CHAPTER 32 CORY
I hadn’t expected Mili to look so terrified, and a part of me wants to keep her hand firmly in mine as we make the trek up the stairs to the volcano’s peak. Releasing her causes my jaw to clench, and I exhale forcefully as I watch her shaking hand reach for the roughly-hewn stone banister.
“Are you nervous?” she asks me after a minute of climbing. She steps slowly, methodically, and I realize she’s biding her time. I can’t blame her, though; I feel the weight of Ethelinda on my shoulders, the weight of the Realm’s Mother watching me. I can’t imagine what it’s like for her ; after all, she actually lived in the town.
“I am,” I reply. A frown slips onto my face as I admit it, and I debate whether it would have been better to lie in hopes of sedating her nerves with my own (albeit false) confidence.
Then she laughs, a tinkling, bright sound, and sighs. “Me too.”
A gust of wind blows her scent to me, and I soak it in to try to read her mind as best I can. She’s nervous, sure, but there’s a sort of electric determination in her, too. She’s a match, I realize, dragging across stone – she’s agitated, powerful, moving towards a brilliant spark.
She’s poised at the ready.
I swell with sudden pride and feel myself stand taller with the realization: she’s going to succeed. We’re going to succeed. Of course, I’d never admit that to her; she’s got a self-conscious streak, I’ve started to realize. In a way she reminds me of Max or Port in that way – perhaps even myself, if I were being particularly honest.
Anyway, if I were to share my blind optimism in her abilities, it might as well shrink all her hidden power into nothingness. Better to let her silently trust herself than to shine a light on her fragile confidence. I can’t afford to scare her away, at least not now; though after we’re done, if all goes well, I’ll certainly brag about her to no end.
I really adore this faery, don’t I? The thought hits me like a bolt of lightning, and I rest my hand on my chest to focus myself. I can ruminate on my affections after this is all over, but for now, I must focus.
It’s only a few hundred more paces and we’ll be at the top of the volcano.
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At last, we arrive at the volcano’s peak and begin preparing for the spell. Mili instructs me to sit and focus my energies as she prepares the ritual space, and I take a few moments to close my eyes and carve out a mental chamber from which I can command the elements.
I open my eyes with a slow exhale, feeling my shoulders and legs relax with the breath, and watch, eyes tracing Mili as she moves about the flat circle of the peak. She’s methodical, completely in tune with her movement and her magick. It’s magnetic, and I train my thoughts on her to better prepare us to work in tandem with the spell.
As much as I’m trying to repress my growing attraction to Mili, I nearly lose my composure as I watch her setting up her enchantment. Her delicate fingers dance, untying linen sachets of herbs, setting candles with carved symbols in the wax in a circle around us, striking her matches and lighting them expertly.
I focus my energy on watching her, commanding the wind around us to pause, and give her space and stillness. My hands are clasped lightly in my lap, and I hum low in my throat as I let my eyes fall closed again. The wind more than disappears as I focus, creating a near-vacuum of hollow energy around us.
When I open my eyes, Mili is surveying her work intently, and a soft smile cracks my stoic expression. My mind is focused, but my body is at ease, and I know I’m ready for my part.
Mili turns to me with a slow sigh and forces a smile. “Ready?” she asks.
I cock an eyebrow at her and warn, “Don’t force emotion, now. It’s better if you come as you are. The Realm will respond with honesty if you arrive open.”
At that, a genuine smile warms her features. “You’re right. Normally I’m a lot calmer than this when I perform rituals.” She comes to sit beside me and I turn to her, expression neutral.
“I would assume those have lower stakes, though.”
She laughs quietly and nods. “Yes, you’d be correct.”
“Breathe with me a moment,” I say quietly. She nods and closes her eyes, and I let my eyes trace her features –her dark, shining hair, her black eyelashes, the alternating softness and angularness of her face. After a moment, I close my eyes, too.
We sit there for at least a few minutes, just breathing, and eventually I feel the rhythm of her heartbeat as if it’s pulsing through my own veins. I feel my brows furrow softly as I focus and align my breathing with hers, and gradually my heart rate slows down to match hers.
“I feel ready, Cory,” she whispers beside me.
I open my eyes, slowly, and see her gazing ahead at the rising Sun. I hadn’t even noticed it breaking the horizon, I was so intent on our bodies together, matching each other, melding together.
“Then let’s begin.”