30. Elzora
30
ELZORA
S team rises from the pot as I stir the risotto, the rich aroma of saffron and butter filling the warm kitchen.
“What are you doing?” Jasper asks. I toss him a smile over my shoulder, not pausing in my stirring. The kitchen island between us is cluttered with the remnants of my cooking efforts—chopped herbs, grated cheese, and an open bottle of diet coke.
We’ll not judge whoever stole this from the Earth realm for me because it’s one of the best gifts.
“Isn’t it obvious, caput saxi ?” Ryes taunts, striding past Jasper to grab the apple juice from the fridge. I catch Jasper’s slight eye roll at the familiar insult—‘rock head’ is one of their favourites.
“I’m making dinner,” I say before Jasper can retort and start their usual bickering. “My… dad is coming over later tonight, and we’re going to try dreamwalking together, so I wanted to get dinner out of the way a little earlier.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” Jasper’s tone is full of concern, not judgment, which is both surprising and extremely welcome. After weeks of his darkness and distance, this gentle worry is everything.
I smirk at my air witch, trying to keep the moment light. “What do you think?”
“She’s perfect at it,” Ryes says before shrugging. “Well, passable, really.”
“Hey!” I protest, flinging droplets of water at him from my stirring spoon. He hops onto the counters with his usual grace, laughing at me as he dodges the attack. The sound of Jasper’s genuine laughter in the background makes my heart lift—it’s been too rare lately. “We figured we’d try together tonight since most of you are on an assignment?—”
“We are?” Ryes asks with a frown, pausing with the juice carton halfway to his mouth.
“They are?” Jasper echoes, sliding onto one of the barstools at the island.
Without looking, Ryes tosses him a banana from the fruit bowl, and I watch in amazement as Jasper catches it one-handed. The causal interaction speaks to a growing comfort between them that soothes the pain my soul has been in.
“Apparently.” I shrug at their identical curious expressions, not really having much more information than that. The assignments of my men often remain mysteries to me—both for my own protection and my sanity. I couldn’t handle knowing the horrors they all face every single day. “So, we’re going to give it a try when everyone is out. Worst that happens is nothing, so we’ve got nothing to lose.”
But plenty to gain, I add silently, thinking of the growing collection of brands on my skin, each one a physical manifestation of the bonds I share with the men who hold parts of my soul.
If we can figure out the importance of that night, we’ll be more secure in our plans.
“That’s the spirit,” Ryes says, his usual teasing tone softened by genuine reassurance. “How long for dinner?”
I glance at the antique clock above the sink, its brass hands gleaming in the evening light streaming through the open windows. “It’s not been in too long—twenty minutes or so.”
“Plenty of time for a shower,” my air witch decides, already heading for the door. “See you in a bit.”
The air stirs in his wake, carrying the faintest scent of blood that is following him. Not unusual but still unsettling.
As I begin tidying up the mess I’ve made, gathering the herb stems and stray grains of rice, Jasper surprises me by coming to assist. The sight of my normally standoffish earth witch rolling up his sleeves at the sink makes something flutter in my chest.
He moves to fill the sink with water, the gentle splashing the only sound between us as we work. I dry as he washes, our movements falling into an easy rhythm.
There’s no awkwardness in the silence, which feels like a gift after how tense things have been lately. The afternoon sun catches the water droplets, making them sparkle like tiny diamonds as they fall from his hands.
I can’t help but appreciate how lovely he looks, how nice this domestic side of him is. Things have been so strained between us since we’ve been here—even our date at the garden centre had him a little tense and withdrawn.
“I’m sorry for that,” my earth witch says, his voice low and rough with emotion.
“For what?” I look up at him in surprise, nearly dropping the plate that I’m drying.
His hands still in the soapy water, his knuckles white from how tightly he grips the edge of the sink.
“For how… negative I’ve been. I’m depressed, Zoe,” he says, and my eyes widen, my heart constricting with pain. The words hang heavy in the air between us. “I’ve suffered with it for years but have always had it mostly under control. The plants help, the constant light, and outside energy… but without the support of the healers on campus, I’d likely be dead.”
“Oh, Jazz,” I whisper, covering my mouth in horror as tears well up in my eyes. The tea towel falls to the floor, forgotten with this admission. Memories flash through my mind of his behaviour, seeing it all in a new light.
I can’t believe I didn’t press… that I’ve left him to suffer in pain, alone.
“I’m so, so sorry.”
The full weight of what I’ve done to him crashes over me. I didn’t just take him from his school, from his friends, from his studies... I took him from the people who were saving his life, making it possible for him to function.
My own mind is often my biggest enemy, so knowing how badly he’s been struggling, how alone he must have felt... there are no words.
“Don’t be. It’s taken a little bit, clearly, but Zohar’s been helping me,” he says, his voice steady despite the pulsing tremors I can see in his aura. “Don’t cry, sunflower. Not for me.”
I sniffle, trying to blink back the tears so he doesn’t feel guilty for my upset. “I’m sorry.”
“Your sorry is not needed, Zoe. I’m okay. No, I’m better than okay because I understand it all now.” He wipes his hands on the tea towel by his side, the movement careful and measured as he steps towards me.
My eyes meet his, my heart thundering against my ribs, as his intense gaze never wavers from my own. I’m scared to move, scared to break this moment of honesty between us. He’s being open, vulnerable in a way I’ve never seen from him before, and the connection between us is thrumming with anticipation.
“But you don’t understand, do you, Zoe?” Jasper whispers, his hand reaching up to cup my cheek. His palm is warm, slightly rough from working with plants and earth but so gentle it makes my heart ache with longing.
I don’t move.
I can’t move .
“I’d choose you in every single lifetime, sunflower.”
My gaze is trained on his as if I’m captive to his spell. The kitchen around us seems to fade away until there’s nothing but his eyes, usually hazel but now darkening to the deep green of his magicae.
“Loving you was never the hard part, Elzora.” He brushes his thumb across my cheek, a shiver racing down my spine. “Letting you love me back was.”
“I hate that you feel this way, but I’m so happy to know that you’re working on it, that you’re accepting help.” My words are breathless, but my gaze is unwavering. This is far too important. “That you feel more… positive towards us.”
“I am,” he promises, and I can feel the truth of it, see the sincerity within his soul. “I’m working with Zohar and working with Vexus… I’m putting my trust in you and the men you deem worthy.”
“You know, if you’re putting them on that pedestal,” I say softly, reaching up to cover his hand with mine where it still rests against my cheek, “that puts you at the exact same status.”
He shudders, resting his head back on the wall behind him, giving me a heavy look. “You really had to go there?”
I giggle. “It’s true. You’re worthy, you’re wanted, you’re loved . From the moment we met, Jazz, I was awed by you. You were capable, powerful, and you never once hid who you were from me.”
He glares at me, but there’s none of the usual heat to the look. It’s more playful . “You’re really going there? I never knew you stole Ryes’s magicae and were listening in.”
I lean into his touch, still giggling. “I know, but that doesn’t make it any less true. I’ve loved the time we have been spending together, the way we’re getting to truly know one another.”
“Sometimes it feels like I’m a million miles behind.”
“That would only matter if you were competing.”
He gives me a weak smile, but his eyes are shining with something that looks pretty close to hope. “I might not be competing with the other men in your life, sunflower, but I am competing with time itself. Every day I fight this bond is another day I spend not getting to love you the way you deserve.”
“The way we both deserve,” I say, stepping closer to him. There’s only an inch or two between us now, and from his gulp, I know he’s noticed it. “Because, Jazz? I’m not the only one around here who needs to learn they’re worthy of unconditional love.”
“And that, sunflower, is what I now understand,” he says. I have no idea where the confidence comes from, but he grabs me by the waist, lifting me onto the countertop that Ryes was sitting on not too long ago.
“It is?”
He smirks. “Yes. You and me, we’re together, and we will be for the rest of our lives. I can spend it making us both miserable or I can just trust in you. I might be fucked up, I might be toxic and unworthy. I might even deserve hell for the shit I’ve done. But you’re pure, and perfect, and love me anyway.”
“I do.” There’s no hesitation in my words, in my voice, in my soul . Jasper’s one of mine just as much as the others are, and I truly do love him.
“Bond with me.”
“Now?” I ask breathlessly. He nods, and a fluttering stirs deep in my tummy, my heart beating so fast but steady. “Okay. How?”
His hazel eyes darken into a deep jade, and there’s a primal energy surrounding him as he draws on his magicae. The air grows thick with the scent of fresh earth.
“I don’t know how you soul witches do it, but us earth witches have a special connection to nature. To the roots and foundations of the world.”
“I can see that.” And I can—his aura seems to have taken on the deep, steady pulse of the Earth itself.
“I want to build a solid foundation with you so that our bond can give you stability, it can anchor you to the moment, to the Earth itself,” he murmurs. His jade green eyes are so bright, so beautiful, and such a sharp contrast to his olive skin. “I need you to draw upon your earth magicae, and let it flow whilst I do the same.”
“That’s it?” I check, not wanting to mess up and ruin this moment with him.
He nods, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “That’s it. Our magicae will merge, bonding us completely, and if we’re lucky, we might grow a pretty flower in the process.”
“A sunflower?” I can’t resist the teasing.
“So cheeky,” he says fondly, tapping my nose. “You ready?”
I nod my head and close my eyes, drawing upon my magicae. The air rustles past my ears, warmth spreading through me, but it’s the Earth itself that I connect to—a steady pulse in contrast to the beating of my heart. The scent of freshly watered mud fills my nose, grounding me.
I place my hands out, and I don’t flinch when Jasper’s larger hands encase mine, just as warm, just as powerful, as the Earth itself.
His magicae reaches for mine, and the two connect in a flash of light that I can see even through my closed eyelids. I focus on his intent for our bonding, pushing those feelings to my magicae: anchoring, strong, firm, home .
The Earth is my home—which makes Jasper my home.
Our magicae pours out of us in waves of green-gold light, and there’s a familiar burning sensation on the inner part of my right thigh. The brand that’s appearing feels a bit bigger than the others, but I relish in the feeling, knowing that, like our brand, the bond is blooming, and becoming what it was always meant to be.
“What the fuck— oh , wow,” Eirik interjects.
I don’t pull back, not until Jasper does, and when I open my eyes, the two of us are grinning at each other like loons. He’s so light, so full of joy, and I can feel our bond so much stronger.
Our intention was to create stability, and we truly have. Our bond is unshakable, complete, and the strength of the green thread between the two of us is a visible reminder that we’re joined now—fully.
But that’s not what draws my attention—no, it’s the state of the kitchen from what our magicae created.
Jasper said if we were lucky we might create a pretty flower, but instead, we’ve grown ivy. Dark green tendrils are woven into the walls, the counters, every surface that they can reach. The vines look as if they’ve been here for centuries, their leaves glossy and perfect.
It’s serene.
The room smells fresh, full of the Earth, and my magicae is humming in synchronisation with the plant Jasper and I have grown. The ivy has clung to the walls and woven itself so securely that you’d never doubt it was meant to be part of the decor.
“Wow,” Jasper murmurs, stepping away from me to feel the ivy that’s now running along the wall. His fingers trace the vines with reverence. “Fuck, Zoe, feel this.”
“What have you two done?” Eirik asks, his voice full of awe. “This is so beautiful, so powerful.”
“We bonded,” I answer simply, reaching out to touch the ivy on the wall behind me, not moving from my spot on the counter.
The leaves feel like silk beneath my fingers, and I swear, I can feel it moving towards my fingers.
“Oh, wow. This is… it’s us .”
“It’s something, all right,” Necos says, his voice dripping with… judgement. I eye my dark-skinned anima nexum , feeling a flash of jealousy from him that he quickly tries to suppress. “I’m really happy for you both for completing this step in your relationship.”
“But?” Jasper asks, his voice full of mirth, clearly too happy to be bothered by Necos’s tone.
I wish it didn’t affect me either.
“Could we leave the kitchen out of it next time?” Necos teases, his expression softening as he approaches the risotto. He stirs it with practiced ease and smiles at me. “This smells lovely, Zoe. How are you feeling?”
“Great.” Jasper gains confidence at my answer, but I didn’t say it to boost his ego. I truly feel good and more settled than I’ve felt in weeks.
Each completed bond that I gain is another level of balance and stability that seems to fuel my primordium .
“Good. Your dad is coming over tonight, right? To try dreamwalking with you?”
“Yeah. I was wondering if we could go over the parade together over dinner?”
Necos’s eyes widen in surprise as he turns away from me to adjust the heat on the oven. “Sure. Just the two of us?”
“Probably for the best,” Eirik says. “You know what’s happening, and it’ll stop the rest of these interruptions. Plus, we’ve got our assignments tonight, so you’re the only one free.”
“I don’t have an assignment,” Jasper says, confused. I don’t hear Eirik’s reply as Necos asks me if that works.
“Yes, of course. Let me just, um…” I look around the kitchen in amusement. “Well, I was going to say get rid of this, but I have no idea how I’m meant to do that.”
Jasper snorts. “I think we’ll eventually be able to persuade it to move, but right now, the ivy is still a little… connected to us.”
“Can you hear it singing?” I murmur to Jasper, who still stands near the wall, his hand resting on the ivy almost protectively, as if someone is going to take it away.
I think he’s treating the ivy like our physical bond, and he’s scared it’s going to be ripped away from him as soon as he’s accepted it.
Jasper beams at me. “I can.” He steps towards me, and without caring about anyone else in the room, he leans in towards me.
I don’t know who reaches for who first, but when our lips touch, it’s electrifying. The song that the ivy sings is the one of our souls—mine and Jasper’s, and the melody they hum together.
The kiss is gentle but full of promise, and my soul truly settles knowing that this hurdle has been crossed, and there’s only going up from here.
The ivy continues its song, and I hope that we can keep it here for as long as Jasper needs to feel comfortable. To me, it’s a physical manifestation of what Jasper and I have together—something beautiful grown from the darkest of places.