~This isn’t you,~I say, as much for myself as for her. The words taste like defeat, but I have to say them.~She’s tapped into your magic; maybe by accident when I knocked her, maybe on purpose because she wants things to burn. I just don’t know.~
~I…realize…that…jackass…~
Her laugh comes out as a fractured echo, and my heart squeezes painfully at the sound. She’s still there, and she’s still her. I push deeper, deciding that if I can anchor her for a second, maybe I can pull her out of the vise.
I stroke her cheek as I follow the wormhole through her palace to locate where the magic lives. There are endless black corridors and locked vaults in there, and I wonder if I’ll ever know what’s in them all. I know how to pick a lock, but I refuse to breach the places she lets no one else see without an invitation. After what feels like days of wandering, I catch the scent of gunpowder and rose hips, the smell reminiscent of a woman who is learning not to be afraid again because she can defend herself.
This is where I need to be to help her; I know it.
Something moves in the dark, and I reach for it, but it whips around and slashes me with a coil of power. It’s pure, weaponized magic, wrapped in barbed wire to keep her most dangerous secrets from being breached. The force of it throws me out of her mind and bounces me off the wall behind us. For a second, I think I’m going to black out and I wonder how in the fuck the goddess got past this shit.
When I unscramble my brains, I head back into my wife’s mind. The outer atrium is even more chaotic than before, but I’m determined to get this done even if she beats the hell out of me with her internal defenses along the way. Making my way along the same path, I stop when I feel a new presence in the hallway. I sense it the way you sense a shadow at the door, or the cold shine of a blade before you see it. Reaching out gingerly, I feel the spirit of my wife telling me I’m in the right place.
~It’s not like I purposely call up gale force storms for no reason.~She stops speaking as I try to jimmy the locked door inside of her.~Ow.~
I whisper back to her.~Minx, you’re connected with Talia. You have to help me push her out of your bond until you have control.~
Confusion filters through our bond.~I’m always connected with her; she’s my mate. Wouldn’t she notice this, too? Why isn’t she helping you guys? ~Her teeth are chattering, and I curse. When she I blocked her earlier, she was only wearing a long white dress for dancing. If I’d been in my right mind, I would have commented on how lovely she looked.~I’m freezing; I didn’t realize it until now. ~
~She’s unconscious, love. I knocked her out. She was feeding me rage, so I’d brawl with her. The stoat told me you got hit with it. ~
I cradle her limp form to my chest. My back is to the worst of the rain and wind so I can keep her from getting bloody frostbite while we figure this out.
~I felt pain, then stabbing anger. I felt sorrow, rage, and remorse. I felt it all. ~
I rock her, trying to reason out how my woman is tapping this darkness with my wife’s shields intact. There’s something hidden—something Talia’s tapping that I don’t know to look for.~I hoped this was you so I could put you out like I did her. Since you’re not doing it, that won’t work. ~
An indulgent laugh tinkles through my mind, and it makes my heart leap. ~Baby, I love you. It would take something more than a bond nudge to put me out. Outside of knocking my block off, you would need a mage or witch with power that dwarfs mine. I only know three in the universe, and they live on the other side. They’d kill you for asking. ~
I blink. “Have you been working with other magick wielders to get control of your skills? Is that why you’re humming along with no major incidents lately?”
She sighs.~Yes, but that’s a conversation for later. I’ve discovered much about the otherworldly realms as I travel for work. I visit people and learn when I can. It’s helped me learn to harness—not limit—and control without suppressing. It sounds kooky, which is why I haven’t mentioned it. In theory, this wouldn’t be happening if I was in control. ~
I look at the devastation around me and sigh to myself, murmuring, “How the fuck do we stop it then?” Shaking my head, I speak to my wife through my mind again.
~The only time you’ve been this bad was when her emotions drove you, baby. I got a glimpse of what’s inside her and this mess out here matches the picture I saw. When I was inside you, I hit a darkness that smacked me away. She must be tapping something you thought you had caged. It’s calling to her darkness, and we have to disconnect it. ~
She goes silent and I worry that I’ve lost her again.
~What set her off? If I know, I can figure out what she's connected to. ~
Gritting my teeth, I snarl.~Wilde. Oddly enough, it was a little about you. ~
A lightning bolt sizzles not far away and I shrink back, knowing that definitely was her.~What? ~
~Later. When we’re not in danger of being toasted, I’ll explain.~
~I have a lot of rage and pain surrounding him. More than I share and more than I can discuss. Her empathy is feeding off some very private, very powerful emotions. She shouldn’t be able to do that. That stuff should never be loose. ~
~I’m going to open up to you and bond us. Then I’ll have Sampson rouse the goddess. I’ve got my shields—what’s left of them—covering you. You need to put it back into its cage, wife, and then break the connection. Once you do, it should cut off her access. We’re going to discuss what kind of training you’ve been doing if this is the result of you learning to harness yourpowers. That door is only open a tiny crack, and with Talia feeding your darkness, she’s got far more power than I would expect from that little opening.~
~Oh, love. The well is so deep and grows deeper every day. It’s beautiful when it’s calm. I trust you to help me while I fight the demons. ~
~I love every single part of you, my wife, even the demons under your bed. Get ready and I’ll be here when you’re back.~
The Cat Acquires Some Assets
DELILAH
