Chapter 18 #2
At this point, that was really all Sadie wanted. Some peace and quiet in her own head—which she’d never get surrounded by people, especially if she couldn’t coax any more power into her amulet.
She took in everyone, trying to find inspiration to either send them all away or to escape herself.
Helen looked concerned. Lenora was trying to hold back tears.
Jane kept shifting awkwardly as if she couldn’t decide between rushing forward and finding a corner to hide in.
Beatrice remained near the door, uninvested in the outcome of the conversation.
To her surprise, Abigail also remained near the door, though Nicholas had ventured further into the room. Sadie expected to see annoyance or even hatred in her gaze, but not the tremble of fear. Then the fear was gone as if it had never been, and the blonde glared at Sadie.
She moved her attention onto Nicholas, who now stood directly in front of her spot on the chaise, his attention locked on her amulet.
He was an earth-witch. He knew the rune on the front was a minor protection, but could he sense the influx of power as she traced the glyph? Given the way he was staring, Sadie feared the answer was yes.
She needed him to leave most of all. Since she knew he wouldn’t, the next best option was removing herself. Sadie turned to Madeleine. “I think perhaps I should go lie down.”
“Of course, dear. And if you need anything else, don’t hesitate to have your maid ask.”
“I’ll escort you to your room.” Nicholas announced. “You shouldn’t be by yourself in case you faint.”
And there went Sadie’s grand plan to escape him. She didn’t for a moment think he was worried about her fainting. No, his offer to escort her had been more of a threat than a show of concern. She resigned herself to his questions and allowed him to help her to her feet.
Even frustrated and overwhelmed as she was, Sadie still paused for a moment when his hand touched hers.
There was a connection beyond the physical in that moment, a promise of potential.
Nicholas felt it, too. She saw it in how his body stilled; heard his thoughts spark with speculations that would have made her blush if he hadn’t strangled them back as soon as they formed.
Then he pulled her up with unexpected strength, and she nearly stumbled directly into him. A vision of her crashing against his chest, and Nicholas holding her close before lifting her into his arms and striding out of the room swept over her. She wasn’t sure if the thought was her own or his.
But it was only a thought. She managed to find her balance, he released her hand, and the proper distance remained between their bodies as he winged out his elbow and she took his arm.
As they walked to the door, Sadie blinked in surprise. “Where’d Abigail go?” she murmured. When had the other woman slipped out of the room?
“I don’t know and don’t care.”
“You should care. If anyone is going to try to trap you in a marriage, it’s her, and if she isn’t staying near you, it is for a reason.”
They crossed the foyer, heading toward the main staircase.
“Maybe the reason is you. I walked away while she was in the middle of talking to see what had happened to you—my priorities were clear.” He met Sadie’s eyes, his own now deadly serious.
“I’m not going to let you distract me from what happened, Sadie.
Something was wrong. I want to know what and why you thought your amulet could help. ”
“I told you the amulet is sentimental. I often reach for it when I’m upset. And I can’t tell you exactly what overcame me, but I needed a moment alone. I still do.”
He ignored that unsubtle hint, turning the moment they reached the upstairs hall and facing her. A shimmering blue ward snapped into place around them. “You were feeding magic into it, Sadie.” He reached out toward her amulet. “But you weren’t tracing the glyph on the front.”
Before she could react, he had the agate in his fingers and twisted it around.
Sadie froze. She couldn’t even bring herself to bat his hand away or pull back. It was too late.
???
Nicholas studied the amulet, trying to piece together the runes in the glyph on the underside.
“Suppression, magic, body, containment,” he murmured as he untangled the lines.
There was more, and the ways they’d been carved together confused him, but he understood enough.
He looked up, still holding the stone, the space between his body and Sadie’s almost non-existent.
“Sadie, this looks like a charm meant to trap and smother magic inside a body.”
What kind of effect would such a charm have on a witch?
Sadie gripped his wrist and tugged. “It’s none of your business.”
Reluctantly, he released the amulet, tracing the glyph in his mind, trying to commit it to memory.
But he wasn’t giving up. “I don’t know where your grandmother—” or whoever actually made the amulet “—found this glyph, but it isn’t doing you any favors.
Your magic isn’t supposed to be bottled up inside you.
It is supposed to flow freely and touch the world.
This charm could be the reason for whatever happened to you this morning, since I doubt your sickness is anything mundane. ”
“My problem this morning was because I stopped using the charm,” she snapped at Nicholas. She stepped back, bumping into the wall behind her.
If she had attempted to move past him, he’d have dropped his ward and let her escape.
But he didn’t think she felt trapped so much as defensive.
He closed the distance between them again.
“That’s exactly what I mean. You’ve caged your magic for so long that it erupted when you loosened that control.
If you let it flow freely, it won’t ever be that overwhelming.
Keep using that charm, and something like this morning will happen again, at the worst possible moment. Let. Me. Help.”
“You can’t.” She swallowed and looked away. “I can’t.”
With a snarl, he grabbed the amulet once more.
This time he held it in his left hand and traced the glyph with the nail of his right pointer finger.
Without the proper tools, he couldn’t engrave the glyph deeper into the hard agate, but with his affinity for earth, and with the glyph already etched into the stone, the magic still flowed.
Sadie watched him, her jaw slack.
He released the charm. “It will draw more magic than you can coax into it for a while, but not long. I won’t make you a replacement unless you can convince me that this glyph is actually safe for you.
And Sadie? You won’t be able to do that without telling me what your power is and why you think this abomination helps you. ”
He dropped the ward, the shimmering blue winking out of existence, but didn’t step back.
Sadie stared at him a moment longer, brown eyes wide, lips parted. Spirits, he wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to pull her close and wrap her in his arms and magic and tell her she was safe with him. But he couldn’t force her to trust him.
Her lips pressed together, and her hand flattened over the amulet. “I can’t. You have to trust me on this, Nicholas.”
“Then we’re at an impasse. I cannot in good conscience duplicate this charm for you when I don’t understand what the consequences might be.
Nor can I trust that you are right and it is necessary—not because I don’t trust you, but because you are making decisions without a firm understanding of how magic works. ”
“I never asked you to make me a new charm.” The words should have come across as disdainful, but Sadie merely sounded tired.
Nicholas stepped back. “Go rest, Sadie.”