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Chapter Nineteen
Tamsin
Blakes crosses his arms over his chest at my mention of work. “You do have to sleep at some point, you know.”
“I know,” I say. “Just a little bit longer tonight, then I’ll take a break.”
He looks like he might argue with me, but he lets it go. His head is probably still swimming from our fast and furious tryst on the table. I turn around so he can’t see me bite my lip in worry. Everything in my life is planned and intentional, it’s just how I do things. But that? That came out of nowhere.
Two things became clear to me in that moment before I kissed Blake. First, he’s the reason my magic has been going bonkers. I’d thought at first it was just being back here, the land itself. And that’s no doubt partly to blame. But ever since Blake and I got into the van this morning, my magic had buzzed stronger and stronger and stronger, until I couldn’t take it anymore.
And the second thing? Blake may cause the flare up of my magic, but touching him is the only thing that releases it. The moment he’d set his hand on my shoulder, I’d felt a rush of relief. Of release. And after he’d brought me to my big release, well, now I feel perfectly normal. I can think straight again.
Which is a big problem, because I don’t want to need anyone in the desperate way I’d needed Blake in that moment. It gives him way too much power over me.
So, I do what I do best, and I bury myself in my work. I’ve already made a lot of progress in my testing due to the vastly superior equipment I have here in Devon’s lab. I’m not ready to test on Luciana herself yet, but tests on her cell samples are looking better. A definite reduction in demonic cells.
What seems like just a few minutes later, a shadow falls across me as Blake steps up behind me. I look up at him inquisitively.
“It’s been a couple hours, Tamsin,” he says gently. “I’m starving, and you’re starting to look bleary-eyed. It’s nearly three in the morning.”
“Oh.” I straighten from where I’d been hunched over the microscope. “I had no idea.”
“Earlier Devon showed me where the staff apartments are, and he gave me the key to one. They’re right next door.”
I stiffen. “I can’t leave Luciana here alone.”
“She won’t be alone,” Blake says with a patient smile. “Because earlier I also introduced myself to the doctors on the night shift, as well as the security guards they have posted at both entrances. They’re actually fae warriors. No harm will befall your sister, I promise.”
I hesitate a moment but then nod. He’s right—now that I’ve paused, I can feel exhaustion taking over. If I push on when I’m this tired, I might make a mistake in my experiments, which could be disastrous. I hate wasting time for basic things like sleep, but it’s an unfortunate necessity of my body. And at least if we’re right next door, I can rush over if something happens.
We pass into the adjoining room with Luciana, and I give her a final dose of neutralizer before we leave. Blake leads us through the halls, introducing me to a couple of the doctors, who promise to check in on Luciana regularly. After making our way through the warren of hallways, we step out the back of the building into the night.
The cold is shocking after being inside for so long. Big, fat snowflakes spiral down from the black sky. It’s also piled up around us several feet high. Blake takes my hand so I don’t slip, and we head for a building behind the hospital. My legs feel icy as I trudge through the frozen parking lot.
A set of stone steps takes us up to the street above. We’re on a hill overlooking the city, and if anyplace can feel like a winter wonderland, it’s Edinburgh. Blake leads us down a row of townhouses and stops at the third one. We’re at the back of it, where a little walled garden frames a small patio. He turns at the gate into the garden, and we look out over the city.
It feels like we’re in a snow globe. Golden lights twinkle across the city, and the falling snow sparks like silver beads. Beautiful stone churches and castle-like buildings rise throughout, and cobblestone streets wind through it all. I’ve been here many times, but it never loses its magic. It is quaint and full of splendor at the same time.
I sweep my gaze across the snowy panorama, my eyes catching on little details: a frozen fountain in a small plaza, an avenue of trees strung with white Christmas lights, a statue of an angel next to a beautiful stone house. The city is silent and still at this hour, halfway to dawn. It’s the first feeling of peace I’ve felt in over a month.
Then I notice an old gray stone house looking out over a sweeping public garden. It’s a ways off, down the hill a bit and to the east. One corner of the house is rounded and forms into a small tower on the third floor. A tower with a red roof, though the rest of the house has a gray roof. I suck in a sharp breath.
“What is it?” Blake asks.
I point to the house. “My parents used to own that house. I didn’t realize the hospital was so close to it.”
Blake looks down at me. “I didn’t realize your family had a house in Edinburgh.”
“My mother was a professor at the university when I was younger, so she would stay here in the spring and fall semesters. But they sold it when she retired, when I was only ten. That’s why you don’t remember.” A rush of emotions moves through me. Joy and wonder and sorrow all at once. “We’d spend every Christmas there. My dad would put up a huge tree, using magic of course instead of a ladder. There’s this massive fireplace, and even a couple secret passageways that Luciana and I discovered. So many good memories.”
I feel a warmth in my heart at the same time that icy tears roll down my cheeks. Blake pulls me against him, and I can feel the thrum of his heart.
“They were great people, your parents,” he says softly. “I always loved the stories your mom would tell of her travels, all the ancient cultures she studied. And your dad was indeed the master of spellwork, but I remember that he’d always chop his firewood by hand even though he could have done it ten times faster with magic.”
I laugh. “Yes, he always insisted on hard work, and keeping a connection to the earth and the old traditions.”
We fall silent for several moments, and then Blake says, “I don’t usually like the city. But I like hearing you talk about it. I’d go anywhere with you. Explore anything.”
