by AJ Sherwood
“Rather my thought on it.” Alric kept his hands in his pockets and continued to watch.
“Poor Baldewin. He’s never been able to quite keep up with Ravi’s speed.” Lisette chuckled, obviously able to hear the growls of frustration even from here.
“There’s very few in this clan who can.” Wind dragons were normally the fastest of them all. It wasn’t a surprise Ravi could outfly the clan. Something about their more streamlined build, the larger wingspan proportions, helped their speed.
“If those three are keen on picking the sport back up, maybe we can modify the game rules and create smaller teams,” Lisette suggested. “Especially if we find more mages, I think it’s possible to re-create the old days. Although the field will need some renovations, as it’s been left alone to the elements too long.”
“That would be nice,” Alric agreed, a touch nostalgic. “We’ve not played in ages. I’m not sure if I even remember the rules anymore.”
“Hmm, yes, we might have to dig out the old rule books and refresh our memories.” Lisette regarded him from the side of her eye. “And why exactly are you watching from here? You could be in the bleachers next to Cameron if you wanted to watch.”
Alric carefully didn’t look at her. “Cameron needs more one-on-one interaction with the rest of the clan that doesn’t involve me.”
“In other words, you’re trying to shove him off on other people and see if he clicks with someone else? Alric, really,” Lisette sighed as if he were a particularly dense student and she wanted to smack sense into him. “Do you not see how that boy looks at you?”
He did, but…. “I can’t monopolize him. It would be unfair. Every single person in this clan will give way if I make my interest too obvious.”
“Ugh, I hate this responsible side of your nature. Will you just—oh dear.”
Alric’s head snapped around as he caught that worried tone in her voice. In the split second he’d taken his eyes off the players, Baldewin had swooped down and caught Cameron up. Even as he watched, Baldewin lifted them both back into the sky. Alric’s stomach dropped out. Sure, the game called for the mages to fly with the dragons, but that was with harnesses to keep the mages locked in. To prevent anyone from slipping and falling.
Baldewin wore no such harness.
Agitation rose hard and fast, and Alric shifted uneasily under it. His dragon reared its head, regarding the possible danger Cameron was in, and growled out its own displeasure. What was Baldewin thinking? Alric expected this kind of behavior of Ravi, not Baldewin.
“He’s always been too competitive,” Lisette muttered, already turning for the nearest staircase at a half-jog. “But really, I expect him to have better sense than this.”
Alric followed right at her heels, feeling better about her obvious concern. See, it wasn’t just him overreacting. Lisette was of the same mind.
It took them several minutes to cross the distance between garden and game field, and Alric kept his eyes mostly on Cameron the entire time. It felt like his heart lived in his throat. He believed firmly Baldewin would keep hold on Cameron, that his friend would keep him safe. But the chance of an accidental slip kept Alric’s nerves on edge.
He knew precisely how much damage could be caused in a moment, after all.
Lisette marched onto the field like a drill sergeant on the warpath. She lifted both hands, calling on the wind herself, and then chopped it in a sharp motion downwards. “Vente descen gev adi!”
Both Ravi and Baldewin’s heads snapped downwards as the long-distance smack reached them, Lisette’s wind slapping them on the top of their heads. They stopped fighting over the ball and turned, hovering in place.
“What was that for!” Ravi complained to her.
She yelled back, “You don’t take a young mage who has no knowledge of cushioning spells up in the air without a harness, ihr Vollpfosten! Bring him back down this instant!”
Sheepishly, Baldewin drifted back down and gently landed, settling carefully before he released Cameron to stand on his own two feet. Cameron also looked a bit sheepish, as if only then realizing the possible danger.
Alric regarded all three of them and wanted to bash heads together. Why were younger men always so reckless with their safety? Did they truly believe no danger could come to them?
“Baldewin, I know you have better sense than this,” Lisette chided, her hands on both hips. “Pray use it. Alric’s heart was in his throat watching you pick Cameron up like that.”
He couldn’t dispute that. It had been.
“Kindly don’t give our king heart failure,” Lisette continued, and Baldewin looked properly abashed now.
Baldewin gave him a duck of the head. “Tut mir leid.”
With a sigh, Alric nodded, accepting this.
“And Cameron, I think it’s fine to play this game with them,” Lisette continued, still in drill sergeant mode. “But if you’re going up, we have harnesses for it, so have someone put a harness on first before you fly.”
“Oh.” Cameron blinked, and it was obvious no one had mentioned the harnesses to him. “Sure.”
Shaking her head, Lisette turned sharply on a heel and marched back into the castle, muttering to herself as she went. Ravi gathered up the ball and sheepishly carried it back to the equipment locker. Baldewin followed him for absolutely no reason Alric could discern. Making a clean escape, eh?
He’d definitely have to talk to those two later about this. But for now, Alric let it go.
Cameron was more than a little windblown, hair in a sexy disarray around his face, a flush of color in his cheeks. He came up to Alric and put his palm directly on Alric’s chest, brow quirked. “Wow, I can feel it thumping. I really did scare you. Sorry.”
He couldn’t resist putting his own hand over Cameron’s, holding him there a little longer. He liked Cameron touching him, especially right now, with his heart still racing. “I’m glad you were having fun, truly. Just next time, take more precautions?”
“Absolutely promise.” Cameron’s eyes were sharp on him, evaluating, and Alric wasn’t sure what he saw in his face. But something of Alric’s worry must have shown through as Cameron’s expression softened. “I think I owe you a drink for that scare. Is there a bar somewhere in the castle?”
There was. Alric had no intention of going there and potentially sharing him with other people. Not just then. Not when he needed ten minutes with Cameron and a little peace after that heart-stopping display. “I’ve got a mini-bar in my study.”
“Even better. I’m a little tired after playing with magic. I could use a few minutes off my feet. Not that I know how to get there from here.” Cameron made a face. “I’m still learning the ins and outs of the castle. Lead me?”
“Of course.” Alric reluctantly let go of his hand and half-turned to show the way.
Cameron dropped his hand and closed it over Alric’s, the grip light and easy. It felt incredibly nice, really. Alric hadn’t held hands with another man in so long that he’d forgotten the simple pleasure it brought. And Cameron’s hand felt good, the slender fingers confident as they wrapped around his own.
There was absolutely no need to hold hands as Alric led him through the castle.
He kept hold of Cameron’s hand anyway.
Lately Cameron felt like he was back in school in some ways, off to attend a lecture. A personal, one-on-one lecture with a master in a field he actually wanted to study.
That first time he’d called on wind had been eye-opening in more than one way. It had felt incredible, of course, to feel magic coursing through him. Literally coursing through his body like he was a conduit of electricity. Cameron suspected he’d be chasing the high of that moment for the rest of his life.
But in that moment, too, his mind had opened to a possibility he had closed off. With those self-imposed restrictions blown out of the water, Cameron finally understood why engineering had appealed to him but had never satisfied him. It was similar to magic in a sense. Taking mul
tiple elements and designing them in such a way that they worked to fulfill a purpose—that was similar. It just wasn’t what he was made to do. What he’d always been meant to do.
Cameron had taken this European trip as a reward to himself for finishing a master’s he hadn’t actually wanted to do. Never did he imagine it would lead him to what he was born for. Thank god he’d gone despite the expense.
Lisette brought him into her workroom, which was starting to feel like a second home after all the hours he’d spent in here. It looked something like a cross between a library, chemistry lab, and a storage room for hazardous materials. She had a fridge in one corner, stainless-steel counters wrapping around in a U-shape, and another stainless-steel island in the middle with deep, double sinks. Her desk and the shelves holding all the materials dominated the other side of the rectangular room, away from this area.
Cameron suspected there was a reason for the divide. The designs carved into the walls, floor, and ceiling forming a magical barrier between the two spoke volumes. It wasn’t active now—he could cross readily over it—but if something did go down, that magical barrier would snap up in a heartbeat.
“You’ve picked up invocation very well,” Lisette told him with a proud smile over her shoulder. She led the way to the island and the barstools tucked in there. “I’ve discovered that the main stumbling block in teaching invocation is always the language, but anyone who is bilingual has an easier time of it. You speak something aside from English?”
“Korean. Not completely fluent in it, we mostly learned it to speak with family. But yeah.”
“That’s helped you in this case.” She took a stool and sat, perfectly at ease. Her eyes remained on him as he also sat. “I thought we’d start in on the basics of potions today, as Alric needs another batch. It’s a simple enough potion to make, and heaven knows he needs it on a consistent basis.”
This seemed a good opening to ask the question plaguing Cameron. “The injury he sustained…I was told it was from the war?”
“I won’t tell you the full tale. That’s his to speak of.” Her lips pursed, and she unbent enough to admit, “It’s rather extensive. He suffered the brunt of a spell, and it ripped into the musculature and ligaments on his left side. You’ve seen traces of the scar on his hand and wrist?”
Cameron nodded, his inner vision filled with an idea of what must have happened. His own body ached in sympathetic reaction. God, that must have been so painful.
“It’s much worse and more extensive than that. It extends up to the back of his neck, over his entire shoulder blade, and spiderwebs down over his spine and toward his waist. In dragon form, his wing is deformed. He can’t fly with it at all. In human form, he has little strength in the appendage. His movement is also limited in some ways. He never picks up anything with that hand, not anything with weight to it, anyway.”
The litany was horrifying. Cameron ached for the man, as that had to be beyond difficult. Everyday life had to be tough when he was in that much pain. But he’d never let on. Cameron had noticed he always used his right hand for everything. It wasn’t until the fight with the guys who’d tried to kidnap him—holy mother of— “Wait, he fought off those guys to rescue me with that kind of injury?!”
“You’re that precious to him,” Lisette answered simply, her hands splayed. “And it’s not that he has no strength at all, just not the strength he was born with.”
Hell, no wonder the fight had taken so much out of Alric.
If this was Lisette’s way of giving Cameron the opportunity to help Alric in return, to balance those scales a little, he was game. And even if that wasn’t her plan, Cameron wanted to capitalize on the opportunity. “Okay, so potion. Is this a pain reliever?”
“Yes. It also warms the muscles and ligaments. The potion is more of a salve, something we topically apply to the area to keep him from stiffening up.”
“How often do you apply it?”
“Once a day. Generally in the morning, which is partially why I brought you in so early. We’re out at the moment. Well, there’s a trace amount in the bottom of the jar, but it’s not enough to cover everything. Since we can mix this up in five minutes, I think we should try to catch Alric before he leaves his bedroom.”
“Okay.” Cameron looked around and didn’t see a single ingredient out. The counters were perfectly clear. “So where do we start?”
“Let’s assemble ingredients. We’ll need reflected sunlight, untouched snowflake, distilled frankincense, and carrier oil.”
Cameron followed her to the shelves on the other side of the room. Everything was clearly labeled in neat print (in German, natch), the jars ranging in size and opacity of glass. Some of them sparked and flamed, others were still. Lisette pointed to the jars he needed to pull. A few jars reverberated, as if the contents were too powerful to be contained by mere glass. Cameron eyed those uncertainly, not at all sure if he should be ready to duck and cover.
Fortunately, they were on the other side from those, and the jars he pulled were much tamer.
“Now, review for me. You learned the power levels for each type of element. Elements commonly found in nature are…?”
“A one in power. Anything with inherent power to it will be a two.”
“Very good. And the elements in your hands?”
Cameron regarded the two jars. “I would think reflected sunlight and untouched snow isn’t common-common, so maybe a two?”
“Excellent. You’re correct. What about the distilled frankincense?”
“Well, you just said distilled, so I would think a two as well.”
“Correct. I’ve distilled this down to enhance its potency. And the carrier oil?”
“One, unless you’ve done something to it.”
“I have not.” Lisette went back to the island. “You’ll discover as you go that most potions generally have between three to five ingredients. Never more than six. Part of that is because most potion ingredients are powerful and you can’t mix too many together.”
Right, he remembered reading about this. It had been interesting to him and one of the facets of magic that made perfect sense. “I can see that. Anything over a twelve in power is an anti-spell, right? So if you have six ingredients all mixed together, and they’re all at least a two in power, you’re in anti-spell territory.”
“Close to it.” Lisette put the jars down and regarded him, her head canted. “So that made sense to you, did it?”
“Sure. It’s like making sure you don’t have too much power going through an engine. Too much power would tear it apart.”
Lisette gave him a nod, pleased. “Your engineering background is making this easier on you. Anti-spells often have a tendency to backfire on the caster. They’re unstable by nature and generally result in either complete failure or explosions. That said, there are always magicians who try for them, and sometimes they do succeed. I personally wouldn’t gamble on it, though.”
“Seems like a really poor bet to make to me.” Cameron imagined he’d have to be very desperate or crazy to try it. Mostly crazy. “Okay, so if everything here is a two in power, except the carrier oil, then it’s a seven in power altogether?”
“Correct. We don’t try to force something to be higher in power. It often has the opposite result of our goal. We instead focus on blending together elements that work well together.” Lisette pointed to each in turn. “The reflected sunlight works in conjunction with the frankincense to warm and relax the muscles. The untouched snow cools the inflamed areas and soothes the pain. The carrier oil is a vehicle to mix everything together and apply it to the skin.”
“And I speak a spell to put it together?”
“Not all potions require it. But it does work better in this case if a mage applies it, as our magic can give a gentle boost to the salve.”
Cameron thought about that for a moment. It would be hard to apply something on your own back, especially if it took up most of the left side. Alric struck him as fair
ly independent though, and extremely shy about letting anyone see his injured body. His suspicions stirred. “Is that really what it is? Or is that what you tell Alric so you can apply it for him?”
“You’re sharp,” Lisette approved, eyes twinkling. “I’ll let you apply this after we’re done making it.”
Oh-ho. Why him and not her? Unless…more suspicions stirred. “Lisette, by any chance, are you trying to play matchmaker?”
Lisette kept her expression prim even as she pulled out a stone mixing bowl from underneath the counter. “Stone works best for potion making. Polished stone, that is.”
Cameron made a mental note even as he pressed for the information he really wanted to know. Because he needed to get to the bottom of this before he dug himself into an embarrassing corner. “I’m asking because I honestly can’t read the man. He’s giving me very mixed signals.”
Her eyes cut to his face, examining him. “Are you interested in him, then?”
“Excuse you, the man’s so hot it’s a wonder he doesn’t set things on fire. Me—I’m talking about setting me on fire. And he’s charming, like seriously did he kiss the stone at Blarney Castle? And he’s protective and alpha in the very best of ways, not to mention he gave me that sweet, teasing kiss, and if you hadn’t been in the room with us at the time, I so would have jumped him.”
“You should have done it anyway,” Lisette answered baldly, eyebrow arched.
“Ha! So he is interested! Damn, I wish he wasn’t so hard to read.” Cameron considered all of this for a moment, running it through his head to see how viable it sounded. Alric would tease and flirt one second, disappear the next. Cameron had never dealt with a man who did this push-and-pull before. Or maybe it wasn’t even that. Maybe it was a culture gap? Did Alric possibly think Cameron was just flirty by nature and wasn’t really interested? There was also quite a bit of an age gap between them; maybe Alric thought him too young? But no, he’d kissed Cameron, so that couldn’t be it.
