah?” Malachi says, watching as I fumble through the little zippered inside pocket and pull out the vial and hand it to him.
“I had Bash make this for me the other day. It’s my essence, my gift, and I wanted you to have it.” His fingers close around the small vial, and he examines it the way I did when I first saw it—with wonder and a little wariness.
“I know it looks different than most Avidian, andit’s slightly alarming that it’s black,” I say quickly. “Bash warned me it was unusual and to be careful with it. I want you to experience what my magic feels like, and if it works…” I stammer, suddenly feeling shy for no reason. “You could meet Mischka.”
“I’ve wanted nothing more ever since I saw you pretending to cast your first spell,” he jokes, and I slap his chest.
“I was petting her! Avids don’t cast spells,” I say, laughing.
He lifts me off his lap and onto the grass, handing me my nightgown while he reaches for his clothes.
“What are you doing?” I ask, eyebrows raised.
“If I’m going to meet Mischka, I should at least have some clothes on,” he says seriously, and I burst out laughing.
“She’s a dog, Malachi.”
“So?”
“She’s literally seen you naked for the past hour.” I shake my head, grinning. “Besides, she’s already seen you naked plenty of times. You two are practically roommates at this point.”
“Great.”
Sitting back down beside me, he holds up the vial, watching the dark ribbons of silver move through the liquid like living things.
“Are you sure you want to try it?” I ask, feeling kind of nervous, though I don’t know why.
“I have never been so sure of anything as I am of this right now. I want to know what you experience,” he says, grabbing me and pulling me in for a quick kiss. Then he pops off the top and breathes in my Avidian.
He shakes his head, and a shiver spreads down his body like electricity through water. “It feels…” He looks at me, and I’m holding my breath, waiting for him to say something terrible. “Normal. I don’t feel anything.”
I let out a relieved sigh, my shoulders dropping. “There’s only one sure way to test it.”
I turn toward the pond where I can see Mish lying peacefully in the soft grass, her ghostly form barely visible in the enchanted starlight. I reach out with my mind, calling for her the way I always do. She disappears instantly, then reappears right next to me in a shimmer of translucent light, tongue lolling as she looks up at me with those familiar, loving eyes.
“Holy shit.” Malachi visibly jumps backward, his hand flying to his chest, and I burst out laughing at his reaction.
Mischka notices his shock too and seems delighted by it. She swings her ethereal head from me to him and back again, then lets out an excited yip and starts doing zoomies in wild circles between us, her form flickering in and out of visibility as she runs.
“This is absolutely insane,” Malachi breathes. “I mean, I knew it would work, I believed you completely, but I didn’t know what to expect. She’s real, actually real.” His eyes track her movements, wide with amazement, and I can’t help the silly, stupid grin spreading across my face watching him experience this for the first time.
“Did you think I was making it up all this time? Poor crazy girl with the imaginary dog she can’t actually see?” I tease, a hint of old vulnerability beneath the joke.
His eyes snap to mine, narrowing playfully, but then his smile widens into something warm and reassuring. “Of course not. I’ve never doubted you, not once. It’s… surreal seeing her with my own eyes. Seeing an actual spirit, a ghost. It’s so completely different from any Avidian I’ve ever used before.” He pauses, looking down at his hands. “Getting enhanced strength or speed, having something tangible. That’s one thing. But this? Seeing beyond the Veil into another realm entirely? It’s…”
I understand exactly what he means. Even after all this time, seeing the dead still catches me off guard sometimes.
“Can I touch her?”
Mischka moves closer, her ghostly form padding over to sit right next to his leg. She looks up at him expectantly, tail wagging.
“Yes, but it will feel different from anything you’ve experienced,” I warn him, but he’s already reaching out with careful, tentative fingers to pet her.
