Chapter Fourteen
“Kiki, wake up.”
She heard his voice and peeled open heavy eyelids to see a blurry Spence looking down at her. Her whole body ached. She pushed herself up in bed and covered her mouth, her eyes wild as she realized she was about to throw up. Spence, sitting on the edge of the bed, handed her a trash can and helped keep her hair out of the way while she threw up.
When she’d finished, Spence handed her a glass of water and took the trash can into the bathroom. The smell in the room didn’t fade enough, though. She could just reach her tote bag on the floor and pulled out her wand, then pointed it at the window and cast a spell to open it. The breeze felt nice on her clammy skin.
Spence came back in and took his seat beside her again. “Everything is going to be okay.” He beamed at her and handed her a small glass bottle filled with a red-brown potion. “Drink this.”
“What is it?”
“Just drink it. It will cure you.”
“Spence. What is it? Where did you get it? What does it do?”
He closed his eyes briefly and looked frustrated. “I will explain everything after you drink it.”
“Well, I’m not drinking it until you do.”
“Kiara!” He punched the bed with his fist. “I went through a lot to get this, now just drink the freaking potion before I hold you down and pour it down your throat.”
“You went through a lot?”
He groaned and rubbed his face. “Yes. I had to convince Sindri to make it, okay? I went to the haven—and boy that was fun—but he made it and he said it’ll cure you.”
“What did you have to do for it?”
“I gave him my blood.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. Now drink.” He pulled the stopper out of the glass bottle and handed the bottle to her.
She poured the liquid into her mouth and swallowed. It wouldn’t matter at this point if what he said wasn’t true. She was dying anyway. No potion could do worse damage than that. The liquid tasted horrible, and she could taste the blood he’d mentioned. The thought made her want to throw up again.
She closed her eyes, still holding the bottle in her hand. Within seconds she started to feel better. She smiled at Spencer. “I feel better already.”
He beamed and kissed her.
“I can’t believe Sindri made a potion to cure me! Wait, how did you know his name?”
“Ah, you slipped up once when you were talking about him.”
“And all he wanted was your blood?”
“Yup. Well, sort of.”
She sat up straighter and pushed the covers back. Her stomach didn’t feel like it would turn anymore, but there was a new sense of dread that settled there. What had he done? “I knew it. I knew it couldn’t be that simple. What did you do?”
“It’s not that big of a deal, relax. He took my ability to shift. And yours.”
“What?” She sat back against her headboard, stunned. She couldn’t change into a dragon anymore and neither could he? If it meant she was going to live it shouldn’t matter that much, but this felt like a huge loss. Her heart felt hollow, as if someone had just reached in and ripped out a piece of her. She hadn’t been able to become a dragon for more than a few months, but she loved it and it felt like part of her. She’d been powerful and special. And now she was just a witch again? A witch with limited, human senses and human power?
“I’m sorry I tricked you. I should have told you, but it was the only way. I was able to convince Sindri to make the potion because none of the dragons liked that I was more powerful and was basically a freak of nature or whatever. So I gave it up and unfortunately they said that because we caused too much trouble together you had to give up your powers, too. Honestly, I think they were kind of happy to make that exchange. Though Sindri said he’ll show up at some point and wipe our memories so we don’t remember any of this.”
“But I’ll live?”
“Duh. You think I would have bothered otherwise?”
She tried to let that sink in. Slowly, little pieces of what this meant came to her. There was one thing that would be better. “And now you can be in the moonlight without having to worry.”
“True. I guess there’s one positive. And my dad won’t freak out about us crushing nature anymore with our giant tails.”
“Can we still do magic, though?”
“Of course. You can’t lose that ability, it’s in our blood. And you were right. I asked my dad. There’s no way to give anyone the ability to use magic. It only comes through the bloodline. Not even a blood transfusion would work because their real blood would replace it, though they could technically do spells while they had the magic blood in them. It’s complicated, but anyway. We’re just a witch and wizard couple now from magical families.”
“Okay.” She nodded her head slowly. She still felt sad about losing her dragon form, but it meant they would live, and they wouldn’t have this awful secret to keep anymore. And if they could still do magic, it wasn’t that bad. “I can live with that. So long as we’re alive and together.”
“We’re alive and we’re together.” He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “I was thinking about something.”
“What?”
“Do you know anything about the bonding ritual?”
“The one that bonds two people forever through their blood?”
He nodded. “And allows them to better sense each other and know each other?”
“Yeah. It’s like having a part of that person inside you.”
He pulled his lips into a sly grin. “Not that I don’t like having other parts inside of you, but what if we did it?”
“You want to do the bonding ritual with me?”
He nodded. “It’s more powerful than marriage. Though I guess we could do that eventually, too. If you wanted to.”
“I wouldn’t dare miss my chance to wear a white dress and throw a huge party.” She giggled. “You really want to do this?”
“Yes.” He took out a knife and looked at her questioningly. “As long as you want it.”
“Yes.” She took a long, deep breath. “This is huge, Spence. You know that, right? People get divorced, but there is no undoing this spell. Once we’re bonded, we’re bonded for life.”
“For all of the eternity, actually.” He winked. “Kiara, I love you more than anything. More than dragons or magic or even life itself. When you were sick, I thought about what it would be like if you died. Then I started thinking of how I could go with you, because I don’t want to live without you. You sacrificed to save me, I sacrificed to save you. It’s clear we’d do anything for each other. I want to be connected to you forever.”
Tears came to her eyes at his words. She never thought she’d have someone want to be bonded with her. Not even all married couples did it because it was so permanent.
“I love you, Spence. More than anything.”
He held her gaze for a long, intense moment before he made a small cut in his right wrist and cut hers in the same place. They pressed their wrists together and said the words of the spell in unison. She felt a new warmth enter her body and then a strange, minty taste in her mouth.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you chewing gum?”
He smirked and pulled back his lips to reveal a white clump of gum. “Can you taste it?”
“Yes.” She giggled. “Wow. So weird.”
“Drink this.” He handed her the cup of ginger ale her mom had left her earlier. He closed his eyes while she drank. “Wild.”
“I wonder how it would feel…” She bit her lip and looked over at her bed, then back at him.
He raised an eyebrow at her. “You sure you’re up for that?”
She nodded and grinned. “Definitely.”
He put a hand to her cheek. “I love you. So much.”
“You gave up power, strength, riches, and increased magical ability for me, then bonded your life to mine. How could I ever doubt your love?” She kissed him and they didn’t let go for a very long time.