13
~Ketheron~
I could feel Ambrose’s gaze on me as I scanned the immediate area.
We had materialized from his guided teleportation just moments prior.
He’d informed me that this was the site of the surprise he’d teased several days ago.
It had taken until now because we’d been immersed trying to determine a way to locate Ruxnoth’s magical construct, Sanctus. So immersed, in fact, that we hadn’t entertained anything but business, and we had delayed any sort of ‘gratification’with each other as well. That was the term he used, because he knew less graphic and brazen wording was more comfortable for me, as opposed to what I’d overheard from Sylas, Lazriel, Velra, and Cassius over the years in our shared home ofGlacialis Arx.
More importantly, it suitedus.
My gorgeous and me.
And now, here we were standing in a patchwork of colorful fields.
Not anywhere I recognized.
“What is this place?” I asked.
It didn’t match any of the locations from myLandmarks and Wonders to Beholdtext, which included every special site across the world, all of which I’d visited several times over. I knew them all intimately at this point.
Ambrose’s lips pulled into that serene smile, forming those wonderful dimples that made my chest squeeze. Especially given that he rarely ever gifted anyone outside of me with his special smiles. “It’s not about the location. Its only significance is that it’s out of the way of everyone and everything.” As he came to stand before me, he gestured to a patch of grass a few feet across from us. “Open yourself, treasure.”
I concentrated and reached out with my senses.
The moment I did, I shook my head in dismay, realizing in my excitement, I’d inadvertently been toning down my perception. Well, it was a little more than that. I did it often with him, shutting out the world—noises, scents, sensations—to be fully present during our special time together. Time that was far too rare for my liking. But the nature of his work made things that way, and it couldn’t really be helped.
Also… he was afraid.
Of letting himself go in that manner. In not having his work be all to him. In being immersed in another so very deeply. He worried that he would lose himself, and that if he went too deep, he would never recover if he lost anyone he dared to love. Many believed him to be immutable where that was concerned, even viewing that fear as a negative, almost defective sort of thing. That wasn’t how I viewed it—or him. I believed it was proof he loved so very deeply, that he had so much to give.
“Your magic… it’s everywhere. But only if you know to look for something,” I murmured, searching and analyzing. “There’s a ward, too? I can’t feel it fully, just a form of resistance.”
“Yes, that’s exactly the way it should feel for you. The moment you step through, there will be a little resistance justthis once, then none on your next pass. The magic just needs to feel you initially and then it will acclimate to you permanently.” He gestured around at the nothingness that clearly wasn’t actually nothingness at all. “To anyone other than you and me, any magic here, including the ward, will be imperceptible.”
“You used your ability to warp magical intent on your own creation—whatever the surprise is that lies beyond this?”
“Indeed. Without it technically being an illusion, which several beings we know can see through.”
I frowned. “Several beings we know? You’re concerned about that?”
He reached out and stroked my cheek in that way that warmed me beyond even skin deep. As a peaceful sigh escaped me, he smiled and told me, “Let us not dwell on any of that presently. You’ve already waited long enough for this surprise.”
I nuzzled against his palm and his enchanting ivory eyes softened for me.
“Yes. Show me.”
“With pleasure.”
In the next moment, he eased from me, then swept a glowing black palm ahead of us.
Something altogether unexpected materialized into being.
An obsidian stone structure with navy-black glass. A black diamond house with an aesthetic that was duly representative of the Ambrose Wisteryn I’d come to know—opulent, otherworldly couture, and decidedly elegant while exuding great power. Black diamonds were worked into the front threshold, the window frames of both levels, and the seams of the terrace railings.
“You created another home,” I mused. “This one is a definite break from your others spread over the supernatural world.” They were either caverns or domains of swirling black magic—floating containment areas for him to seek refuge from the world.
