Page 63 of Witchbane

“No. Exact never worked for me. I had to fudge them a little. It’s why the designs aren’t as crisp or pretty as they would be drawn in a book. I found that all the books I had were filled with variations. They aren’t really out of nothing. It uses my energy to create wards and shields. Sometimes I tied the earth energy to it if it needed bigger power than what I could offer.”

“Even though at its core, alchemy is part chemistry.”

“Yep,” I said. “At first I thought it was really shitty writing. Most of those first books were either straight up print with all chemical and biological breakdowns, or handwritten.”

“I have a thought about that.”

“Okay. I’m pretty into your thoughts.”

He grinned at me. “I think you need your own spin on it.”

“Like my own shitty writing?”

“Sort of. Think of it as taking a recipe that is long known and established, like for my sweet bread, and adding your own touch to it.”

“I’d probably mess it up. Your sweet bread is amazing.”

“But it was years of trial and error with an old recipe to get there,” Liam pointed out. “My perfect is someone else’s idea of a screwup.”

“Not sure we have years.” I stared at the symbols Liam had written. They were a combination of fae and alchemy, and not even all of those that made up the basics of plant material. But I could see the thought behind it.

“How about we try it together?” Liam asked.

“And hopefully not blow ourselves up.”

He held up his hands and I took them, linking the scion bonds together. “Fill the symbols with power, right?” Liam asked.

I shrugged. “Hopefully it will make something grow and not become a person eating plant.”

Liam tugged me forward and kissed me. “There’s my Grumpy Gus. Now focus with me.”

And because it was Liam asking, I did. Again, like the bindings, it was easy to fill them with my energy. That sort of side view glow of power crept through the symbols etching them into the sand. And a few seconds later the area sprouted with a heap of wildflowers.

I blinked.

“Not clothes,” Liam grinned. “But it’s a start.”

“Flowers…”

“Plants are cellulose,” Liam reminded me.

“I guess…” The compounds were a bit different. I stared at the symbols, still mostly visible beside the new growth of flowers. I tweaked them a little, moving some of the lines to curves and slashes. Liam changed a few. It took a half dozen attempts, more small changes, and the combination of alchemy and fae symbols to create something that looked like fabric. And even that came from the breakdown of the seeds and flowers.

It was Liam who took the leap from creating a simple stitch of fabric into actual clothes we could wear and recognize. I stared at him as he pulled on loose fitting pants, and a draping shirt.

“What?” he asked, holding out a set to me. I tugged them on, surprised they fit, even if they weren’t the most stylish. I didn’t feel like people could be looking out of windows of the palace staring at my bare ass anymore. “Start small, right?”

“This isn’t small.” I ran my hands over the fabric. It felt real. Like clothes and not magic. It wasn’t the uncomfortable fluttering of the things Nick had given us after we’d gotten back. More neutral, like clothing should be.

“We’ll need some practice,” Liam said. “Refining. But it will do for now.” His smile was huge, splitting his face, eyes twinkling. He was happy, and I could feel it rolling through the bond in thick waves. “We did it. And I helped.” He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close and hugging me hard enough to hurt.

“Don’t break me,” I grumbled.

He let out a long sigh. “I know you’re not impressed, but you’ve had magic your whole life. Even if it was only your fox. For me,” he let go of me and held out his hands, “this is amazing.”

“The fox isn’t magic.”

“Your fox is like thirty pounds. Where does that extra mass go? How is that not magic?”