48. Chapter 47
“They want to open the door to the Nether. I’m not sure why.
No names, the Illusionists are involved.
They need our blood,” she read, placing the paper onto the coffee table back in her apartment.
“There are a few other sentences I couldn’t quite get, but I figured I solved the most important pieces.
And it confirms what Maeve saw in her vision. ”
“Only part of it. It only confirms that the door is somewhere close. Not that it will open.” Ezra paced back and forth across the living room, his hand wringing the back of his neck to preserve his semi-controlled curls.
“It says our blood. Do you think this would have something to do with the ritual?”
“Possibly,” Ivy said, watching him shuffle back and forth. She shrugged. “I don’t know what it takes to open a door to the Nether. If I had to guess, any sort of literature on the subject is heavily guarded.”
“And she didn’t have any clue who was part of the Illusionists?” He wrung his neck again.
Ivy pinched the bridge of her nose. “Ezra, sit down; you’re going to give yourself a headache.”
His hand dropped as he slowed and sat next to her on the couch. “Sorry, this is….”
“A lot?”
“Yeah.” He turned to her, taking her hands into his. The silky ribbon of his magic curled around her, and she leaned into the sensation. “It feels like we’re getting closer to the answer, but I’m scared to find out what it is.”
“So am I.” She didn’t even touch on the fact that she apparently had a brother.
It was only a family secret, though, and had nothing to do with Briar.
She inched closer to him, their knees brushing.
“Maybe for tonight, we can pretend things are normal? Maeve and Liam are still gone, and I don’t want to do anything without their help too. ”
His brows scrunched together, his jaw clenching once before he smiled momentarily. “Yeah, we can pretend.” He squeezed her hand gently. “But there’s something I should tell you before we go.”
Her heart dropped when he glanced at her. His voice was sullen. His gaze nervous. She swallowed roughly as she prepared for whatever was about to come out of his mouth. If it were something terrible, it’d be like the already-cracked earth collapsing beneath her feet. “Yes?”
He took a deep breath, his stare dropping to the ground for a moment. His magic was stiff against hers, as if his nerves had frozen his entire being. He found his way back to her a few moments later, and his shoulders sagged.
“I…just really missed you, is all,” he murmured.
The breath caught in her throat as she waited for his words released. Her hand went to her chest as relief flooded her body because she wasn’t sure if she could handle another secret. “I missed you, too. Was that all you wanted to tell me?”
He nodded once, the corners of his lips turning upwards. “Sorry I worried you.”
“It’s okay,” she said, one hand moving to cup his cheek. Her thumb brushed over the soft brown beard he’d let grow while she was away. “I’m going to get ready.”
“So you must hate all the winter weather if spring is your favorite season?” she laughed before taking another sip of her white wine.
Ezra sat across from her at a small table in a secluded corner of the quaint restaurant downtown.
The remnants of their shared dessert—the finest tiramisu she’d ever tasted—sat in the center next to the lit candle.
She watched as the golden light danced across his features, the flame reflecting in the ocean of his eyes like a lighthouse.
He smirked as a soft laugh slipped between his lips, the sound barely heard over the dulcet tones of smooth jazz from the speakers.
“The only thing I enjoy about winter is being able to make full use of my sweater collection.” He took a sip of his red wine.
A droplet slid onto his bottom lip, and her gaze fell to his mouth as his tongue swept up the stray liquid. “And what’s your favorite season?”
“Early autumn,” she said. She peered around the restaurant at the burgundy, burnt orange, amber yellow, and warm wood that decorated the room.
“Where the leaves are turning and starting to fall, the air is crisp and a little chilly in the morning, but a hot coffee is all that’s needed to keep you warm, and it’s not so cold you have to wear too many layers.
I’m always a little sad when I have to pack away most of my skirts and tights until spring. ”
“And the ones you have on tonight aren’t leaving you too cold, are they?” he asked, a brow raising as he peeked at her crossed legs beneath the table.
“It’s worth it.” She grinned, her hand propping up her chin.
She wore a simple black corduroy miniskirt, semi-sheer tights, and knee-high boots with a tight emerald green sweater which may have accentuated her breasts.
The weather wasn’t at the top of her mind when she chose the outfit. “Don’t you agree?”
“I can’t argue. You’re breathtaking.” He leaned closer to her across the table, and his voice lowered. “I can warm you up, though. If you’d like me to?”
She bit her bottom lip, and a trill of excitement echoed through her body when his gaze dropped, and she nodded.
Barely a second later, the soft ribbon of his magic curled around her legs.
It slid up her calves to her thighs slowly, caressing her skin as it traveled.
The room around them disappeared as he touched her.
The jazz slowed, the colors faded, and the freshly baked bread, garlic, and creamy sauces left her senses until there was only him.
She inhaled sharply as his magic brushed beneath the hem of her skirt, and it came to a stop.
A moment later, warmth radiated from the ribbons coiled around her and flooded the rest of her body with heat.
Ivy exhaled shakily as one hand gripped her wineglass harder, and he chuckled. “I wasn’t sure if that would work,” he said. “Another fascinating thing we can do.”
Words were lost to her as her mind wandered to what other things their magic could do.
She ventured from his eyes to the dimple in his cheek—barely visible thanks to his beard—then to the strong line of his jaw, and to his forearms, which he had exposed halfway through dinner.
She wanted to trace the fine lines of his tattoos with her finger.
“Doing well over here?” the server asked as she appeared at their table.
“I think we’re ready for the check,” Ezra said. She nodded, turning back around. He glanced back at Ivy and gave her a lopsided smile. “There’s one more place I want to take you before we go back.”
Her brows rose. “Another surprise?”
“I have a couple more up my sleeve for tonight.” He crossed his arms on top of the table. “If we were in a bigger city, I’d have a few more ideas. Dancing out on a rooftop spot I know. A boutique art gallery. The botanical garden. But Arcania is a good place to start.”
Heat rushed to her cheeks, and not only from his magic. “I…I’m not used to this kind of attention.”
His face curled in confusion.
“I mean, I’ve dated and gone on dates before. Not often. The city I was in for the past six years was smaller than this, and my hometown is even smaller. Anyone I dated was…” She paused, thinking of how to describe her love life that didn’t sound pathetic. “They weren’t like you.”
“In a good way, I hope?”
“Yes.” She chuckled. “You’ve really surprised me. If someone had told me back in August I’d come to care about the man who barreled me over in the train station, I would’ve thought they were mad.”
His head fell back as he laughed. As the server dropped the check off at the table, Ezra immediately placed his card down for her to take it away. “The annoying parts of my personality are what charmed you in the first place.”
She rolled her eyes and smirked. “Maybe.”
He winked at her, earning him another eyeroll. “Either that or my irresistible good looks.”
“Well, it certainly wasn’t your ego,” she joked.
The server returned, placing everything on the table near Ezra with a basic black pen. “Have a nice night.”
“You as well.” Once he finished filling out the receipt, he returned his gaze to her with a soft smile. “Ready?”
She nodded, and before she could stand from her chair, he was out of his and grabbing their jackets and her purse from the nearby hooks on the wall.
He tossed his jacket over the back of his chair to hold hers open.
She slipped her arms inside, and she leaned briefly into him as his hands slid down her shoulders.
“Such a gentleman.”
His breath was warm against her neck as he laughed. “You’d be the first to say it.” He put on his own jacket before holding out his hand toward her.
After leaving the restaurant, they roamed hand-in-hand through the quiet streets of downtown.
Ivy hadn’t had many chances of coming here during the semester, but she could imagine the streets are a little more lively when school is in session.
Christmas lights still lit storefronts and restaurants for at least a few more days until the New Year holiday passed.
They crossed the street to the city park.
Paved paths cut through the decorated lawn—currently covered in a thin layer of snow—and trees of various shapes and sizes.
Wooden benches were spattered along the lengths of the paths, some occupied, some not, alongside iron streetlights.
They were barely needed with the spectacle dangling above their heads.
White, red, and green lights sparkled delicately in the night sky along the path. In the trees, the lights moved, clustering together to form an image of stars, bows, or poinsettias and holly every few minutes. Ivy stared in wonder and sighed as her lips stretched into a grin.
“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered.
“They reminded me of you,” he said.
She glanced back at him, her breath catching in her throat. The sprinkle of lights danced around them, but the only thing reflected in his eyes was herself. Like she was all he could see.
He took a step closer to her, and their fingers intertwined.
“Ivy, I’ve spent a long time figuring out what to say if you ever gave me a chance like this.
” He exhaled a shaky laugh. “And now that we’re here, it’s not enough to simply say I care about you.
Over the past few months, you’ve shown me kindness when most people have treated me the opposite.
The more I’ve gotten to know you, the more I realize I’ve been sleepwalking through my life in order to handle it all.
Seeing you break through every barrier to find your friend has given me the courage to wake up.
And no matter what happens at the end of all this, I’ll forever be grateful to you. ”
“Ezra.” She inched closer to him. “Whatever courage you’ve gained has been all from your own actions.
You chose to be by my side from the beginning.
Whether it was because you wanted to truly help me or not, you weathered every storm with me.
Someone without courage wouldn’t have been willing to do that.
“What your family has put you through, it couldn’t have been easy.
But surviving through it isn’t cowardice.
And finding the strength to break free isn’t the only courageous part of your path.
Every step takes courage that only you can nourish.
Having people who believe in you helps. At the end of the day, it comes from inside you.
And knowing you these last months, I can see it’s always been there. ”
He smiled gently as he blinked away the tears that had sprung. “Another example of your kindness,” he said, his voice cracking. He tilted his head, laying his forehead against hers.
“Ez,” she murmured. She tipped her head slightly, and their noses brushed, the lips only an inch apart.
One of his hands slid out of hers to rest against the side of her neck, his thumb brushing against the bottom of her jaw. This was it. They would finally kiss. No interruptions. Her breath hitched as he moved closer.
But he was ripped away from her with a sharp jolt. Her body wobbled, and her eyes flew open as a large, burly, bald man yanked Ezra by the neck of his jacket and shoved him against the trunk of a nearby tree.
Ezra cursed as his back collided with it, and the man raised a fist. Before either of them could make another move, Ivy stretched out her hand, shouting the words of her spell toward the tree.
The roots sprang to life, coiling around the man’s hand and farther up his arm.
He tried to pry them away with his other hand, only for the roots to curl tightly around that one too.
The man glared over at her. “You bitch!” He shouted. “Yo—”
“You’re going to regret saying that,” Ezra said, his voice as sharp and deep as a deadly blade. She swallowed roughly as she watched him push away from the trunk.
“Not as much as you’ll regret your choice,” the man grunted.
Ivy’s brows scrunched. What choice did Ezra make?
The man didn’t elaborate, and Ezra didn’t ask.
He only glowered at the man, rage emboldening his every movement in a way she’d never seen before.
His hand curled into a fist, and she watched as the air around him swirled into a vortex around his forearm.
A moment later he thrust his hand against the man’s chest, sending him flying across the open lawn of the park and crashing into a tree nearly fifteen feet away.
Snow fell from the tree as his body thudded against the ground.
“Who the hell is that?” Ivy asked as she rushed over to Ezra.
“One of my father’s men,” Ezra said, his voice slowly returning to its normal octave as he huffed.
“Should we worry about him going to the police?”
He shook his head. “He’s part of an illegal organization. If he did that, he might as well put himself in handcuffs.” Ezra peered around them before turning back to Ivy. “We need to go. If he’s bold enough to grab me here, there are likely others around.”