Chapter 42 Keep It Professional
(for Approximately Twelve Minutes)
Arabella
Try again,” Kaz commanded, his voice carrying that particular edge that meant his patience was wearing thin.
I stood in the center of the training room, sweat beading on my forehead.
We’d spent the last two days preparing for our respective missions.
Portal magic had been Kazimir’s nonnegotiable addition to my training before we separated.
His version of a goodbye gift—an impossible spell and a morning to learn it.
“I am trying,” I shot back, attempting the portal incantation for what felt like the hundredth time. My hands traced the required runes in the air, shadow magic gathering at my fingertips. “Maybe if you explained it better instead of just barking ‘wrong’ every time—”
“Your wrist angle is off by three degrees.” He demonstrated the gesture. “And you’re rushing the third syllable. Portal magic requires exactitude, not enthusiasm.”
“Exactitude,” I muttered, mimicking his tone. “Right. Because that’s definitely my strong suit.”
A ghost of a smile touched his lips before he caught himself.
We’d been dancing around each other like this for the past hour—him trying to maintain professional distance, me trying to pretend I didn’t notice the way his eyes kept drifting to where my leathers hugged my curves. It felt like old times.
“This is emergency magic only,” he reminded me for the fifth time. “Short distances. A last resort if you’re cornered.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?” He stepped closer, and I caught his scent—more steel today than winter storm. “Because portal magic isn’t like shadow constructs or healing. One miscalculation and you could scatter yourself across three dimensions.”
I took a deep, centering breath. Portal magic was notoriously difficult—not only because it required immense power, but because it demanded precise control.
According to Kazimir, it was all about understanding the space between places, the thin membrane of reality that could be pierced and reshaped with the right application of will.
For the tenth time that morning, I gathered my magic, focusing on a spot across the training room. I imagined the air thinning, becoming permeable. With a sharp gesture, I slashed at the invisible barrier.
Nothing happened.
“Fuck,” I muttered, wiping sweat from my brow.
“You’re forcing it,” Kazimir said, stepping closer. “It’s not about brute strength. Think of it like picking a lock, not kicking down a door.”
“Easy for you to say. You’ve been doing this for years.”
“And I’m trying to compress years of learning into a single morning,” he replied, his tone softening slightly. “If you’re cornered on Meridian Isle with no other options, a short-distance portal might save your life. But it’s not reliable, and you won’t be able to take anyone with you.”
I frowned at that last part. “So I’d have to leave Vex behind?”
“Yes.”
The thought made me uneasy. I would never abandon a companion in danger. The very idea made my stomach turn, but I didn’t voice it.
Kaz would probably accuse me of heroic tendencies.
“I wish Nyx was big enough to carry both Vex and me,” I said instead, changing the subject. “It would make the Meridian Isle extraction much simpler.”
“That day is rapidly approaching.” Kaz moved behind me, adjusting my stance. “Though mastering flight on a dragon is just as difficult as portal magic. Different skills, same learning curve.”
“You always ruin my best fantasies.”
He chuckled, and his voice dipped low. “Pretty sure I’m terrific at making your fantasies come true.”
Kaz’s chest pressed against my back, and his arms encircled me. His hands hovered over mine, not quite touching. Even through the leather, I could feel the heat of him, the controlled power in his frame. My body responded immediately, a flush spreading across my skin.
I turned to face him, bringing us chest to chest, watching his pupils dilate. “Are you going to teach me this portal magic properly or are we going to keep pretending you’re not staring at my ass?”
“Your stance is crucial for—” He broke off as I deliberately shifted my hips against his. He spun me around, pressing my back against his chest again.
“Attempting to distract your instructor is poor classroom etiquette,” he murmured against my neck.
“Good thing this isn’t a classroom.” I leaned into the hard planes of his body. “And you’re hardly a traditional teacher.”
“I should hope not.” His hand splayed across my stomach, holding me in place.
I tilted my head back against his shoulder. “You’re distractingly attractive when you’re being all intense and broody.”
“I don’t brood.”
“You’re literally brooding right now.”
“This is concentration.” But I could hear the smile in his voice. It made me ache to run my hands over his body and show him just how distracting he was.
“Show me again,” I said, surprising us both with the request. “The portal gesture.”
He slowly guided my hands through the motion. His beard tickled my ear as he spoke. “Feel the space. The air isn’t empty—it’s filled with potential. You’re not creating something from nothing; you’re reshaping what’s already there.”
I closed my eyes, trying to sense what he described. With his proximity, my magic responded more readily, rising to meet his. I could feel the edges of his dominion magic brushing against my own power. I concentrated, letting his power blend with mine.
And then—it clicked.
Reality tore open in front of me with a sound like silk ripping. A portal, no bigger than my fist, shimmered in the air in front of my face. Through it, I could see the other side of the training room, distorted and wavering but unmistakably there.
“I did it!” I gasped, triumph surging through me.
But the moment the words left my mouth, pain lanced through our connection. Kaz’s breath hitched, his hand spasming against my stomach. The portal winked out of existence.
“Your runes,” I said immediately, turning in his arms. The Heirloom pulsed against my skin, trying to sync with him—its rightful conduit for dominion magic. But something was fighting it, and that resistance was burning through his bones.
“It’s nothing.” He stepped back, creating distance between us. He ran a hand through his hair, and I caught the slight tremor in his fingers. “The runes are reactive today.”
“Let me help,” I offered, my healing magic already gathering at my fingertips.
“No,” he said brusquely. “It’s fine. Let’s continue.”
I dropped my hand, stung by his rejection but not surprised.
Kazimir had always been stubbornly self-reliant when it came to his pain, refusing assistance even when it was clearly needed.
Usually, I attributed this to pride, but lately, something else seemed to be driving his reluctance.
He’d been pulling away more and more, ever since the ritual with the Alchemist.
I studied him, noting the tight lines around his eyes, the careful way he held himself.
“Is that why you agreed so quickly?” I asked suddenly. “To splitting up? To sending me to Meridian Isle?”
His expression shuttered. “You wanted autonomy. I’m giving it to you.”
“Bullshit.” My truth-sense tingled, not quite indicating a lie but definitely suggesting an omission.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You heard me.” I crossed my arms. “You never agree to anything that easily. Especially not when it involves me being out of your sight for more than five minutes.”
“Perhaps I’m evolving. It’s what you wanted, right?”
I stepped closer and reached for him. He caught my wrists, holding me at bay. “Why are your runes getting worse?”
His gaze searched mine. “My runes have always caused me pain. You know this.”
“Yes.” I looked between us at my trapped hands. “But what about this distance you keep putting between us? This wall you’re building?”
“Protection,” he said quietly.
“From what?”
His grip on my wrists tightened. “From me.” I could see the war in his eyes—the desire to pull me close battling with the need to push me away.
“I can handle myself, Kazimir. And I can handle you.”
“Can you?” His eyes darkened, and for a split second, I thought I saw something ancient and hungry looking back at me. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
“I have a pretty good idea,” I said, refusing to back down. “I’ve seen you at your worst.”
“No,” he rasped. “You haven’t.”
His tone sent a chill down my spine, but I pushed the feeling aside. Whatever demons Kazimir was wrestling with, I wasn’t about to let him face them alone—even if he was determined to push me away. “You’re an idiot.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
“You. Are. An. Idiot.” I punctuated each word by trying to free my wrists, without success. “I didn’t pour my life force into a magical artifact to save someone who’s afraid of their own shadow.”
“Arabella,” he growled.
I pressed into his hold now, bringing our faces inches apart. “You think I don’t know something’s wrong? You think I can’t feel the darkness that’s been growing in you since the Spire?”
He went very still.
“But here’s the thing,” I continued, my voice dropping to match his. “I don’t care.”
“You should.”
I smiled, sharp and challenging. “I married the Dark Lord. I learned shadow magic. I merged with an ancient artifact. I think we’re well past what I ‘should’ do at this point.”
“Arabel—”
“Shut up.” I surged forward, catching his mouth with mine.
For a moment, he resisted. I could feel the tension in him, the desperate need to maintain control.
Then he spun us around, pressing me against a pillar hard enough to steal my breath.
His mouth was hungry on mine, all that careful control shattered into desperate need.
I gasped, and he took advantage, deepening the kiss until I could taste his darkness, his desire, his fear.
My hands were still trapped between us, but I didn’t need them. I nipped at his lower lip, satisfaction surging through me when he groaned.
“This is a terrible idea,” he muttered against my mouth. “We have too many things to do.”
“Most of our ideas are terrible.” I arched against him, feeling his body’s immediate response. I rolled my hips deliberately. “Unless you’d prefer to send me off to Meridian Isle all hot and bothered? I’m sure that’ll help my concentration.”
He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, and the heat in his gaze made my knees weak. “How terribly inappropriate, Lady Blackrose. I thought I was your teacher?”
“Fuck propriety.”
“Language,” he murmured, before tasting the salty skin of my neck.
“And fuck you,” I gasped, my nails digging into his shoulders.
“That does appear to be where this is heading.”
His hands found the buckles of my leather vest, working them loose. “These were a mistake,” he muttered.
I laughed, the sound breathless. “You chose them.”
“A decision I’m deeply regretting.” He finally managed to loosen the top enough to expose my collarbone, which he immediately traced with his tongue.
“Kaz—” Whatever I’d been about to say dissolved into a moan as he found that spot where my neck met my shoulder, the one that always made me melt.
“You were saying?” His voice was dark with satisfaction.
“I hate you.”
“Liar.” He lifted me, my legs wrapping around his waist automatically, and carried me to the center of the room. I tugged at his shirt, frustrated by the fabric between us. “Less talking, more—oh.”
He’d set me on my feet only to drop to his knees in front of me, looking up through dark lashes. “More what?” His hands skimmed up my thighs, finding the laces of my leather pants. “Tell me what you want, Arabella. I want to hear you say it.”
I grinned with my lower lip between my teeth. “Teach me something new.”
His eyes flashed silver—possession, satisfaction, and underneath it all, that fear he couldn’t quite hide. But then his mouth was on me through the leather, and I forgot how to think.
Afterward, we lay on the floor, clothes still mostly on but askew, both of us breathing hard. Kazimir’s head rested on my stomach.
My new leathers would definitely need reconditioning after this.
I ran my fingers through his hair. “That… was new.”
“The runes feel better now,” he said after a while, voice muffled against my skin.
I tugged lightly on his hair, forcing him to look up at me. “Are you saying all you needed was sex?”
The corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile. “It does seem to have a calming effect.”
“On your magic or your mood?”
“Both.” He shifted, moving to lie beside me and propping himself up on one elbow. I studied his face, noting the lingering shadows in his eyes despite his relaxed posture. Whatever was troubling him hadn’t been fully exorcised by our encounter.
I could practically feel his walls being erected once again. I sat up, ignoring the protest of muscles that had been pressed against stone.
“You better not die while we’re separated,” I said abruptly.
He raised an eyebrow. “Planning to kill me yourself when you return?”
“No.” I began adjusting my clothing. “I still have a lot of things to say to you, once you get your head out of your ass.”
Instead of the sharp retort I expected, Kazimir laughed. “I’ll do my best to stay alive, then,” he said, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “We’ll go to our respective kingdoms, kidnap some heroes, save the world. Standard Tuesday.”
I stood and attempted to restore some dignity to my appearance. “When has anything about us been standard?”
He watched me rebuckle my vest, his expression unreadable. “You’ll be careful on Meridian Isle.”
“I thought I’d announce myself at the gates and challenge the entire royal guard to single combat.”
“Arabella—”
“I’ll be careful.” I softened my tone. “I have Vex and Nyx, and can contact you via the scrying crystals. We’ll be fine.”
“And if something goes wrong?”
“Then I’ll use that portal magic you barely taught me and probably scatter myself across three dimensions.” I grinned at his expression. “Kidding. Mostly.”
He stood quickly, catching me around the waist. “This isn’t a joke.”
“I know.” I met his gaze steadily. “But if we don’t laugh, we’ll go insane. And you’re already halfway there with all this brooding. Besides, I’m not quite ready to call it a day, and since we’ve worked out some of our… distractions, I want to try that portal again.”