“This decision,” she said quietly. “It’s not…is it because of me?”
Cian’s brow creased in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Do you not think I’m ready? Or –” Ashlynn shrugged, “do you not want –”
“Oh, Gods, no. Ash,” Cian said urgently and then calmly smoothed the skin of her cheek. “If there’s one thing I’m sure of in all of this Damn mess, it’s you. It’s everything about you, and us. Whatever happens, I’m doing it by your side. Nowhere else. That much I can swear.”
Ashlynn tipped her chin triumphantly as his love filled her up. She smiled down at him, wanting him, and shifted to slide herself over Cian’s waist. Her warm center molded against him and he reacted with a slow groan and an upward motion, grinding them together. Ashlynn’s bare breasts still bared to the space between them as Cian laid beneath her and smooth the soft, curvy lines around them.
“Gods, how did I get so lucky?”
“Luck has nothing to do with it,” Ashlynn replied with a purr.
“More like fate,” Cian said, more serious than she.
He reached to slip down his underwear and swiftly moved to her center as Ashlynn lowered herself down. Cian let out a deep growl as their bodies moved together as one. A fluid motion. Cian’s shaky arms wrapped around Ashlynn’s back and held her tightly in a desperate hold as they rolled back and forth. Back arched, Ashlynn cast her gaze above and a helpless cry of passion escaped her throat.
Cian was right. Every word he said about loving her. She knew them all to be true.
Because she felt them, too.
***
Past the point of no return, Ashlynn and Cian lay wide awake, cradled in one another’s arms. Unable to sleep. The consistent beating of Cian’s heart against her cheek offered a comforting rhythm as she contemplated how to tell him about the curse Serena’s searching for.
“Marry me,” Cian murmured softly, breaking the long, sleepy silence.
“What?” Ashlynn exclaimed and shifted to look up at his face.
The corner of Cian’s mouth curved upward. “Marry me.”
Ashlynn’s mind spun as she shook the million question from her head. “Why so sudden?”
“Well, for one, you’re completely right. Sticking to the plan of uniting the Boswells with Cineals would end the hostilities and grant me the ability to protect the new clan.” He grabbed Ashlynn’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “Would give us the ability.”
Her eyes glossed over. This was exactly what she’d wanted all along.
“And, for two,” Cian continued. “Because I want to spend the rest of –” his lips trembled, “my life with you.”
Still at a loss for words, Ashlynn’s mouth gaped. “Cian…I –”
“Just say yes and we’ll leave now,” he interrupted with a crazed look in his eyes.
“What?”
“Marry me and we’ll pack a bag right now and hop on the first plane to Vegas.”
“Vegas?” The foreign word swirled in her mind. She’d never heard it before.
Cian’s sudden change in direction was throwing her for a loop and she couldn’t make heads or tails or her own thoughts. Of course, she wanted to marry Cian. That’s all she’s ever wanted. But he’d wanted to wait. All along, he said to wait for the right time. Ashlynn grabbed her silk nighty and slipped it on as she got out of bed.
“Cian, you’re going to have give me a moment.”
He scurried after her and stood by her side. Oblivious to his own nudity in the open window. “A moment for what?” he asked, reaching for her. “Ash, don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind now.”
“No, Gods, no,” Ashlynn replied. “I just want to make sure it’s what you truly want right now.”
Cian’s lips moved to reply but Ashlynn watched his eyes widen in terror as he grasped his chest. A loud groan pushed from his body and he tumbled backward.
“Cian!” Ashlynn cried and grabbed the sheet to cover his body. “What’s wrong? What’s happening?”
He bellowed an aggravated sound and turned back toward her, still grasping at his chest. His eyes, full of tears, locked on Ashlynn’s terrified stare. He was helpless to whatever was happening, that much she could tell. Just as helpless as she. The sheet fell to the floor, revealing Cian’s naked form once again and Ashlynn gasped in horror.
Black veins crept out from an inky handprint branded just above Cian’s heart. The dark lines spiderwebbed all across his chest, reaching for the rest of his body. His face paled and his eyes rolled as Ashlynn tried to ease his fall to the floor.
“Cian!” she cried out as his body went limp in her arms and she could do nothing but crumble to the floor with him. “Cian!” Ashlynn screamed once more.
But it was too late, he was gone.
Chapter Six
It was the pain that made Cian realize he wasn’t yet dead.
It traveled through him, an unstoppable force, attacking his bones, his muscles, the very blood in his veins. Cian’s body thrashed about, he could feel it, but it felt as though he were watching it through a fog.
A fog made of acid.
It burned, spreading like wildfire through his body, bringing unthinkable agony. He begged for oblivion. He slowly surfaced, pushing through the pain, swimming towards the boundaries in search of something, something…
Ashlynn’s face blurred over Cian and her voice called to him, beseeching him to not die. Cian blinked, trying to clear the film obscuring his sight, and focused on returning to the woman he loved. As his consciousness cleared, Cian reached for his magic and, instantly, felt the cool relief of it flowing through his veins. He exhaled the breath that had been caught painfully in his lungs and pressed his hand to his bare chest. His fingers traced a maze of raised lines that hadn’t been there before.
“What happened?” Cian asked, looking down at his skin.
He gasped and felt the blood rush out of his face as he stared at the imprint of what was obviously Serena’s hand and the dark magic she’d inflicted on him. From the mark spread an inky web of veins that were halted in their progression, for now. Cian could feel his magic, born of the earth, balk at the presence of the darkness, making his stomach churn in disgust.
He pushed up from the floor slowly, letting himself adjust. Tears covered Ashlynn’s cheeks and wet his chest as she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him.
“I thought you were dying,” she said through sobs, muffled by his body.
Automatically, Cian’s hand came up to run over her hair, soothing her as he murmured assurances that he was fine when, inside, he felt anything but. His brain was still foggy, but it was coming back. They’d been talking about getting married, about eloping to Vegas, then a tsunami of pain had crashed over him, sucking him down in an instant.
He could feel it inside, the darkness. It was moving, like a thing alive, through him, slower now than it had in those first moments but still snaking its way through his body. It was more than that, though, he thought, hugging Ashlynn closer while pressing kisses to her head. He could feel it in his soul.
It was interesting to finally feel his soul as corporeal. His people never questioned the presence of the soul, since it was the connection between it and the elements that created their magic, but to feel it pulsing inside him, dying inside him…
Cian shuddered and squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his jaw tightly to stop the fear. When Ashlynn stopped shaking, he pulled back and looked down at her.
“I’m still me,” Cian murmured gently, kissing her mouth softly. “We have time.”
Though he didn’t know how long that time would be.
***
“Tell me again what Faith said about the grimoire.” Ashlynn twisted the sheets in her hands, unable to stay still as she pelted Cian with questions.
Cian remained calm, knowing he would ask as many questions if it were Ashlynn’s soul on the line. She loved him, he could feel that as deeply as he now felt the curse,
/> “She said that, as far as she knows, it holds the only reference to the cure in existence and that, unless we manage to get it back from Serena…” he trailed off, not wanting to voice his future.
“Your soul will die.” Ashlynn finished for him in a whisper. She swallowed hard, and the pain she felt played across her features. Her hands balled up into fists that lay helplessly on her lap.
Cian tore his gaze from her. It wouldn’t help his focus to be consumed with Ashlynn’s pain. He needed every brain cell he could muster to figure out a viable course of action. If no other record of the curse and its cure existed, then they’d have to find Serena and steal the grimoire back from her grubby little hands.
“We’ve been trying to track her down but none of the tracer spells we’ve tried have worked. Her parents even attempted a search with their combined blood, her blood, and found nothing. Whatever blocking spell she’s using, it’s like nothing we’ve seen before.” He raked a hand through his hair.
“It’s probably from the grimoire,” Ashlynn muttered, “which means we need to find another means of locating her.” She forced a smile on her lips and patted his forearm reassuringly.
“The best people we have are already searching,” Cian didn’t want to argue but his frustration level was so near the edge, it was hard to keep it at bay.
Ashlynn lifted her hand to his chest and covered the darkness inked there by Serena. “They aren't us,” she whispered. “The universe brought me through time and space to find you and I refuse to believe it did that just to take you from me.”
Sweet magic poured from her palm into his chest, flowing around the stain like a soothing balm. Cian felt his overworked emotions respond to her power as she gazed into his eyes and offered what healing she could.
“We’ll find a way,” Ashlynn promised, laying a soft kiss on his lips. “I promise.” She shifted and stood up. “I have to use the bathroom. Be right back.”
Cian stared at her beauty as she crossed the loft and saw it radiate from deep within her soul. His heart seized painfully as a thought popped into his mind. What if Serena used the curse on Ashlynn?
No, he abandoned the thought immediately. Serena had made it clear that she expected him to join her once his soul was corrupted. She’d seem certain enough that he knew she’d never risk adding evil Ashlynn to the mix. Even under that kind of influence, Serena couldn’t be sure he’d choose her.
He closed his eyes and tried to push away the fear that had cooled the blood in his veins at the thought. Ashlynn’s soul was pure and good, and he’d keep it that way, even if it meant sacrificing everything he was for her. She was more than he’d ever dared to hope for in life and he’d fight tooth and nail to keep her safe.
Love, pure and sweet, swept through him, filling his heart so intensely that it felt for a moment as if it would burst. That kind of love for someone other than family was still so foreign to him that he stilled and examined it. If they failed, he’d lose this feeling forever.
Going on instinct, he reached for the emotion with his magic, letting his essence twine around the love he felt, fusing with it, becoming more than it was alone. An image materialized in his mind, of a slim white band, carved with an intricate Celtic pattern, and topped with a perfect opal, tinged the palest of blues that sparkled with the brilliance of the sun. Cian opened himself further, exposing his soul, or what was left of it, to the universe and pushed every ounce of his magic into that bond.
A flash of light filled the room, blinding him momentarily even through his closed eyelids. Ashlynn must have seen the light or sensed the magic and burst out of the bathroom a moment later, her eyes wide with fear.
“What happened?” she demanded, darting her gaze around the open space as if she expected to find Serena waiting with another curse. She held up a brush as a weapon.
Cian’s lips twitched. She was a fighter, this one. Even when she’d first appeared from the past, terrified and confused, she’d been prepared to fight. She’d fought to find a way home, then to find her place among his people, and now she was fighting to keep his soul intact. Hope swirled within him. If she’d managed to fight her way through all those circumstances, maybe she’d find a way to win this battle, as well.
Ashlynn lowered her makeshift weapon and frowned. “What was that?” She walked across the room, still casting glances around for danger, and stopped just short of the bed. Her gaze came to rest on the ring resting on Cian’s palm.
A quiet gasp escaped her lips as she stared at the ring. “Oh,” she whispered breathlessly, unable to pry her gaze from it. The magic that had formed it hummed, calling to their magics. It felt like love and life and hope, and Cian knew Ashlynn felt it as keenly as he did.
Cian lifted it from his palm and held it up. The light caught the opal and silver band and for a second, it seemed to glow. Cian smiled and lowered himself to the floor, balancing on one knee.
“From the moment you stepped through time and came into my life, you changed everything. I was lost and uncertain of my future, but too afraid to stop the inevitable. You gave me hope and filled my world with light. You touched a place in me no one has ever seen, let alone laid claim to. I love you. I love you more than I ever believed was possible.”
Cian blinked back emotion and cleared his throat, overcome by the way Ashlyn was looking down at him, with her heart and soul in her eyes. “I don’t know if I’ll have five days, five weeks, or a lifetime to spend by your side, but I don’t want to waste a second of it whatever time we have. Marry me, Ashlynn,” his voice broke slightly. “Marry me.”
Ashlynn’s chest rose and fell quickly, and her gaze never left his for an instant. For a long moment, she didn’t move, didn’t speak, then she fell to her knees and threw her arms around him. She buried her face in his neck and squeezed with all her might.
Cian felt her speak but didn’t hear the words that reverberated through his chest. He pulled back a bit, holding her by the shoulders to keep her still, and peered down at her face, which damp.
“Yes,” she murmured. “Yes, yes, yes,” Ashlynn repeated that one word over and over as her breath came in quick gasps and tears poured from her eyes. “A million times, yes. Cian,” she covered his face with kisses that left him wet and deliriously happy, “I love you with all that I am. I can feel your love in this ring, it feels like home.” She held out her left hand and waited.
Cian’s hand was steady as he slipped the ring on Ashlynn’s finger and brought her hand to his mouth to seal the moment. His magic bonded with hers, becoming as much a part of her as her own magic, and the light that had burst from him when he’d pulled the ring into existence formed again, spreading out to encompass them both. It pulsed with life around them and filled him with the hope he so desperately needed.
The light died suddenly, snapping off so abruptly that it felt like a slap to Cian’s magic. He dropped Ashlynn’s hand and looked about, confused as she’d been earlier, but there was no one else in the loft.
Ashlynn’s cry of alarm set Cian’s heart crashing in his chest. He reached for her, palming her cheek and lifting her face to look at him. “What’s wrong?”
She lifted her hand slowly, as if lifting it pained her, all the while never taking her horrified eyes off the ring. Cian shifted his gaze from her face to her hand and muttered a curse under his breath. Panic flooded him, erasing the joy he’d just felt. His hand snaked out to grab her hand as he sucked in ragged breaths that left him feeling lightheaded.
The ring he’d conjured from light and love, from the magic that was at the root of his being, was being devoured by inky tendrils of darkness, just like the proof of the curse that had manifested on his chest. He pulled the ring off Ashlynn’s finger and tossed it on the bed.
“What the fuck!” he shouted, moving away from the bed and taking Ashlynn with him.
They stared at the ring, at the blackness moving slowly through the pure stone, gripping each other’s hand like a lifeline.
As
hlynn was the first to find reason. She turned to him, away from the ring, and lifted a hand to make him face her. There was fear in her eyes, masked, but only barely, by determination and a steely backbone. Her lips trembled for a moment and she said with a voice thick with emotion, “I think it’s time to see Faith.”
Chapter Seven
Ashlynn’s foot touched the gravel stretch in front of Faith’s the second the car stopped. Despite Cian’s insistence that they’d already looked everywhere for a cure or a counter spell, Ashlynn just couldn’t accept it. There had to be a way. There must be something else they could do. Plus, she was mad that Faith had neglected to tell her any of the details. Cian followed quietly behind her as they skipped up the few stairs to the Seer’s long front porch.
“Hello,” a small voice spoke from the dark end of the veranda.
They stopped in their tracks and Ashlynn smiled when she realized it was Masilda. Sitting all alone on the porch swing. The early twilight moon shone in the sky behind her, casting her face in shadow.
“Hey,” Ashlynn said. “What are you doing out here?”
“I’ve been here a few times, learning cool magic tricks from Faith,” Masilda replied and then struck a match before touching it to a small votive in her hand which lit up her freckled face.
Ashlynn realized how very little the girl ever smiled. Even now, only a vacant and distant expression showed. She leaned across and placed the glass candle on the railing, the sound of glass tapping against wood instantly igniting fire to a row of a dozen or more. The corner of Masilda’s mouth twitched upward, not quite a smile but more than a frown, and she looked to Ashlynn and Cian.
“She says I’m doing really good.”
Ashlynn smiled and crossed her arms. “So it would seem.”
Wielding the power of fire at the tender age of eight years old? Surely not something Ashlynn could have done at that age. She’d been lucky if her father had allowed her to help brew a potion at her mother’s side. In fact, remembering her father through the lens of the twenty first century shed a whole new light on Ashlynn’s past. If her father were alive today, he’d surely be considered a bit of a sexist.
Dark Magicks Page 5
