by D G Swank
“Just make it out the door and into the woods and let me worry about the rest.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I trusted him, another surprising insight. But he’d proven multiple times that he cared for my well-being, even if saving his own neck was likely his chief motivator.
Every step was a struggle, even more so when we made it out of the building. Yesterday, it had taken us ten to fifteen minutes to hike out to the lake. “I’m not sure I can make it, Zane,” I said again.
“You can,” he encouraged. “Only twenty more feet.”
“That’ll just get us to the path.”
“Get there and we’ll face the rest after that.”
But when we reached the path, he told me to walk another twenty feet, and I wondered if he planned to cajole me the whole half mile to the pond.
I glanced up at him, caught off guard at the worry in his eyes.
He wavered. “Okay. Change of plans, but I need you to trust me.”
“Okay.”
He watched me for a moment, as if suspicious of my sudden agreement, but he must have sensed my lack of artifice, because he ultimately continued. “It involves leaving the Dark Set compound.”
“Did we leave the compound yesterday?” I’d wondered but hadn’t dared ask.
“Yes, but this time we’ll leave by car. Mine.”
What was his game? I searched for some sign of duplicity but found none. Perhaps I was cooperating too quickly, but I was too weak to care at the moment. “Okay.”
Relief washed over his face. “I’m going to carry you to my car. I’ll hide you with glamour.”
“What if someone’s watching?”
“You let me worry about that.” He lowered his face closer to mine and asked again, “Do you trust me?” he asked, directly this time.
I suspected what he was suggesting could get us both into big trouble, but I found myself saying, “Yes.”
Chapter Fourteen
I could feel his cool, delicious energy envelop me as he scooped me up into his arms.
“You could move me with teleportation,” I said as I settled into his chest, liking the feel of his firm, strong muscles far more than was appropriate. “I know you’re strong enough even if you hide it from Donall.”
“You give me far too much credit.” His arms tightened around me as he strode across the lawn. “You barely weigh a hundred pounds so it’s easier to carry you than it would be to move you with magic.” He was silent for a moment, then added, “Once you learn to handle your magic better, your body will stop expending so much energy fighting it, and you’ll start to gain weight. I was a scrawny bean pole when I went to the Druids and look at me now.”
I didn’t have to look at him. The rock-hard muscles against my side were proof enough. My magic had already latched onto his, clearing some of the magical fog.
“Are we counterparts?” I asked absently. “Cool and heat. My magic reacts to yours. Seeks it out. Does yours do the same with mine?”
He hesitated. “It’s because your magic is immature. I’ve learned to control mine.” He glanced down at me for a second, then lifted his gaze. “Your magic probably seeks mine out because it recognizes like for like.”
I wasn’t so sure that he was right, but there was no denying he knew more than I did.
“Why was it harder for me to leave the null room this morning?” I asked, picking up the question he’d stopped me from asking in front of the guards. “Was it because of the Druid magic?”
“I’ve told Donall a null room is a bad idea for you, but he insists that it’s giving you a respite. He thinks it will help you heal your mind after years of torment.”
I highly doubted Donall gave a flying fuck about my mind or my torment. I suspected it was more likely his attempt at a jail cell because he still didn’t trust me. Much better to keep me on ice until he was sure. “You disagree?”
“Magic doesn’t work that way. The stronger you are, the harder it is for your magic to slip back in.” He paused and let out a sigh. “He kept Rowan in a null room with her boyfriend at Radcliffe. She saw no adverse effects. But you and I are different, a fact that Donall doesn’t seem to appreciate and refuses to consider. What you did yesterday made you a stronger witch, and that’s why it was so bad today.”
“So tomorrow will be worse?”
“It depends on what we do today.”
“I need to be stronger. I need to learn how to control my magic.” And the orb. It was the only way I could do what I needed to do without relying on the book.
“And you need to do this for Donall.” The sharp edge in his voice made it clear he didn’t approve.
“I wouldn’t be here with you now if not for Donall.” The words left a bad taste in my mouth, but I couldn’t let anyone distract me from my purpose. Zane included. I liked being with him, and he affected my hormones too—not a good thing given that he had a sweet girlfriend and I was now engaged to a powerful, vindictive man.
He walked up to a car parked in the lot beside the path, stopping next to the passenger door, and slowly eased my feet to the ground. Staring down at me, he asked in a hard voice, “You’re really going to marry him?”
His question caught me off guard. “The Dark Set will likely tell women who they can and cannot marry once they are in control. Either way I’ll be forced into a loveless marriage, but by agreeing to the arrangement now, I’m ensuring I’ll be married to a powerful man who’s not terrible to look at instead of an old man like Peter Savage.”
He frowned but remained silent.
“Hadn’t thought of that part, had you?” When he didn’t respond, I said, “Contrary to what many people think, I’m not a fool. The Dark Set takeover is inevitable, and if I’m not careful, my mother’s previous allegiances could get me and my sisters killed.” I tossed my hair over my shoulder to make myself look more shallow. “I like living.”
“Perhaps you could ask for more time,” Zane said. “You could promise to marry him after the Dark Set takes complete control. That will likely take months, if not years.”
I squinted up at him. “Why would I wait? If I don’t marry him now, he might discard me after I use the Orb of Power. I’m hedging my bets.”
“Celeste.” The earnestness in his eyes seemed genuine. “He needs you. I don’t think he’d retaliate if you asked for a longer engagement.” He hesitated, then said, “I can speak to him if you’d like.”
“Don’t you dare!” I snapped. “It was my idea to marry him before the takeover. I want this.”
Something flashed in his eyes, and he took a long breath in and out, as if to calm his emotions. When he spoke, it was in a low, seething tone. “You want to marry a vindictive, sadistic monster who has no concern for your well-being?”
It was the most open he’d been about his disdain for Donall, something I’d only guessed at before now. I wanted to be open with him in return, but I couldn’t risk he’d run off and tattle to Donall. I doubted he would, but I just couldn’t risk it. And besides, nothing good could come of Zane and me being anything to each other. What I wanted didn’t matter.
“Being a witch under Dark Set rule means giving over control, Zane, surely you see that. I’m trying to use what little control I have while I still have it. And if that means being married to a monster, then so be it. You can take your judgment elsewhere.”
His face hardened and he jerked the car door open. “Your Majesty.”
He may have infused the title with plenty of snark, but I reminded myself it was better for him to see me that way.
We were quiet as he drove out of the parking lot, toward two sentries posted on the two-lane road leading away from the compound. He pulled to a stop and started to roll down his window, murmuring, “Stay silent and still.”
When the window was down, he called out cheerfully, “Hey, Reggie. How’s it going?”
“Good,” said a tow-headed guard who had to be Reggie, “but Donall is restricting traffic in a
nd out of the facility right now. You’ll have to turn back.”
Zane reached over my legs, careful to not touch me as he opened the glove compartment and pull out a folded piece of paper. “I have a pass,” he said, handing it to the guard.
Reggie looked it over while his companion stared off into the trees with a bored expression. “Okay. Looks like you’re good to go.”
Zane smoothly took the paper from the guard’s hands. “Great.” He tossed the paper onto the console between us, then rolled up the window as he drove down the two-lane road.
I picked up the paper to see what it said, hoping to find out how to create a pass of my own if the need arose, but my mouth dropped open when I saw it was blank. “You glamoured it.”
“In a way.”
“What if he asks around later to see if it was legit? And what happens when word gets out that you left the compound? I already covered for you after you abandoned me by the pond. How will we explain this one?”
He turned to me. “You covered for me?”
“Don’t let it go to your head. I need to keep you around so I can learn how to use my magic. If Donall’s pissed at you, I might not get to work with you anymore.” I wasn’t sure it was smart to tell him that much, but I certainly didn’t want him to suspect my other motivation: that I’d done it to protect him.
“How does this work?” I asked, still looking the paper over.
“The paper is permanently spelled. It shows the person reading it whatever they need to see to give me what I want.”
I blinked. “What?”
“It works better on humans, but it also works on weaker mages and witches. It’s not glamour so much as…”
“Mind control,” I finished. “Like you used on the guards in the hall.”
He gave me a purposefully blank look. “Mind control? Very few witches or mages can do such a thing.” He paused, then added, “I could accuse you of the same.”
I’d tried it before with limited success, and it had been a total crap shoot when I’d tried it with the guards earlier. However, I was certain that Zane had more experience than he was saying. “If anyone could do it, I’m sure it would be you.”
“You give me far too much credit.”
No, I suspected he purposely didn’t give himself enough credit. What was he up to? It was clear he hated Donall, and he didn’t seem to buy into all of the Dark Set bullshit, yet he was here, and he’d brought his girlfriend along for the ride. Was it because he saw the writing on the wall, like I’d claimed to, and was doing what he could to save them both? “Why did you walk out at dinner last night?” I asked.
He looked caught off guard by my question. “Being around that many people makes my magic difficult to handle at times.”
It was hard for me too, so I believed that, but I knew that there was more to it. “Why did you leave as soon as Donall announced our engagement?”
“Because that marked the official end of the dinner.”
“Donall noticed.”
Zane’s hands gripped the wheel. “I didn’t try to hide it, so I’m not surprised.”
I considered pressing further—I knew he wasn’t telling me everything, but I suspected his reasons had nothing to do with me. “Where are we going?”
“A hiking trail with a waterfall.”
I stared at him in surprise. “You had to carry me to your car, Zane. How will I be able to hike to a waterfall?”
“You’ve trusted me this far. Let me worry about the rest.”
We drove in silence for nearly five minutes before we reached a two-lane highway. Zane turned right, and a few minutes later we were in a small town. It looked like the kind of place with only one stoplight, which meant it wasn’t much different than the town near our farm. Before I knew it, we were pulling into the parking lot of a diner.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting breakfast,” Zane said matter-of-factly as he put the car in park.
“We’re supposed to be working,” I protested.
He turned to look at me. “What did you eat this morning?”
“Toast and some fruit.”
He shook his head. “Come on.” He didn’t wait for me, just got out and stood at the hood of the car.
Part of me was tempted to stay in the car, just to be capricious, but the thought of food made my stomach rumble. I followed him.
The place was only half full, so he found a booth next to a window facing the road. He ordered a pot of coffee and orange juice for both of us, then sent the waitress on her way.
“You’ve got the taking charge of women down pat,” I snipped.
His brow shot up. “Because I ordered you juice?” A frown spread across his face. “I suppose you’re right.” He didn’t look pleased by the revelation. “But I suspect your blood sugar’s low and orange juice should bring it up quickly.”
Now I felt bad about my accusation, but there was no denying he’d likely picked up some habits from the Dark Set. Even if he wasn’t there because he agreed with them, he’d spent months, maybe years, around them. “Well, thank you,” I said anyway.
He rested his forearms on the table and bent his neck so his face was inches from mine. “I’m not your enemy, Celeste. Or at least I don’t want to be.”
“If we’re both working for the greater good of the Dark Set, we’re on the same side,” I said with a tight smile. “Definitely not enemies.”
He looked like he was about to protest, then stopped. “True enough.”
It was clear neither one of us was being honest—and equally clear neither of us was about to break.
The waitress came back with our drinks and asked for our order. I only ordered fruit and toast, but Zane ordered a large breakfast sampler plate for himself along with a veggie omelet and fresh avocado on the side.
“You must be starving,” I said with raised eyebrows.
He leaned over the table, lowering his voice. “The omelet’s for you. Our bodies aren’t like everyone else’s. They struggle to contain our particular kind of magic. You need protein, Celeste, and I suspect you’re not getting enough of it here. Especially if they’re giving you bread for breakfast.”
I almost argued with him, but he was likely right on all counts. “Did you learn a proper diet from the Druids?”
“That was one of the first things they taught me. We need protein, much more than most people, and we need healthy fats.”
“The avocado,” I said.
“You especially need it now, while you’re training your brain to handle your magic.”
“You went to learn with the Druids when you were a teenager?” I asked.
“My mother sent me to the Appalachian Mountains when I was seventeen. I was a junior in high school and my formal traditional education was effectively over.”
“You didn’t graduate from high school?” I asked in surprise.
“My mother never saw the point of it. She plucked me from everything I knew and loved and sent me to the middle of nowhere with strict taskmasters.”
I felt a pang of sympathy for the boy he’d been. “That had to be hard.”
“Yes,” he said, cradling his cup of black coffee. “But it was necessary, even if I didn’t see it at the time. I was on a path to self-destruction. Our bodies aren’t made to contain this much magical ability, and if you add teenage testosterone surges to the mix? My mother made the right decision, even if I didn’t agree at the time.”
“But still,” I said. “Couldn’t the Druids have homeschooled you?”
“I homeschooled myself,” he said. “They let me read whatever I wanted, and they gave me access to the internet. Still, my training and meditation lasted hours every day, and sleep was an important part of the process. My brain needed time to heal, which meant I didn’t have much time for reading and learning outside of my magic.”
I twisted my lips into a sideways grin. “Still, you could have just blown off your training. It’s a sign of your strength of character
that you didn’t.” I paused, then added, “You know, I heard about you when I was a teen. My mother feared you.”
He seemed startled by that. “Feared me? Why?”
“Because of your power, and because it’s so rare for two expression mages to be born into one generation. She saw you as a threat to me.” I cocked my head, studying his face. “Was she right?”
He grinned, but it looked half-hearted. “You’ve never seemed afraid of me, Celeste. In fact, you challenged me the moment I walked into the room. Looks like your mother’s fears were groundless.”
I didn’t respond. He’d avoided giving me a direct answer, and I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
“She worried the Small Council would pit us against each other,” I said, watching him carefully. “Or that they’d put us together.”
He chuckled. “She feared for all possible outcomes. Which did she see as the lesser of the evils?”
“She hoped we’d never have contact,” I said. “She feared you’d be powerful enough to destroy me.”
He lowered his cup and watched me for several seconds before he said, “Then it’s a good thing you’ve come to the right side.”
Another non-answer.
“Was it hard growing up on your farm with only your sisters for company?” he asked.
“It wasn’t so bad. We went to school. We got jobs.”
“You were with non-magicals. Didn’t you feel magically isolated?”
“I had my parents until they died.” I shrugged. “Well, until my mother died and my father left. Then I had my sisters.”
“But they were hardly healthy company for your magic. Until recently, everyone thought your eldest sister was a magical dud, and your middle sister’s magic is too rare to be relatable. They wouldn’t have known how to help you.”
“We did fine.”
“You couldn’t have done that fine if you’re seeking help from your enemy,” he said.
I decided to be direct. “What are you getting at, Zane? Why the questions about my sisters and living on the farm?”
