“—Feeding you?” she finished for him. She knew what he was going to say. “Yes, I can—and will, gladly. But there will be times in our future when I’ll need my magic. You won’t always be there, Antoine. You might be out…” She waved a hand, looking for an example. “…fetching bagels. Or fighting downstairs. How muchsaferwould I be with myownpower?” She took a step closer to him. “Yes, there’s risk. But with it comes the chance for so much more.”
He pressed his lips to his fist, eyes hooded as he considered her plea, and the silence lingered.
“Very well,” he said at last. “So long as anything we try can begin in moderation… and there’s a way to stop it, once it has started.”
She didn’t know enough to promise that, but she nodded. “That’s fair. And smart.” She sat back down next to him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“You’re right,ma chérie.” He unclenched his fist and gave her an attempt at a reassuring smile, but concern lingered in his eyes. “I don’t want to hold you back.”
“Thank you for that too, and I’ll do my best to treat it with the caution it deserves.” She picked up her coffee. “It still leaves the problem I have.”
“Which is?”
“Figuring out how totransferthe power from me to you.” She took a sip, then waved the cup at the books. “All of this stuff is internal, focused on the witch.”
“Hmm. Structure and fragments, yes?”
“Right.”
“Nothing else?”
“I don’t know.” She grimaced. “Maybe?”
“Well, let us assume it is only that. We can’t do anything with the unknown.”
“Fair.”
He leaned forward, reading the notes Eve had made for each of the structures, curses, and boons. Cally watched him a while, his focus intense. He was actively trying to help, and he didn’t need to. He could have blocked her instead—with no spell, there was no risk. It was a clear show of support, and she loved him more for that.
She reached out with the intention of touching him, of showing her thanks, but he was frowning at the screen as he read, clearly thinking hard, and she didn’t want to distract him. Instead, she took a mouthful of her bagel.
“There is quite a lot of blood,” he muttered finally. “It jumps out.”
“Yes. My blood has always been used to power my magic.” She used to find it distasteful and realized it now didn’t bother her.
“It’s all in the ‘structure’ column.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
“So if the goal is the transfer of power, what would happen if you mixed my blood with yours?”
She paused with the bagel lifted halfway to her mouth. “That… Could it be so simple?”
“Probably not, but it has a logical elegance to it.”
She dropped the bagel in the wrappings, licked her fingers clean, and pulled the laptop around, biting her lip as she scrolled through the structures. He sat back in the corner of the couch, andshe was half aware he was watching her with his intense gaze, eyes even showing a hint of lilac.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he said quickly. “You’re on to something. Don’t let me break your flow.”
She found it in a moment, poking her finger at the screen. “This one, here. But we don’t have a chalice. That’s just a big-ass cup, right?”
Antoine leaned in to see. “‘Drink first of the Source…’” He looked at her. “What’s the Source?”
“I’m the Source. It’s my blood, my strength.”
“Huh.” He read on. “‘…then of the Chalice. Mark the Source above the heart, and anoint the Chalice to receive what flows unseen.’” He frowned, leaning back again.
