5. Spark

5

SPARK

T hough Lucca and I work with Master Ilyov six times in the next few days, our progress stalls. We discovered the Gold Eyes’ corruption in our magic, but seem at a standstill now as we practice, making sigils for Ilyov day and night.

This most recent session is late, and Lucca and I are exhausted. We’ve been working with Ilyov for eight hours straight, creating sigils to no avail. Though Lucca and I can identify the Gold Eyes’ influence in our magic now, we can’t stop it. Ilyov snarls at us to go yet again, but this time, Lucca snaps. Whirling, he pins Ilyov with a furious gaze as he throws down his icicle wand.

To clatter against the icy floor at our feet.“Enough!” Lucca seethes at Ilyov as he makes a cutting gesture. His power flares, scalding in terrible bright rainbows through the Moon Dome as Quinn’s Revenant surges at the sudden commotion.

Watching us with its intense red stare.

“It’s enough when I say it’s enough, boy.” Master Ilyov is as icy as the tundra as he lifts an eyebrow at Lucca, a chill wind surging off him. I’m just as exhausted as Lucca, and have been sleeping poorly since we arrived, plagued by nightmares of the Gold Eyes. As I rub my neck, setting my icicle wand aside on its velvet pad, I watch Lucca and Ilyov face off.

Too tired to intervene.

“This isn’t working!” Lucca gestures to Quinn’s Revenant. “We’re not even one bit closer to figuring out how to stop the Gold Eyes’ influence in our magic, or bring back Quinn. Ever since our first session, this has been a waste of time.”

“Pick that up,” Ilyov says with dangerous quiet as he nods at the wand at Lucca’s feet. “Go again.”

“No.” Lucca crosses his arms, seething as he stares Ilyov down. “I’m done. We need to rest. Ariana can barely keep her feet, she’s so tired from all this bullshit.”

“I’m fine, Lucca.” Even as I say it, a massive yawn escapes me. I feel exhausted to my bones and sink into the nearest scroll-backed settee now, as I set my chin in my hand.

Just letting Lucca and Ilyov go at it, at last.

“None of you will be fine if your enemies come for you without you mastering your power first.” Ilyov’s winter winds whirl with a darker fury at Lucca’s stubbornness. “You came to me because you need my teaching. Now. Pick that up.”

“No. I’m done for the night. And so is Ariana.” Lucca raises his chin, then comes to get me from my settee. “Come on. We’re heading back to the apartment.”

“Don’t bother. I’m done with you both.” Master Ilyov waves a hand dismissively now as he bends to pick up the icicle wand Lucca discarded, then bundles it up with the other one. With an icy glare and a wave of his hand, he’s gone, disappeared in his wintery winds. As I blink at his sudden departure and his abrupt statement, dread raises its ugly head inside me.

“Lucca. Do you think he meant he’s done with us? As in, entirely?” I ask, as that terrible feeling takes my heart .

“I’m sure he just meant until tomorrow.” Even I see how Lucca’s brows draw down in a concerned frown, however, that he might have just ruined our chances with the temperamental Master Ilyov for good.

“I don’t even know if that disappoints me or relieves me.” I sigh hard, rubbing my face. I feel drained, deep within, though my heart still churns that this latest development with Master Ilyov doesn’t bode well. “I think I need some quiet time. This has all just been… too much.”

“We’re not making any progress. I feel like we’re just getting worse, the more tired we get. And the more days pass without us helping Quinn.” Lucca flops to a seat upon the settee with me.

Leaning back, he pulls me in as he stretches his long legs out. I cuddle close; though Lucca kisses my temple, it’s like our libidos have been doused with ice-cold water ever since we came here. Neither of us has been in the mood for anything more than just kissing and quiet touch. As Lucca rests his lips against my forehead, I feel his deep sigh.

Exhausted to his bones, just like me.

“I need to get some sleep,” he says, as he kisses me. “Are you going to stay here with Quinn, or would you like to come back with me?”

“I think I’ll stay here for a little bit,” I say, as I feel moonlight and glance up, seeing it bright, high above. “I might just sit in the moonlight a while, since this space is more invigorating than anyplace else we’ve found in the citadel.”

Lucca and I have done little exploring in the city, just a few places here and there where Curio’s dragged us in-between sessions with his father. Though I get the sense both Curio and Clariss have been speaking to Ilyov, asking him to be patient with us, even their influence on him is wearing thin. I don’t know how much longer he’ll try to teach us; that thought breaks me even more than anything else these past days, as I sigh hard and Lucca kisses me again.

“Can I have Ilyov’s people bring you anything?” Lucca whispers his lips over my brow. “Food? Drink?”

“Maybe some paints, brushes, and an easel. With wine,” I say with a sad smile. “The moon is so bright tonight, I might just revel in it and practice a few more sigils before I come to bed.”

“Alright.” Lucca helps me up by the hands, then draws me in for a proper kiss. Though it’s luscious, his lips soft and decadent like always, there’s something lacking in it with our hearts so broken for Quinn. As Lucca kisses me, I kiss him back, but it’s like the passion just isn’t in us. We set our foreheads together, and with a wry smile, Lucca nods at the doors.

“I’ll be at our home. Come back soon.”

“I will.” I smile at him as he leaves, though my heart is still heavy.

A short while later, a few of Ilyov’s people arrive with art supplies and a bottle of wine, plus a platter of cheese and strange white moon-fruits that grow here, reminiscent of quince and plums. I direct them where to put it, then move close to Quinn’s enclosure as they depart. I find a spot where the moon shines down, far above the ice dome. Setting up my easel and brushes, I ready my paints.

Then pause, as I suddenly don’t want to make another Faeanic sigil for the rest of my life.

It’s just the exhaustion talking, I know. Still, something inside me doesn’t want to do anything more with magic tonight; feeling the fullness of the moon glowing softly above, I look up, then at last feel motivated to paint.

What comes out on my paper aren’t Faeanic sigils; it’s just the glow of the moon far above, and the scudding of the midnight clouds that I capture as I work. I take the first moonscape off the easel to dry now and start another. I feel Quinn’s Revenant watching me as I paint. It’s ceased to disturb me, how it watches me all the time, as if just waiting for the right moment to escape and drain the life from me.

I find its slow, swirling darkness hypnotic somehow, as I paint the moon in a thousand renditions far above. Done in a dreamy Renaissance style I use when I have the rare moment to paint, I see how the red gaze of Quinn’s Revenant follows each page I set aside.

I realize it’s interested in my work. Turning my easel so it can see, I start another piece—and see it watch me the entire time. As it watches my hands paint and my brushes dip, moving over the page, its swirling grows quieter. At last, what was once a vicious roil of Quinn’s black smoke becomes like a slowly undulating sea.

As the Revenant watches me paint—and grows quiet.

“You like this, don’t you?” I ask it, then; my heart rate spikes as its red eyes snap to me. Still, its roiling tentacles of darkness move along the floor as it seems to pulse in a slow rhythm I’ve never noticed before.

And I realize that it’s a heartbeat.

“Quinn…!” Astonishment fills me to see the slow, steady beat of Quinn’s heart now through the black smoke of his Revenant. As the creature’s gaze fixes on me, I think I see a glimmer of recognition before it’s gone.

I stare at the Revenant and the Revenant stares back. It’s quiet now, though, as I begin a new piece. I glance over, watching it as I paint, to see if I notice anything else human-like about it. The slow heartbeat in its smoke becomes steady, revealing a deep movement, almost like a breath.

As the Revenant breathes again, I breathe with it, timing my inhalation with the movement of what might be a chest near the center of its swirling mass. We lock eyes, breathing slowly in the same timing, as I feel us enter a strange and intimate dance.

For the first time, I’m not afraid of it, as I breathe with it and feel our hearts beat as one. I stare at it across the shimmering energy barrier; I feel an odd commonality with it now, as we come together in the night.

For the first time since Quinn was lost to its terrible darkness, I watch as its eyes bleed from a hateful, malevolent red to a beautiful dark onyx, flickering with firelight.

My breath catches to see Quinn again, after all this time.

I don’t want to speak, or move, as a deep joy and fear both devour me. Though the brightest sensation fills me to see Quinn again, I’m cast down into the most terrible darkness also, as I fear losing this moment. Quinn’s surges of humanity have been fleeting; my lips fall open now as I see him shine out through those dark eyes, watching me in the night.

His gaze shifts to my lips as they open, as if he wants to kiss them. And then they shift to the paintings I’ve created, landing on each one, before coming back to me.

“The paintings…” I understand what Quinn is trying to tell me through the devouring darkness of his Revenant. “You like them? They make you feel like yourself again?”

I think I see him nod as his roiling black energy moves. But our moment has gone on too long; red malevolence seeps back into Quinn’s eyes, since I’ve paused so long from painting.

But even as his beautiful onyx gaze is lost to me yet again, hope fills me. Because I’ve discovered something that helps return Quinn’s humanity.

These beautiful pastoral paintings, that he loves so much.

As I stare at Quinn’s Revenant swirling in its luminous cage, I know I’ve been going about this all wrong. Whether Master Ilyov’s teaching will help us bar the Gold Eyes from our magic, Quinn is my priority; now that I finally understand what might help him, I know I need to spend every waking moment trying to bring him back.

As I glance at my easel and brushes, I wonder what else might help Quinn restore his humanity. I reach out, taking a sip of my wine as I mull it over.

As I do, I feel the beat of Quinn’s heart once more.

That deep connection moves between us again. I look over and see that slow, steady pulse surging through the Revenant’s magic. As I lift my wine, taking a deeper sip this time, I see how it watches me all the way. Its red eyes devour me as I take another, and another, just drinking off the glass as I watch the creature.

It watches me drain my glass; its red eyes snap to me as if asking for another. I pour another and drink more. This time, Quinn’s dark eyes bleed through the red, lingering upon my lips as if tasting the wine as I drink it down.

And staying—beautiful in the moonlight.

I rise and approach Quinn’s barrier with my wineglass in hand. As I lift my hand, so close to the barrier now, I don’t touch that dire magic. I linger, however, swirling my glass as I feel Quinn’s heartbeat.

As Quinn’s fiery, dark attention pins me, I feel his true power flare once, like smoke-dark firebrands in the night. Though it feels so far away, barely there, it’s something I haven’t felt in ages; shivering with a primal ecstasy at that single brief taste of Quinn’s magic, I take another sip.

His gaze pins my lips, the slightest breath of dark magic caressing me now, like a kiss. I shudder as I feel Quinn’s beautiful Dark Fae magic touch me at last.

Reveling in it.

“You want this?” I watch Quinn’s black eyes through the Revenant’s smoke. “You want to taste this… with me?”

I think I see Quinn’s Revenant nod, though I can’t be sure.

“Then taste it through me now, Quinn,” I say as I hold the wine glass to my lips. “Drink with me as I drink—and drink me in also. Be on my lips and in my swallows. Be in my body as it fills me up. Be in my everything as it warms me… and makes me flare with passion in the night.”

As I speak to Quinn’s Revenant, I feel it nod—and see it for real this time. As I pour my last glass, the bottle now empty, I see how Quinn’s dark eyes stay with me. I sip it, reveling in every drop. The moonlight fills me along with the taste of the wine as I use my Dark Fae magic to revel in the darkness, the night, and the barest, ephemeral touch I’m feeling from Quinn.

I feel it resonate with him, as he watches my enjoyment. I feel him finally revel, then.

As the tiniest spark blazes through my connection with him—before it flashes out.

“You are here…” I say, even as my heart grips me so hard. As everything flows brightly within me, I know how to get Quinn back now. My deepest truth-reading power blazes, as I feel certainty rush all through me.

I blow Quinn the softest kiss, then press my hand to my heart.

“I’ll be back. I won’t be long, I promise. We’re going to get you out of there. I swear to all the gods we will.”

Though I hate to leave just as we got started, I know I need Lucca’s help. I move out through the ice cathedral’s vaults, closing the door gently as I walk back through the moonlit citadel. The night is bright, the stars endless, as I feel joy flow all through me, knowing we can get Quinn back. Because Master Ilyov is wrong; Quinn’s still in there, still fighting to come home to us.

And I’ve just discovered how to get him back.

Lucca is asleep as I arrive in our ice-apartment. I hear his soft breaths as I ascend the steps to the bedroom loft, sitting on the bed. With a sleepy murmur, he pulls me in, his hands flowing over my curves though he’s still half-asleep. As I kiss his lips, Lucca pulls me in close, his lean, naked body only half-draped by the silk covers.

Smiling sweetly now—as ardor finally heats between us in the night, as if he felt what was happening with Quinn.

“Ariana… what? You’re back already?”

“I got Quinn back. It was just his eyes, and his heartbeat and breath… but still.” I cuddle in close, every part of me beaming with joy.

“You what?!” Lucca is instantly awake, even though he couldn’t have been long asleep. “You saw Quinn? My gods… is he alright?”

“I only saw his eyes,” I say as Lucca sits up now in bed. “But Quinn needs our help to come back all the way. And I think I have a plan to help him.”

“When do we start? Tonight?” Lucca asks, breathless as hope beams from him, powerful in the night. His blue eyes shine in the semi-dark, so bright they scald me with their glory.

“Tonight.” I set my palm on his heart. “But we need to move our living setup into the Moon Dome. We’re going to stay there until we get Quinn back. He needs to see our humanity; needs to watch us interact with each other and do all the human things he misses. All the human things he loves, that he built his life around for so many years. Independent of the Gold Eyes’ will, or any loftier aims with the Vampire Council.”

“All the human things he loves…” Lucca’s eyes beam as he gets it. “We surround Quinn with all the things he loves… and he remembers what love is. And that he loves us. And wants to come home.”

“That’s the idea.” I nuzzle Lucca’s nose. “And what does he love more than the two of us?”

“Besides wine, chocolates, and the rest.” Lucca jokes now in a way he hasn’t done for days. He’s up like a tiger from bed, as I feel an indomitable energy fill him. Moving to the wall, he touches an ornately carved panel of ice that shimmers in the night, a communication magic the citadel uses. He focuses his intent, to get the one person we need to help us. As a sleepy Curio comes on the line, Lucca directs him to rustle up all the wine, chocolates, and aphrodisiacs he can find.

Especially anything in the citadel made by the Red Letter Hotel Florence.

Curio’s on it. As he promises to meet us at the Moon Dome, he’s quickly gone. Setting his hand on the panel again, Lucca summons a citadel liaison assigned to us, asking the man to bring people to move our entire living quarters to the Moon Dome, tonight.

All is quickly arranged. As Lucca and I gather a few things from our new wardrobe, we’re out the door fast. It’s late now as we head back to the Moon Dome, the city quiet. Though the Revenant behind its energy barrier whirls to see us arrive, it does so with less malevolence than before. As it stares at me, then Lucca, its eyes change from red to black. Lucca stares at the creature, open-mouthed in shock.

And then the most beautiful energy fills him, beaming with powerful rainbows in the night.

“Quinn!” Lucca moves to the barrier. He raises a hand like he might touch that shimmering surface. He doesn’t, but I see Quinn’s Revenant roil now to see Lucca. Its heart beats, faster as a deep heave comes, like a breath.

And then Lucca’s striding to the furniture nearby, shoving things around to make room for us tonight.

And for the rest of our time here, until Quinn is returned to us.