The room erupted again, but I didn't hear any of it. Just felt Alice's eyes on me over Talin's shoulder, and felt the first fragile threads of a bond that I never thought was possible.
??. Please.
I didn't even know what I was praying for anymore.
Chapter 11
Elias
The Garden District hummed with protective magic as Talin and I walked through streets lined with ancient oaks. Spanish moss draped from branches like ghostly curtains, and the air thrummed with power that made my skin prickle.
This was witch territory. I'd needed explicit permission from Judy just to cross the wards without setting off every alarm in the coven.
Talin walked beside me, close enough that our arms brushed with each step. The contact sent sparks through the most intimate parts of me. Not the explosive fireworks from before, but something steadier. Warmer.
More terrifying.
"You're being too loud," she said.
I glanced at her. "Didn't realize I was saying anything."
"You're not." She gave me a curious glance. "But I can feel you brooding from here."
"I don't brood."
"Elias." She stopped walking and turned to face me fully. "You've been in your head since we left Lizzy's store. Just say whatever it is you need to say."
I flexed my hands, then shoved them into the front pockets of my jeans to keep from reaching for her. "I don't like this plan."
"Which part?"
"The part where you walk into a pocket dimension controlled by an ancient djinn who wants to use you as a magical connection, or whatever the fuck he has planned," I told her. "The part where I can't follow you. Can't protect you."
"You being there with me will keep me anchored here." She reached for my hand, pulled it free from my pocket, and laced our fingers together. "I can feel you now. Feel your heartbeat like it's my own. When I go in again to get Alex, that connection will keep me tethered to you. To this world. And it'll bring me back."
"And if it's not enough?" My grip tightened on her hand. "If Marcus finds a way to sever that bond or use it against you? What then?"
"You'll pull me back before that can happen." She said it with such certainty, such absolute faith in me that it made my chest ache. "I trust you."
You shouldn't.
The thought rose unbidden, born from a century of barely keeping myself grounded in reality without losing my mind to the past.
"Besides, you need me now—or my blood, at least—or you'll die, right? So I think that gives you a pretty good incentive to keep me alive."
"That's not the only reason I want to keep you alive, little witch," I said quietly. Pulling my other hand from my pocket, I brushed her hair back from her eyes where the wind had blown it as I struggled with the emotions whipping around inside of me. Emotions I wasn't used to, but that had been growing exponentially since the first night she walked into the club.
Her skin was cold and damp, like the weather, and her scent was muffled from all the layers of clothing she was wearing. I didn't like either. "Come on, let's get you home and inside where it's warmer."
We started walking again, her hand still in mine. We didn't talk. Just enjoyed the stillness of the night. The only sounds our footsteps and Talin's breathing. There was too much to say, and not enough time to say it, and I think we both just wanted to enjoy this moment of normalcy, such as it was.
The blood bond we now shared pulsed between us. I could hear hers rushing through her veins, louder than anyone else's, calling to me. Heard the rapid beat of her heart, saw the flutter of her pulse on the side of her throat and felt it at her wrist. Felt the anxiety stiffening her muscles reflected in the depth of her beautiful green eyes every time she glanced at me.
She was afraid.
Of me? I wondered. Why would she be afraid of me after everything that's happened between us?
I started to say something, to ask her what was going on, but then she squeezed my hand. I looked down at her to find her staring straight ahead. I followed her gaze.
