Page 62 of Spelling Disaster

“Let’s go.” Theo grabs my hand and we walk out of the room together, back toward his bike tucked in the spot in campus parking. The same spell I used to get here obscures us from view but there’s nothing I can do, at least not at the moment with my brain turned to mush, to disguise the sound of the engine rattling.

Time to make a quick break for freedom.

We jump on the bike and dart off campus with the veil of night the only thing keeping us hidden.

I tell him where we need to go and hold on tight as he takes off. It’s not going to be an easy trip. I remember the hours it took to get here the first time around and I’m not sure how far the border of the barrier extends outside of town. The odds are good it’s going to take us hours to get home.

Luckily for us—again with the luck—the helmets are equipped with microphones to let us talk to each other during the drive. Theo asks me where we’re going and I tell him, giving him more details.

Hoping we’ll be able to make a difference.

My nerves keep me talking through most of the drive, filling in the missing pieces from my stories before.

Finally, after a couple of hours, we pull into the town adjacent to the border and stop at a gas station to fill up the tank. I rip my helmet off my head and drag in a deep pull of fresh air.

“Your face,” Theo begins.

I offer him a grimace. “I’m scared shitless.”

Even the air quality has changed this close to the border. It’s thicker, heavier, and filled with the stench of things better left alone.

I’ve heard the stories of the Clerics and their demise. Now, with my family potentially poised to pay the cost, what options do I have? I don’t want to die. Not like this. Not without ever having experienced everything life can offer me. There are too many things in this life I’ve never had a chance to explore.

And Theo…

He says we have time, but he has no idea, not really, what I might have to do tonight to get the Horned God back where he belongs. We’re runningoutof time, actually, and if I don’t make it through tonight—

Am I okay letting things end between us on this note?

He smiles at me from the gas pump, a quick flash of a reassuring grin before it disappears in the navy and ebony evening.

If we had time, what would I give to him?

What would I ask from him in return? My thoughts flash once to the highlander romance novel and the great Seamus, the Scottish warrior. How he ravaged the love of his life.

I’ve never even thought about sex outside of a book before. Only in abstract terms, not about how I might be impacted because as a Cleric, it’s not about intimacy. It’s about power, and magic, and leading your coven with both of those things.

I’ve already been so selfish tonight.

I’ve already brought Theo into this. Still, I know absolutely nothing about how to make the first move. Foranything. Only what I’ve picked up through Remi’s romance novels.

What if I try to proposition him with my idea and he laughs in my face? There are a thousand reasons why this is a bad idea and I think about everything that can go wrong.

“You’re right, we’re close,” he says once he’s done filling up the bike. “We’re almost to the border. I feel it. Where are we going?”

I place my hand on his arm before he has a chance to hop on the bike. “I want you to take us to the Yellow Ash Motel.”

It’s nearby and they rent by the hour. I know both of those things through my sister, who would have a conniption fit if she caught one whiff of what I planned to do. She told me about it in passing a few times when she and Atlas no longer felt comfortable sneaking around the library for the things they wanted to do to each other.

The things I want to do to Theo.

Decision made, once again.

Theo tilts his head to the side. “You want to go to a motel?” he asks.

I leave my hand on his arm, my helmet tucked under the opposite elbow, my needs plain to see even if I’m unable to voice them. Slowly, I nod. My mouth has gone dry again and a whole host of bees are swarming around inside of me. To combat them, I focus on the sensation of his hand on my breast, his tongue in my mouth. I focus on everything I know will come after those things.

And Theo sees what I’m trying to do.

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