Not currently.
Not when the weight of doing this was bearing down all too heavily.
The fact I was struggling made the praise seem unwarranted. And it also seeped into the cracks I was already feeling from the strain of holding so much at bay with my magic.
“Yes,” I admitted.
“My gorgeous, you must focus on the task at hand only, push the stakes aside.”
“Easier said than done.”
“I know. I know it is,” he soothed, stroking my cheek. “I completely understand. But I also understand you, how you operate, a great deal concerning you.”
“Everything concerning me, I’d feel confident stating at this point.”
“Thank you for that, Ambrose.”
I arched an eyebrow.
“For allowing me to know you like that. You forewent the mystery, the secrets, and your well-honed clandestine nature and approach. For me.”
“Justfor you, treasure.” I reached out a trembling hand and clasped his fingers on my cheek. “You desiring to actually know me, not my power… you are the first. Finding that in you means more than you know. I recognize the value in it. So of course I would return such a wonderful offering with my own, through allowing you into me.”
He leaned in to kiss me, even through the thick swirls and tendrils of black magic, as my veins coursed with such potent flowing magic at this moment in time. Still, he didn’t care, it didn’t faze him, all he saw was me. His love for me. A love that was so pure and even unconditional. To be loved like that… it was absolutely incredible. The fact that he could love like that had inspired me to learn how to do the same. He’d taught me a great deal there. Something I cherished so very dearly.
And a moment like this where I was struggling, where the circumstances were deeply dire, the stakes all too high, he still had the capacity to pull me from that, to ground me. That was what he was doing now by bringing this up at what anyone else would see as an inopportune time. But it wasn’t. Not from his perspective, from his true intent in voicing it—drawing my attention to the comfort of our love.
I tilted my head to receive his kiss, but I never made it.
My knees buckled, my power flaring wildly, and although he kept me steady in his hold, my plane encompassing us collapsed, and the world outside came rushing back, the bright light of the morning sun making me squint as it reflected off the lake in the quiet valley.
He grimaced. “I wish so badly that I could have you siphon me to take some of the weight off this.”
“I know, but you can’t. Celestial power, or any other type of magic, would infect the integrity of what I’m holding right now.”
“Let’s get you there immediately, then. If you’re ready?”
“Yes. Thank you.” I winked. “What you did helped. My beautiful, thoughtful treasure that you are.”
A sweet little chuckle escaped him, but it was cut off as I lurched violently when a flood of burning pain took me, roaring through my whole body with a nasty suddenness.
I choked, blood oozing from my mouth.
He had to release me, actually lowering me carefully to my knees so there was no painful jar as they hit the grass bank, just a moment before I vomited all over it, making quite a mess.
A mess of blood. More blood.
“Hades!” Ketheron cried, frantically reaching for me, then holding my long hair back, as another rush of blood erupted violently from my insides.
Well, it wasn’t just blood.
I didn’t want to draw attention to that, but when it started bubbling with blackness and what would look to the untrained eye much like an acidic substance, it spoke for itself.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Ketheron… stand back,” I choked, spitting out the residue of the nasty taste now I’d finally ceased retching.
“Ambrose…” His voice cracked. He didn’t want to leave me, not even slightly.
“It’s… okay.”
