Page 22

Chapter 22

I was pulled from sleep by the irritatingly shrill beep of my phone alarm. Without opening my eyes, I picked up the phone and launched it through the open doorway and out of the room. Bastion and I had barely slept all night, and a delicious ache was pervading any number of muscles that I hadn’t used in a very, very long time.

Amusement flared in my chest, in the part of me that I thought of as Bastion’s. He found me chucking away my phone funny. He would have found it even funnier if he’d known I was aiming for the wall.

I felt more solid today, and I realised that now there was only one of me running around the world. The jaunt through time had been necessary, but the prickling of my skin that told of two of me existing hadn’t been comfortable. I was relieved the sensation had vanished. Then I wondered where Frogmatch was; I hoped he was safely ensconced with Oscar.

‘Morning, Bambi.’ Bastion pressed a kiss to my neck in that spot that he’d found I liked, making me arch my back in a pool of desire. ‘You’re insatiable,’ he murmured as his hands stroked the length of my body.

‘Are you complaining?’

‘Not for a single second,’ he promised solemnly. ‘But you’re sore.’

‘A little,’ I admitted.

His hands paused. ‘Let’s get you some healing salve.’

‘Only if you promise to be the one that applies it,’ I suggested archly.

He grinned. ‘You read my mind.’

We showered together, hot water sluicing us. The first time we’d showered and tried to get clean, we’d ended up getting very, very dirty instead. This time we actually managed to use the shower for its true purpose.

When we stepped out, I dried, runed myself and got dressed. I sat in front of the mirror and contemplated my affirmations. For once, I didn’t have to say them. I had a familiar and it wouldn’t be true to affirm that I didn’t need anyone, not any more. I needed Bastion, and I needed Oscar and Benji and Jinx and Lucy. Heck, maybe even Frogmatch would make the list.

I looked at my reflection and crafted a new affirmation. ‘I am a strong, successful witch. With my friends and family beside me, I am unstoppable. I will change this world for the better.’ I smiled. Go big or go home. I was aiming for the moon; here’s hoping I’d land in the stars.

I sashayed out of my bedroom into the living room and took a breathless moment to admire the man manoeuvring around my kitchen like a pro. Like he’d manoeuvred around me.

‘What’s the plan for the day?’ Bastion asked, his tone businesslike as he passed me a glass of fresh orange juice and a bowl of overnight oats.

The oats gave me pause. When exactly had Oscar sneaked them into my fridge? My cheeks warmed and Bastion grinned as he felt my embarrassment. ‘Oscar knows about the birds and the bees.’

‘Yes, but he doesn’t need to know that I know about them,’ I muttered.

‘You’re forty-two. He knows.’

I humphed and dived into my raspberry-flavoured oats. I was far hungrier than usual. I must have used a lot more energy than usual and my body wanted to refuel. I drained my orange juice and thought about my plans for the day.

Much as I wanted to lounge around naked in my flat with Bastion – and I really did want to do that – I had too much to do to spend time indulging myself. ‘I need to finish the final-defence potion. The base will only be fresh enough for another day or two, max. That’s top of the list. If you want, you can summon Shirdal to come and get his replacement vial.’ I owed him that and much more for saving Bastion.

‘And after that?’

‘After that is finding the necromancer that killed Melva.’

‘Do you have a plan for accomplishing that?’ Bastion asked curiously.

I grimaced. ‘Yeah. We’re going to speak to Voltaire. Krieg said he’d reach out to him for us, but so far we haven’t heard anything. Can you set up a meet?’

He nodded. ‘Leave it with me. I’ll line something up while you finish the potion.’

‘Thank you. I knew I could rely on you.’

He picked up our dirty bowls and pressed a light kiss to my forehead. ‘Always,’ he murmured as he walked away.

I watched him clean our dirty dishes, his calloused hands carefully wiping away the remnants of the oats with a sudsy cloth. ‘Lucky dishes,’ I muttered. A surge of amusement and shaking shoulders told me that Bastion had heard my comment. Stupid supernatural hearing.

I bit my lip as desire swelled. ‘I think I have a cleaning kink,’ I admitted. ‘Is that a thing?’

‘Kinks come in all shapes and sizes. You decide what’s yours.’ He shot me a look with his bedroom eyes. ‘I’m perfectly happy to clean dishes if it gets you fired up.’

‘Like a bonfire,’ I admitted.

‘I’m going to clean the whole flat while you make potions,’ he promised.

I groaned. With considerable effort, I tore my eyes away from him and tried to bring my errant thoughts back to my day. I reluctantly went through my office to my lab, leaving Bastion to clean and sort out an appointment with Voltaire. I exhaled in relief when I saw the base of the potion was still in stasis. It would be fine.

Before I started work, I pulled out my phone and texted Oscar. Did you get back okay from Liverpool? No need to be more specific than that.

No problem, came the instant reply. I’m Coven side. Frogmatch is with me. Let me know if you need me.

I’ll need a trip to Rosie’s soon, I admitted. I hated using the portal and being stuck in the Common realm, but I’d used a huge amount of magic recently and I’d be using more to finish the final-defence potion. I’d already drunk my vial of ORAL potion, so I’d need a proper recharge.

Just let me know when.

Relieved that Oscar and Frogmatch were safe in the tower – though I’d already been pretty sure of that from the orange juice and oats in my fridge – I turned my mind to potion making. I slipped out of my heavy skirt, leaving me in my leggings, before I removed the cauldron lid and broke the stasis spell.

I lit a fire under the pewter cauldron to start warming its contents then pulled a ladder over to my ingredient store. I climbed up, selected half-a-dozen ingredients including the incredibly rare kiteen leaves, and carried them to my immaculate workstation. Paranoia made me clean the surface again before I started work; I couldn’t risk this potion being contaminated.

I slipped the thermometer into its wooden frame and swung it so that the end dipped into the potion’s surface. It was still far too cool for me to add anything, so I busied myself with the rest of the preparations. My hands were steady as I lifted the purple kiteen leaf out of its safe storage .

I set it down on the work surface and started the painfully slow process of cutting away the leaf, leaving nothing but its broad veins. I tried to stay relaxed: one wrong slice would break the veins and the potion would be ruined.

With this potion I could save Bastion’s life, and Shirdal’s too. And other griffins, ones I hadn’t met, who were as worthy of the life-saving potion as the two griffins who’d wormed their way into my affections.

It was hard to believe how stubborn I had once been, how blind to Bastion’s kindness. I had ignored everything he’d done, even when he’d saved my life time and time again. It was painful to contemplate how wrong I’d been, not just because I despised being wrong, but because I’d wronged Bastion. And I still hadn’t found either the time or the words to apologise to the man who had taken residence in my heart.

The sharp blade nearly slipped and I snarled inwardly; now was not the time to go wool-gathering. Focus, Amber DeLea.

It took a very long half hour to cut away the leaf’s exoskeleton, and the whole time my heart was thundering. One mistake would render the ingredient useless and the potion would be over before it had even begun. But I was no blushing acolyte, and after forty minutes of careful work the network of veins was exposed.

Whoever had worked out that the veins of the leaf were powerful whilst the flesh of the leaf nullified them was a veritable genius. Whoever they were, their name was lost to history – but I would not suffer the same fate. I had created the ORAL potion; I was the first witch to make the final-defence potion in nearly a decade, and I was the first witch in living memory to have a magical creature familiar.

My name might be remembered but so would Bastion’s. I’d make sure of it.