I snort. “I’m not psychotic.”
“You've got a look in your eye every time you see her. It’s like you want to push her up against a wall and claim her, but also tuck her in tenderly into your bed; I’m talking pillow fluffing, blankets pulled up to her chin and all. Then, you kind of have this prideful smirk, like you want to show her off, but anyone who looks at her is guaranteed to be dead by nightfall. Definition of insanity.” He nods as he rubs the glass of the bottle. “Grade A clinger, you’re lucky she feels the same way.”
The gulp of blood floods my throat. Fuck! It’s bad, like a spicy tea that leaves a bitter taste.
My fingers are ringed with fire.Yeah, I missed you, buddy. I miss the simplicity of training you. I didn’t have to build a friendship because you wanted me to use you. You wanted attention, and I gave it to you.Perhaps that’s why vampires can be so controlling; our magic enables that behavior.
“Try to command your time magic first,” Tristen suggests.
Good idea. I’ll never have an opportunity like this where I’m alone and fully charged.Hey, wake up. That’s it.
I need your help. I need us to work together.Please, I’m asking as a friend who requires your help. I apologize if I upset you. I was frightened, so I panicked and yelled at you. I shouted how much I loathed you because I didn’t understand you. Give me another chance to learn. Work with me.
My arms sway like leaves as the wind whispers through me.
So, all this time, I had to respect it and talk to it as if it were human.
It fills my fingers, answering yes.
Tristen parts his lips and begins to speak; I keep my eyes on my hands. “Now,” I ask it, mentally visualizing what I want it to do. I feel time push out from me, wrapping me in a bubble. Just me. I glance at Tristen; his mouth is frozen open, mid-lecture. “He’s outside the bubble.”
Magic dances on my palm as if to say,“You asked for this, fool.”
I wave my fingers in awe of it. “I thought I had to fight you, control you. I just needed to ask.” Everett’s memory pulls my lips down. “Do you miss Everett? I’ve been a lousy host,” I mumble. The sensation over my fingers slows; it feels like tiny invisible hands hugging mine. “Does that mean you’re happy with me?”
I think that’s a yes.
“But we’ll leave each other soon. Once I get the Vitalis, you’ll be free. Promise me something.”
The magic dances over my skin. I look up. Tristen’s lips begin to close around his word. He’s moving impossibly slow. I walk closer, testing how close I can get.
I keep my eyes cast on Tristen’s feet, so I don’t pull him into the bubble. Now I’m at his back, a stone’s throw away. I can do this, ram my knife into Galen. I circle my brother, standing in front of him. That’s how I’ll do it. I want Galen to see my face, and then when he’s taking his last few breaths, I will reach out and pull him into the bubble, making sure to prolong his suffering as long as I can.
“Did you hear all that?” I ask for the magic. “That’s why I need to ask this of you. Please don’t find someone else once you are free. You’re too dangerous. No, I mean no offense. People will see you as a treasure, but men don’t treasure things; theytarnish them. You need to run wild and free. You have a mind of your own. You don’t need someone to host you,” I tell it.
I hope and pray it considers my words. Magic like this is too dangerous to be controlled again.
It doesn’t move over my fingers. I don’t know whether that’s good or bad.
I finally look Tristen in the eye. “Not yet,” I tell the magic. I step closer, closer. “Now,” I say. The bubble encasing me stretches over my skin; it reaches out and grabs Tristen. He keeps babbling on, unaware I pulled him into my bubble.
“Okay, that’s enough. Thank you,” I tell the magic. It bounces over my fingers and then pops. Time recoils and returns to normal.
Tristan’s shoulders flinch. “Wait… did you just?—”
“Yes. I solved it. All this time, I struggled to dissect the time-weaving so I could understand it. That’s what we do when we find something new: we invade, cut it open, and see what we can salvage and use. I never needed to fight it or force it to work with me. All I had to do was ask. I treated it like a foe that needed to be conquered when all along it was a willing friend.” A friend I will have to say goodbye to. I’m tired of losing the people I let in.
“Remember, Titus, friends have opinions. The magic might decide if it wants to work. Everett figured out a way to control the friendship.”
I nod, “I know, but I think it wants to help me.”
Tristan rubs his jaw. “They say women overcomplicate things, but shit, men can too.” He drops his hand, showing off a shining smile. “This is fantastic.” He slaps my back and raises his blood bottle. “You need more?”
I shake my head, peering out at the green field. “I’ve had enough.”
“You gonna burn that shitty rose fence, too?” he wonders.
It will drain me until my knees collapse to burn an area this wide, but I can do it. Selene will hate to see her field turn to ashes, but it was never a place of freedom.
