“It’s here, isn’t it?” I clasped my hands together, my gaze drifting toward the back area of the cabin, feeling it coming from there.
“It calls to you.” Tad nodded his head, with what appeared like distress. “Its power continues to grow. As yours does.” His gaze darted between Warwick and me with a slight frown. “The connection between you two has as well. It is remarkable. I have never seen anything even close to it in my lifetime.”
A nervous gurgle rolled my stomach.
“Before, it seemed as if webs were between you two, but now it’s so thick, it has become a wall. I saw him next to you a moment ago as solid as the man sitting on the sofa.” Tad shifted in the wingback chair. “Which I feared.”
“Feared?” I sat up straighter.
Tad’s mouth thinned. “You asked how the book got here?” His fingers pressed into the arms of the chair, adjusting himself again. “It called to me. Came to me in a dream and showed me everything that happened the night you were taken. It understood the danger being left for anyone to find. Also, the item left in the bag with it.”
The nectar.
“A coin can’t even drop to the ground in Savage Lands without someone already pocketing it. But a book there is useless, no more than fuel for a fire. Everything worth anything to them had been ransacked. I was lucky to get there in time, to be able to shroud it until it was safely retrieved.”
Though I knew it was safe, I still let out an exhale, thankful Tad got to it before it was burned or found, especially by HDF.
“The nectar grew brighter each day, then one night it flared with an abundance of magic, burning the box it was in.”
My cheeks heated. Yeah, I recalled precisely why and when it happened. The night Warwick came to me in the shower. And by the glint in Tad’s eyes, the curve of his mouth, he presumed what caused it.
He gripped the arms of the chair, pushing himself forward. Eliza and Zander instantly reacted, getting on either side of him to help him to his feet and grabbing his cane, like it was habit to them now.
“Thank you.” Tad patted their hands, leaning heavily on his staff, a soft familiarity between them all. He turned to me. “Come.”
I bounded up, eager to see the nectar with my own eyes. To be near it.
Warwick was right behind me. The heat from his body and the nearness of his massive frame sent warmth skating down me.
Eliza told Simon to stay inside as Tad led us out the back kitchen door. The rain had turned into a misty haze, and clouds rolled past the moon in slivers of light. It was enough to see a large stone firepit with chairs and benches around to enjoy the blaze on a nice night.
When I got closer, I noticed the firepit was boarded over, a thick wave bubbling the whole thing. Magic.
“You have the nectar outside in a firepit?” Warwick’s deep timbre raked across the ground, his cheek twitching.
“It is heavily spelled.” Tad frowned, still holding onto Eliza’s arm, stopping at the lip of the firepit. “That was the compromise.”
“Compromise?” I stepped next to him.
Ignoring my question, he muttered a chant under his breath, the spell over the pit dissolving at his command. The instant it dissolved, the magic hammered inside my chest. Sucking in sharply, Warwick grabbed onto me, keeping me steady.
“Shit…” I breathed, my limbs quaking under the intensity. It was at least double the power I had felt from it the first time.
Zander shoved the wood plank off, displaying a scorched wooden box lying in the middle.
Struggling to capture air, I gulped a few times. The lure to it now was almost painful.
“Wow.” Tad blinked at me, awed, and fear sprang in his blue eyes. “You recall how I could see a hint of your aura last time?” Tad turned his head to me.
Again, another ball of nerves swayed my stomach. “Yes?” I swallowed nervously. “Is it gone again?”
Tad stared at me for a moment, then moved to Warwick. “Yes and no.”
“Huh?”
“Individually, I can’t see either of your auras, but the aura between you two? It’s the same gray reflective color I noticed before.” He nodded at Warwick and me, a strange chuckle in his throat. “They are so thick it’s impossible to see anything else. I think they’ve been there for a long time, but it wasn’t noticeable. Not like they are now. But it’s nothing compared to what you have with this.” He motioned to the firepit, moving my focus to the power I could hear thumping from inside, no longer a whisper, but a cry.
“The power between you and nectar is unbelievable.” Something in his tone jerked my head back to Tad, his throat bobbing.
“What?”
“It’s as though you are its battery source. The more you connect, the stronger it gets.”
All liquid evaporated from my mouth, my chest clenching.
He didn’t need to tell me the most desired object in the world, one which could crumble civilizations if put in the wrong hands, was the last thing you wanted to get more powerful.
“What does that mean?” Warwick’s shoulders hunched forward, his lids lowering in a glower.
“It means stop discharging the grenade launcher, big bad wolfie!” A voice came from my pack. Hands and feet climbed up onto my shoulder. Opie’s outfit and hair were in disarray, a bit of mushroom and poppy flowers stuck to his cheek, looking like he just stumbled back from an all-nighter. “Wow, I’m already out of breath. That was a steep climb.” He leaned over his knees, sucking in and out dramatically.
Everyone stared at the brownie on my shoulder.
“What?” He stood, straightening out his kimono. “Am I wrong? The legend’s got too much punch in his spunk. Cake in his snake. Too much batter going into her vatter.”
I cringed.
“Nizzle drizzle in his—”
“Oh, my gods, stop.” I palmed my face.
Opie shrugged, peeling the bit of mushroom from his cheek and eating it.
“As disturbing as that was, he might not be too far off,” Tad replied.
“What?” Warwick huffed. “This is my fault?”
“No.” Tad shook his head. “It’s the energy you create together, which strengthens not only your bond but fuels the nectar as well. As if there is too much, so the nectar siphons off what you can’t hold.”
“They do pump their magic juice into it.” Opie plunked down on my shoulder, snickering in my ear, completely loopy. I really had to cut them off of drugs. Though it actually made sense. Our energy together affected everything around us: ghosts, humans, fae, electricity, the air.
“You’re telling me we have to stop having sex?” Warwick snarled, his neck straining. “Not gonna fucking happen.”
“I’m just telling you what I observe.” Tad shrugged his shoulder.
“What about when I burn through the magic? It’s happened a few times now… and our connection goes quiet.” I gestured to Warwick. “Does it lessen its power?”
Tad tilted his head. “We noticed it wane and go quiet, but each time it flared back, it was even stronger.” Tad shuffled on his feet, a nervous tick stressing his eye. “You both are growing more powerful. I can feel it.” Tad’s hand squeezed his cane until his knuckles were white. “But the nectar is growing much faster. I think it’s siphoning the magic your body can’t handle and taking it on. Just as it did when you were born.” Tad’s wariness was written on his face, peering down at the nectar, studying it as if it would unlock its riddles to him.