Chapter 10 #3
The magic in the alcove continued to radiate a sweet, lulling scent. It was localised to his sister, strong and unchanged even with the connection severed.
That was until the witch’s heart stumbled, missing an entire beat, and the scent grew chaotic and cold.
“Fuck!” he roared as he dived his paws down to her. “I shouldn’t have touched her.”
Her body seemed heavier than before as he tried to lift her off the ground by her hands to place them back upon Selene’s temples.
Her limpness, as if she were dead, made it nearly impossible without support.
So he shoved her into an upright position with her legs on either side of the altar, slid himself behind her, and used his chest to keep her up.
Then he cupped the backs of her hands and placed them against the sides of Selene’s cheeks.
Her body was frighteningly cool against him.
He let go of her hands, hoping they’d stick and the magic would take hold, but they slipped away without his assistance. He did it again, waited, then tried letting go, but they fell.
“Come on, witch,” he gritted out. “Grab hold again.”
He lined his scaled, claw-tipped fingers over each of hers and remained in that position for a long while.
Seconds, perhaps minutes, ticked by as he waited.
His breaths blew right against the side of her temple, billowing against the little stray curls that lined her face.
Hers shallowed until they ceased entirely.
Then her heart suddenly quickened, overly rapid and frantic, as a sharp breath caught in her chest. She slowly warmed, her breathing eased into a natural rhythm, and her muscles tensed.
But he didn’t let go of her, even when he knew the connection between them had been re-tethered. He held on, worried that it was only temporary and her wellness would reverse.
Kier found himself unable to part from her.
He was captivated by the warmth of her life, the lovely sweetness of her scent, and the renewing strength in the soft curves of her body.
Such rare magic, he thought in awe, gazing at the side of her face. The cloudiness in her eyes stole away the mesmerising onyx of her irises, and it would likely persist until the connection was severed by her, and her alone. Foolish witch. Do you not understand the dangers?
In some untrusting corner of his heart, he wanted to be enraged that she was using what was considered dark magic for witches. It was evil when cast by them.
It required much blood and stolen life.
But the tingling aroma of it was pure. He used a tiny amount of dragoncraft to imbue his eyes with the ability to see it, and there was nothing dark about it. No red, blue, or even green to highlight an additive. The core of the magic was black – a colour dark witches couldn’t create.
He’d never known her kind to do so.
But this magic held nothing extra; it just simply was.
She has been touched by the gods. It was such a rare gift, and he only knew of a handful of his kind who could do this.
His own brother, for instance. Funny that he’d been thinking of him just as she’d been casting this.
He couldn’t help staring at her in a new light, raking his gaze down the side of her oval face, following the curving line of her nose, her full lips, the slight jut of her chin.
Her head was tilted away from him, resting upon her arm, and his brows drew together at what he saw within the space between her neck and the scarf.
Blotting bruises around her neck were yellowed and well and truly near being fully healed. But the evidence of them showed they’d once been deep.
As if she’d recently been strangled.
His soul grabbed his own heart to squeeze it in a cruel, constricting crush.
No. She wasn’t foolish. She understood the dangers – she just didn’t care.
Why are you doing this? She likely thought he’d be infuriated over this. Yes, he was angry, and he didn’t like the idea of what she was doing, but he doubted it was to be invasive. She must have a reason, he acknowledged, as she’d shown she had one for everything she did.
“You understand that this can result in your death?” he murmured, staring at her hands. “You fight with a dragoness, and she won’t sit still with you in her mind. What is it you seek? A dream? A...”
His eyes widened as his wings drooped in understanding.
Had he thought her weak? How wrong he was.
You, little female, are quite the precious gem.
Even the great king of dragons would be impressed.
That wasn’t why Kier continued to hold her. Her magic or her capabilities weren’t why he offered her his warmth and support.
No, he had other reasons.
It was due to her heart, her consideration, and her brave determination to do something that was of great risk to her. If she failed to obtain the answer, she lost her freedom to him. If she failed to retain control, she lost her life to Selene.
All her hopes rested on success.
If Kier wanted to, he could blame it all on her desire to be freed, except... She could’ve chosen to do this to me instead and didn’t.
She’d chosen the harder option.