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Except there wouldn’t be. As I looked into Kai’s loving gaze, as I drank up his little pecks and the tender strokes of his fingers, I knew I couldn’t risk him. Despite how many times we’d been over the argument, I knew I had to distance myself from him. I didn’t have a choice.
“Okay,” I said, curling into him, letting the comfort he now poured into the bond soak into me. Tomorrow, I'd be better. Tomorrow, I'd be less selfish. For the moment, I was going to just let myself lay in his arms and cry.
Goodness knew, I'd plenty to cry about.
Chapter 21
Kai
Fort Canid finally rose up in the skyline, its impressive walls standing stark against the gray heavens behind it. I heaved a weary sigh, my soul weighed down by the events of the past few weeks.
One thing was for certain: I was falling harder and harder for Ayla with every passing moment. It wasn’t just the mind-blowing sex or our chemistry, but seeing how she acted in difficult situations that inspired me, moved me even, stirring up the pride dormant within my wolf. Then there was the intimacy of holding her while she fell apart… at least as much as Ayla would allow herself.
She should’ve been a mess, and it felt like she definitely wanted to be, but her life never really allowed her to let go of her emotions. It hurt me so deeply that she’d never felt safe enough to be able to break down, but I'd do my best to support her if she'd let me.
“Finally,” Darla breathed, having perked up considerably since she’d healed and rested during the few nights we’d stopped. “Once we’re in there, I’m going to eat my weight in carbs and then lay down in my tub for a few hours.”
“Gonna turn yourself into soup, eh?” Mad Dog said, grinning toothily, even though he sounded just as exhausted as the rest of us.
“Something like that. What about you, ol’ healin’ hermit?”
“What do you mean, what about me?”
“What are your plans for when we get back?”
“Sleep,” Ayla answered firmly. “On a real bed. In my own room.”
While I agreed with the sentiment, I also sensed her real desire to be alone, and not just that, but to be as far away from me as she could be without raising suspicion. I tried not to take it personally, but it was pretty difficult not to. I could sense yet another argument on the horizon, and honestly, I was half-tempted to put my fingers in my ears and chantuntil she finally gave up.
“Once I’m coherent again, I’m going to rope pretty much every single magic user into helping me with defenses, amplifying a shielding spell and a neutralizing field if I can.”
“A neutralizing field?” I said, if only to keep her talking. Her words were like a pleasant melody to me, a subtle soundtrack to make my life better, a bit brighter, and frankly, I needed as much of that help as possible. From where I was sitting, our situation had been pretty dire of late.
“Yes. Shielding helps deflect magic, but it doesn’t absorb it, and there are spells that are able to circumvent barriers because of it. So, by laying a neutralizing spell on top of a shielding spell, they cover for each other’s weaknesses.”
“Oh, it’s like two partners that have complementary strengths and flaws.”
Ayla offered me a look, but I could only give her one of my patented Prince Charming smiles. She just gave a nod. “Yeah, like that.”
“Makes sense to me,” Darla said. “Hey, I’m not exactly the most knowledgeable with magic, but with a complex artifact like that, isn’t it supposed to have… Oh, geez, what was it called?” The psychic pondered for a moment as we wearily marched forward. “Right! A blessing in it? Like a positive spell to go along with the offensive and defensive spells?”
The surprised look on Ayla’s face was quite amusing. “You know about the facets of magical relics?”
Darla had always been clever and well educated, but witches were so few in number that nothing about them was really common knowledge.
“Only cursory stuff. I know that most have at least three facets to represent the three crones: one for power, one for defense, one for blessing. Not all have to be selected at the same time—like a green witch could use one to make her garden flourish—but usually it’s either everything poured into one facet or its equally divided among the three. I haven’t heard of a ton with only two facets used.”
“That’s…” Ayla let out a tiny chuckle. “You never cease to amaze me.”
“Well, that makes sense, because I’m amazing.”
“Pfft, all right, slow your horses there.”
“I can’t. We left them behind over a week ago.”
Ayla rolled her eyes, and even I had to groan, but Darla traipsed right along.
“But yeah, do you think an amplification spell could work for the blessing? Or would it need to be more of a healing spell?” she asked.
