Magic's Design (31 page)

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Authors: Cat Adams

BOOK: Magic's Design
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He nodded while swirling a soapy cloth around the pot. “Right. For example, we give apprentices sandstone to craft with. It doesn’t hold much magic because of the loose structure, and is easily destroyed. That teaches patience and caution, because parents of the children get informed if the student damages more than three stones in a term, and must pay for extras.”
“So does that mean a diamond is the top stone? Can it hold the most because it’s so pure?” She put the pot to dry in the rack with the others when Tal handed it to her.
He tossed her the towel to dry her hands as he removed the stopper from the drain to let out the water. “Not exactly. Actually, your heirloom fire opal is the most powerful stone, with the possible exception of cherry amber. You see, while gemstones like rubies, emeralds, and diamonds can hold a great deal of magic, to get the most of their power they have to be faceted. That actually makes them
worse
for crafting. It would be like—” He paused and looked around the room, as though searching for something. “Not cloth, not wicker … it’s—” Then his eyes lit on something and he walked over to the window. Picking up the fringed tassel that was holding back the curtains he flipped it back and forth. “With every facet you put in a stone to hone the strength, you have another thread of magic to control, like a floppy tassel. Yes, you can braid the threads together and make a strong single beam, but it’s a constant effort to do it. Get distracted for even a moment and the braid falls apart. Magic flies in every direction … except where you want it to. It takes a very disciplined mind to use a faceted stone.”
She nodded grimly as she felt fear suddenly fill her. “Vegre uses a diamond, doesn’t he?”
Tal nodded and walked back across the room, touching her arm when he reached her. “Rohm Prison was crafted
specifically
to hold Vegre, because of his discipline and abilities. His cell was filled with every method the kings could think of to negate his magic. Pure obsidian walls were raised … impervious to all but the most intense heat, and waterfalls surround his cell to dampen his natural fire. A magical vacuum behind the water was even specially crafted by King Mumbai so there wasn’t enough air to feed a flame if he made it past the water. But somehow every one of those precautions—which we believed had held him secure for centuries, has been defeated. I’m inclined to believe Kris and Dareen that he was aided by one or more of the kings.”
“But if he really did have a free pass in and out at will—to make an official human presence with the name change, to run the hotel, then why
break
out now?”
Tal shrugged and squeezed her arm before letting it go. “I wish I knew. Maybe the kings realized their folly and changed the deal? Perhaps the actions of his minions had nothing to do with the plan and he just decided to take advantage of the opportunity. I’d imagine if he was beholden to the kings for his release, he’d be allowed less movement, so true freedom would be worth the risk. But,” he concluded, lowering is chin in mild reproach. “That’s a topic for another time. You have eggs to craft and I have a focus to explore.”
“Why
explore?
Doesn’t it work now?”
He let out a small burst of breath, knowing she was stalling, but he answered anyway. “Fire opals are filled with inclusions of different stones. Their very instability, what makes them unable to be faceted, is what makes them very powerful. But each focus is like a maze with many correct paths. One path among the inclusions is the quickest, and most powerful. But any of them will get you from point A to point B, which is how I’ve been able to use it until now.”
It finally made sense in her head. “But you want to find the most direct path. Okay, so it’s like line loss on an electric cable. The longer it takes to get from the source to the object, the less powerful the signal?”
He’d already made himself comfortable on the couch, sitting cross-legged with the stone held in his open right palm. He nodded with an expression of admiration. “Precisely. You’re a fast leamer. Many apprentices take years to understand the process that well.” He turned his head back to the stone and closed his eyes, a signal that he wanted to concentrate … alone.
She watched him for a moment, saw the colors swirl in the domed top of the stone. They faded after a moment and then she saw him move his finger slightly. Another swirl in a different pattern of colors. Then another subtle move of his fingers and he tried again.
She got the impression he was going to be at it for a while, so she returned to her eggs. There were a dozen of them in the woven reed basket from the fridge and Dareen hadn’t lied—they were so fresh they were still slightly warm when she wrapped her hand around them. It didn’t matter that there weren’t enough for all the Trees. She wouldn’t have time to dye them all today anyway. She just wanted to get this one Tree up and running before they left so Dareen would have some leverage.
There was something incredibly peaceful about making pysanky. Her mind blocked out everything but spinning the egg round and round, drawing line after line. Basket weave patterns demanded precision, requiring a sure hand and quick movements, and that was all that was left to do before dying the background black.
As soon as the first egg was done, she held it close to the sample fragment to compare the colors. Either this kit was the very one used to create the original, or Samuel had used the same farba recipe, because they were identical, down to the same marigold yellow.
By the time she finished the second egg—a water theme with cucumbers, circles, and more basket weaving, a blister was starting to form between the first and second joint of her thumb. She was used to them, though, so she pressed on—doing her best not to let the rough wood of the kistka tear the skin to make it a wound. They didn’t hurt bad until that happened, but afterward they were hard to heal because of the constant motion of her hands.
She’d just lowered the third egg into the yellow dye after making top and bottom borders of waves for an air egg, when she felt hands on her shoulders. She barely reacted, even though Tal’s strong hands kneading her muscles felt amazingly good. But, frankly, she was just too exhausted to react to much of anything. Her eyes were burning from working in the dim candlelight and her wrist was throbbing from constantly twisting the egg in circles to paint the wax. She usually didn’t do more than one egg a day, and had never tried to consciously
think
of magic the whole time.
“You should stop for today. It’s nearly midnight.”
She couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. “Then I
have
stopped for today. It’s nearly tomorrow.” He chuckled as well, but kept kneading, his thumbs digging into her shoulders in slow circles. She let out a small sigh and leaned forward until her forehead was resting on her wrists. “Don’t feel compelled to stop that anytime soon.”
He apparently took her comment as a command—which it sort of was. He began a full-blown massage from neck to lower back. Grinding, popping noises from her stressed muscles accompanied her whimpers of pain as he kneaded and pushed and pounded. By the time he’d worked out the major kinks and moved to include her scalp and biceps, her breathing had slowed. His hands were warm—so very warm.
Nice
. As she breathed in the scent of his cologne, she felt her eyes close.
“Wake up, Mila. Come to bed.” Tal’s voice was right next to her ear. She felt dreamy and warm, like waking up after a nap in the sunshine.
“Hmm? Did I fall asleep?” She felt leaden, but didn’t hurt as he lifted her to a sitting position, hands on her shoulders once more. She saw the time on her watch. “Geez! It’s been half an hour. Why’d you let me sleep that long?” She looked at the yellow dye jar in panic. The egg would probably be
orange
. But it was resting safely on a towel, dry and exactly the right color.
“You needed a rest, and still need
relaxation
.” He took her hand and pulled her up and out of the chair. She didn’t expect to follow the pull, but her body had other ideas. She stumbled to her feet, her brain still fuzzy.
He backed through the room, pulling her forward and she looked back at the uncompleted egg more than once. “I really should finish the eggs. There isn’t much time left.”
“It can wait until I’m done with you.” His voice was warm and filled with things that had nothing to do with sleep. The dark look in his eyes made something pull low in her body. It was then she noticed he’d showered and shaved, which was hardly fair considering she was probably sweaty and stinky. A quick flick of her tongue across her teeth confirmed there was a film that didn’t speak well for her breath. “Do I get to freshen up before … whatever you’re planning?”
He smiled, anticipation in the spread of lips. “Of course. Your bath’s already drawn.”
And wow … was it
drawn
. Flickering candles lined the ledge around the large room, and she breathed in the scent of oranges and ginger. The towel warmer filled the air with dry heat while steam rose off the tub in a wet cloud. He drew her to the center of the room and stopped. His hands fell off of hers and then slid along her jaw just as he stepped forward and tipped his head.
The kiss was everything the room promised—slow, sweet, and filled with the taste of cinnamon toothpaste and candy. He moved back just as slowly, but his languid movements were having an opposite effect on her body. “A toothbrush would be nice,” she said hopefully.
“As you like,” he said with a small bow of his head. “You just need to decide whether you want to bathe alone and then join me in the next room, or if you’d like someone to slowly …
ever
so slowly, sponge your back.” He flicked his head sideways toward the steaming tub. “It fits two comfortably. Your choice.”
Gee. Soak alone, or frolic with a gorgeous, and increasingly appealing fire mage?
Decisions, decisions.
She smiled with enthusiasm and sounded completely awake and far more chipper than she should be considering how tired she was. “Just let me give my teeth a quick brush. Don’t go anywhere. And I do mean
don’t go anywhere.
”
Again that little half-smile that was all male and then he was unbuttoning his shirt. She could almost feel the drool running down her chin as the tautly muscled chest she’d suspected was hiding under there was revealed. “Go ahead and brush. I’ll just keep you entertained.” He let the shirt hang open as he unbuckled his belt. The top button of his jeans was next. One flick accompanied a wink. The button popped open and so did her mouth. The smile broadened as he inched down the zipper, showing an impressive swelling beneath his underwear. Damned if he wasn’t enjoying stripteasing for her.
It was definitely time to hurry. She wasn’t surprised, after meeting Dareen, that there was a brand new toothbrush and several travel-sized hair products on the counter. She had finished her lowers and was moving the brush to the upper teeth when she let out a yelp that spit toothpaste onto the mirror. Warm hands had slid under her shirt from behind and were caressing her waist and tickling the bottom of her bra. She raised her eyes to the mirror and saw Tal’s reflection. His eyes were intense, glowing with an inner light that could either be a reflection from the candle, or something about his magic she didn’t understand. Either way it was impressive and more than a little sexy.
She could brush with him fondling her breasts under the shirt, although it made her writhe in pleasure. Even when he pushed her into the counter with his hips, she could still hold the brush. But when his lips and teeth started to nibble on her earlobe—
There’s only so much a girl can take.
She spit into the sink, then slugged and spit a cap of mouthwash so fast she doubted the germs were in much danger. But minty fresh was her goal and by the time she turned in Tal’s arms, she at least had that.
She wanted to touch that warm skin—had wanted to since the moment she met him. It didn’t even make sense, but she couldn’t deny the tingling, twitching
need
that made her hands reach underneath his shirt. If his moan as he kissed her was any indication, he didn’t mind.
His lips moved away from her mouth and found her ear again. “Let’s get you out of those wet things.”
It made her brow drop down in confusion. “My clothes aren’t wet.”
Tal’s hands were just suddenly on her hips. When he pulled her to him—grinding his very healthy erection against her stomach, a spasm between her legs weakened her knees and made her groan with need. “I’ll bet
some
of them are.”
Well, if they weren’t before, they certainly are now. But
he didn’t wait for a reply, because before she could even open her mouth to reply, he’d tucked hands under her sweater and was lifting it over her head. Her arms had no choice but to follow suit, and soon only her bra covered her to the waist.
She was glad now that she’d dug into the back of the drawer this morning and put on one of the bras she’d been saving for her vacation next summer, because Tal’s voice was nicely appreciative. “Mmm. Pretty.” He ran a slow finger along the lacy scalloped edge and she felt her eyes flutter shut. There was just something about gentle touches that drove her insane. She never liked grabbing and pawing until the very last moment, which is probably why she never enjoyed the dating scene with Candy. “Hmm … I like that.” She didn’t mean to say it out loud, but he’d probably already figured it out from the sighs and goose bumps it was raising on her skin.

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