Chapter Twenty Five

By the end of the hour, the urge to toss the books aside was overwhelming. Not a one of them mentions a spell with these effects or how to counter it.

The wet rag across Julian’s head had calmed her somewhat, but her temperature was still dangerously high and I had no way of lowering it other than what I was doing.

Would that work, or would her body give out before the illness could run its course?

The thought of her dying, going where I could not follow, after discovering only a percentage of what our love could be, burned like the hottest iron in my throat.

The questions circled one another, threatening to drive me to insanity alongside the despair digging poisonous nails across my heart, until a commotion from outside the room called my attention.

Shouting–from the staff and an unknown feminine voice–came through the walls and the crackle of magic trailed along my skin like a caress. Mage, whoever was here, they were a mage. Hope ignited in my chest, bolstering when one clear sentence touched my ears.

“Let me through, I’m here to save that dipshit, Julian.”

Part of me bristled at the insult even as I gently disentangled myself from my love–her head still using my thigh as her pillow, for both our comfort–and made for the door. Hope surged up, drowning everything else as I entered the hallway to an…interesting sight.

Scott stood firm and tall in front of a woman, her skin faintly glowing though from magic or natural beauty I was unsure. Her mouth set in a scowl as she glared Scott down, a slender fox standing confidently on her shoulders as it too glared at my staff.

The black of the creature’s fur mingled with the woman’s short locks, contrasting against the brilliant sunset pink of her hair. Shaking off my surprise at the unexpected guess, I placed a hand on Scott’s shoulder to ease him.

Turning to face her myself, I spoke with authority. “You say you are here to heal her, but how did you know she was harmed to begin with?”

I would be happy to accept any help offered, but I was no fool. Julian was hated in mass by her people. I would not allow anyone to hurt her while I still breathed.

The fox’s head swung in my direction, followed shortly by its master. The second we locked gazes, another surprise dawned on me. This woman was blind.

Her eyes stared right through me, unable to focus on anything as she huffed. “My name is Seraphina Boltzman and if my hunch is right, Julian already told you how I knew she was in danger. It’s kind of my thing.”

The seer. Any uncertainty drained away into bone melting relief. This was the seer who had first sent Julian to me. Nodding for the staff to let her pass, I gestured for her forward, only to grimace. She was blind, I reminded myself.

Before I could speak my permission for her to come closer, she just as asked, the scowl never leaving her lips.

“I’m sure you have questions, but they need to wait. She’s been under the spell too long as it is. You’ve done well keeping it at bay with prosaic methods, but only a magical remedy will clear it.” She said, confirming what I feared.

I moved out of her way, shelving my curiosity to follow her into Julian’s room. Hope that beat at the walls of my chest doubled, encasing everything as the seer breezed to Julian’s side. She would be healed soon, healthy and whole with me as she should.

The gripping my chest eased the slightest bit to that.

Following a step behind Seraphina, watching for any suspicious movements, I explained what I knew. “We were freeing children at a base. One of our enemies disguised themselves as a child and struck when we let out guards down.”

She nodded, the fox turning to stare at Julian’s shivering form with calculating eyes, before she spoke again. “Would you happen to have any fresh lavender, rosemary and thyme? I’m out and didn’t want to waste time stopping at a store.”

Turning to the staff still hovering in the doorway, I nodded, watching them zip off to get the requested items. Shifting my focus back to the bed, I took in the woman with open curiosity. Her movements were sure, unlike any blind person I ever knew once outside of their domicile.

Her voice broke the silence. “I can practically hear you thinking from here and the short answer is this; the fox on my shoulder is my seeing eye. The lengthy explanation will come later once this troublesome brat is up and moving again.”

Accepting that, I took the offered items from the staff before shooing them away. Just before the doors shut, I noticed a small face with wide eyes and grimaced.

Avery. He had caught snippets of what had happened, but the staff kept him occupied during my search for Julian’s cure. I would need to reassure him once things settled here. He was sure to be worried for her…

Turning back to Seraphina, I offered the bundle of herbs. “How will these help clear this illness?”

Her mouth twisted, irritation with the question clear even as she answered. “All three of these herbs are well known for their purifying ability. While I could do the spell without them it would cost considerably more power on my part. Material resources reduce the output we have to use and in times like this that’s insanely valuable.”

So saying, she put the herbs in the palm of her hand, taking out a line of twine to tie them together before pulling out a lighter. Instinctively, I tensed, watching her light the bushel aflame entirely too close to Julian for my liking. Forcing down the urge to interfere, I watched, gritting my teeth.

She must have sensed my unease, because her irritated frown melted into a knowing smile. “You love her, don’t you?”

The refusal was on the tip of my tongue, but it never came. Slowly, the truth of the matter hit as if I were sliding over the edge of a waterfall. I did love her.

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Despite the short amount of time we knew one another; that remained true. Thinking of a life without Julian, it burned like a hot iron in my chest and only a fool would deny what was painfully clear.

I was no fool.

Seraphina took my stunned silence as an answer, her chuckle sounding next. “Good, she needs more people in her corner and no one in our community is going to be it. I’ll always be here when she needs it, but the more people watching out for her reckless ass, the higher her odds of survival are.”

With that, she swiped the burning bushel to rest directly over Julian’s chest. Magic eased out of her, the same I had felt before, as if saturated the air. Once it formed a cloud around the two, she whispered. “Restituere.”

The dim glow surrounding her skin brightened, confirming my previous suspicion that it had been magic, before forming a wispy smoke that entered Julian’s lungs. Immediately, she improved.

Magic sank through her skin, the flush dying away as blue and soothing energy trailed through Julian’s veins, lighting them from the inside out until it reached her eyes.

After a long, breathless moment of anticipation, her brow smoothed and she groaned, coming awake as I took my first full breath of air in hours.

“Ugh, what hit me?”

With the force of a dam breaking, relief tore through me, my knees unable to hold my weight as I sat next to her. Before I could answer, Seraphina beat me to it.

“A mage who’d disguised herself as a child. Really, Julian? You know better than to let your guard down like that.” The scolding tone would put any school teacher to shame and Julian groaned, cracking an eye open to find her friend.

“Yeah, yeah. Can we save the lecture for later? I feel like roadkill that’s been run over, backed up on and then pissed over.” Her eyes narrowed then. “Why are you here anyway?”

The pinkette scoffed. “What a nice question to ask the woman who saves your life. Again. I saw that you jumped in front of your lover boy here and took a Taint spell to the chest. It was half done, thankfully. If it’d been full, I doubt I could have gotten her in time.”

Then, Seraphina’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “And while we’re on that topic, what in the seven hells were you thinking? You have the power to clear diseases. If you’d let him get hit you could have healed him instantly!”

Julian glanced to me, meeting my eyes for the first time and sending a swooping joy through my chest at the tentative smile she gave.

“Wasn’t exactly thinking clearly at the time, Sera. Just knew I have to get him away from her. Thanks for coming though.” The last bit, she turned to her friend to say.

Seraphina huffed, turning away, but even as she did, I saw the flash of relief to her face. She did not show it, but this woman had been just as scared for Julian as I myself had been.

Now that the danger was passed though, it was time for introductions and answers. Gripping Julian’s hand, I nodded to the pink haired woman.

“Yes, thank you for coming to her aid. I am eternally grateful for it. Now that the excitement has passed, shall we commence with niceties?”

One of her brows rose in surprise before she gave an amused curl of the lips in Julian’s direction, the fox doing the same. “Trust you to find someone so well mannered. If he’s half as calm as he sounds that will go a long way in keeping you out of trouble, since your impulse control is constantly on life support.”

She sat back, relaxing for the first time since she stormed the house. “But he’s right, my previous introduction was too brief. As I said before, my name is Seraphina Boltzman. I’m a Divinus and Auxilio mage, and you are?”

Inching closer to Julian until her head rested in my lap again, the warmth shooing away the leftover shards of terror, I answered. “Dimitrius Valentina. A true pleasure to meet you, Julian speaks fondly of you.”

One of Seraphina’s brows rose to that, an amused and fond smile curling her lips as she shot a glance to the still exhausted Julian. “That’s surprising, given we have a rivalry, of sorts. Still, it’s nice to hear that she cares.”

“She is listening, you know.” Julian griped, voice edged with irritation I instinctively stroked a hand through her hair to soothe.

The pinkette snorted. “Yes, you are and I don’t care. I had to race here to save your sorry ass because of a stupid mistake on your part. I’ve earned the right to tease you a bit.”

Julian eased, sinking into me further with a sigh. “Sorry, as you can probably guess I’m not feeling up to teasing right now.”

Her friend nodded. “Fair, considering how closely you brushed with death today. While there are things to discuss, I can practically feel your lover’s urge to check you over from here. Is there a guest room I can rest in? We can talk about everything else later.”

At that, I sat up straighter. “If you will go with one of the staff they can lead you to temporary quarters.”

As if on cue, the doors to the room opened and Scott came in, ready to do as told. The fox on Seraphina’s shoulder turned curiously as its owner nodded. “That sounds fine, now then. If you’ll lead on so we can leave the lovebirds to themselves?”

Then she was gone, leaving us alone one more. Turning my attention back to Julian, I relaxed, pulling her up to rest in my arms. Gripping her tight enough to bruise, I let the previous fear ooze out in waves.

“You scared centuries of life from me and I request that in the future you allow the spell to hit me. I can heal through feeing, you cannot.”

She winced, guilt clear as she raised a hand to weakly stroke my cheek. “Sorry. To be honest, I couldn’t tell what spell she was casting. I could only see some of the hand gestures. It was a higher level one and Exitium. Quite a few of those could kill you at close range so I didn’t stop to think.”

I could understand that. Had our positions been switched I would have done much the same, but it mattered none. I could breathe now. She was recovering at an impressive rate and I no longer had to ponder how empty life would be without her.

I had been careless today, too confident in myself and my increased powers and it nearly cost me everything. It would not happen again, I would ensure it.

“It matters none, from now on we shall both be careful and this situation will not repeat itself. For now, rest my darling. You need to recover and I will be going nowhere until you are well again.”

Nudging off my shoes, I laid down next to her, the no longer feverish warmth comforting as she cuddled into my chest. My arm settled around her waist, fingers gripping and tracing the skin to reassure myself that she was alive and here with me.

There were still many things to do, but I could not care. She was here, alive and well. I would ask for nothing else. We could bring Seraphina up to date tomorrow and call the mother we never met with to inform her of our delayed arrival.

It could all be handled tomorrow.

Before I could drift off, the stress of the past few hours draining me, a quiet squeak of floorboards by the door snapped me to full alertness. Julian shifted as well, hearing the same thing as I called.

“Avery, come in.”

There was only one person it would be and, sure enough, the boy nervously poked his head through the door. The second his eyes landed on Julian, relief poured through him, a smile twitching across his lips as sniffled.

“You’re okay!”

Julian winced at his volume, but nodded. “Not feeling my best, but give me a bit of time and I will.”

Avery hovered by the door, eyeing me with open uncertainty as Julian faded in and out of sleep. The question he would not voice hovered behind his eyes and I gestured him forward. “I believe, it is time for a nap and–if Julian would not mind the company–we could all use one.”

Julian raised a brow, but did not argue. Instead, she shot a glance to Avery and lifted the blanket in invitation. The boy bounded across the room in a blur of gold, all but vaulting next to us before snuggling between our frames.

Julian snorted, but said nothing, content to lay her head on my offered arm. Peace settled over us like a blanket as Avery cuddled closer, a small smile curling his lips that matched the one Julian sported.

It was…right. This felt, to the marrow of my bones, right and with it, my earlier revelation came rushing back. I loved her.

Sweeping a glance over her lightly dozing features, I let it sink in. Love. I never thought to fall to it again, but with her, it was inevitable. She was Julian, the head strong and determined woman who now held my heart tightly in her palms.

Once things were calm, I would tell her just that. For now it would be a distraction from our goal and those children–children like Avery–deserved our undivided focus.

Laying a final kiss on Julian’s head, I allowed sleep to rise up and claim me. There was no rush on these things, I could tell her at my own pace.