Chapter 10 #4
“At this current juncture, it would seem that I’m only able to manifest this tether under a certain physical condition.”
“Physical condition?” I repeated. “I don’t understand.”
He leaned in closer, glancing over his shoulder before continuing. “Uh, it would seem that it only works if I’m… aroused.”
“Aroused?”
“For Source’s sake,” Cirian breathed. “My cock has to be hard, Azrael. If it’s not hard, no tether.”
“Oh. So, you need to be in heat for this to work?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Can you keep it up long enough?”
“I don’t think I like what you’re insinuating.”
“Do you need me to help with that—”
He slid away from me, rising to his feet and stalking away. I followed after him, giving him proper space as he paced the edge of the sanctuary, the light of the tether slowly fading as he did so, till it receded inward.
“You seem upset,” I said after a moment. “I apologize if I said something that offended.”
“It’s not that,” he replied, his pacing slowing. “Sorry, Az. I’m just trying to wrap my head around this.”
“If we need to find another way, then we can.”
He shook his head, letting out another pent breath. “No, you’re right. We don’t have a moment to spare here. If this is the only way to find Bastien, then I will bear it.”
“Then you’re ready?”
“Yes. I just need to check on Sancha before we go. It will only take a moment.”
“Take as long as you need.”
Cirian nodded, straightening the fabric of his vestments before traversing the center aisle of the sanctuary, headed towards the altar that watched over the intimate space.
I kept my distance, watching him as he knelt down to the woman who leaned against the stone dais.
Two other Hallowed members flanked her sides, each holding onto a hand as they chanted under their breath, no doubt attempting to slow the leeching of her magic from the wound of the Sanguine blade.
The Cardinal lifted her head as Cirian approached, though her eyes remained closed.
“You’re leaving again,” she said, her voice but a whisper.
“Aye, I am. Azrael is here now, and we’ve determined a way to find Bastien out in the dark. With him by our side, I have no doubts we’ll figure out a way to break ourselves of this place.”
Sancha drew in a long, ragged breath. The walls of the sanctuary seemed to rattle alongside her lungs. This place would not last. It was the unspoken reality that swirled around us all.
“I have no doubt you’ll find him,” she wheezed. “But be careful, my boy. I have not the strength to bear the weight of my sorrow should something befall you.”
“Wipe it from your mind. I will return. And I will send this darkness back to whatever corner of the Ether that it crawled from. I vow this.”
The Cardinal did not speak again, her breathing falling back into a labored rhythm. Cirian lingered there for a moment before kneeling, planting a gentle kiss atop her head.
It was a rare moment of sincerity from the Acolyte. A peek into the heart of the man beneath the bravado. Was this the man that Tobias saw him as? If so, I understood even more why he would want someone like Cirian by his side.
He joined me once more, a mask of determination poorly concealing the sorrow in his eyes. He knew that Sancha was running on borrowed time.
“Are you ready?” I asked.
“Mentally? Yes. Physically? I’ll need another moment.”
We stood near the spot on the shadow-covered wall where the tether had narrowed in earlier. Cirian stared intently into the teeming darkness, his mind lost in the thoughts of his time with Bastien.
Heat pooled at the nape of my neck, reminding me of my own ignored physicality.
I closed my eyes, suppressing the sensation, and willing the bothersome warmth to spread through my body.
Three long months it had been since I’d relieved the heat that burned through my veins, and with each cycle, the yearnings grew more intense.
It would not be long before I would have to take action or risk my body going into a rut.
When finally I opened my eyes, the thread emerged from Cirian once more, swirling in the space ahead of us before colliding with the wall of shadow. Peeling away like strips of paper meeting flame, the darkness revealed a plan wooden door with a golden knob in the center.
“Does that happen when you venture out into the dark?” I asked.
Cirian shook his head. “This is a first. Normally, I have to tear an opening for myself. This feels very different. Almost like it’s inviting us in.”
With a twist of the golden handle, the door swung open, the interior a swirling portal of shadow. Cirian’s tether vanished into the dark, still shining brightly.
“Shall we?”
Cirian reached down and wrapped his hand around mine.
“We can’t get separated out there. We stick together, yes?”
I stared back into the warmth of his eyes. In contrast with the swirling dark before us, they were pools of summer night sky.
“Together,” I agreed, tightening my hold on his hand.
With one last glance over his shoulder at the altar across the sanctuary, Cirian stepped forward into the darkness, and I followed quickly after.