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Holding out her hand over the crystal, she muttered, “Protege!”
Her magic sparked, drew on the power between the layers of the world, and infused the black tourmaline with the force necessary to form a ward to hold in the tainted magic. The crystal had natural protective qualities and excelled at clearing negative energy, and therefore, it made a perfect ward-point focus.
She lowered her shaking hand and exhaled heavily. One down, four to go. In about twelve hours, she’d have to lay the next ward point.
Until then, though, she’d rest.
She felt sucked dry, her inner magic drained, her limbs at once trembling and weighed down by lead. The thought of just falling into bed and sleeping for the next twelve hours honestly seemed heavenly. There was nothing more to do for now but wait, and shockingly, she didn’t have anything else on her schedule for tonight. She wasn’t slated for patrol until tomorrow.
With a groan, she got up off the concrete floor and walked out, locking the door behind her. It was unlikely that someone would wander into her ritual room uninvited, and her kids sure knew not to trespass, but better safe than sorry. It was of paramount importance that nothing disturbed the scene during the time she was laying the ward points.
Shuffling down the small side hallway toward the main rooms, she rounded the corner and came to a soft halt as she spotted Tallak standing there, his gaze on some pictures on the wall. His T-shirt molded to his shoulders and chest in a way that stole her breath, and her heart made a flip at the sight of him. She realized with a jolt that she’d missed him, even though she’d last seen him just this morning—but she’d somehow become so used to his presence, to the way he made her feel. Like a kid on Christmas morning, a thrill in her blood and warmth suffusing her chest.
It took her a moment to recognize what he was looking at—the gallery of pictures on the wall, showcasing some of her favorite photos of Basil and Lily as young kids.
A pang in her heart as she realized once more that Tallak had never known Basil as a child. He’d never seen him as a babbling, happy baby, never met him as a snot-nosed toddler with the brightest grin in preschool, had never experienced how incredibly infectious his little child laugh was. He might have seen some of the other photos of a young Basil that were scattered throughout the house, but nothing would ever make up for missing his son’s entire childhood.
Just like she’d missed Rose’s.
The pain she felt on Tallak’s behalf was mirrored in her own heart. She knew exactly what it felt like to forever lack this intimate piece of knowledge of your own child.
She must have made a small sound, for he turned and noticed her standing there like a creep peeking around the corner.
“Hey,” she said quickly and crossed over to him. “Are you having a game night with Basil?”
She’d heard the telltale sounds coming from the game room earlier when she’d come home, figured father and son were spending some quality time together again.
“Yeah,” Tallak said. “Was just making a quick pit stop.” He jerked his head at the bathroom behind him.
His lucent amber eyes mapped her face, and a scowl drew his brows together. “You okay, love?”
So, apparently, she looked as bad as she felt. Awesome.
“I did a lot of magic today.” She sighed and rubbed her temples, then told him everything she’d found out and done. Because including him in this, it just felt so natural, and considering how involved he already was, he should be kept in the loop.
“Anyway,” she finished, “that’s all I can do for now. So I’m going to bed to catch as much sleep as I can.”
She hesitated, suddenly awkward and self-conscious. Her muscles twitched with the impulse to close the distance between them, seek his nearness, his touch. And yet, she couldn’t make herself move, all too aware of herself, of her own second-guessing, of all the things in her head that shouldn’t have an impact on the here and now. Only they did, despite herself.
In the end, all she managed was a brittle smile and a gentle “Have fun with Basil.”
When she went to walk past him, he grabbed her hand, pulled her back, and had her in his arms the next second. Dizzy from the sudden move, all she could do was clutch him as he gave her a slow, thorough kiss that curled her toes and melted her insides.
“Want me to find you later?” he murmured against her lips.
Explosions of fizzy excitement burst in her chest.
“I promise not to keep you up too long.” He nipped at her lower lip. “I can be quite efficient when I put my mind to it.”
Her voice all breathy, she said, “Okay.”
His grin made her stomach do a somersault. “Sweet dreams, love.”
CHAPTER 32
Are you free this afternoon? If you are, come on over. I want to show you something.
For the tenth time now, Tallak reread the text message he’d received from Hazel, and like the nine times before, his stupid bloody heart made happy little jumps like a puppy at its first visit to the dog park.
