Encryption of the Heart (Love, Tech, & Magic #1)

Chapter Fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

She was half expecting him to break them into another garden. Instead, he led her to the public monorail that twisted through Antal, heading for the outer city limits.

Casimir didn’t tell her where they were going. Normally, Olline didn’t like surprises after the nasty shock Achan had given her. Yet there was such a . . . sweet quality to Casimir’s joy, that she was starting to love surprises all over again.

The monorail stayed within the mid-levels of the city, so at least she knew they weren’t going to any of the rich and elite areas again. She pressed her face to the plexi-glass of the monorail, trying to see where they were going, and being dazzled by the glittering lights of the city that gave all of Antal a glowing mauve hue from this level.

They pulled into the station and departed with a handful of other riders. Casimir tilted his head, indicating the way they were to go. When not a single other traveler headed in their direction, Olline’s heart ticked up in its tempo.

But it wasn’t in fear, not anymore.

After Casimir shared what Etzel had done to him, even without the full scope of the details, well, she had started to trust him. He was more than the raw sex appeal that had sparked her initial attraction, more than the handsome face he showed the world—even if it was an incredibly handsome face. He was also an active listener and was incredibly sweet and gentle when he didn’t have to worry about survival constantly. Casimir cared; about her and her comfort, and about the others trapped in his situation. There was layer upon layer of mystery to this man, and it sparked a curiosity in her core, one that tickled her magic, one that she wanted to unravel in whatever way she could. Even if it was just as a friend.

Better for everyone if it was as friends. If he was being nice to her only because she was doing him a favor, then once that was done, his interest in her would . . . change.

Yeah, definitely better for us to be friends when that happens .

Olline’s gait slowed as her mind slammed against that sad truth. She enjoyed working. Olline felt safe immersed in her code and hardware, and would gladly stay there. She liked small crowds and preferred the company of her plants to most people these days. She was friendly, and being friendly in a city like Cyneburg—and now Antal—seemed like a strange thing to be. A dangerous thing to be. Dangerous for her, anyway.

And yet Casimir hadn’t scoffed at her the way others had, for being an earth caster who preferred to keep her plants a hobby and specialize in metals instead. He seemed determined to make up for his safe assumptions about her and her magic. So, maybe . . .

“Careful, Olline darling,” Casimir said, his hand on the small of her back as he gently maneuvered her away from the railing of the platform she had been heading for. “You’re liable to fall.”

Warmth blossomed from where his hand lightly touched the bare skin of her midriff. She had to keep from leaning back against his fingers, wanting to feel the whole of his hand on her and not just the delicate brush of his fingertips.

She cleared her throat and shot him a side-long glance. “Where are we going, anyway? Maybe it’d help if you shared a bit more, so I didn’t wander too close to the edge or something.”

“And ruin the surprise?” he said with a little chuckle. “I think not. But we’re almost there. It’s just over here.”

Olline glanced around and frowned. They were on a residential level and she couldn’t see any businesses nearby—at least none that she particularly wanted to wander into. “Are we going to your place or something?” Olline said with a grin, trying to hide the nervous fluttering she felt moving through her. “I think I said to take me somewhere amazing, Cas.”

He turned, giving her his full attention, and pulled that delicious lower lip between his teeth, releasing it slowly. Olline forgot how to walk for a moment as her eyes locked on his lips, her breath hitching in her chest. “Tav, if you wanted to go home with me, you merely needed to ask. My flat may not be amazing, but I can think of a few things we could do there that would be mind blowing.”

It was like walking on gelatin as her legs went wobbly, her lower abdomen clenching as if in anticipation, daring her to imagine what he meant. Stop it. This would be a bad complication and you know it. I bet it would be amazing, though . . .

“No! I mean, I didn’t . . . That’s not what I meant. Not that I’d say no to that with you, but . . . wait. That didn’t come out right,” Olline stammered, her mind too foggy to think coherently. Words were beyond her skillset at the moment. Her face was so hot she was positive her cheeks would burst into flame any second.

Casimir laughed, a full body laugh with his head tilted back and everything. It would be humiliating if it wasn’t such a sweet sound to hear. Plus, it didn’t seem malicious to her. Though that could be wishful thinking on her part. Again.

“You’re adorable, do you know that?” Shaking his head, he motioned her to follow him again before they attracted unwanted attention, standing around as they were in a residential block. “Trust me, Olline, if I invited you to my home, there would be no ambiguity about it.”

She was still too flustered to say anything as she trailed behind him. One glance over his shoulder, at the look on her face, must have told him how embarrassed she still was. “All friendly flirting aside, my home is probably not the safest place for us to visit. Etzel owns my flat and I can’t promise that he doesn’t have the building under surveillance. But where I’m bringing you is amazing, trust me.”

He turned a corner and went up a twisting staircase to the next level before he stopped and looked around. She wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but he found it before she could ask.

“Ah, here we are. I knew my memory hadn’t failed me.” He ushered Olline into a darkened, narrow doorway between two apartment complexes she swore was an alleyway access. At least until her eyes adjusted to the dim light, and she picked up the sound and vibrations coming from the walls and floor.

It was . . . music.

There was no electronic thrum going through the music like with a synth bot. It tugged at her core and rattled her bones, seizing on to the latent part of her magic that had led her to The Pit. She stepped around Casimir, the pull of the music guiding her along. She tilted her head, trying to make out the instruments and voices. Finally, her feet led her to another narrow staircase that ended in a steel door.

“Allow me,” Casimir whispered, his breath tickling the shell of her ear. Her posture relaxed and her knees went weak all over again. Olline could only hope it wasn’t as obvious to him as it was to her.

He glided around her, his hip lightly brushing hers as he stopped in front of the door and knocked. There was no secret knock, no sliding panel in the door, and no exchange of code words, which was a tad disappointing. Someone simply opened the door a crack, looked at Casimir, and then flung it open, welcoming them both inside.

Casimir leaned back, allowing Olline to go in first. She was far too aware of where their bodies brushed against each other. No matter how briefly or lightly. It caused a spark of electricity to race through her, had her steps slowing to savor the moment for a millisecond longer.

But the shock of his touch wasn’t what caused Olline to suck in her breath.

Casimir had brought her to a venue that had clearly been someone’s home once upon a time. Most likely abandoned and repurposed by the people who ran it now. Long, narrow windows took up the back wall, giving a view of the advertisements and other shops on this level of the city, the neon flashing and twinkling like the stars Casimir had shown her. The small kitchen had been gutted to make a bar. A string of blue lights dipped and curved around the shelves, holding the bottles of liquor, making the liquid shimmer and twinkle. There were a few people perched on barstools, but no one was dancing, despite the band against the far wall.

Live music.

While some people had their heads tilted toward others in soft conversation, most were listening to the humani woman singing a soft, almost melancholy tune alongside two seersha with a guitar and giant bass. The effect was haunting and had tears prickling Olline’s eyes for reasons she couldn’t put into words. It was a feeling, an overwhelming sensation of connection that ignited her neurons in a way that gave her a sense of hope mixed with catharsis and contentment. It was confusing as fuck, but she loved the sensation.

She felt his hand on her back again, gently pulling her inside and toward a pair of empty barstools. They didn’t speak, Casimir didn’t even offer to get her a drink, as if he knew better than to break the spell surrounding her. They simply sat next to each other, Olline engrossed in the music, and Casimir captivated by her open enjoyment of the musicians.

Unfortunately, they arrived at the end of the set and soon the trio was standing, accepting the applause of the meager crowd, and retreating to an alcove where they could enjoy their break. Olline remained speechless for a minute, holding in the lingering beauty of the music as long as possible. She didn’t care that the smile she gave Casimir next was so big it made her cheeks hurt.

“That was incredible, thank you, Cas,” her voice was breathy, catching on the lingering emotion stirred by the melody. He dipped his head in response, shifting in his seat. She twisted around on the barstool, facing the bar in case that helped him feel more comfortable. “What is this place? How did you even find it? You’d never expect to find a bar like this in, well, here. ”

Casimir waved for the bartender, who was finishing up making a cocktail, and said, “For as long as this place has existed, it’s never had a name. And I’d know, this was the first club I . . . well my brother and I founded well over a century ago. The buildings were different then, of course. But this apartment had been abandoned, and we scooped it up thinking this level of the city could use a little fun.” He looked over his shoulder, his eyes glassy, as if what he was looking at was the bar as it had once been, a long time ago. “It didn’t turn out how we envisioned. Well, how Kullen envisioned. He wanted to abandon this place, but I kept it. Turned it into an artist’s haven of sorts. When Etzel got me, I made sure he never got to this place. It needed to remain protected, so I sold it, and the others like it. They’re community owned and operated now. Safe from me—well, safe from Etzel using me to taint this place.” He sighed blithely. “This place, dear Tav, is to me what your plants are to you. A thing to be kept sacred.”

Olline was utterly speechless. The bartender appeared by then and Casimir gave her an expectant look. She was too flustered, moved by Casimir’s admission, to think clearly. “I don’t know much about drinks. I’m fine with whatever’s good here,” she said, giving the bartender an apologetic smile.

Casimir ordered something with a fancy name and turned his attention back to her. “Everyone here is employed in one of my brothers’ more profitable clubs. But here they can follow their passion without having to worry about pesky things like tips and a paycheck.”

Olline blinked slowly at Casimir. That . . . had not been what she was expecting. She smiled at him, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t take you for the anti-capitalist type, Cas.”

“Does that bother you?”

She shook her head quickly. “Not at all! I’m just surprised. The way you hold yourself, I just assumed you enjoyed the finer things in life. It’s refreshing to hear you say otherwise.” He didn’t look convinced, and she placed her hand on his forearm, ignoring how she would rather trail the line of his jaw with her finger instead. “I mean it. This place is incredible. It’s sweet that you made and preserved it when your brother would’ve thrown it away.” She turned slightly, a fire caster moving to the stage, taking the flame from a tiny candle and turning it into a burning tableau of the more recognizable buildings in Antal. “Thank you for bringing me here. I mean it.”

He awarded her with a smile that slowly spread, highlighting the sharp angles of his face in a way that made her want to trace them with, well, not her finger. “Does it satisfy your desire for something amazing?”

Olline pressed her knees more firmly together, trying to bury the heat building between her thighs. Casimir had this infuriatingly irresistible way of speaking in double entendres that left Olline reeling. Left her wanting to erase every bit of distance between them.

At least until the reality of what tomorrow was going to bring settled over her like a moist blanket.

The bartender slid their drinks over and Olline raised hers in a toast, hiding the frown creeping over her lips, the stoniness she felt her face settling into. “Yes, it does,” she answered quietly, hoping her voice didn’t betray her.

Olline turned away. It suddenly hurt too much to look at Casimir anymore. She watched the fire caster with an intense focus, hoping to get absorbed in the dancing flames as they morphed from buildings to plants. The flames shifted in hue from red, orange, and blue as the heat intensified.

She noticed Casimir’s lips tilt up with suppressed joy from the corner of her eye and something in her broke a fraction. This, whatever this was inside of her, felt as sharp as a cactus’s barbs, and yet Olline couldn’t stop from reaching out, even if it pricked her, the barbs implanting in her heart. It was insane to have these feelings for a man she barely knew, but they were there and all Olline could hope to do was survive being in his presence long enough to truly, and permanently, free him and everyone else. After that, Casimir would disappear again as quickly as he had appeared in her life and . . .

She shut her eyes tightly against the spiral. The images made with the flames burned behind her eyelids and somehow morphed into Casimir’s burning gaze. An ache of longing squeezed her ribcage so tightly it had tears prickling the corners of her eyes.

Olline took a deep breath, then forced a smile on her face as she clinked her glass against Casimir’s. She downed the drink before she could taste anything. She doubted it would have tasted like much given the sourness suddenly churning in her stomach.

“It’s a beautiful reprieve from what we’ll face tomorrow,” she murmured. She turned back to the fire caster, telling herself that she simply imagined the way Casimir’s hand flexed beside her. And Olline buried the futile wish that he would pull her to him.