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“Is this okay?” she asked, nibbling at his lip.
Lucian tore his mouth away, his breath moving quickly. “Stars, Brinna–” He groaned when her hand pressed against his cock, still hidden by his trousers.
Brinna searched his face, shaped with blissful torture, his eyes dark with desire.
“Don’t stop.”
He kissed her, his mouth dominating her once more, but a door slammed, and tore him from her arms, leaving her standing outside the cottage in the dark.
Alone. Again. Each time felt more final that the last, and she swallowed against the fear growing in her chest.
“Lucian?” she called, but he was gone.
18
“Time,” Luc shouted, sitting straight up in his bed as if he was coming up out of a pool of water, oxygen deprived and wet with perspiration. He was hard as fuck. But it wasn’t time on his mind or rushing across his skin like an actual memory. It was that kiss.
“Fuck me,” he moaned and flopped back onto his bed. That kiss. He pressed his fingertips to his lips, wishing it had been there in his bed, wishing that when he’d had the opportunity the night of the dance, he’d done a better job of it. But as with most things, he’d been a coward. He palmed his cock, needing to take care of it, then gave up with a frustrated groan and got up. He’d have to face another day without Brinna. It put him in a foul mood.
When Nix arrived, he looked about as good as Luc felt, though maybe worse, pale, a shade of his usual itself.
“I’m worried about you,” Luc said the moment he laid eyes on his brother.
Nix ignored him. “You should talk. You look like shit. Did you dream of Brinna?” he asked, walking across the room to the windows. He stopped, his arms crossed in front of him.
“Yes.”
His brother paused. “Did she say anything about Auri?”
“She said she would try to Dream Walk with her…”
Nix looked over his shoulder at Luc and nodded.
“I thought of something,” Luc said. “Brinna made me think of it, well, the spell.”
Nix turned back to the window. “What about it?”
“The Oracle said something about magic and time yesterday, as we left. Then, my dream… well, it reminded me of the spell.” He thought again about standing in the woods with two Brinnas.
“The spell where I was stuck?”
“Yes. That spell. Auri’s wishes changed things outside the spell, but it got me thinking that there’s another version of Auri, of you and me, of Brinna, where Auri’s wishes didn’t change things. The Vasmost and its circles. The layers of alternates.”
Nix turned to fully face Luc. “So you mean perhaps we’re looking in the wrong era?”
“A possibility if magic is involved. If she is in fact from our godlines, we might still find her…”
“I hadn’t consideredthatpossibility.” Nix walked toward Luc, a bit more vigor in his step. “Let’s go.”
Sol faded away, and soon they were ensconced at a table in the library with Sister Prudence, once again surrounded by tomes as they searched indexes and lists for a clue.
“Brinna said maybe there’s royalty involved. It was in her mother’s dream.”
“We don’t keep records like that,” Sister Prudence said, setting more books on the table. “That would be mortal records, and their keeping isn’t as thorough.”
“But…” Nix’s voice faded, then he looked at Luc, his dark eyes sparkling with hope. “Father wanted to disown me for falling in love with Auri, thinking she was mortal.”
“Right.” Luc had a good idea where his brother was going with the thought.
