Anya Bast - Witch Heart

Claire helped him off with his clothes, enjoying the smooth muscle of his arms, chest, and back under her hands. He left just his boxers on and led her to the bed, where he curled up with her and turned off the light.

Held in Adam's arms, under his lips… Claire felt loved. No, cherished . She felt adored.

She wanted Adam. Wanted him to be hers.

"You mean more to me than anyone," Adam murmured, his voice breaking. His arms encircled her and held her close.

She swallowed hard and the edge of sorrow rose. "What about Eliza?" Her voice shook on the words.

Adam said nothing for a few moments, and then finally he murmured, "I loved Eliza. She was one half of my heart when she was alive and when she died that part of me died." He paused. "Claire, you've brought that half of my heart back to life." His voice held the resonance of wonder. "Only now it belongs to you."

Tears pricked Claire's eyes. She didn't know what to say to that. Anyway, she couldn't speak. There was a lump in her throat.

Adam kissed her forehead. "Eliza was wonderful and I'll always remember her, but I want you, not her, Claire. I love you."

Tears pricked her eyes. These words were the ones she'd longed to hear from him. These were the words she'd secretly wanted to hear from a man she loved since she'd been a girl.

Like a raindrop into parched earth, his words sank in and nourished her. New buds began to grow.

Morning came, as it always did.

Claire opened her eyes and looked out the window of Adam's bedroom. She snuggled back into Adam's arms, taking comfort in the sensation of his smooth, warm skin sliding against hers.

She'd made as much peace as she could with losing her power today, but that didn't mean she didn't feel a pang of sorrow at the morning light on the horizon.

Adam stirred beside her and whispered her name. She turned in his arms and kissed his cheek, rough with stubble.

"Good morning, baby," he rasped in a sleep-roughened voice. "Gods, I love waking up to your beautiful face every day."

She smiled. "And you will continue to do so." He would because she was going to survive whatever was coming their way.

A shadow moved across his face, as though he suddenly remembered what day this was. He recovered nicely, though. "I can't wait."

Claire glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "Micah told me to be downstairs at exactly eight a.m. The spell is time sensitive. That gives us just about enough time to bathe and grab a muffin."

He flipped her so suddenly, she yelped. Adam inserted his knee between her thighs and gently slapped her hip, making her yelp again. "No time for… anything else?"

She laughed. "Like you don't get enough as it is. No, that will have to wait until later."

"But I can at least grope you in the shower, right?"

She laughed. "I think there's time for groping."

"There's always time for groping."

They made it down to Micah's spell lab at the designated time. Both Claire and Adam had been thoroughly groped by each other and they both had muffins in their stomachs. Although, when Claire entered the room, she thought for a moment the muffin might come back up.

Micah stood by a table that held a spell pot. various bowls.

and some scattered dried herbs. He looked haggard. His handsome face was drawn and ashen, making him look older than his years. Dark circles marked the flesh beneath his eyes.

The container that would hold the elium sat on a small pedestal in the corner of the room, like a squat, hungry monster. She hoped they'd be able to feed it.

"Didn't you get any sleep, Micah?" Claire asked, making her way into the room. No one else was present. Thomas had chosen to stay away to give them room to work without his sometimes overbearing interference.

Micah turned to them. "A little bit. I was up making sure I had my research right."

"You have me to translate Aemni now, Micah. You should have summoned me. I could have verified things for you."

He shook his head. "You needed your rest more than I did. This spell will mostly count on you expending your energy and will, Claire, not me." He paused. "Anyway, I was okay without your translation help for this. Are you ready?"

Claire held his gaze. "No. No, I'm not ready. I'll never be ready. We just have to do it anyway."

Micah inclined his head. "I understand." He turned to Adam. "I'm not sure you should be here. There's nothing you can do and the spell will look… violent when it's working. You have a need to protect Claire and I understand that, but your interference could really screw things up."

Adam tilted his head to the side and his expression tightened a degree. "I'm not leaving Claire."

Micah sighed. "You have to promise to stand back and let things happen like they have to." His voice grew low and strong. "Do you understand?"

Adam looked at Claire, saying nothing.

Claire knew that if she appeared in pain, he'd be hard-pressed not to leap across the room at Micah like the last time. She wanted him here, but… "Maybe it would be better if you left the room, Adam."

Adam moved his gaze back to Micah. "I'm not leaving, but I'll promise not to interfere… no matter how bad it looks."

Micah shook his head. "Why do I think you're lying?" He turned to the spell pot. "Okay, then. Claire, please lie down on that recliner."

She did as she was asked, lying down on the same inclined chair she'd sat in before. The thing reminded her a little too much of the tooth physician's chair she'd spent so much time in back on Eudae as a child. Plus, memories of the pain she'd experienced the last time she sat here reared their ugly head and made her regret the muffin for the second time that morning.

Adam took a spot near the wall and tried not to look tense. He failed. He shot her an uneasy grin that she returned just as uneasily.

Micah approached her with a bowl in his hand. This was earth magick, an earth spell. A witch like Micah couldn't do anything else. Earth magick was by far the most flexible and useful of the elements, however, so it was fitting he should wield it. The knowledge that Micah possessed was formidable and she was going to enjoy working with him in the future. The bowl smelled of cloves and crushed mugwort and skullcap. She recognized them all from Theo's work at charm-making.

Micah paused above her. "I have to ask you to take off your shirt. I need to put this mixture on your skin over your seat."

"Uh, can I leave my bra on?"

He shrugged. "It's your call. The material will be ruined by the concoction, most likely. It's pretty stinky."

She'd sacrifice the bra. "Good thing it's warm in this room," she muttered as she slid her sweater over her head and dropped it to the floor.

Micah scooped out some of the smelly paste and massaged it into the skin between her breasts, underneath her bra. It tingled and grew warm, immediately sinking into her flesh. The power tingled and pulsed, ready for Micah's invocation.

Micah set the bowl on the table and wiped his fingers off. Then he came back to stand beside her. "Are you ready?"

"Why do you keep asking me that?"

"Okay. Take a couple deep breaths and close your eyes, then. Try to relax as much as you can."

Claire settled back against the recliner and let her eyelids drift closed. She did her best to ignore the bone-deep quiver of fear and dread that vibrated through her. She could act brave all she wanted, but inside she screamed for some kind of intervention, some kind of miracle that would let her keep her magick and her life, too.

Micah led her through a guided meditation. It was the normal sort — where the speaker instructs you to relax your toes, your ankles, yours calves… all the way up your body. But around the time she reached her thighs, magick tingled over her skin. Micah's voice grew deeper and more compelling. Once in a while, he would stop the mundane guided meditation and mutter words of power under his breath and the paste on her skin would tingle and pulse even more.