I cleared my throat. I should have brought a bottle of soy sauce. “Shall we lob first or eat first?”
He rolled the hurter in his fingers then put it back and rummaged around in the picnic basket. “I think eating. Do you want to go to a movie sometime?”
“What kind of movies do you like?”
He was quiet for a few minutes. “I don’t really like movies.”
I laughed. “That’s right, you don’t like anything. So, why would you want to go to one with me?”
He pulled my arm closer to him, pinning it against his ribs. “I like you. I like sitting in dark theaters with you. I don’t really pay attention to movies, but it can be a good place to think.”
“Why don’t you like movies?”
“It’s not real.”
“I take it that you really don’t like telenovelas.”
“I love watching you watch telenovelas. I think you actually think that they’re not actors, but people in some alternate universe you’ll probably visit on vacation to meet your evil twin separated by birth.”
My evil twin with pitch black hair entwined with rodent skulls. I smiled at him brightly and pulled away from him to unwrap a lollipop.
“Is it dirt or tiramisu?”
“Black cherry. Why do guys smell like that?”
He cleared his throat. “Like what?”
“Like you smell like black cherry and Zach smells like cookies and fresh bread and Ian smells like…”
He cut me off. “Why are you smelling Ian?”
I cocked my head at him and sucked on the lollipop. “How can I not smell people? Although I didn’t really smell Zach until the dance. I smelled you the first time I fell over on top of you. Is there some hidden meaning behind it? Like magic or something? Does Zach smell like bread because his character is more solid and wholesome while you are dark cherry because you’re too potent and intense to be taken in large doses? And maybe Ian smells like citrus and sandalwood because he’s so golden and sensual.”
He grunted. “You shouldn’t smell Ian.”
“Are you jealous? Am I only supposed to like the way you smell?”
“You smell desire. You smell a man’s desire for you. I wanted you the first moment you knocked me down. I’ve wanted you every moment since. Black cherry has more to do with you than me, how you feel about me. But that Ian and Zach smell nice to you, that they smell at all…”
I gripped his arm. “Are you serious? Are you talking about pheromones? So, what about when you desire other people. What do you smell like to them? What about Viney? I’ll have to ask her. This is so interesting. And Wit. It’s fascinating. I might have to kill Wit. I really, really think that you should never, ever desire another person as long as you live. Can I smell your desire for other people? Is it like stinky socks or something?”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t admit that you can smell my desire. It’s a very, very strange talent to have. It’s very Darksider of you. Other witches would be jealous. While I’m with you the odds of me noticing anyone else are pretty slim.”
I sucked on my dark cherry lollipop for a minute before I took it out and frowned at the dark purple thing. “Dark cherry was one of my favorite hurter scents. I used to make them for Pitch all the time. So edgy and dangerous, so moody and mysterious, sweet with that bite of tart that makes the sweet all the sweeter in contrast. Revere smells like paper. Stacks of dusty paper. Signore Ludi smells a bit like motor oil and fuzzy dice. I suppose that means he really doesn’t want to run away with me.”
He growled. “You sound disappointed.”
I shrugged. “I told you that I had a crush on him. So Zach did like me for a few minutes. I thought so.”
He exhaled. “You should be very proud. Zach is very selective about women.”
“And you aren’t? Never mind.”
He laughed and pulled me into his arms, tilting his head so the moonlight fell across his face. “Do you want me to crave you, to ache for your touch, your smile? Do you want me to see you and want you more than a man can bear without losing his sanity?”
I licked my lips. “I would kind of like your phoenix of desire to burn for me.”
He groaned like I’d hurt him. “The phoenix of what?” He let me go and shook his head.
“What’s wrong with the phoenix of desire? Isn’t that poetic?”
“You got it from a Telenovela. I watched that one.”
“Is that so bad? You know who likes Telenovelas? Teddy the Blackheart prince.”
“What does Teddy smell like?”
“Smoky black licorice.”
“Do you like black licorice?”
I chewed on my lip. “A little bit. It’s kind of overwhelming. You can’t put anise in anything or it overwhelms everything else.”
“You like black cherry better than black licorice?”
I pretended to think about it for a long time while he sat silently, ominously beside me. “Black cherry is one of my favorite things. I like it much better than black licorice. Funny that you’re both black. Something about the state of your souls.”
“My soul is green.”
“Like gangrene.”
He snorted. “Like gangrene.” He bumped me and the scent of black cherry swirled around me.
Chapter 18
Mage
The barren field was possibly the ugliest place at Rosewood to have a picnic. The fields were indeed barren except for the targets set up here and there, scarecrows, stuffed dragons, that kind of thing. There wasn’t any snow, just frozen mud that soaked through the blanket to my pants. We were situated at the end of the field beside trees that looked a bit singed. I should have worn field clothes, leather pants, thick boots that came up to mid-calf, leather jacket and thick black shirt beneath. Instead everything I had on was bedazzled. Except the coat. I loved that coat so much.
A pop and a thump brought my attention to the far end of the field where a maroon shock wave went out about thirty feet from impact point.
“Ooooh, that’s so pretty! It’s like pink only edgy,” Penny cooed.
I grinned and handed her a paper plate filled with half a chicken, bread products and some exciting veggies, like carrot and celery sticks. I should have packed the picnic.
Penny scooted against me and gazed at me looking ridiculous and adorable. She really needed some whiskers to go with her ears. She made black look cute. “Drake, can I lean against you?”
I pulled her over into the curve of my body, my hand over her stomach. I suddenly felt ravenous for something other than chicken. Another hurter went off down the field, this one blue and silver.
“Oooo, sparkles.”
“Metal shrapnel.”
“Like I said.”
I nibbled on her ear. I hadn’t tasted her ears nearly enough, or her neck, or shoulder. “I’ve missed you.”
She sighed. “Zach is trying to get me to sign his work contract. Ever since the suits talked to me, he’s been incredibly stubborn about it.”
I pulled back far enough I could see her eyes. “What suits?”
“Revere called them the TMD.”
I inhaled and for a moment felt very cold. “Members from the technical magical development came to see you? What did you say?”
“Nothing. Zach threatened them with lawsuits and dragged me away. It was very exciting if you like that kind of thing. Is it serious?”
I looked around, searching the shadows. Huntsman didn’t usually have to deal with them, but Stoneburrow did. Zach would know exactly the kind of threat they posed. I needed to talk to him. “How long has it been, a week? Have you seen anything from them since?”
She shrugged. “Not a thing. Zach told them that Jasper was my contract mage. You probably don’t mind. You’re always saying that I should make use of you.”
“Jasper?” Controlled by Sooth? “Not a good idea. You should find an independent mage who isn’t above assassination. Teddy would be excellent.”
She stared at me. �
��You’re joking.”
“I’m not. He’s brilliant. He has the most curious mind of anyone I’ve met, including you. He’s diabolical. That’s exactly the kind of mage you want for your counsel. He’s extremely well-versed in contracts. His dad wanted him to be that kind of mage.”
“Huh.” She stared at me, head cocked adorably. “I had no idea that assassination went with contracts.”
“I’ll call him.” I pulled out my phone, but Penny stole it out of my fingers.
“Later, Drake. Right now I don’t want to think about anything other than you.”
I growled and ran my nose over the side of her neck, settling her back against me. “You know exactly how to manipulate my ego. That’s good. You’ll be doing that a lot.” She smelled so edible. And I’d growled. Possibly steam was coming out of my nostrils. I pulled away and arranged Penny so that her head was on my outstretched legs.
She stared up at me before she fingered my wolf ears. “Adorable yet terrifying. You look far more sultry than silly. This is like the first time we met. I really liked your pants. I should have known I was in trouble immediately.”
I cleared my throat and slid my thumb over her bottom lip until it parted. “I did. You were trouble from the first moment you broke through my shield like it didn’t exist. Your hair looked very good on me.”
“Really? Do you want me to chop it off so you can wrap it around you like a cloak?”
Her hair. I slid my fingers through it, silky and tangled, exactly how I liked it. All it needed were some leaves and dirt from rolling around in the woods. I inhaled deeply and shifted away from her. “I think about that sometimes, but I think that you’d miss your hair. Where would you put your weasel when you’re getting into mischief together?”
She tugged on my wolf scarf. “How did you get so sweet?”
“Is that sweet? How odd. You must bring it out in me. You’ve tamed we with your magic lollipops and ridiculously long legs.”
“And neck. I’m just like a ballerina without the grace.”
I slid my thumb over her silky cheek. “I should punish you for saying such things. We have a performance to prepare for. Has Ian been helping you?”
She shook her head. “No, I haven’t really seen him. Do you want me to ask him to train me again?”
No. “It’s probably a good idea. How do you like owning him?”
“It’s fine. He doesn’t bother me or my Chem girls. I wonder if he’s found someone else for me to give the bond to.”
I gave her a wry smile. I needed to check on what mischief Ian had been getting into. Teddy also. And probably Zach. Later. “Are we going to blow something up or not? Otherwise, I’m going to kiss you for a very long time.”
She sat up and examined the hurters. “Which one do you want to start with?”
I stood and straightened my glorious jacket. “Let’s do the swirly one.”
“Do you want me to throw it while you watch from a safe distance, or would you rather do the honors?”
I grinned at her as I thought of Signore frying my face off with one of my witch’s hurters. “I would love to get some practice throwing your hurters.”
She shrugged. “If you insist. Make sure that you roll the ball for a few seconds in your hands, maybe blow on it to warm it up. These are all impact hurters. I don’t deal with timers.”
“You don’t like timers?”
“Combining tech with combustibles can take the fun out of it. I can do timers and delay reactors, and multiple tails, but it’s not very fun. These are for fun.”
“Ah. I am prepared for fun.”
She beamed and handed me the swirling hurter. I rolled it in my palms while she backed away.
“That’s a twenty-five meter one. You’ll have to throw it hard and maybe you should put up a nice shield around your cute legs.”
“You think my legs are cute?” I raised an eyebrow seductively.
She shook her head. “If you don’t throw that soon it’s going to start leaking. That’s a bad thing.”
I turned and ran towards the target, giving Penny about ten meters before I lobbed it. Okay, it was kind of a gutless throw to be perfectly honest, but I was a mage and I was trying to be gentle. Penny clapped and whistled until I turned and looked at her. I almost missed the show. I turned back just in time for impact, an immediate five foot explosion of pink smoke in the shape of a heart.
She’d made me a heart. I stared at the glittery pink aftermath for a long time until the scent carried to me on the wind. Black cherry.
I turned around, arms crossed so that I wouldn’t accidentally take Penny and never let her go. “A smoke heart? I didn’t know that was even possible.”
She curved her hands into a heart and put it over chest. “I call them experiments in love. Nice, right?”
I shook my head for a moment speechless. “So nice. Four million for smoke hearts? Wow. I think you undercharged me.”
That’s when the next explosion spiraled out of the swirly hurter, green smoke that shot up like jagged fangs with pointed ears, pink streaks swirling around it. Penny howled while I stood there staring at her version of my magic green wolf attack. It wasn’t possible for a witch to make chemical hurters like that. How utterly delightful.
“Drake, you’re going to get sparkled!”
I didn’t move. I couldn’t help but want to get even closer when the next round went off, like she’d said, sparkles. The silver sparks went up like a fountain, shooting high and then sideways into bursts puffing pink smoke and smelling like vanilla and black cherry. I inhaled deeply, standing there, staring at the fountain and then the sudden lightning shot, Penny & Drake so bright it left an afterimage on my retinas.
Penny whooped and hollered behind me while I laughed and blinked, unable to see for a minute that I enjoyed, the image of Penny and Drake still bright and glorious. Experiments in love. Wow.
“Drake, the next part is the hurter bit of it. Drake, you’re still in range. Are you an idiot? Put up a shield or something!”
A shield? As though I didn’t want to feel every shred of metal. I spread my arms as the cascade of silver and pink smoke clouds engulfed me.
Penny started counting. “Six, five, four, three, two, and pow!”
Green swirled out with the pink and silver slashed through while the lightning flickered in shapes inside the core of hearts twining and twisting, then a green shock wave spread out from the center, sweeping past me in a whoosh. The next shock wave was pink and the next was silver heart confetti. Metallic, burning heart confetti. Also known as shrapnel.
It was within five feet of Penny’s projected radius. Incredible. The height was way off. It shot up at least a hundred feet. She must love me that much.
I spread my arms and got swept away with the final blast and heart shrapnel. It was incredibly beautiful. It would probably blind me for a few minutes.
I was laying in the field in the middle of the swirling madness that was Penny’s heart, when she stumbled onto me, blocking out the last final sweeping and pounding volley. It would have been so pretty to see the rolling waves of green smoke mixed with pink, but having Penny on top of me, even with a lead cloak over us made up for any missed beauty. I inhaled deeply, her hair, her skin, the sweetest, most beautiful creature in any world.
Finally it was quiet. She waited to the count of fifty before she rolled off me, the scent of vanilla, black cherry, smoke and blood heavy in the air.
A fine green mist hung in the air and Penny’s face when I finally saw it had a film of pink over it. She beamed at me and wiped her fingers over my face. Something hurt in my cheek, I touched it. A heart had embedded right beneath my left eye.
“That is so cute!” Penny poked it with her fingers while I stared at her, the exquisite, brilliant, creative witch who belonged to me. Mine. My treasure. “Drake, Why didn’t you make a shield or at least move out of range? You could have gone blind.”
I stayed there, quiet, still, holding back the d
ragon who would carry her away and never, ever let her go.
Penny leaned over me, concerned. “Are you okay? There wasn’t anything that should affect your nervous system in this one. Maybe you inhaled too much smoke. Do you need mouth-to-mouth resuscitation? I have no idea how to do that, but I can find someone.”
She looked around and noticed the shadows gathered around the edges of our field, staying way back, but definitely an audience. I rose in a rush, sweeping her off her feet while my cheek heart no doubt glittered. Maybe I could keep it like that forever.
“Why are you carrying me?” She bounced against me as I headed back to where we’d left the picnic and the other hurters. The suits would definitely want their hands on those. And her.
“I want to see what the other ones do. I’m desperate to know. So desperate.”
She sighed and leaned her head against my shoulder, enjoying the bumpy ride. “So you’re not mad about the hearts, particularly the one embedded in your face?”
I laughed and kissed her, her nose and lips, her chin and throat before I straightened and stared at her, the delight of my eyes, the only reason they had to see. “You really are Pitch’s supplier. You’re really that good. The precision of each wave was incredible. Our names in sulfur and carbon? Brilliant! I still see it when I close my eyes.” I kissed her forehead and then put her down because we were back at the picnic.
I knelt in front of the box, staring at the two remaining hurters. “Which one should I do next?”
She shrugged and nibbled on a drumstick. “The small one is shorter but more powerful. The big one is kind of interesting.” She took a big bite of chicken and then stuffed a roll in her mouth, then after swallowing too fast, drank from the bottle she opened with her teeth.
“Penny, you wrote our names in the sky in lightning.”
“You threw it very nicely. A little bit weak and off target, but for a mage, not entirely terrible.”
I laughed and grabbed her hand, greasy from chicken, and pressed a kiss against her delicious knuckles. “Did you really make it smell like black cherry?”
“And vanilla. I’m kind of vanilla, don’t you think? Not just blood. I’m too cute to be just blood.”
Blooming Black: Rosewood Academy of Witches and Mages (Darkly Sweet Book 4) Page 16