“My mirror,” I whisper. “Like Ineedany more bad fucking luck.”
I feel Flint chuckle. “We’ll fix it.”
We stand there, heart to heart, Flint’s arms holding me tight to his body for a long while.
“Flint?”
“Yes?” His voice is a deep grumble where my ear is pressed against his chest.
“Can you kindly explainwhat the fuck?”
“I’ll do my best.” He pulls back, looking down and studying my face. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.” I answer honestly.
“You will be.” He retorts, confidently. “Come on. Ihave an idea.”
Flint prods me into getting dressed. I’m exhausted from the onslaught and my mind is buzzing with so many questions. I don’t know what to ask or even how to ask it. The best I can manage is a continuous carousel of “what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck?!”. Flint nudges me out of the bathroom. I’d protest that I still need to finish brushing my teeth, but in the ridiculousness, I don’t even know where the hell my toothbrush went.
Is it normal to think of such trivial shit after a major upset or is this just an ADHD thing?
I glance around, realizing that Calida is gone. Hopefully she cleared the field before I lost control. Control I didn’t know I was supposed to be maintaining.
“What are we doing?” I ask, fighting my curls into a bun and anchoring it at the top of my head.
Flint is in the process of putting on his jeans. “We’re going to go get some air and talk.”
I sit on the bed, flopping back to stare at the ceiling. “What if I don’t wanna?” I know I sound like a petulant child, but I really don’t care.
“You'll feel better out in the light and air. The grass under your feet. You need to go touch grass.”
I bite back a groan. “Where did you hear that?”
He shrugs. “I’ve heard other people say it at the shop. What? Did I use it wrong?”
I stifle a giggle. “No.”
He reaches down, tugging me to a sitting position. Any humor drains away.
“You don’t need to look so distressed. We’ll figure this out.” He presses a soft kiss to my fingertips. “We always do.”
The late morning sunlight slants through the trees as I lead Casie back through the park, back towards where we had our picnic. It seems like a lifetime ago already. When I chose it, I did so carefully — hidden enough to not be spied by unnecessary prying eyes. At the time, it was so no one would notice Calida joining us and I could ease her into my use of magick. Today, however, I’m even more grateful that the park is largely vacant. The open space will come in handy should anything explode. Now that Ash is regaining some of her power, I’ll have to help her learn to control it again. Otherwise, every time her emotions run away with her, she’s going to manifest.
The first thing I do is cast a shield around the area, to block others from seeing or hearing what we’re about todo. I lay a blanket on the thick grass, gesturing for Casie to sit, while I make a circle of stones a few feet away.
“You look pleased with yourself,” she mutters.
I give her a smirk and drop to a crouch, adjusting the last rock.
‘Isn’t he always?’Calida’s voice sings sweetly in our minds. I glance up, finding her perched on a low branch nearby, tail flicking as though she’s heard the beginning of this argument before.
That’s because she has.
“What are we doing here?”
“You wanted to talk so we’re going to talk. I’ll answer what I can but, Cas, I need you to know — I don’t have all the answers.”
She nods. She seems so lost, so fragile.
