Chapter Eight #2
Phantasia added the freshly ground substance into a mini black cauldron bubbling in the center of the crafting table. There was no big puff of smoke like the bigger cauldron. Instead, a purple mist wafted upward, slow and whimsical.
“What are you making?” I asked.
“A calming potion. You are too frazzled, jumping at every noise.” She filled a small glass vial with purple liquid and approached. “And I need you to sit still while I examine you.”
I scoffed. “You say that like I’m a child.”
“Aren’t you?” Her lips quirked up. “I’ve lived for nearly four hundred years. You are a mere baby to me.”
“I can sit still without a potion,” I muttered.
Briar quietly coughed. No doubt suppressing a laugh, the meanie.
“I need your emotions balanced as well.” She handed me the vial. “Otherwise, it will be difficult to properly assess your mana levels.”
“This doesn’t taste like flowers, does it?” I studied the contents of the vial.
“No.” Phantasia gave me a blank stare. “Now drink.”
I downed it in one go.
And then gagged. “You lied to me. That tasted like flowers and soap. Not soothing at all. Blech. It’s still on my tongue. I need to wash out my mou…”
A heaviness came over my body, slowly pressing down on every muscle and bone.
She smirked. “Feel better?”
Everything seemed to move in slow motion. I nodded to her before looking at Briar and smiling. I blinked. My lids weighed a ton.
“Essence of lavender, chamomile, some honey, and a touch of calming magic,” Phantasia told Briar as she placed her hand on my head. “I can give you the potion formula should you ever wish to use it on him too. See how calm he is now?”
Briar laughed.
I got the feeling I was being teased, but I felt too awesome to care.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so relaxed, not even last night when drunk.
This was on another level. Hell, Salem could come flying over and land on my head, flapping his monstrous wings and threatening me with his pointy beak of doom, and I wouldn’t have a care in the world.
“Allow me to begin.” Phantasia kept her hand on the top of my head and closed her eyes. Warmth seeped from her palm, and an odd sensation traveled from my scalp and down my body, settling in my feet.
I wiggled my toes. The weighted pressure around me was like a comforting blanket.
“Raw magic flows through your veins, little human,” Phantasia said, her eyes still closed. “Stronger than anything I’ve ever felt.”
“That’s what Reign told him.” Briar watched her work, arms crossed and one hand lifted to his mouth. “He sensed Evan’s magic even when his powers were still dormant.”
“I can see why. The magic sings in his blood. A constant hum just waiting to be unleashed.” She opened her eyes and examined my face. “But there’s a block preventing it from doing so.”
“A block?” Briar asked.
The demon nodded. “To put it simply, whether conscious of it or not, Evan is resisting his powers. Fighting against them. That resistance has caused a barrier within his mind, holding them at bay.”
“I see.” Briar looked at me and softly smiled. “And you call our captain stubborn.”
“Question.” I raised my hand. Or tried to. I was so relaxed that my muscles felt like they were full of lead. “Is it possible for me to just… keep the lid on the magical chest closed? Maybe slap the lock back into place. Add a second padlock for backup.”
“No,” Phantasia answered, lightly probing my temples with her fingertips.
“You won’t be able to suppress this level of power forever.
There will come a day when you reach your threshold, and these powers will break through your mental barrier and surge forward.
I suggest not waiting for that day to come. ”
“Why not?” I asked.
“The more you try to bury them, the more unstable they’ll be when the lid to that chest is finally pried open.” She withdrew her hands from me and placed them on her hips instead. “And I promise that when it does, it will be much greater than a mere explosion of flames in the throne room hearth.”
“Understood.” I swallowed hard, feeling a tinge of anxiety return. The potion must be wearing off. “So, resistance really is futile.”
Because of course it was. Fate wouldn’t give me an awesome loophole like that.
“I regret to say that seems to be the case.” Briar rested his hand at my nape and lightly massaged. I loved how he always touched me when close, almost like it was done subconsciously. “But you won’t do this alone. We’ll all be by your side.”
“You better.” I smiled. It felt a bit lopsided.
“As will I,” Phantasia told me. “Starting with me helping you remove that mental barrier keeping your powers subdued.”
“Will it hurt?” I asked as another tingle of anxiety poked at my chest. Yep. The Evan-calming potion was definitely wearing off. Mentally, anyway. My muscles hadn’t gotten the memo yet and still felt sluggish.
“Physically, no.” She patted my head before stepping over to the cabinet of curiosities, aka, the place where all the jars of unknown substances were kept. “However, it can be quite taxing for the mind and heart. Agonizing, in some cases.”
“How so?” Briar’s hold on me tightened.
“Emotions play a vital role in how magic manifests,” she explained as she dug around inside the cabinet.
“Fears. Trauma. Grief. Only by facing what he’s repressed can he truly gain enlightenment and harness his powers.
It will require Evan to look inside his own mind and explore all the dark places he’s buried deep down. ”
“Well, that doesn’t sound fun,” I said as a fresh wave of nerves went rampant in my belly. “Are we, um, doing that now?”
“The elixir requires three days to brew.” Phantasia sighed and closed the cabinet doors. “Alas, I’m also missing several ingredients. I will need to gather more before beginning.”
“What do you need?” Briar asked. “I can help you acquire it.”
I narrowed my eyes at the glasses-wearing hottie. His willingness to help people was something I loved about him, but right then, I had to fight the urge to tickle his sides until he begged for mercy. I was in no hurry to embark on the quest to face my fears or whatever.
“Root of the Necrecia plant,” Phantasia said. “It can only be found growing near the mountains beyond the swamplands. I also need more mugwort and yarrow.”
“Oh, bummer.” I exaggerated a sigh. “Guess we’ll have to wait for her to gather the ingredients and brew it. What rotten luck.”
“I see how torn up over it you are,” Briar responded, brow arching.
“A crying shame, I’d say.” I slid off the stool and stepped into his orbit, wrapping my arms around his lean waist.
“Fret not, human.” Phantasia flicked her hand at me. “I will procure the needed ingredients and begin the potion tomorrow morning. Return to me in three days time.”
Three days until doomsday.
“Awesome,” I said, my voice hinting at the opposite. It was the furthest thing from awesome. “Can’t wait.”
What the heck would I find in the dark recesses of my mind? I imagined a half-feral Evan slinking around in the shadows, grunting and hissing like a creature who hadn’t seen the light of day in eons.
“Rest for the remainder of the afternoon.” Briar pressed his index finger to my lips. “Find a book and curl up to read.”
As he peered down at me, his glasses slid down his nose, hanging off the tip. Lord, if it wasn’t one of the hottest sights ever.
“Reading sounds great, but I have an even better idea.” I rose up on my tiptoes and nuzzled the edge of the frames. “You. Me. And these glasses. In bed. Clothing optional but highly discouraged.”
His eyes crinkled with a smile. Heat burned in his hazel irises though as he grabbed my hips and pulled me closer. “I believe that can be arranged.”
Just as I rose up on my toes and kissed him, voices echoed down the corridor, along with the heavy thump of boots against the stone tiles.
“Sia!” a male demon with sapphire-colored skin and silver hair exclaimed, bursting into the clinic. Two other warriors fell in behind him, all sharing looks of alarm. “There’s been an accident.”
“Nereus?” Phantasia rushed toward him, wiping her hands. “What happened?”
“It’s Armin,” Nereus said, out of breath. “He was injured.”
Her breaths visibly stalled as she froze in place, her eyes widening.
She had mentioned her mate once. A warrior named Armin who was a ‘clumsy oaf’ lucky to have a healer for a wife due to all his training related injuries.
Injuries mostly caused by his own actions, like whacking himself in the face with his own shield.
Given Nereus’ behavior, I got the impression it wasn’t a silly injury this time though.
My heart ached at the flare of panic in Phantasia’s eyes and how her hand went impulsively to her stomach. It was a fear I carried every day as well, wondering if my knights would come home to me.
“No need to be so dramatic, Nereus,” a different voice said before another male demon appeared in the doorway.
He had sandy-brown hair, copper skin, and a face full of freckles.
And blood gushing from a headwound, raining down one side of that freckled face.
“It is but a mere scratch. Whacked my head on a low-hanging branch and fell from my horse.”
The frozen panic lifted from Phantasia, and she shook her head, expelling a breath. “Come here, my love. Let me have a look at you.”
“Our plans will need to wait until later,” Briar told me, pressing a kiss to my temple. “I have work that needs to be done here.”
“Good call,” I responded, then rose to kiss him again.
As I left the clinic, their voices followed me down the corridor. Phantasia chided Armin for being a clumsy oaf, and Nereus laughed. The other demon warriors chimed in as well, recounting Armin’s grand tale of smacking into a tree branch and falling.