hands on her body, his skin against hers, his tongue
tracing the tiny wound he’d made—
But when he returned, it wasn’t to her
lips.
A brilliant flash of pain went through her,
like a shock of cold water, as his fangs slid into the flesh of her
neck. She drew in a stuttering breath, but before she could cry
out, a rush of rich, strong magic flooded her senses, spreading
heat through every fiber of her body. She’d always thought of
vampires as taking, but this was giving, too, an impossibly
intimate sharing that she’d never even dreamed was—
He didn’t move, but it suddenly felt like he
was inside her, thrusting all that power into her very core. She
shuddered and opened to him, helpless to resist, the vampire
shining on her and in her, elemental and blazing and gone past
human. The pain was gone, the magic driving that and everything
else away, crashing over her like ocean waves, an unrelenting and
unending tide. She screamed beneath it, because it couldn’t be
borne and had to be; because there was no bracing to meet it and no
escape; and because it would end, and that would be even harder to
bear.
“Gillian.” It took her a moment to realize he
had drawn back, with the tide of magic still surging through her
veins. It felt like sea, ebbing and flowing in pounding waves that
shook the very foundations of—
She blinked, and realized that it wasn’t just
the vampire’s magic making the room shake. It wasn’t even the
pounding on the door, which seemed to have stopped in any case. She
frowned and watched as the few remaining charms jittered and danced
off the table, all on their own.
“What is it?” she asked, bemused. The vampire
pulled her to the window, and leaned out, dangerously far. “What
are you doing?” she tried to pull him back. “They’ll kill you!”
“I don’t think so,” he said, his voice
sounding as stunned as she felt.
“Why not?”
“Because I believe you may have completed
that ward, after all.”
He backed away from the window and she moved
forward, in time to see what looked like a black wave crash into
the side of the tower, shaking it to its very foundation. She
blinked, dizzy from blood loss and still burning with strange
energy. And then another wave started for them, rising out of the
earth of the courtyard, and she understood.
“In defense of your life,” the vampire said,
with quiet irony.
Gillian looked down to see the third spiral
of the triskelion, glowing bright against her wrist. She traced it
with a finger and power shivered in the air for a moment, before
melting back into her skin, joining the tide swelling within
her.
“I think it might be best if it didn’t hit,”
he said, glancing from the approaching wave to the cracks spidering
up the old walls. “Can you stop it?”
“I don’t want to stop it,” she told him,
flexing her fingers and feeling the warmth of deep rich soil
beneath her hands, the whisper of the age old magic of the earth in
her ears. But there was something else there, too, alien and
strange, but powerful, all the same. It wasn’t the vampire’s rich,
golden energy, but colder, more metallic, more—
She laughed, suddenly understanding what the
old Mother had meant. “You’ll have all the power you need,” she
repeated.
“What?”
“The Mother didn’t just link the witches into
her coven,” she told him delightedly. “She linked the mages,
too!”
He stared at her, and then back at the
awesome power of the land rising to meet them. “That’s…very
interesting, but I think we had better jump before the next wave
hits.”
“Let the Circle jump!” she said, and pushed out .
The magic flowing along her limbs followed
the motion—and so did the earthen tide. It paused almost at the
tower base, trembling on the edge of breaking like a wave about to
crest. And then it surged back in the other direction.
Masses of black soil rippled out in
concentric circles from the base of the tower, flowing like
tracing the tiny wound he’d made—
But when he returned, it wasn’t to her
lips.
A brilliant flash of pain went through her,
like a shock of cold water, as his fangs slid into the flesh of her
neck. She drew in a stuttering breath, but before she could cry
out, a rush of rich, strong magic flooded her senses, spreading
heat through every fiber of her body. She’d always thought of
vampires as taking, but this was giving, too, an impossibly
intimate sharing that she’d never even dreamed was—
He didn’t move, but it suddenly felt like he
was inside her, thrusting all that power into her very core. She
shuddered and opened to him, helpless to resist, the vampire
shining on her and in her, elemental and blazing and gone past
human. The pain was gone, the magic driving that and everything
else away, crashing over her like ocean waves, an unrelenting and
unending tide. She screamed beneath it, because it couldn’t be
borne and had to be; because there was no bracing to meet it and no
escape; and because it would end, and that would be even harder to
bear.
“Gillian.” It took her a moment to realize he
had drawn back, with the tide of magic still surging through her
veins. It felt like sea, ebbing and flowing in pounding waves that
shook the very foundations of—
She blinked, and realized that it wasn’t just
the vampire’s magic making the room shake. It wasn’t even the
pounding on the door, which seemed to have stopped in any case. She
frowned and watched as the few remaining charms jittered and danced
off the table, all on their own.
“What is it?” she asked, bemused. The vampire
pulled her to the window, and leaned out, dangerously far. “What
are you doing?” she tried to pull him back. “They’ll kill you!”
“I don’t think so,” he said, his voice
sounding as stunned as she felt.
“Why not?”
“Because I believe you may have completed
that ward, after all.”
He backed away from the window and she moved
forward, in time to see what looked like a black wave crash into
the side of the tower, shaking it to its very foundation. She
blinked, dizzy from blood loss and still burning with strange
energy. And then another wave started for them, rising out of the
earth of the courtyard, and she understood.
“In defense of your life,” the vampire said,
with quiet irony.
Gillian looked down to see the third spiral
of the triskelion, glowing bright against her wrist. She traced it
with a finger and power shivered in the air for a moment, before
melting back into her skin, joining the tide swelling within
her.
“I think it might be best if it didn’t hit,”
he said, glancing from the approaching wave to the cracks spidering
up the old walls. “Can you stop it?”
“I don’t want to stop it,” she told him,
flexing her fingers and feeling the warmth of deep rich soil
beneath her hands, the whisper of the age old magic of the earth in
her ears. But there was something else there, too, alien and
strange, but powerful, all the same. It wasn’t the vampire’s rich,
golden energy, but colder, more metallic, more—
She laughed, suddenly understanding what the
old Mother had meant. “You’ll have all the power you need,” she
repeated.
“What?”
“The Mother didn’t just link the witches into
her coven,” she told him delightedly. “She linked the mages,
too!”
He stared at her, and then back at the
awesome power of the land rising to meet them. “That’s…very
interesting, but I think we had better jump before the next wave
hits.”
“Let the Circle jump!” she said, and pushed out .
The magic flowing along her limbs followed
the motion—and so did the earthen tide. It paused almost at the
tower base, trembling on the edge of breaking like a wave about to
crest. And then it surged back in the other direction.
Masses of black soil rippled out in
concentric circles from the base of the tower, flowing like
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