“It was about knowing that you guys can and are willing to give me the control. Everyone has a bit of an Alpha-ness in them. It’s knowing that when I need it, you’re willing to step back, and trust in me. When you guys hounded me about using my magic, it pissed me off. It was like you guys didn’t trust me at all to understand my magic and what I needed. Everyone went overboard, yelling at me if I so much as sneezed magic. That was hard on me.”
“Alijah told me about what Ami said.”
“And that right there pisses me off more.” I scowled. “No one listened to me. I said the exact same thing as her, but I was brushed off. As soon as she said it, it had merit. That isn’t right. You guys should have listened to me when I said the magic I was using was fine, that I needed it. Instead, I was getting snapped at any time I used a little bit.”
Elliot sighed and leaned back on his haunches. “That wasn’t our intention.”
“I know.”
His gaze met mine. “Trust does go both ways, Laila. We didn’t trust you to understand your limits when it came to magic, and you didn’t trust us when it came to tracking down Padraig.”
“Is that how this works?” I asked bitterly. “A give and take, a balance of wrongs and rights?”
Elliot shook his head furiously. “No. Not at all. I’m just saying, we are early in our relationship. There is a lot we are still learning about each other. I’m not making excuses, but we knew Ami for a long time, years, so when she said it was okay, even though Alijah wasn’t happy, he was willing to back off.”
“Because it came from Ami.”
Elliot shrugged. “Or because she knew how to word it in a way that he would be able to understand.”
“We need time together. We need those moments where we argue and get angry, where we question each other.”
“Why?” I asked, borderline whining.
“Because we need to learn about each other, and I think the best way is when we aren’t just saying yes, but pushing back. This, what’s happening between us, it’s all about time. About asking those hard questions, along with the easy ones.”
“What do you mean?”
“Something like asking what is your favorite color, but also asking what is your deepest fear.”
“You like dark blue and your deepest fear is not making it in time when someone you care for is in danger.”
Elliot’s mouth popped open in surprise, eyes widening.
I smirked. “I pay attention.”
“I know yours too, Laila. You adore purple, and your deepest fear is opening up to people only to have them betray you, most likely leave you.”
I swallowed at his answer and how right he was. Damn.
“See how it is between us already, how learning a simple thing with a hard thing makes the bonds between us grow stronger.”
My smile was bland. “You mentioned once before that I needed to make connections. Bonds.”
Nodding, he said, “And now that you have, you need to deepen those bonds.”
“And we can do that by talking? By telling you my favorite food, but also willing to tell you what my nightmares are made of?”
“Yes.”
“How?” I asked.
His hands went to my knees, and he squeezed. “Want to play a little card game with me?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” He stood up and pulled a small box out of his bag.
“You’re kidding, right?” I asked.
“No. We use these as icebreakers during the excursions in the woods with the kids. It helps build trust between everyone, and it’s good to know about their fears and thoughts before we put them into danger.”
He held out the deck of cards, waiting patiently for me to either grab them or change my mind. He was giving me this choice. I stared at the small black box. Inside sat a blank card with a film of magic hovering over it. The concept was simple enough. The cards read the questions that sat in our subconscious. The questions we were too afraid to ask or didn’t know we wanted to. On the back of each card were colors; the black meant the deep, dark secrets, the red for just deep, personal questions, and then finally the green for personal ones but basic in nature.
Elliot didn’t get impatient as I wavered. If I didn’t want to, we’d do something else. This was the difference between Elliot and Davies. Davies would have challenged me, and I never turned those down. He would have said all the right things to push me into the decision he wanted. There was nothing wrong with that. He challenged me, made me do new things, helped me expand my experience.
Elliot, by waiting as he did, was supporting me, giving me the power I craved when making decisions that concerned me. “Okay.” I grabbed the deck and sat down, pulling the coffee table closer.
“You go first,” I said, feeling nervous about this. I was slow in setting up the cards in a neat row before us. Green, red, black.
“Are you sure?”
I nodded.
He reached over, and with his eyes on me, grabbed a green card. He lifted it up, stared at it, before turning it so I could read the question written in simple script.
“So, I answer that?”
“Yes, it’s a question I want to know about you.”
Shaking my head, I said, “These cards are pretty brilliant. They cut right down to it, don’t they?”
“Will you answer the question?” Elliot chuckled.
I grabbed the card from him and read the question again. “Have you ever bought something just because, or do you always need to do your research before making the purchase?”
“You really want to ask me that?”
“I’m curious. How impulsive can you get without planning?”
I rolled my eyes. “There is nothing wrong with doing research when making a large purchase. It saves trouble and money.”
“Try it. Go out and by something stupid expensive and do it without research.”
I snorted. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. Go buy a new car. Or a spontaneous trip. Buy some nice jewelry, even if you know you don’t have anything to match with.”
I laughed and shook my head. “My turn.” I stared at the three, deciding to go with the red to get a little deeper. I raised an eyebrow at the question before turning it so Elliot could see.
He grabbed it and read it out loud. “What is the one thing that is at the top of your bucket list?” He looked up at me. “You know what a bucket list is?”
“Davies showed me his.”
“Of course he did.” He shuddered. “I’m not sure I want to know what’s on it.”
My reply was a simple smirk.
“Of course,” he muttered. “Let’s see. For me, it’d be to go skydiving with Davies.”
“Really?”
“You don’t believe me?”
“That was just… unexpected.”
He sighed. “While Davies can be much, he does do one thing right.”
“And what’s that?”
“He doesn’t let his humanity limit him. I do. I hold back because I know I’m fragile. I know one small, simple mistake—often inconsequential to beings—and I’ll be dead because of it. Davies and I are both very aware of our humanity, but he’s a man who pushes those boundaries. If you tell him he can’t do something because he’s human, he makes it a point to prove you wrong. He doesn’t let it hold him back.”
“So skydiving. You’re a lot braver than I am.”
Elliot smiled. “Maybe you should add it to your list too. It is an expensive hobby. Maybe you should just do it without doing your research.”
“And end up splatting on the ground?” I asked with wide eyes. I shuddered. “Bad idea. Your turn.”
He went for the red and read it out loud, “What do you like, but you’re too embarrassed to admit?”
“Ha! I’m not embarrassed about anything I do.”
“Really?” He raised an eyebrow, gently calling me out on my bullshit. “There’s something. I can see it on your expression.”<
br />
I paused and really thought about the question. “I’m scared to admit it.”
His expression sobered when he realized what should have been a red card was more of a black for me. That was the downfall to those cards. They didn’t always categorize a question correctly and ended up hitting too close to the ugly truths. “Laila, I’d never judge you for anything.”
“I know. But it’s silly, and depressing at the same time. But I can’t stop.”
“You only have to tell me when you want to. Your choice.”
I smiled at that. He always knew how to word things to make me feel better. “You say that a lot, don’t you, that it’s my choice.”
“Because I know that it’s important to you and also because you like knowing. I’d never do anything to back you in the corner. Never.”
Nodding, I said, “Thank you.” I glanced behind him briefly, trying to gather my thoughts. “Did Alijah ever tell you how we met?”
“I believe he mentioned a park.”
“Yes. A creature had made a park their hunting ground. He had a taste for children.” I shuddered. “I was there because of my guilty pleasure, I guess.” I rubbed the back of my neck, my face growing hot. I imagined my embarrassment revealed itself as a red blush starting in my cheeks and making its way down my neck. “I like to go to parks and watch the families. I like to imagine I’m the little girl sliding down the slide and being caught by my mother. Or the one on the swing set being pushed by my big brother. Or maybe the girl being tossed into the air and caught by my father.”
Elliot remained quiet, and I couldn’t look at him. The alarm went off, and I reached for it, taking it with me as I ran up the stairs as if a hellhound was nipping at my heels. Venni was in the same position we had left him. I checked his leg, noting that the wound was smaller, new skin slowly growing in. His skin was hot to the touch, his body working overtime to get him back up. I kissed his forehead before going back downstairs.
I reset the timer before sitting back down. Elliot hadn’t moved from his spot.
“Your turn,” he said.
I relaxed, realizing he wasn’t going to make a big deal about it.
We continued playing and I noted how Elliot only ever picked the same color card as me. I kept to the red and greens, ignoring the black, and he did the same. I learned more about Elliot’s favorite foods, places, his fears, some of his proudest moments, and some of his not so proud moments. He learned the same about me.
I checked on Venni once more before I finally felt brave enough to pick up a black card. Elliot didn’t say anything as I read it. My face drained of blood right away as my eyes grew big. Did I really want to know this about Elliot right now? My heart rate sped up.
“Are you sure you want to pick that one?” Elliot asked, giving me an out. If I picked this for him, the next card he’d choose would be a black one too.
“I’m sure.” I handed it over for him to read. I did my best to blank my expression so he couldn’t see what I thought about the question or his response.
“If someone offered you a chance at eternity, would you take it?” Elliot’s eyebrow raised and he glanced at me.
“Laila, I know you. This isn’t just coming out of nowhere. Where is this coming from?”
“Can’t I just be curious?”
“You know how the cards work. If it came out on them, then it’s something you thought about often enough. What’s going on?”
I sighed and glanced toward the window and out the afternoon sky. The day was feeling too long despite Dwight only waking me up a few hours ago. “The elementalists are immortal, Elliot,” I whispered.
“And so at some point, you will stop aging, but I’ll keep going.”
“Humans only live to a hundred at best, and without influence.”
“I’ll have to leave you eventually.”
I nodded, my eyes burning with unshed tears. “And I won’t be able to do anything about it.” We were talking about something that I hoped was in the very distant future, and yet, already, I felt his loss. The idea of him no longer in my life created a massive chasm in my chest, threatening to dump me into it.
“Laila.” He leaned forward and grabbed my hands, forcing my fists loose so he could weave his fingers with mine. “Laila, look at me.”
I dragged my eyes away from the window to him.
“If there was a way I could live longer, a way that I could accept, then yes. I’d do it in a heartbeat, because what scares me the most is not being there for you. I want to be. For as long as I can be, I want to be your support.”
Frowning, I asked, “A way that you could accept?”
“I don’t want to be a vampire. And that’s the only way I know how to extend a human’s life. Either becoming a vampire, or their servant, dependent on their master’s blood.”
“What if I had a way, would you do it?”
His smile was sad. “You know there isn’t a way other than that. Not for humans. We can’t use magic, it breaks down our bodies. The only solution found to work has been vampirism. Laila, I don’t want you wasting time researching this. I want to enjoy whatever time I have with you, whether it’s another eighty years, or only ten. Don’t overshadow it with thoughts like this. Please?”
The fear in me eased. If I offered him a way to live longer, he’d take it. With that knowledge, and knowing I already had a solution in mind, I nodded. “Okay. Your turn then.”
He stared at me for a moment longer, looking like he didn’t believe me. Finally caving, he reached over and grabbed a black card.
“Do you believe in true love?” he read.
“True love? Love at first sight?” I asked.
“Not so much love at first sight, but that there is real love out there. What are your thoughts on that?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I lived without it, never really craved it, that I don’t know.”
Elliot looked deflated as he asked, “You never really thought about it?”
My cheeks grew warm. “Not until recently. As you told me before, I didn’t build connections. I didn’t do relationships. If I wanted sex, I went to a bar. And I kept myself busy enough that I didn’t have time for anything else. Love was never something I thought about until all of you guys walked into my life.”
“So, knowing us now, what do you think about it?”
“If it’s possible, I want it,” I said with a tinge of desperation and hope. I cleared my throat, hating that I almost sounded like a little girl. “There’s something calming about knowing that there are others who care about you and would do anything for you, even when it isn’t necessary.”
Elliot captured my lips with his before I could say anything else. There was something fiery inside of him that he released through the kiss. His touch pulled me in, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my hands in his hair.
He pulled away way too early. “I’m not going to drag my feet on this, Laila. I love you. I knew you were someone important to me when we first met, and after my girlfriend broke up with me, I realized you were it for me. Your heart is bigger than you let people know. You do so much for so little sometimes, and I watched you every day put others’ needs before you. You permeated my thoughts, and now, I won’t let you go. I love you.”
He kissed me again, harder this time, as if to back up what he was telling me. I felt the truth in his words, in the way his tongue swept inside my mouth, claiming me. His hands held me close, as if I were precious cargo.
“Damn,” I gasped when we parted, completely speechless.
“I know you’re not ready,” Elliot said. “And that’s fine. I just want you to know how I feel, and someday, when you have had time to explore what love really means, I’ll be there and you can tell me then.”
“You’re not fair,” I said, resting my head on his shoulder. I turned my head and kissed his neck, smiling at the way his skin pebbled against my touch. “Not fair at all.”
The alarm went off
, and I reluctantly drew away from Elliot. “I’ll be back.”
“And I’ll be here waiting.”
I grinned big. “I’m beginning to get that.” I kissed him quickly before going upstairs.
Damn it. That was the last thing I’d expected from Elliot. He really didn’t play fair.
Chapter Sixteen
I stared into dark brown eyes when I woke up. Before my brain could process that Venni was awake, I reached up and cupped his face.
“You’re okay?”
“I’m okay,” he said, voice rough. He pushed his head against my hand, his eyes closing. “You feel good.”
“You scared me.”
“I’m sorry.”
His hand skimmed the exposed skin from my shirt rising in my sleep, and I became painfully aware of the position I was in. Venni was in front of me, his hand trailing along my waist and back, almost to my butt. Elliot’s warm body was behind me, his arm around my midsection, just below my breasts. His knee was pushed between my legs, and if I shifted down, he’d press against my core.
I smiled up at Venni. “This is a very dangerous position.”
“Oh?” He lifted his head high enough to look and then grinned. “Hmm, did you have something on your mind?”
I reached out tentatively and touched his chest. He was shirtless after sweating through it yesterday. His chest was hard, muscles flexing underneath my light touch. Sighing, I pulled away and sat up.
“Laila?”
“I’m going to go clear my head.” I looked down at Venni, at how delicious he looked. “Do you need to be anywhere today? I’ll drop you off.”
“Can you bring me back to BMS? I need to meet with Lombardi if I can.”
After nodding, I slipped out of bed, leaving Venni and Elliot. I glanced back at Elliot still sleeping and at Venni staring at me with a million questions in his eyes. Yes, I was being a chicken. I wasn’t ready to go further, not with two of them in bed like that. I smiled and slipped out the door, feeling like a complete coward.
Twenty minutes later, Venni hobbled down the stairs and met me in the living room.
“Ready?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Is your leg still bothering you?”
Magical Collision Page 15
