Page 25 of The Rowan's Stone
My eyebrows shoot up. That was certainly fast. One night, and he’s already backing away? Is this about us? Or the witches? Confused, I stare at him, hoping he will give me something more, but he avoids eye contact.
Locking my jaw, I clamp down on the emotions flowing through me until only anger remains. “You know, I can handle this project. And I’m sure Theron would help too. Why don’t I clear all this out of here so you can work on your projects? Which piles have been scanned?” My hands tremble, but I shove them into my pockets before he can see them.
He points to the wall. “I’ve scanned every pile against the wall. You can file them away,” he answers, his eyes darting to me in confusion.
“Every pile, from this corner to that one,” I ask, pointing to each corner. When he nods, I lift the entire stack with magic. “To confirm, you have scanned this entire group?” He jerks his head in irritation at my questioning. “Great, I appreciate it.” I murmur a quick spell, then flick my hand and set the entire group on fire. Ash flies everywhere, but I use a slight breeze to scoop it all up and place it in the trash. “Okay, I only have about ten minutes left. Can you walk around and point out the remaining piles that have been scanned?”
“What the hell are you doing?” he bellows, his hands pulling at his hair in agitation. “Those papers were priceless, historical documents. Caro’s going to lose her mind.”
I feel a twinge of guilt, but I ignore it. “I’m not concerned about Caro. She’ll still have the documents, but they’ll be in a much more accessible and user-friendly format. Thanks to you. Eight minutes. I don’t want to be late to training. Can you please focus?”
“You were certainly concerned about helping Caro the other day. You practically leapt to help her, trying to get in her good graces, and now you’re on the council,” he spits out, resentment in his voice. “And I won’t let you destroy this history, even if I don’t give two fucks about the witches.”
Biting my cheek, I decide to forego the individual theatrics. After murmuring the same spell, I light every single pile on fire. Ash covers the entire room, along with Astor and me. Using my magic, I sweep up the ash, from the room and myself, but leave Astor covered in it. “Please send me the flash drives with the information you’ve scanned when you have a second. I’ve got training with Fallon now.”
Standing there in shock, his jaw on the floor, he sputters incoherently while I walk out.
Anger burns like wildfire through my veins. After speaking with Valerian, I figured Astor would act weird after sex. But I guessed his reaction would be to treat it like a casual romp between friends, not back off entirely. I’d prepared myself for casual, not rejection. Thinking back on our interactions in the past, I know he has feelings for me. Unlike Theron, Astor isn’t able to hide his emotions, but right now, I don’t know how to deal with him. Taking several deep breaths, I try to shake off my worry and anger.
At some point, I’m going to have to go back and ask him which piles have been scanned, but for now, I let him believe I burned them to cinders.
* * *
Fallon’s waitingfor me in the lobby when I get out of the elevator. He takes one glance at the thundercloud on my face and raises an eyebrow. “Want to talk about it?”
“Nope,” I reply, stopping to put on my jacket. “Let’s go, please.”
He eyes me warily but opens a portal. When we step out this time, we’re in the same forest we previously used, then he motions me down the same path to the pond.
When we arrive at the pond, he drops the pack and steps up to water’s edge. I follow and wait for instructions.
He raises his hands, palms toward the water, and the waterfall starts flowing backwards. Then the pond itself becomes a whirlpool with a deep hole in its center, swirling round and round before ultimately shifting into a large wave racing toward the shore and the place we’re standing. Suddenly, the wave loses its momentum, like a puppet with its strings cut, and instead laps softly onto the shore.
“Your turn,” he tells me. “Remember, you need to connect with the water in order to direct it.” He steps back out of my line of sight.
Raising my hands, my mind spears toward the body of water and grabs hold. The water fights me, but I force the connection to my magic. Then I direct my will and the connection to the pond and command it to form a wave. In response, the water shoots into the air, forming a humongous wave around ten feet tall, and starts hurtling toward me and the shore.
Swallowing, I try to coax it into slowing down, but it’s not listening. Using witch magic, I form a wall of water between the wave and me to act as a barrier. I turn back to the wave, trying everything to get it to listen and slow down, but it ignores me. Finally, it slams into the wall I created and stops, but the top portion flows over the wall in a wide arc and comes down on top of me, drenching me.
Fallon busts out laughing.
Spitting out pond water and wiping my eyes, I wave a hand and use witch magic to dry off. Turning to him, I cross my arms and snarl, “Why didn’t it listen to me?”
“You’re dealing with nature. Nature’s fickle. If you piss her off, you should expect some retaliation,” he replies. “You need to lose the anger. Try to connect with nature like you do with Meri, as friends.”
“I went by to see Astor before training,” I blurt out. My anger isn’t going to go away until I talk to someone about what happened. It must be Fallon’s lucky day. I give him the short version. “I don’t know what to think or do.”
He digests the information. “You’re right about the sex and feelings. I’m not sure he knows how to deal with them, which means he’s likely going to compartmentalize and try to control the other areas of his life. Let him work through it on his own. If his feelings are real, he’ll find a way back to you.” He frowns at me. “Did you really burn the files?”
“Of course not. I used a spell to create duplicates and sent the originals to a pocket dimension where I store personal items. But he doesn’t know I burned the duplicates, which is the point,” I reply dryly.
His finger reaches out and tucks a wayward strand behind my ear. When his eyes turn to mine, they’re serious and filled with disappointment. “I’m honestly amazed at how many times Astor has stepped foot into Witchwood since you arrived. He vowed a long time ago to never return. But he did it…for you. And every time he visits, his worst memories play on repeat and all he can see is his mother rejecting him in front of the coven. It was devastating enough the first time, but to watch it over and over is torture.”
He lets me digest his words for a second or two.
“Helping the witches, in any way, is bound to trigger a lot of emotions in him, including a high degree of resentment. The council forced his mother to choose between them and him, and because she was ashamed she’d fallen for an incubus, she chose them,” Fallon explains quietly. “I think you overreacted, but I also think you need to show Astor that he can be more open and honest with you and himself. Stand up for him, show him you care, and maybe he will allow himself to return those feelings.”
Guilt and frustration mix together. I wish someone would have told me how severe his triggers were before I dragged him to Witchwood the first time, much less three times. I sigh. “Fuck. I didn’t realize it was this bad. If I had, I’d never have asked him to go to Witchwood. I’ll discuss it with him, then I’ll back off and give him room to think about what he wants. Thanks. I needed to talk to someone, and with Theron gone, I’m glad you didn’t mind.”
