Chapter Eighteen
T he sky is full of stars and sunshine. Half dark and half light.
It’s almost as if the moon and sun are at war to declare if it is day or night.
Lying on the ground in a heap of blood and tangled limbs is the face of the woman I once loved endlessly. My mother’s cold, lifeless eyes stare into mine.
I hear panting and when I turn my head, I see Forsythia. She too is covered in blood and dirt but does not appear injured.
I don’t think that blood is hers.
“Help her, and help all.”
The words don’t come from Sythia’s mouth. The voice seems both distant and yet close.
It’s the same voice from my other dreams…
Before I can even begin to consider the meaning behind the warning, Sythia walks straight up to me and wraps her arms around me. I barely settle into her comforting warmth when she sighs deeply, then begins rubbing her body against my side. Her hip and thigh caress my dick through the fabric separating us…
I inhale sharply in surprise, but before I can bring my hands out to touch her like I’ve been desperately craving to do since the moment I met her, she inhales deeply…
And then punches me right in the fucking chin...
Flinging myself backward, I try to flee from any further assault and land hard as my ass meets the wood floor of the bedroom.
Fucking ouch.
My eyes are wide open, and I try to understand what is going on as I continue to shake off my sleep and strange dreams. My chin hurts, and as I rub my hand against it I realize that portion of the dream wasn’t actually a dream after all.
Like any normal guy in this situation, I jump up and level a mean glare at the woman who just punched me… again …
“What the hell, Sythia?” I try to control my irritation, but I’m also trying to swallow down a healthy dose of lust thanks to ‘Dream Sythia.’
“Blake! I am so sorry. I forgot—“ she covers her mouth quickly and her eyes go wide. It only takes me a minute to realize where her eyes are actually focused right now, and it’s not my face.
I would be incredibly flattered, if not for my aching jaw.
“What?” I ask, glancing down to note that I’m in fact sporting a serious stiffy. I raise my finger and point at her. “Stop looking at it. That doesn’t help.” I try to keep my voice steady, but the absurdity of this whole situation is starting to bubble up and I know I will be laughing soon.
I don’t move to cover myself though. Part of me craves her attention. Part of me wants her hands roving crossed it like her eyes keep doing.
Dropping my finger, I rub my whole hand over my face a few times before dropping them to my sides. “I’m sorry I fell asleep next to you, but you could have just said something. I don’t think I deserved the punch this time.” I quirk an eyebrow and gently rub the quickly fading ache in my jaw for emphasis.
She finally lifts her gaze and drops her hands. Her cheeks are blushing and she purses her lips a minute before answering me. “No, you didn’t. I really am sorry. I forgot where I was, or that I wasn’t alone. I also didn’t mean to hit you. I was having an interesting dream and then I was just trying to stretch and well…“ She shrugs innocently. “Your chin got in my way.”
She has the tiniest smile on her lips, and after the day she had yesterday, I would take a punch to the nuts if it would make her smile. I scrub my hands down my face again, this time to hide a smile of my own, and try to brush off the last bit of sleep from my eyes.
When I drop my hands and look back at her, I notice that while her eyes are still a little puffy and red-rimmed from the abuse of her emotions yesterday, they don’t have the same defeated and tired glaze they had last night. I can’t help the easy smile I send back to her. Better is... well, better. Maybe it’s a sign that while she may hurt and mourn, this won’t destroy her.
My stomach grumbles and I would kill for a coffee. So with a clap of my hands, I address more important issues. “Alright well since I’m up, I might as well see about some breakfast.”
Almost as if she were eavesdropping, Cordelia opens the door. She is carrying a tray with fruits and baked goods, and my stomach instantly starts yelling at it. “I am here with breakfast!” she says cheerily, and I can’t help but smile at her.
“Oh!” Sythia says from the bed, eyeing the tray with interest. “That smells magnificent.”
“Yes, it does.” I move to Cordelia and reach out to take the tray from her. “Here let me help. It really does look fantastic. You didn’t need to go through all of this trouble, though.”
She turns slightly, keeping the tray out of reach before tsking at me. “No, now I have got this. I will get Sythia set up while you see to your…” She snorts a little before finishing her thoughts. “uhh… camping issues.”
“Camping issues?” I say in my confusion. I glance over at Sythia who is now clearly biting back her laughter. She looks down at my pants and when I follow her gaze, I can’t stop the groan from leaving my lips.
They’re like fucking children. Has no one seen an erect penis before?!
I throw my hands in the air in exasperation. “Oh my Gods! What is wrong with you both?” I say as I spin around and quickly leave the room. Making my way to the bathroom, I don’t quite manage to get the door shut before I hear full-blown roaring laughter from them both.
The sound has me smiling. I would be lying if I didn’t admit how much their laughter makes me relax. I was worried yesterday that Sythia might end up broken too much by Ori’s passing and the secrets that had been kept from her. This morning I can see it, though. Under the heartache is strength. So much fucking strength. She is going to get through this.
Since I’m confident that Cordelia can keep Sythia company for a little while, I think my best option is to take a shower.
A very, very cold shower.
Once I’m well… deflated …and clean, I head back to the room only to find it empty. It takes about a second of confusion before I hear laughter from the kitchen and move to join them. Cordelia has added a few more items to the breakfast spread, and there is a pot filled with beautiful flowers on the center of the table. I close my eyes for a moment and let the normalcy of it all drift through me. My favorite childhood memories are here with my grandmother.
I open my eyes and watch as she and Forsythia interact and chat. Like old friends. Absent-mindedly, I rub the center of my chest where a slight pulling sensation starts. Then comes the butterflies.
No. Just no. We won’t go there. Not now. Maybe not ever. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
Now that I know she will make it through this, there is a lot that we need to do, and we don’t have much time to do it. So I pop a chunk of fruit into my mouth, without sitting down, and start with the most important information first. I need to assess how long we can stay here to fast-track Sythia’s training. “Grandmother, I don’t sense the chief or his sons in the village. When are they supposed to return?”
She swallows her bite before answering me. “Your father and brothers are visiting with one of our factions in the far south. They are having some difficulties with local human fishermen. They are not expected to return for another two weeks.” She sighs before adding, “As the eldest of this village, it is my responsibility to report things to my chief. I did send word to him and let him know that you are here with another hunter and that I’m helping you with some special training that could turn the tides against the monster.”
Before I get a chance to speak, she quirks her eyebrow at me and adds, “I won’t lie to my leader, even for you my boy, but I see no harm in omitting some of the facts.” At that, she looks directly at Sythia and offers her a wink, then takes another bite of her quiche.
A warm smile lights my face at the affection I feel for Cordelia. She has always been the one person I can truly count on to have my back.
“Alright Sythia, that means we have exactly one week to get you trained. You have a lot of dust to shrug off with your magic, and a lot of new things to learn. I don’t think we will get through it all, but we can get it so you have a firm enough grasp for when we catch up to the Creatori again.” Her mouth is full, so she offers me an excited nod.
I laugh inside at the fact that she is so eager. I’m an asshole on a good day...just wait until I’m training her and pushing her limits.
Looking back at Cordelia, I ask her the next most important question. “So the whole thing regarding this tea suppressing her magick... You gave her some yesterday, right? How long until its effects have worn off?”
Cordelia scrunches her brows together in thought. “Well, I would normally say three days. However with the amount of magick inside her? I would say it will probably be mostly gone by tomorrow morning.”
That works out perfectly. I had guessed that much, but needed to confirm it so that I could properly plan out how to tackle tortu–I mean... training. I’m glad that it won’t interfere for too long. Sythia needs to learn how to handle her magick at its full capacity. Something it doesn’t seem she has had much experience with at all. I have a bad feeling this morning won’t be the last time she punches me.
There is one more question niggling at the back of my mind, but... I glance at Sythia and notice that she is still eating away at her full plate of breakfast. She seems content enough, so I look back at Cordelia and clear my throat. This is not a conversation I really want to have, but I don’t see any other choice.
“Uhmm, grandmother? Can I speak with you privately for a quick moment?” I ignore the fact that Sythia’s movements still at my question. Or maybe it’s my tone? Cordelia lowers her brows at me but stands from the table. “Alright. Why don’t you come and help me make the bed.” She sets off down the small hall without a backward glance. For a small woman, she moves with a speedy grace.
I nod at Sythia and offer her a quick, “We’ll be right back,” and a wink before I follow Cordelia.
Once I get into the room, I notice that she has already made the bed, and is standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed. Her signature no-nonsense facial expression makes me squirm a little. Just like it did when I was a child. “Well? What is it then?” She asks as I close the door gently.
I run my hand through my hair and try to get my thoughts in order. “Some strange things have happened and I just need your opinion.” She sighs and lowers herself to the bed. Letting her arms fall, she pats the spot on the bed beside her. I move to join her, grateful that I don’t have to look directly at her while we talk about all of this.
“So I know that there is a lot that we can’t even begin to comprehend about the Noctifer Witch, especially since she was merely a myth less than ten hours ago, but I have noticed that some of my spells have been a bit... off around her.“ I wait patiently for Cordelia to respond, but I can’t stand the quiet of the room, so I continue on. “When I found Forsythia, it was because the tracking spell I was using for the Creatori kept leading me to her instead.”
Cordelia makes a humming sound before she finally speaks. “That is strange. What intention words did you use?”
I think back to the words I invoked for my spells. “I made sure to use a drop of blood both times. The first time I tried ‘ Invenire Locum Creatori’ and the spell just fizzled out. I thought maybe it was because the monster wasn’t yet awake, but I tried another invocation only a few minutes later, and it led me to Forsythia. I performed the spell the same way, I just used the words ‘ Inveniet Eam Locus ‘. I also used those same words later, and again it just pointed me to Forsythia.”
She taps her lips in thought for a moment, before looking right at me. “Honestly? I have no clue. Maybe it has something to do with her connection to the spell she used to trap the monster? Although, I am not sure why the spell would latch onto Forsythia when you instructed it to ‘ search for her’ . Was this the only spell that went wonky?”
“Yes,” I tell her. “Although I have noticed that she seems unaffected by my pheromones.” Saying the last part with a shrug.
She crosses her arms over her chest. “Oh? And is this something that bothers you? Are you trying to affect her?“ She waggles her eyebrows at me and I jump off the bed, heading straight for the door.
“No!” I call over my shoulder. “Absolutely not! She’s just a friend and that’s all. I thought it was really weird and then I thought that maybe there was a chance she might be a relative.”
Cordelia makes a humming noise before joining me at the still-closed door. “I see. Well, she is not a relative, but if the two of you have gotten closer than your sleepy snuggles from last night, there is a chance she could have inadvertently initiated a mating bond.
My eyes go wide and I feel myself shaking my head from side to side far too rapidly. “No! There’s been nothing like that at all. Like I said, we’re just friends.”
She slaps me on the back with a laugh and then opens the door. “Then I am sure it is just her unique magick protecting her from things like that.” She winks and heads back to the kitchen table, breakfast, and her easy communication with Sythia about nothing at all in particular.
Though my head still spins a little from our conversation, I make my way out to the kitchen as well and finally relax in the seat across from Sythia, offering her a smile as I grab a plate and fill it completely with delicious food.
My grandmother can do two things incredibly well.
Heal almost any ailment you could imagine, and cook masterfully.
I just wish my chat with her gave me any kind of insight, or comfort.
Digging into the food on my plate with abandon, I savor every bite and let the quiet companionship of the meal wash over me.
And I definitely don’t think about any mating bonds that weren’t initiated.
That I know of.