Page 20 of Gift from the Stone

“I’ve always known you were a badass, little wanderer,” I whisper against her lips.

Then I steal her smile as I devour her mouth with mine, swallowing down her sweet moans. I pour myself into that brief kiss, letting her know I think she’s a fucking goddess amongst men.

“Wait, don’t pull away. That made me feel so much better,” she says, reaching her arms out to me, but I don’t get the chance to lean back into her as Tillman picks her up and places her in his lap.

“So, little warrior, you were out here creating new worlds, huh?” he asks, his eyes masking his pride.

“A pocket dimension. I haven’t worked my way up to worlds yet.” She downplays her accomplishment with her teasing tone, but I can see her glowing under Tillman, yearning for his praise. I’ll have to have a talk with him about how much his approval means to her.

Dickhead better start telling her more how proud he is of her.

“I’m so proud of you, Will,” he parrots my thoughts and Willow beams, pulling his face down to hers to capture his lips in a hungry kiss. The dick has the nerve to glance up at me and wink.

Asshole.

“Are you okay?” Corentin asks, snatching her out of Tillman’s embrace the second they break apart.

“I’m starting to feel better, but I think another kiss would help.” She smiles at him coyly, biting her bottom lip. Heat flares in his eyes as he tilts her chin up.

“Anything you need, princess.”

I’m rock hard watching my little wanderer shower her Nexus in affectionate kisses. I’m royally screwed if she lets us take her at the same time. She’s so responsive to every little touch, I bet she’s soaked right now. The thought has a heated growl slipping past my lips, gaining everyone’s attention.

“Maybe we should get Willow inside on the couch and we can discuss how today went,” Gaster says from a few feet away, giving us the illusion of privacy and we all let out a small chuckle at Willow’s mortified gasp.

Corentin stands with her in his arms, preparing to walk toward Gaster’s cottage, when Caspian steps in front of them, reaching out to take her from him. Me and Tillman freeze, staring at the exchange happening in front of us. She doesn’t move either. She’s never the one to initiate any touching with him because she knows he may react badly to it, but he’s getting more open with approaching her.

I watch silently, statue still, as Caspian bends his head to Willow’s ear, whispering so low we can’t hear his words. When he pulls his head back up, she hesitantly reaches her hand up to his face and trails her fingers down slowly. And I hold my breath.

“What the hell was that?” I quietly ask Tillman as Caspian smirks down at her and begins walking back toward the cottage.

“That’s her saving him. One day at a time.”

“Hold on. You’re telling me his heart just fell out of his chest?”

I imagined this playing out a lot differently. Instead of the stricken, horror-filled looks and gasp, Willow looks contemplative, like what we just told her made complete sense. “It has to do with the dagger. There are no coincidences.”

“I agree. It more than likely isn’t the same dagger being used for the whole society, but the dagger and gem have something to do with it.” Gaster strokes his beard and nods.

“Today while we were looking for some evidence on the Mastery, I told Gaster that I thought the red inside of the gem on the end of the dagger my father used was moving like liquid. The thought’s been nagging me, so I asked if anyone practiced blood magic here. You all just confirmed our theory…sort of,” she tells us with a bright, wide smile.

She’s so perfect.

“Caspian, you believe the M doesn’t just represent Mastery, but it serves as some kind of rune to bind the followers to the Summum-Master, correct?” Gaster asks.

“Yes. I don’t see how else the rune would know to kill the individual talking unless the mind’s been compromised. It happened within seconds of Tillman removing the block,” Caspian confirms.

“But it didn’t happen to the others that you interrogated, nor did they have mental blocks. So it only has to do with the Summum-Master, or they all would’ve died when you began the interrogations, and they started talking. The binding on their mind must happen as the rune grows. The higher they move up the ranks…”

“The more access they get to the Summum-Master, so it’s a layer of protection.” Caspian summarizes for her. I can’t help but smirk. I knew the two of them would figure this shit out together.

“So what do we do next?” I ask.

Pulling her into my lap, I press my face into her neck, breathing in her scent. My lips against her neck cause chill bumps to litter her skin, so I call my element to the surface and run my hands down her arm to chase them away, smiling triumphantly as she squirms.

“Tillman, Caspian, and I are going to go to the research lab and see if Jamie was able to find anything out from Jarod’s body. But I think our next step is to plan a trip to Terravile. We’ll have some time to get a mission together while they start their Alpha trials,” Corentin declares.

“What are Alpha trials?” Willow asks.

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