Camilla leaned forward, eyes hopeful. “So, we could survive?”
Kaylor tilted her head from side to side. “Not sure. You are still laced in it, and I’m not having success breaking it. I just find it curious that when you separated, the dying started to happen, but when you reconnected, you felt fine again. I suspect that if you separated again, the pain would return, and perhaps the aura of the death magic would darken. I’d hate to put you through that again just to test my theory. I think it's evidence enough that you aren’t feeling pain now.”
I got to my feet and then lowered, lifting Camilla in my arms. She did not protest, which I appreciated. I walked us to the couch, Kaylor following. Sitting down, I kept her in my arms, not making the slightest movement to release her, and she didn’t fight me. “Let me make sense of what you’re saying. Someone put a death curse on us. That could have occurred while I was on my bike, which was why I lost control.”
Kaylor cut in. “That or the death curse was aimed at just you, but Camilla became an unintended victim as a result of being nearby. Perhaps it spread onto her like a virus. Dark magic is very chaotic like that. But that worked out in your favor becauseher magical aura diluted the curse. It slowed down the effects or perhaps pauses it when you are near.” “Why would proximity affect her? I get why I would need to be near her to reap the benefits of her aura, but why does she need to be near me?”
Kaylor rubbed at her temples, shutting her eyes, as she paced back and forth in front of us. “Maybe because the curse or spell took some part of her magic essence, and she needs to siphon off you for help. I don’t know mage or elven magic that well.”
Camilla leaned forward, wrapping her arms around her middle. “My magic’s been unstable lately. I had been muting my realm access magic for some time, but it recently stopped working, and portals snap open at random moments. I hated it, but maybe it’s a good thing the magic opened up again. Who’s to say I would have been strong enough to survive this if I had kept it muted? I guess my magic protects me even when I don’t try.”
Kaylor paused her pacing and looked at us both. “That’s the benefit of being a mage. Magic is as easy as breathing for you. I’m so jealous. I’d ask you why you’d ever want to mute your realm magic, but perhaps that’s not my business?”
I had my suspicions, but wasn’t going to volunteer that knowledge now.
“I did use my magic when I fell,” Camilla went on. “I didn’t even think, I just wanted to protect myself from getting hurt. Only, it didn’t soften the fall. Could it have instead worked to counter the death spell? And protect Harris, all without me thinking about it? Like some Spidey sense?”
Kaylor widened her eyes. “That would be some smart magic if it did. Your magic is ingrained and intuitive but not that smart. But mage magic does connect to emotions.” She smirked, looking back and forth between the two of us. “Harris must be very important to you. You very well could have instinctively spread your magic essence to him when you fell. You didn’t know you were protecting against death magic, just the crash.Another fortunate alignment. Had he not lost control, you might not have done so. The stars aligned just right to protect you two. At least for now.”
Camilla cleared her throat and looked away. She was sitting awkwardly on me now, and I didn’t like that. Had what Kaylor said embarrassed her? Was she ashamed to have any feelings for me? Granted, her magic knew to protect me before we made amends, but it pleased me to know that she didn’t hate me all this time. There were still feelings there of some sort. Enough for her to save me, even when she didn’t know it. Despite her disheveled clothes, clammy skin, and ashen tone from the curse, she never looked more beautiful. She had cared for me. All this time. Even if it was deep, deep down. I wouldn’t forget that. And it was all I needed to finally move forward. “I believe I owe you my life.”
She patted my shoulder and then wiggled out of my grasp, sitting down beside me. “I think we’re even.”
I frowned and almost grabbed her again, but stopped myself. I looked back at Kaylor, who was still standing across the living room area, but this time with a knowing smile as she looked between us. I gave her a stern look, and she straightened up, giving me an apologetic face. “What’s the next step?”
“Right, so I have to find a way to break death magic. The best I could have ever done was put you both in something like a stasis, which would have paused the work of the magic. Camilla’s magic is the better option because at least you’re awake, albeit stuck together.”
“I’m sorry,” Camilla began. “What exactly do you mean by stuck?”
Kaylor tossed her hands out to the side, giving us an apologetic look. “I don’t know for certain, but I’d say a room away is as far as you can be apart. Maybe farther if you keep the door open. I’m honestly just guessing here. I’ve seen attraction spells before,and that’s how they usually work. I know what’s happening here isn’t the same…” She trailed off. “I got nothing. Sorry, Boss. I need to do some research.”
I bent forward, resting my forearms on my thighs as I thought. On the one hand, this was perfect. If I were going to finally claim my woman, what better setup than to ensure I had the face time I needed to court her and convince her. On the other hand, we were now in the very trouble I’d tried to avoid all these years. I could blame Sam for pushing me before the perfect time was right, but ultimately, I decided to come here. Things had now gone too far after all this time to wait any longer, anyway. I was being selfish by secretly finding opportunity in this situation, but part of me, a part larger than I wanted to admit, didn’t care.
Camilla moved her legs under her bottom, her brows furrowing over stress-filled eyes. “What type of entity would have the ability to do this?”
Kaylor shrugged. “So many. Fae, demons, witches, of course, elves, mages, sorcerers.”
Camilla looked at me. “Any enemies in that group?”
I sat upright. She wasn’t going to like my answer. “Yes.”
“Which ones?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. This was the last thing I wanted to get into with her. “All of them. Well, even if indirectly. It’s possible that someone could have hired one of those beings to do this spell. So actually, the group could be larger.”
She dropped her shoulders and let out a shaky breath. “Damn.”
“I know. It’s taking some time to call truces with warring clans, groups, gangs, and organizations. I had to wait until my father passed to do much. Change my way of business and build more alliances.”
“Your father died almost ten years ago.”
She was really more innocent in this life than I thought. “I had decades of messes to clean up. And even now, not everyone is on board with my new way of doing business. Regardless of how many compromises I tried to make or dangerous enemies I had to… resolve, there will always be some who won’t play by the rules. And the rules are unstable in my world.” I tried to ignore the worried look in her eyes. It made me ashamed, and I didn’t have time for self-pity. No, I didn’t have a role in choosing this life, but I was in it. I owned it. I looked back at Kaylor. “You can go. Work on a cure. This is a priority. Employ all your resources. You’ll be compensated well.”
Kaylor gave me a salute and then looked at Camilla. “It was lovely meeting you. Sorry, it had to be in this situation. I will give my all in getting you out of this. I’m really good at what I do. Just,” she looked between us and clapped her hands, “Stick together you two. Should be fun.”
I followed her to the door, which I’d have to get repaired. I picked up my phone that I had abandoned, getting back to Camilla. I then went about making calls. Someone knew where I was and had attacked; we were vulnerable. I needed to move us somewhere safe, well-guarded, and warded with protective magic.
When I came back to the living room, Camilla was still sitting down on the couch. She rubbed at her temples, shaking her head. “Everything’s going to be fine, I’ll get us somewhere safe.”
