Tobias
Everyone retired immediately after dinner, to my immense relief.
We all had early mornings tomorrow and much left to do in the days ahead.
And everyone needed a good night’s sleep to replenish their magic use today besides me, Quinn especially.
She hadn’t been able to hide her yawns by the time the sun fully set.
Rest wasn’t just a necessity; it was required for our survival.
My room was large and luxurious, with colorful seashells adorning the seafoam green wallpaper and sea stars atop each bedpost. The bed’s enormous frame and headboard were made of iridescent circles that reminded me of bubbles rising to the surface of the ocean.
I spent a full minute tossing the shell-shaped throw pillows from the bed, then threw the suffocatingly heavy quilt on an armchair by the curved bay windows.
At least the soft silk sheets underneath looked inviting.
I closed the blinds with a sharp yank, shutting off the peaceful view of the moonlight shimmering off the dark ocean waves.
Stripping off my shirt and pants, I pulled on a light pair of sleep shorts before falling into bed.
I stared dully at the seashell light on my bedside, wondering how long it would take tonight until I was huddled and shaking on the floor.
Maybe after today’s excitement I would actually be able to convince my mind to allow me a longer stretch of sleep.
Hopefully I would make it a few hours before my nightmares ripped me from my rest, and I inevitably spent the rest of the night staring balefully up at the ceiling—wishing the darkness would swallow me whole.
Soft footsteps stopped outside my door. I instantly recognized it as her. The was a long pause like she was contemplating whether to knock.
I held my breath, Quinn’s name trapped on the tip of my tongue as I waited for her decision.
Two hesitant raps on the door made me jolt straight up.
“Maris, are you still awake?” Quinn’s voice was quiet, but the uncertainty in it made my stomach drop.
“Come in,” I called out hoarsely.
The door creaked open, even that movement hesitant.
“I—” Quinn started, then froze with one foot inside the doorway.
Her eyes leisurely trailed down my bare chest, then back up again, taking her time as she did so. I may have flexed, just a little, as her perusal paused on my abdominals. My blood heated at the way her breathing quickened.
It started to boil as I took her in. The long, green silk robe that tied around her middle, begging for me to unwrap her. But it was her unbound hair that made my mouth go dry. She so rarely wore it down—always tying it back when she was working on something, which was pretty much always.
I wanted to feel those wild curls between my fingers. I wanted to wrap them around my fist and make her moan my name.
But it didn’t matter what I wanted. Not when she was owed so much more than I could offer.
“I’m sorry, I saw the light on, and I thought—” Quinn started to say.
I quickly cut her off. “I wasn’t asleep yet…just thinking.”
“Can I join you?” Quinn lingered by the doorway, her hand still on the doorknob as if my answer wasn’t obvious.
“I needed someone to bounce some theories off of, and I wasn’t sure where else to go.
” She shifted her weight side to side clearly feeling unsure.
“I can’t sleep with my mind whirring like this, no matter how tired I am… ”
I understood that better than she could ever know.
As exhausted as I was, sleep would be a long time coming no matter how hard I tried to turn my brain off.
The more I shoved my feelings and fears away during the day, the more I found myself facing them at night.
When my mind was tired and the world was quiet, and I had nowhere left to hide.
“Get in here already,” I demanded.
If she needed me, there was never a question about what my answer would be. But maybe she didn’t know that.
Quinn’s answering smile left me breathless. She softly shut the door behind her, then came toward me. I found myself entranced by the gentle sway of her hips. Utterly mesmerized by the way her legs peeked through the slit in her robe as her bare feet padded silently across the carpet.
My tongue tied as she crawled on the bed beside me. My heart caught in my throat as the bottom of her robe spread open, the lace of the matching slip beneath riding up her tawny thighs. Speech abandoned me entirely as she slid beneath the covers.
Suddenly, I was very happy I hadn’t gotten up to greet Quinn as thoughts of her tangled in my sheets, spread out on my bed, forced me to rearrange the covers on my lap. I looked away, distracting myself by pouring some water for her from the pitcher on my bedside table.
“Make yourself at home,” I drawled as I passed her the glass.
Quinn flushed. “Sorry, I can—”
My hand darted out, my fingers fastening around her wrist as she made to move away. “Joking, Sagray. The bed’s plenty big.”
Was it my imagination or had her eyes darkened at the way my much larger grip encircled her dainty wrist? She relaxed, pliant in my hold.
It took me a long moment before I made myself let her go.
I was not going to think about the implications of sharing this bed with her—about how perfect she looked next to me, like she belonged here. Or obsess about the way her breath had caught when I had my hand wrapped around her wrist.
Did she like that, having me restrain her? It made me wonder what else she liked. And if her cheeks would be the same perfect shade of pink when she came on my tongue.
“Isolating the virus was only the first step,” Quinn stated, all business despite the way her flush lingered. “Now that I have an understanding of its biology, I can figure out what targets are unique to the virus and essential for its survival.”
She said it so simply, like it wasn’t utterly amazing she had been able to do so much in such a short time. I shoved aside my desire, forcing my drifting thoughts back to what she actually needed from me.
“I’m following so far,” I confirmed. “Though please do remember I never finished high school bio, let alone your level of education.”
Her face dropped, likely remembering the reason I hadn’t finished high school, and I immediately regretted opening my mouth.
Eva told me they had held a funeral for me.
I hadn’t known what to say as I pictured her mourning over the empty grave.
She had buried me next to my parents’ with Quinn at her side.
Eva had given a eulogy, but had Quinn said anything? Suddenly, I wished I had asked Eva questions instead of rushing to apologize again.
“Luckily, I have a good teacher,” I added softly.
Quinn’s tongue darted out to moisten her lips before she continued, and I bit back a groan. She repositioned her pillow, then burrowed further into the bed, tucking the sheets beneath her arms. I mimicked her on my side of the bed, unable to help myself.
“Dolion agrees with my hypothesis that in order to reverse the effects, we’ll need a magical and medicinal cure.
” Quinn started talking so quickly it took a second for my tired brain to refocus.
“Basically, we need to create a magical antiviral. Something that controls the spread while eradicating the symptoms…”
She didn’t so much as take a breath as she continued.
I could listen to her explain this all night.
The excitement in her voice, the genuine curiosity.
She was brilliant and obviously in her element, and watching the way her brain worked was utterly fascinating.
For once I was thankful for my inability to fall asleep—and that I was the one she wanted to talk these things through with.
“And for those of us that didn’t go to medical school…how do we do that?” I coaxed, as she finally paused to breathe.
Quinn turned on her side, facing me. Once again, I followed her lead.
I was utterly aware of how close she was to me; that I could tuck the errant curl that lay across her cheek behind her ear with barely a movement.
Yet the space between us might as well have been a chasm for how impassable it was.
No matter how comfortable this felt, or how dangerously easy it was to fall into old habits, I knew better than to believe I deserved to have her here with me.
Quinn remained oblivious to my internal struggle as she delved into her response. She snuggled into my pillow like she was sharing a bedtime story rather than a mini medical seminar.
“Antivirals target the processes that viruses use to replicate and spread within the body,” Quinn explained patiently.
“Unlike antibiotics, which target bacteria, they’re specifically designed to interfere with viral life cycles.
If we can imbue that with an element of magical healing, one that can travel to the host cells and undo the damage, I’m hopeful that the fog will disappear, and Eva will regain control of her mind and memories. ”
“Sounds simple enough,” I said dryly.
She let out a breathy sigh as she burrowed further beneath the covers. I had a feeling it would play on repeat in my brain from now until the end of time.
“Developing antiviral medications is challenging because viruses rely on host cells for replication, making it difficult to target the virus without affecting the host. I have a few ideas on what we should try to target. From there, we’ll work to identify the best compounds to bind to the target and inhibit its activity.
That’s where the Enclave’s research and magical screening processes will really come in handy. ”
I nodded slowly as I tried to commit each step to memory. “And the imbuing process? What do you have to do for that?”