“Is that all you are?” Lily asked uncertainly. She felt embarrassed heat pouring out of her, and she knew that Rowan could feel it, too. “Are you just my mechanic?”
He shook his head slowly, never taking his eyes off of hers. His willstone glittered high on his chest, just under his throat. She watched the light inside his stone writhe and fall with mesmerizing grace.
“You have the prettiest willstone,” she murmured. “I’ve never seen anything that even comes close. And I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything more.”
He was still and silent for too long. Lily looked back up into his eyes. They looked hungry. “Did I say something wrong?”
“Slowly, Lily.” His breath caught in his chest. “We’re going to go very slowly, for both our sakes.”
He tucked his face into her neck and just held her. She could feel the pull of want in him, like a tight thread inside. She felt it, too, but he wouldn’t let her turn her mouth to his and kiss him.
“Hey! Sorry,” Tristan said from the entrance of the tent. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.” His eyes slid away from them, and Lily could sense that he didn’t want to look at them holding each other. She wondered if she should be worried about that or if it would go away on its own. “It’s almost time,” he said.
“Alright, both of you out,” Lily said, easing away from Rowan’s embrace. “I need to change.”
Rowan and Tristan shared a look with each other and then turned to Lily, smirking like they thought she was crazy.
“I know, I know. You’ve both seen me naked a jillion times, and I’ve noticed that nudity is no big deal in this world, but I don’t care,” Lily said, shoving Rowan toward the exit. “I’m actually conscious this time, and it’s not like we’re doing a spell to save a bunch of dying children. So get the hell out.”
They obliged, laughing with each other as they left the tent. Once Lily had finished changing, she joined Tristan and Rowan outside the tent and went with them to an open field near the sachem’s council carriage on the edge of the camp. A huge fire was already going, and as they arrived Caleb threw another log onto it, sending sparks crackling up out of the white-hot center. The sachem was there, along with four of his elite guards with the painted faces.
“Watch the trees,” Alaric said to his guards. “There were reports of simian Woven out there.”
The warriors swept past them and set up a perimeter between them, the rest of the camp, and the dark canopy of trees.
Got your pocket bomb? Rowan asked anxiously.
Lily smiled at him and patted the small bulge in her skirts. Of course.
The sachem stepped forward and went with Lily to the edge of the fire. Rowan and Tristan set wards in a circle around them to hide the night’s witchcraft from both the camp and the soldiers on the wall. Caleb trailed behind them, watching and following their instruction. He hadn’t finished his training as a mechanic as they had, and each new situation was a chance for him to learn. Arcs of light sprang out of their willstones and wove together until a hazy screen formed into a large dome over the group. Lily and the sachem stood with their backs to the fire, waiting for her mechanics to finish.
“You’re taking quite a risk,” said the sachem.
“I’m not doing it for you,” she replied. “I’m doing it for them.” Lily made a gesture toward the camp.
“Good.” The sachem smiled slowly at Lily, and she found herself smiling back at him. She didn’t know how she felt about Alaric just yet. She wasn’t ready to trust him, but she did respect him.
The sachem looked up and watched as the spell trails of the wards dimmed. “Beautiful,” he whispered. Lily’s mechanics joined her, kneeling in front of her so that the darkness was at their backs and the fire behind her lit up their eyes. Alaric turned to Lily and tipped his head.
“Good luck, Lily Proctor,” he said, before limping off into the night surrounded by his ghostly guard.
Ready? Lily asked her three charges.
Ready, they answered as one.
Lily took a breath with her whole body, breathing in air through her lungs and heat through her skin. A witch wind kicked up immediately, knocking all three of her mechanics forward with its ferocity. Lily?
?s skill and strength had grown with training. She wasn’t overwhelmed by warrior magic anymore, as she had been in the cabin the night she’d claimed Rowan. In fact, she craved it. The column of air collided with Lily and lifted her up off her feet, her arms and face reaching toward the dark sky. Lily felt her three stones rise up off her breastbone, begging for power.
The harvested heat grew inside her chest like a seed sun. Her smoke stone floated in front of her, wanting it the most. Heat piled on heat inside Lily’s body. As the witch wind shrieked around her and flew her high into the air, Lily knew that this was the most power she’d ever taken into herself. She looked down on her three mechanics, waiting on their knees, and saw how small they looked several stories’ distance beneath her. She was afraid for them. How could she give this much power to them without crushing them?
Help me, Rowan. I don’t want to hurt you.
It’s okay, Lily. Give me the most, Tristan the second most, and go easy on Caleb. He’s not as experienced as Tristan and I are.
I’m afraid for Caleb. Show me how much is too much for him.
Spill it all into me, and I’ll Gift Tristan and Caleb. Don’t worry about hurting me. I can take it.