Page 189 of The Queen’s Shadow

‘Alexa, Play Fall for Me by Sleep Token.’

Inoticed the spores the moment I entered the shelter, and immediately felt my anger melt away. Unnerved that this infectious magick had managed to slip past my defenses, I attempted to brush them off with my aura, which proved to be largely ineffective. The majority of them clung to me, and I could feel the heady press of their influence demanding that my aura bend to their will.

I was usually better at detecting things like this and preventing them from affecting me. I was far from the loudest person in the room, or the most opinionated, but I was often the most observant and level-headed.

I didn’t get worked up as easily as the others and I knew for a fact that I was the type of person you wanted around in a crisis. I had the uncanny ability to rise above my emotions and look at things logically, and make quick, surgically precise decisions.

It was a trait common in my bloodline. The Abbey family had been blessed with a long line of gifted healers, and although it wasn’t something I liked to boast about, I was one of the most powerful healers the magick folk had seen in several generations. It was why, despite not being an official member of The Board, Sofia had ordered me to return to Italy alongside Conrad.

Abbeys were intellectuals - we were grounded, and we were emotionally intelligent, which is why the second I managed to free myself from the influence of the spores that seemed to coat my body and aura, I knew I wasn’t really angry.

I was hurt and confused. It is common and perfectly normal for negative emotions to present themselves as anger… for most people. Not for me, usually. I had the added help of these strange magickal particles to thank for that.

I raised an arm to my face and used my mind’s eye to examine them closer. They were invisible to the naked eye, and I needed to use a combination of my physical and metaphysical sight to bring them into focus. It was curious magick, and I wondered if I could collect some to study closer at a later date…

Suddenly, the rough, masculine sound of a throat clearing came from just outside the canvas structure. I turned to see a great hulking shadow waiting on the other side, causing me to frown and purse my lips.

Despite knowing that my anger was being manufactured by the magick that still clung to me, it was alluring and difficult to shake off. I wasn’t sure I was ready to speak to Dossidian after he had sidled away from me as if he thought I had some contagious disease. I was especially annoyed, considering every time he did something like this, I would then catch him staring at me from afar. He was so hot and cold, and I didn’t understand why.

I hadn’t had much time for romance in my life. During my later years of study at the University of Medical Enchantment and Diagnoses, I had a few flings with study partners, but they had always just been stolen moments of passion that tended to fizzle out into long term friendships. Students at UMED rarely had time to focus on much more than their studies, so most relationships formed were made to scratch an itch or fill the biological need that most living things seemed to crave.

What I felt for Dossidian was nothing like what I had felt for those boys at school. Dossidian was different from them in every way. I remembered stealing kisses between classes with Nicholas Silverwood in third year and though he had been taller than me, he had also been nearly as slender. Dossidian towered over me and his hand fully engulfed mine when he held it. He could wrap his hands around my waist and lift me clean off the ground with little to no effort. I know, because he had done so, when he had blasted Jeremy and I away from The Origin’s palace that fateful night.

That had been the first time he had ever touched me, and despite the horrific circumstances we had found ourselves in at the time, I had revisited the memory of his hands wrapped around my waist time and time again.

There were times when I was certain he felt the same way. Sometimes, all he needed to do was look at me, and I would be sure that he also felt that spark, that strange connection that burned a hot path through me just from being close to him.

However, he usually followed these heated moments with long bouts of forced distance. Like in Italy, when he actively avoided me for several days, making me feel like I was some silly, pining schoolgirl with a crush.

I didn’t like feeling like this, and frankly, I didn’t have time to play this game with a male who seemed to change his mind as frequently as the goddess changed the weather. I had more important things to do. Like make sure Raven won this war and stopped that evil daemon Queen from threatening the freedom of everyone I had ever known and loved.

“Meredith… it’s me.” He said through the canvas, as if I could have possibly thought it was anyone else. Even from this far away, I could feel his aura stroking against mine in a dangerously slow, firm, rhythm, stoking a fire up from under my skin. “Can I come in?” He asked.

I had half a mind to say no. To tell him that I needed space and to go away. However, I glanced back down at my arm, where I knew the spores were having their way with me. I needed to keep a level head. I didn’t know how to remove them, and he likely did.

I would ask for his help then politely, but firmly, ask him to leave.

“Fine. Come in.” I snipped, keeping my tone as cool as I could, with the itch of the spores nearly begging me to lash out at him.

He lifted the flap and ducked into the shelter. The dome was tall enough that he could stand, but there was not much room between the top of his head and the ceiling. Suddenly, the air around me felt hot, and the portable structure felt much too small. I found myself holding my breath and staring directly into his broad chest, doing my best to calm my pounding heart.

“What happened outside, we were under a spell -”

“I know.” I said curtly, raising my eyes up from his chest to meet his gaze. He looked down at me, his features tight with concern. He softened, despite the abrupt nature of my response, the corner of his mouth curling slightly.

“Of course you do.” His tone was gentle and the mint from the evening’s tea was fresh on his breath as it caressed my cheek. “Such a clever Little Witch.”

“Well, not clever enough, it would seem. I haven’t been able to get it off.” I used my mind’s eye to examine him and found that he was free of the invasive spores.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with being clever. You need to burn it off, and your magick does not come from a place of fire.” He explained, frowning slightly. “I came to help you.” He was so close; I could feel the heat radiating off of him. I could barely catch my breath the way my heart was pounding in my chest. It felt much too intimate, in this small, enclosed space. I moved to take a step away, but my heels brushed against the edge of my rollout mattress, and I found that I was trapped.

“Okay, let’s get this over with.” I said, unable to keep the irritability out of my tone. He nodded, likely chalking my annoyance up to the work of the spores.

“It won’t hurt, you just have to trust me and stay still.”

“Fine.” I said, closing my eyes and waiting for him to do whatever it was he needed to do.

I should have braced myself.