“Thisisyour home. Surely, you feel it.”
“Back to my original question, I’d really like to get Eloise treated for Lyme disease.” I licked my lips, desperate for a reprieve from more serious topics. “Do you have a way we can access antibiotics from the mainland? I’m assuming the magical Healers don’t have what we need. Which boggles the mind, but still.”
“Which part is mind boggling?”
“The part that you’ve got magical Healers who couldn’t recognize a tick bite?”
“This land was created for us,” Silas said. “If you were in charge of creating a magical safe haven, would you put ticks on it?”
“That’s a great point,” I conceded. “I most certainly would not. But surely the Healers can figure out a way to treat it?”
“I’m sure they could,” he said. “I’m sure they’re already looking into it. But human vaccines and medications don’t just materialize overnight, and not all magical potions do either. I think the bigger question is how she got a tick bite in the first place.”
“Playing in the woods,” I said. “They’re incredibly common.”
“Not here,” Silas said. “So how did we get a human tick on our lands?”
“Maybe it came across on someone’s pant leg?”
Silas stared blankly at me.
“If you have any better ideas,” I said, “I’m all ears. About the medicine—can we get some? I don’t want to wait around for a magical cure if we can help it. This is an easy fix if treated early. If not treated correctly, it can become very serious.”
“Of course. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to get what you need.”
“I’ll need to get someone to write a prescription, and...” My voice trailed off as I glanced over at Silas and his big muscles and his big magic. “Right. You can probably magic some antibiotics out of a pharmacy.”
We stared out over the ridge in silence for some time, until the sun danced with the moon, and the tides began to shift, and the air began to cool.
Silas took out a flask, handed it over to me. I took a sip. It was the most incredible thing I’d tasted, and I’d tasted a lot of beverages.
“What is this?” I managed, savoring the floral, slightly sweet, possibly alcoholic beverage.
“A brew crafted from ambrosia,” Silas said.
“Tastes like kombucha and a bellini and elderflower and a wine slushy all in one,” I said. “With probiotics.”
Silas grinned as he took in a swig. “It’s good for you. Relaxes the mind.”
Sure enough, we sipped our magical hooch, and we watched the sunset, and when my head felt heavy enough, I rested it on Silas’s shoulder and dozed. I couldn’t talk myself out of it. I was just so comfortable, so warm, so...safe.
At some point, I kicked my feet up onto the ledge, tipped sideways, and lowered my head into Silas’s lap. His hand stroked through my hair, like he thought nothing of this intimate pose that felt all too natural.
By the time I opened my eyes again, the moon had risen, the ambrosia had worn off, and I was feeling limp with happiness. Silas gently stroked my hair.
“I should get you home,” he whispered. “It’s late.”
“It’s so nice here,” I said. “So warm.”
“That’s what happens on a volcano.”
My body froze. I sat up, stared him directly in the eyes. “Did you just say volcano?”
Chapter 8
Hours later, as midnightapproached, I lie awake in bed unable to fall asleep. The moon glowed directly into my window, setting Wisteria Cottage aflame with shards of silver light.
Apparently, Silas hadn’t been joking. There was an actual volcano on this island with lava and eruptions and ash, and Silas had taken me right to the top of it. This man had no sense of self-preservation.
