“Vax told you the whole situation, I see.”
“He was—he is—really worried.”
He winced. “I know. I didn’t mean to freak him out.”
“But you were freaking out, so it couldn’t really be helped?”
“Pretty much.”
“And is that still the case?” He’d certainly seemed anxious and distressed with the way he’d been weaving his magic around a few moments ago.
“It wasn’t Draco. I mean, I know he was eradicated. Not just ending up in the Valley of the Dead, but literally… nothing. But that taste, that feel… it messed with my thought process, I suppose, because it really felt like him, like everything I’ve heard about him, how his power impacted others.”
“And you thought, maybe, there’d been a loophole or some twisted miracle that had brought him back?”
He shook his head to himself in dismay. “It’s literally not possible. His body, power, and spirit were all obliterated. So, me thinking that was absolutely absurd.”
“You were in distress. Rationality doesn’t always hold the trump card there.”
He caught my eye, and I saw him register my double meaning. He spoke to it, telling me, “It still stands… what I said to Vax.”
“That you’d be his end?”
“All of yours. Anybody I let myself draw close to.” He tugged at his hair. “Thatthingthat burned into me, that invaded my mind… when it called mebeyond death—Transmortalis—with such disturbing reverence, it also said it would come for me. So, if anybody else is around me when that happens—”
“This is the actual absurdity.”
“What?”
“You pulling away, intending to isolate.”
“Evira, you don’t—”
I held up my hand. “Hear me out.”
Being the sweet and respectful teddy bear that he was, he gestured for me to go on.
“You’re not just anyone, Winter. Everybody knows that. Not to mention, who your parents are. So, for somebody—or something—to come at you, they would need to be prepared, to have researched you. Not only concerning your powers, but who you are as a person. Your vulnerabilities, your strengths, the way you approach things. With that in mind, it’s definitely not a stretch that they’d surmise that your instinct would be to retreat in order to protect those around you.”
“You’re saying that this thing wants me isolated?”
“Far easier to attack or nab somebody all by their lonesome. Especially somebody who cares more for the wellbeing of others than their own when it comes to threats.”
As I saw him thinking on that, I went on, “That all being the case, they’d have clocked your growing closeness to me, Zayn, and Vaxan as well. So even if you disappeared, or ghosted us, or just simply stayed away physically and emotionally, it’s already done. Especially with them having already invaded your mind. This happened right after the date earlier tonight when you were warming to Zayn again, when I’d made a claim on you—via draconic interpretations, anyway—and where you’d then gone to Vaxan for help and comfort.”
“All very good points.” A smile graced his lips. “I really relish it when your tactical mind does its thing.”
“I have my moments, lovely.”
He stepped through the barrier and took my hand in his, the coolness of his skin melding with mine in a very sit-up-and-take-notice way, like it often did whenever we made skin-to-skin contact. “I know you do,little dragon.”
I squeezed his hand. “Plus, you know, if you pull away now, it’s gonna wreck Vaxan with how close you’ve grown. It’s gonna tear Zayn apart after all his efforts to fix what he broke between you.Andit’s gonna hurt me too because, after what I did tonight, things are finally open for us in a way we never thought possible. To have you slam the door on that… it would be a real shame.”
He gave me a look.
“What?” I asked.
“Your way of reasoning—or let’s call it persuading for better accuracy—is something else. And it’s a definite callback to that night.”
