Finally, he reached the last bit, grinding the flame into it.
And the bubble dissipated like a cloud dissolving in the air.
Yarrow swatted the air. “It worked.”
Clutching the pages of her notes, Terlu darted outside the circle and sagged against a pillar. She was never going to try that again. It was too much of a risk. The laws were right—magic should be left to trained sorcerers, and amateurs shouldn’t experiment with spells, no matter how convinced they were that they understood the First Language. A real sorcerer wouldn’t have endangered their own life and the life of the person they loved.
Loved?
She liked him. She wanted him.
Love?
He crossed to her and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned against him and breathed in his solid strength, as well as the smell of smoke. “Are you burned?” she asked.
“I’m fine. You?”
“Fine. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Accidents happen. Next time, we know how to break it faster.”
She shook her head against his chest. “There can’t be a next time. It’s too dangerous.” It had been foolish to try, even egotistical. She was playing with forces she didn’t fully comprehend, and she had no one trained in spellcraft who she could ask. She was winging it, and she’d nearly gotten them both killed.
He tightened his arms around her. “Next time,I’ll be there with you again.Next time,we’ll know more.Next time,I’ll have the fire ready.”
She almost laughed, but she was afraid if she let the laugh escape, it would turn into a sob. “You trust me to try again? After that? We could have died. If we’d run out of air… If that hadn’t worked…”
“It worked,” Yarrow said, “and I know we can do this.”
He sounded so confident. So calm. Leaning her cheek against his chest, Terlu breathed in and out, trying to calm her racing heart.
We,he’d said.
He believes in me. In us.
“All right,” Terlu said. “We try again. But only after I figure out what went wrong and am absolutely one hundred percent certain I won’t accidentally murder us again, at least not in the same way.”
“Agreed.”
She kept her cheek against his chest, breathing steadily, until she felt her heart rate slow from a gallop and the panic subsided to a soft hum. Above, she heard snow falling softly on the glass ceiling. Far in the distance, a plant was singing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
At dawn, Terlu helped Yarrow make another batch of honey cakes. Together, they slid them into the oven and then washed the bowls and mixing spoons side by side while the cakes baked. Outside, the snow was crisp white in the morning sun. A cardinal was perched on a branch of a nearby pine tree, a brilliant red against the white and the green. Inside, the only sounds were the swish of water, the crackle of the fire, and the purr of the winged cat. It was perfectly peaceful, and Terlu had never felt more at home anywhere.
As she put away the flour, Terlu said, “After I deliver the cakes, I want to stop by Laiken’s workroom, and, if no one’s around to see, check the other notebooks for more clues as to the shield spell.”
He nodded. “Are you bringing Dendy?”
“He’s working with the other plants to seal more cracks.” She wanted to ask Yarrow to come with her, but she had no rational reason. She just wanted his company.
“Need my help?”
Yes.“Only if you want to come.”
“I…”
“You don’t need to. Up to you.”
