Page 100 of Fortress of Ambrose
“If you’re worried about your toushana getting out of control, use itmore. It worked tonight.”
He shifts on his feet uncomfortably.
“Meet me tonight. I’ll show you.” I tell him about the broom closet and how to get to the forest behind the Chateau, wheremysecret lived when I was here last Season.
He agrees reluctantly before rushing out the door suddenly without another word.
Forty-One
Jordan
When I shut the door to Quell’s room, I run. Down the dorm wing, through the foyer where the projection of the Sphere used to hang, toward tall exit doors with the conservatory beyond it. The fresh air hits me in the face, and it’s the slap I need.
I cup my face where her head just was. I can still smell her hair on my fingers. I pant, trying to return my racing heart to normal. But toushana wrestles my insides like an ice storm.
I hadn’t meant to touch her lips.
An urgent memory of how it felt kissing her had wrapped around my chest, and I couldn’t feel anything else. My toushana lurched. I blinked, and my thumb was at her lips. Idesperatelywanted to kiss her.I’ve always wanted every part of her, but I’ve never wanted herthisstrongly. When we’re not near, it’s impossible to feel whole. I see the certainty of who I am in her eyes. She is the sun, and I am the moon. Without her reflection, I have no light.
My magic thrums, filling me with an urge to run back in there, take Quell in my arms, and kiss her like I really want to. To hold her like I’ve longed to. To be near her like we used to be.
I’m close to the conservatory and decide to enter it. Inside feels like stepping back in time. This is the first place she let me get really close to her. I shove around the overgrown grass with my shoe, recallingtransfiguring it to sand, making this entire place a beach so that she could focus on her exam. I linger.
Until the sharp pain in my side returns.
Sharper and longer than it did when I was dealing with Zecky.
I lift my shirt, inspecting my side. The skin is smooth; there is no sign of a bruise. I blow out a slow breath, staving off worry of the worst.
Then it pinches again.
I need to talk to a Healer.
I leave the conservatory and walk as casually as I can to find Abby. Commotion fills the halls of the Chateau once I’m back inside. Somewhere, over a barrage of voices, Dexler shouts instructions for an assembly line to make dinner go smoothly. I skirt past and stave off a few stares as I look for Abby.
The sun is a glow on the horizon when I find her. She’s in the old Healer office. The door is hanging from the hinges, but over the wreckage, I spot her mending a trunkful of dresses.
“Do you have a minute?” I ask, dissolving the broken door hardware with toushana to detach it fully before setting it carefully against the wall.
“Jordan.” Abby’s dark bangs stick to her forehead. “Sure. Dexler is trying to find some clothes for everyone. She found these. I told her I could help clean them up a bit.” She sets aside a plum gown with blue beading. “What is it?”
I duck my head out into the hallway, and it’s empty, for now. But I don’t want to risk being overheard. “Can we speak privately?”
She takes me to the back of the office, inside a room untouched by the damage. There are piles of half-unpacked boxes with herbs and vials of liquids beneath an exam table. Along the walls are more racks of dresses, slacks, and shirts. I close the door and twist the lock. “Are you settling in alright?”
She laughs. “What can I help you with?” Her gaze dips to my side. I lift my shirt and show her the tender spot where I felt pain beneath my ribs. “There used to be a wound there.”
“It looks fully healed.” She presses the area. I wince. “Lie down for me.”
I get on Abby’s table, and she begins to work her Shifting magic over my skin. I can feel my ribs tugging at the nudge of her magic. A cold sensation rushes to the area. Shetsks.
“Something wrong?”
She doesn’t answer, trying her magic again. “Try to stay very still.”
The pull at my bones wedges an ache deeper into my organs. I hold my breath, trying to swallow a groan welling in my throat. She grunts, exasperated.
“Hmph. You can get up.”
