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

Chapter Thirty-Four

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Even with some of the prep work Delora had done ahead of bringing Etzel’s atrocities to the public eye, it still took another month to sift through the century-long list of accomplices, teasing out those who were there by choice or coercion. In terms of politics, that was lightning fast, but for Olline and Casimir, it felt glacial.

Olline was in a type of limbo while her contract was modified. The Police and Securities Department had decided to keep and honor the contract, so she wouldn’t be homeless and need to move back to Cyneburg. Which was nice of them, she guessed. But ratifying the contract was taking time. Which was great news for Olline’s rapidly healing hands.

In a few weeks, she would be back in the sub-basements of the building assessing security threats, using her magic to change the evidence storage hardware so that exploitations like Etzel’s couldn’t happen again. Or that’s what they told her. Olline wasn’t so na?ve anymore. Etzel Straub wasn’t the beginning and end of Antal’s corruption racket. But this felt like a genuine step in the right direction.

She was actually looking forward to going back to work in a few weeks, of starting, hopefully, a real friendship this time with Briallea without interruptions from shady supervisors. Being idle, glued to the news feeds to avoid watching Casimir carefully collect her plant debris while her hands finished healing, was driving her crazy.

Casimir hadn’t wanted her to go back to work in the Government Plaza, but contracts were dangerously funny little things. He had encouraged her to do something with her magic that would bring life and light to Antal instead. Maybe she could open a virtual-simulator café where she not only sold her plants and brewed real coffee but also offered hardware or software work on a contract basis. It would combine her two loves and protect her from ever getting mixed up with slimy politicians again. She was partial to the idea, but it wasn’t feasible.

Yet.

Casimir lost his little apartment. Though he wasn’t sad to see it go. The apartment had been owned by Etzel, another way to keep those he controlled under his thumb. Through some unspoken magic, Olline didn’t even have to ask Casimir to move in with her. Instinctively, he knew he belonged there.

Though he often said he would, “get out of her hair, and give her some space”. Olline wasn’t sure if he meant that, as the days turned to weeks and he made no moves to leave. Not that she wanted him to, ever. But her anxiety kept whispering to her, telling her that today would be the day he left.

During that month, Casimir had sold off all his brother’s clubs, including Refractory, and cashed in whatever stock options Kullen had in his name. He didn’t speak to his brother during that time and didn’t bother seeing him as he was processed. Casimir had Delora talk to Kullen whenever necessary. Olline had asked if he wanted to be a part of Kullen’s eventual trial, but he shook his head, claiming he would not lift a finger to help nor hurt his brother, unlike how Kullen had treated him. The only businesses he kept were the little artist's havens that were tucked into the forgotten spaces of Antal. Casimir was working on a business plan to make those more viable long-term.

Despite his claims of giving her space, not once did he look for a new place to live. Not that she was aware of.

She didn’t want him to move. She had gotten so used to the shape and feel of him in her bed, in her life, that she was too afraid to bring up the topic lest he remembered that leaving was something he said he would do. But the limbo of what they were was making her teeth itch. Olline was already dealing with too much uncertainty out of her control with her contract. But knowing what she and Casimir were? That at least was in her control, and she hoped simply knowing would, at last, remove the gnawing anxiety from her gut.

Casimir was fussing with the night orchid she had given him. He was trying to find the right spot for it still—this was the third time he had moved it in four days—when Olline approached him. She watched him for a moment, gnawing on her lower lip and twisting her now fully healed fingers.

He gave her a side-long glance, hands on his hips, as his slow smile tilted the corner of his lip up. “You’re still so adorable when you’re trying to think of what to say, Ollie.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, but there was no heat in the smoldering glare she gave him. Olline hadn’t prepared what to say. She was no good at speeches or romantic declarations, not the way others were. Gestures, like the black orchid, she could do. Finding the words now felt so wholly inadequate, but so desperately vital she couldn’t breathe properly until she said what was in her heart.

“After Achan, I didn’t know what real looked like,” Olline began hesitantly, dropping her gaze to her fidgeting fingers. “I thought I knew and then, well, you know what happened.” She saw Casimir’s feet shift, so he was facing her, but she didn’t dare turn her gaze up to meet his yet. “But before there was Achan, there was my mom. What she had with my dad was so special and achingly beautiful, and it ended far too soon when she got sick. She was here one day, gone the next, and none of us got a chance to—” she swallowed, her throat tightening and tears stinging her eyes like they always did when she thought of her mom. “Well, a lot was left unsaid. My dad, he, well, he never really recovered despite the smile he shows the world. I promised I wouldn’t let that happen to me. If I found someone, had something like that, I’d make sure they knew every single day, every second I could.”

Olline took another deep breath, slowly exhaling until her voice steadied again. “I don’t want you to ‘get out of my hair’. I want you to stay. Here, with me. If you . . . want this too. If you want me .”

This was the worst déjà vu she ever had, but it had to happen. Hopefully, this time, no one would try to kidnap them before they figured it out.

She could hear Casimir breathe deeply, but still, she didn’t look up, she couldn’t, not until she got this all out. “You’re special to me, Cas. You always were. And I know everything’s still kind of fucked up but I have to know.” Taking a final deep, fortifying breath, she said, “I have to know what we are. What I am to you. Because I think—no, I know, I’ve fallen for you. Hard. I-I adore you, Casimir. And you don’t have to say anything,” she added quickly, “that’s not what this is about. I just need to know what we’re doing here, if this is something or . . . something else.”

She couldn’t quite bring herself to suggest what they had was a temporary fantasy. She wouldn’t pressure Casimir. He had only just gotten his autonomy back. If he wasn’t ready for this and needed someone kind to help him get his life sorted again, well, she would learn how to cherish the little time they had together.

Olline had forgotten how to breathe properly as she waited, not meeting Casimir’s gaze. He was silent for a millisecond before he gently tilted her chin up so she had to look at him. His deep red eyes were soft, sweet almost, as he looked at her, giving Olline every ounce of his attention as he closed the gap between them. He wrapped an arm around her waist, his hand splayed over her lower back and the top of her ass, pulling her closer in a gesture that was so possessive Olline almost swooned.

“I’m sorry, Olline,” he said, lowering his face a fraction closer to hers. “Sorry it wasn’t obvious that you’re the air and without you, I can’t breathe. Those three little words aren’t enough, but they’re yours: I love you. I have for an embarrassingly long time and I should’ve said it sooner, so you didn’t have a moment of doubt. You’re all I want, Ollie. Now. Forever. Until forever falls apart. You’re mine . I’m yours, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Relief like sunshine flooded her veins, and her whole body softened in his arms. She clung to him more fiercely, a hiccupping laugh bubbling out before she could stop it as she cried, “I love you too! Oh, thank goodness, that felt so good to finally say.”

Her laughter overpowered her, and she shyly glanced at him, only to see amusement and joy warring for purchase in his smile. “That’s what I really wanted to say, well, say a while ago, but it seemed too fast and I didn’t want to scare you.” She realized she was babbling and abruptly cut herself off when she felt his chest thump against her with his chuckle. “I love you too, Casimir,” she said again, calmer this time now that the relief had run its course.

Casimir pulled her closer and kissed her so thoroughly that she did actually swoon this time. He tilted his head back enough to take a deep breath, their lips so close that she could still feel the warmth of them. He lowered his forehead to hers and said, “Let’s make something real. Together.”