“Why does he look extra pleased with himself?” I ask her, though I have no complaints about how obviously titillated she is right now.
“Because I’m wearing the butt plug he bought earlier, and all I want to do is jump both of you,” she says, pursing her lips back at North.
“It’s equally as brutal for us, darling. Your scent is intoxicating,” North replies.
“All I heard was that you two went to the sex shop across the bridge without me,” I sulk.
“It was right by the RV dealership,” Juniper says.
“No trolls on the way back?” I ask North.
“Just one.” He taps the hood of the van. “This thing accelerates really well actually.”
I chuckle and bring Juniper closer. “How far did you get with the barrier?” I ask my brother.
“Decently far. How are you feeling? Strong?”
I stretch my hand in front of me, black electrical pulses rippling over my palm and fingers. Power and strength seem to be pounding on what feels like a wall in my chest. I take a step out of Juniper’s arms, still holding onto one of her hands, and press my other to the hood of the van. Orange and black light stretches out from my fingers and into the metal, creating the same snowflake design. Except this time, as Juniper squeezes my hand, I feel that power grow. It hardens and brightens into blinding beams that ripple in waves over the van’s entirety.
I feel my own wicked grin rise on my lips. I haven’t felt like this is decades… possibly even a century. The way it morphs and winds restlessly through my veins…
Fuck, this feelsgood.
And when the magic settles, North begins to laugh.
It’s maniacal and joyous. He’s still shaking his head in disbelief as he presses his own hand to the hood. His crystal design crooks and bends erratically with no distinct pattern. It cuts through my symmetrical needles and spires, somehow blending perfectly into a warning no being in the Nether Realm will be able to deny.
I can’t wait to see this same pattern on Juniper later.
“Every shit creature from home is going to lose their minds when they see this,” North says excitedly. “Your symbol at full power, pulsing and growing. And then onher?Fucking Nethers… Mother may not have an army willing to hunt us.”
North’s confidence makes my smile widen.
“I want to see what you’re doing,” Juniper says, and I remember it just looks like we’re touching metal to her.
I tug her hand. “Come here.”
The moment she’s against my chest, I kiss her and press my hand to her throat. Electrical pulses emit from my fingertips, sending a fraction of my magic into her. She gasps and flinches, and when we part, her eyes widen.
“It’ll only last a few seconds this time,” I tell her. “Look around.”
Her eyes widen as she takes it in—the rippling blue and red on the breeze, the road. The cracks in the van, the symbols on her house. The island is already glowing with our power, and we haven’t even finished.
“We can go back out while she packs. One at a time,” I say to North. “We have to finish before the sunrise.”
“We need to beoff the islandbefore sunrise,” North says.
“It’s beautiful,” Juniper says, wide-eyed as she looks around. “Wait. All of this… the symbols… This is just for me? To protect us?”
“Everything is for you,” I tell her.
“Will I always see this once you’ve hidden me?” she asks.
“You’ll see all of it. The magic. The creatures. Every space where the Nether and mortal worlds cross and collide… everything,” North says.
Juniper’s teeth tighten. She looks around us one more time before taking both North and I by the hand and pulling us closer.
“Can we do it now?” she asks, looking between us. “I want to see everything.”
