‘Sorry, I’ve just got a moment, then I need to head back, I’m helping Uncle Fred with his plans,’ he said, words rushing out of him. He reached into his pocket and held something out.
It was a narrow bottle full of iridescent liquid that shimmered pale blue and purple.
‘What’s this?’ she asked, inspecting it.
‘It’s a sleeping potion,’ he explained. ‘Well, a sort of “freezing” potion, really, but it’ll seem like whoever drank it is asleep. At least, that’s what it’s supposed to do. If anyone else gets poisoned, give them this; it’ll put them in a frozen sleep state so the poison can’t spread.’
She looked up at him, shocked.
‘I’ve been working on it since you left and I’ve finally cracked it,’ he continued, speaking fast. ‘I’ve been trying to suss out a cure, of course, but it’s been giving me trouble, since the poison mutated. I tried to work on the blood we extracted from Luna, but since the blood was cut out, the poison seemed to die as well. So that’s always an option!’ He stopped, eyes wide. ‘That was a bad joke, forgive me, of course I am not suggesting … I mean I didn’t … ahhh.’
He broke off, rubbing a hand over his face while still holding the potion in his other hand.
Bisma stared at him with wide eyes. It was a brilliant idea, rather than attempt bloodletting again. It had been a close call with Luna, and she did not wish to take that risk again.
‘I haven’t rested, so forgive the profusion of words,’ he said. ‘I’ve been working on this, and Uncle Fred’s been working me nonstop, as well.’
Bisma was overwhelmed by the urge to throw her arms around him then.Sheshould have been working on a cure and coming up with such precautions, but she’d been so busy making sure everyone was alright.
‘How did you have time for this?’ she asked, incredulous.
‘I make time for what’s important,’ he said, giving her an easy shrug, but there was an intensely genuine quality in his green eyes.
Their gazes met and held. A current ran down her spine, like lightning striking a tree.
Xander looked away first, suddenly nervous. Then he added, as a joke, ‘Unfortunately my beauty routine has suffered, so do not look at me too closely.’
He was trying to make her smile, and it worked: the corner of her mouth lifted.
‘Hmm, I can tell you’ve missed a step or three,’ she said, pointing to under his eyes, attempting levity herself.
‘Ah!’ He covered his face with his hands. ‘I said, don’t look at me!’
She smiled, nearly laughing. He peeked out at her between his fingers and saw, which caused him to laugh.
‘Truly,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’ She wanted to simply be grateful, but old habits died hard. Suspicion rose in her. Her smile vanished. ‘Xander, why are you helping us?’
He blinked. ‘Isn’t it obvious?’
Time seemed to slow down as he stepped closer, his expression softening. His eyes were warm, and she felt his gaze deep in her core. Her heart skipped a beat, which agitated her to no end.
‘No,’ she said, feeling stupid, which made her angry.
He smiled, shaking his head. His soft expression was replaced by something closer to his usual mischief as he considered her question.
‘Well?’ she prompted, getting annoyed.
Which was why he was pretending to think for so long.
‘It’s an interesting case,’ he finally said. ‘From an academic perspective.’
She frowned—her sisters were not a case study! As she geared up to say as much, she looked at the potion in his hands and softened slightly. Besides, him helping her because of personal curiosity was better than him helping her for other reasons.
Part of her was disappointed, having expected a more … personal answer. But perhaps he had finally grown tired of trying to entrap her. He’d certainly had the perfect opportunity to kiss her senseless the other day and had not taken it, she remembered (with some disappointment).
What other reason could there be?
‘Where did you learn all this?’ she asked, curiosity of her own taking over. ‘Most of my magic is just intuition, nothing this disciplined.’
