“What is it, sweetheart?” Rave asked. “What’s wrong?”
The concern and love Leesa saw in Rave’s eyes made her feel even guiltier. She shook her head.
“It’s nothing,” she said. “Really.”
And it truly was nothing, she knew. So what if the magic of his inner fire was lessened? Rave’s magical heat was merely a bonus. Even without it, she was still kissing the man she loved, the sweetest, most thoughtful and loving guy she had ever known. It was the surprise that had caused her hesitation, but she was not going to hesitate any longer. No way was she going to mess up this special chance.
She slid her hands up behind his head and buried her fingers in his thick, dark copper-colored hair. She pulled him to her, pressing her lips hungrily against his. Rave hesitated for a mere instant, surprised by her renewed ardor, but then returned her kiss just as passionately, grabbing her shoulders tightly and pushing his tongue into her mouth. Leesa’s tongue welcomed his and danced with it feverishly. Even without Rave’s fire, the love and passion in their kiss began to make Leesa feel as if gravity was losing its hold on her, allowing her to soar up into the sky more easily and more enjoyably than any levitation spell could ever do.
How long they kissed, she had no idea. Seconds and minutes were nothing now—they could have been hours, so lost was she in the delicious totality of their embrace. Never before had she felt so close to him, so joined to him, so possessed by him. This was the magic of love, she knew. It had nothing to do with volkaane magic or waziri magic—it was a special magic forged by her and Rave alone.
A blessed eternity later, she felt Dominic’s hands on her shoulders, gently pulling her away from Rave. She sighed and reluctantly opened her eyes. She saw Balin disengaging Rave from their embrace as well.
“I think that’s enough for now,” the old volkaane said, smiling. “Rave’s fire was beginning to heat up.”
Rave grinned at her sheepishly. “Sorry,” he said. “I couldn’t control it any longer. It’s impossible not to heat up when I’m kissing you.”
Leesa smiled, his words adding an extra bit of sweet icing to the wonderful treat she had just experienced.
“No apologies necessary,” she said. “It was fantabulous.”
“Balin and I tried not to watch any more than was necessary,” Dominic said. “But it sure looked like you two were enjoying yourselves.”
Leesa felt herself beginning to blush. She had been so lost in the kiss she had forgotten that Dominic and Balin had been watching. Still, nothing was going to bring her down from the high she was feeling right now.
“No problem,” she said. “I completely forgot you guys were here.”
“Me, too,” Rave said.
Balin grinned. “It kind of looked that way.” His voice turned serious. “I hope you will not be tempted to try this on your own, though. It’s still not safe.”
Leesa returned his grin. “Oh, I’ll be tempted all right. But I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to control myself—as long as we can schedule some time like this every couple of days, that is.”
Dominic exchanged glances with Balin. “Barring any unexpected developments,” he said. “I think we can probably manage that.”
Leesa’s grin widened. She had a feeling this was going to be a really fun summer!
2. CATCHING UP
THE NEXT DAY, Leesa and Cali sat on the wide deck of the Harbor Park Restaurant in Middletown, waiting for their lunch to arrive. The sun-dappled Connecticut River flowed by beneath them. Sparkling white pleasure boats and graceful sailboats topped by colorful sails dotted the water. Happy shouts and laughter from some of the boats carried to the shore.
Cali was dressed conservatively—for her—in a sleeveless top that was solid black on the right side and striped vertically with rippling columns of black and white on the left. She had streaked her dark hair blonde on the side above the black, while leaving the other half of her head dark. Large round earrings similarly matched her shirt: the one above the striped portion of the shirt was solid black, and the one above the black half was striped. Her shorts were black with rips across the thighs, and she wore plain white tennis shoes on her feet. The lack of color was unusual for Cali—even the tiny stud in her cheek was clear glass today, rather than the burgundy or pink she usually favored.
“What’s with the monochrome thing?” Leesa asked.
Cali shrugged. “Nothing, really. Just trying it out. You like?”
Leesa smiled. Actually, she did. “Yeah, I do.”
Leesa hadn’t seen her best friend in almost a week. Cali had been busy with her summer job clerking at a trendy boutique in her hometown of East Hampton. Today was her day off, giving the two of them a chance to get together for lunch. Unlike Cali, Leesa wasn’t working this summer. She had more than enough to do continuing her cram course in magic with Dominic. She didn’t need the money—Dominic’s magical wallet contained a seemingly unending supply of cash, gold and jewels, which he was more than happy to share with her whenever she needed anything.
“Guess what I did yesterday?” she asked.
“How could I possibly guess what a wild woman like you has been up to?” Cali asked. “But I’ll give it a shot. Did you learn some kind of wizard spell that makes you invisible?”
“Hmmmm…that would be fun, for sure. But even Dominic can’t manage that. What I did is even better though—I kissed Rave!”
Cali looked at Leesa through narrowed eyes, clearly perplexed.
“So? You kissed Rave. What’s the big deal? You’ve kissed him before. If you told me you two had done more than kiss, now that would be something I’d want to hear.”
Leesa leaned forward onto her forearms so she could speak more quietly.
“I’ve never kissed him like yesterday, though. He’s gotten pretty good at that Rammugul thing, and I’ve learned a spell that makes me at least a little bit resistant to heat and fire. So Balin gave us the go ahead. Full on, no holding back, no timer. It was awesome!”
Cali’s face lit up. “Does this mean you two can go at it now anytime you want? Inquiring minds want to know.”
“Don’t I wish. We still need Balin there, at least, to monitor Rave’s fire. He eventually had to stop us yesterday because Rave was heating up, but the kiss was amazing while it lasted.”
Cali grinned. “I bet Rave wasn’t the only one heating up,” she teased.
Leesa laughed. “No, he wasn’t. Remember that very first kiss I told you about, when I said it was magical? You and Stacie and Caitlin teased the heck out me for saying that.”
“Yeah, I remember. It seemed so funny at the time.”
“Until it turned out that Rave’s kisses were magical, for real. But yesterday’s was also magical, even without Rave’s volkaane fire.”
“I know better than to tease you about that now,” Cali said. “Back then, I didn’t know Rave was a volkaane. Heck, I’d never even heard of a volkaane.”
The arrival of the waitress with their food temporarily suspended the conversation. Leesa had opted for an Asian Chicken Salad, while Cali had chosen a BLT.
Leesa poured her dressing over the top of the salad and dug in. It was delicious. The chicken was tender, the lettuce cool and fresh, and there were lots of mandarin orange slices, which she loved.
“Mmmmm… this is good,” she said after a few forkfuls.
“Mine, too,” Cali said between bites. “You can never go wrong with bacon.”
Leesa smiled. “I was thinking the same thing about mandarin oranges.”
“And therein lies the difference between us,” Cali joked.
They both laughed and then got back to eating.
Once they had taken the edge off their hunger, they resumed their earlier conversation.
“Anything else I need to know about this amazing kissing you were telling me about?” Cali asked.
Leesa shook her head. “Only that Balin said he thought we could do it every couple of days.” She grinned. “I’m goin
g to hold him to that, for sure.”
Cali laughed. “I bet you are. Since Balin and Dominic are already watching, can I come watch, too? Maybe I can pick up a few tips.”
“Ha! I doubt that, Miss Sex-Know-It-All. And no, we don’t need any more of a crowd than we already have, thank you very much.”
Cali picked up her sandwich. “Well, you can’t blame a girl for trying,” she said just before taking a big bite.
Leesa speared a pair of mandarin orange slices with her fork and lifted them to her mouth. They tasted sweet and juicy.
“So, tell me about your training with Dominic,” Cali said. “Have you learned any cool new spells?”
Leesa shook her head. “Not since the last time you and I spoke. We’ve been perfecting the ones I already know. I’ve gotten really good at most of them—I can even manage a weak air shield now.”
“Sounds like you’ll be a full-fledged wizard in no time, then.”
“Not hardly. But Dominic says I’m doing really well for a novice.” Leesa glanced around the deck, making sure no one was paying any attention to them. “Watch this.”
She stared at the empty chair next to her, willing it to slide out from underneath the table. Her telekinesis kicked in and the chair slowly moved back until it was far enough from the table that someone could sit in it.
Cali’s eyes went wide. “What are you doing?” she asked in a hushed but urgent tone. “Someone could see you.”
“No one’s watching. And even if they were, they’d just think one of us pushed it out with our feet. I’ve gotten good enough that I could move your chair with you in it if I wanted.”
“Could you levitate me, too?” Cali asked, impressed.
“Yeah. No problem. You’re much lighter than Dominic, and I’ve been lifting him.”
“Totally cool. You and I need to get some alone time, so you can work some spells on me.”
“Dominic said we’re going to start something new this afternoon. Want to come along and watch?”
Cali grinned. “Do you even have to ask? I’m so there.”
3. HEALING
ONE OF THE PLACES Leesa and Dominic had been using to practice her magic was a large state forest about ten miles south of Middletown. The huge forest—several thousand acres in size—contained an almost infinite number of spots offering complete privacy. On the very small chance that someone or something might notice Leesa’s magic, the forest was far enough from town to make any connection to Weston College unlikely. Unlike the parks in Massachusetts and New York where they had practiced in the past, these woods were near enough to visit several times each week.
They parked the SUV on the dirt shoulder of a narrow two-lane road and hiked a quarter mile or so into the forest. Dominic took the lead, with Leesa and Cali following behind.
The woods teemed with life: birds flitted to and fro among the leafy branches, and rabbits and squirrels rustled through the underbrush. Speckles of sunlight filtered through the thick canopy above and danced on the forest floor. The refreshing scent of green growing things filled the air.
The party halted in an oblong clearing where a slab of gray rock poked up through the ground, keeping any trees or underbrush from taking root, other than a few small weeds that had found purchase in dirt-filled cracks in the stone. Branches from nearby trees crisscrossed the opening above, but a fair amount of blue sky dotted with clouds could still be seen. A fallen log slanted across one end of the clearing.
Dominic sat down on the log. “This spot will do nicely, I think.”
Leesa set her backpack down onto the rock floor, while Cali took a seat on the log not too far from Dominic.
“So, what’s the new spell you said we’re going to work on?” Leesa asked Dominic.
The wizard smiled. “Not so fast, my eager young apprentice. First, you need to warm up by running through the enchantments you already know.”
“Okay,” Leesa replied. “Levictius arrami.”
She promptly floated about eight feet up into the air. The branches of the trees were just a short distance above her head when she ended the spell and floated back down to the ground, landing smoothly on the rock without a sound.
As soon as she landed, she held her arms out in front of her, palms upward.
“Illuminati verdus,” she chanted.
A sphere of golden light floated above her right hand. She repeated the spell three more times, changing hands each time. The effect made it seem as if the glowing ball was jumping back and forth from one palm to the other.
She extinguished the light and dropped her left arm. Extending her right arm downward at a forty-five degree angle, she pointed her palm down at the rock a short distance in front of her feet.
“Magnus irrundi,” she said.
A narrow yellow beam of magic shot from her hand, striking the stone. She kept the beam focused on the rock for ten seconds before shutting it off. The gray stone was undamaged, but the surface was blackened where her spell had struck it.
Next, Leesa looked around for something to move with her telekinesis. She didn’t see any suitable rocks or logs, so she focused her thoughts on her backpack. The pack floated up into the air and then sailed across to the far side of the clearing, where it hung itself on a protruding branch about six feet off the ground. Lifting the light backpack was no big deal, but Leesa was proud of the skill and accuracy required to hook one of the pack’s straps over the branch.
Dominic nodded in appreciation. “Nicely done with everything, Leesa. I think we are ready to go forward.”
Before he could say anything more, Cali suddenly slipped off her perch, scraping her elbow on the log’s rough bark on the way down.
“Ouch,” she exclaimed.
Leesa and Dominic spun around to face her.
“Are you all right?” Leesa asked.
Cali twisted her arm around so she could see her elbow. Tiny dots of blood were already seeping through the scraped skin.
“Yeah,” she said. “It hurts a bit, is all. Anyone got a Band-Aid?”
Dominic gently grabbed Cali’s wrist and examined the injury.
“It does not look too bad,” he said, letting go of Cali’s arm. “This leads nicely into what I wanted Leesa to try next.”
Leesa looked at him with a puzzled expression, trying to figure out what the wizard was talking about. She didn’t see what kind of magic Cali cutting her arm could lead to.
Dominic recognized the look of confusion on Leesa’s face.
“I want you to begin work on healing,” he said. He glanced at Cali and grinned. “I was not expecting Cali to volunteer to be your first subject, though.”
“That’s me,” Cali said, “anything for Team Magic.”
Leesa chuckled, then turned to Dominic.
“So, what do I do?”
“In some ways, healing is similar to telekinesis,” Dominic explained. “The difference is that you visualize the end result, not the process.”
Leesa frowned. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“Do not worry—I would not expect you to understand fully yet. I just wanted to give you the general gist of it. Get your spell book and read about it.” Dominic looked at Cali. “I’m pretty sure our patient will not expire while you study up.”
Cali turned to Leesa and grinned. “Go ahead, Lees. I’m tough—I can wait.” She glanced down at her elbow, which was oozing blood very slowly. “Unless I bleed out first, that is.”
Leesa laughed. “I’ll try not to let that happen, my oh so brave friend.”
She focused her mind on her pack and brought it floating over to her. Reaching inside, she pulled out the thick, leather-bound spell book Dominic had given her. She opened the book to a spot about halfway in. She had learned that it didn’t really matter where she opened the thing—it always seemed to know what she wanted and routinely showed her whatever she was looking for. When she wasn’t looking for anything in particular, the book seemed to open to what it wanted for her.
The book made the healing magic sound pretty straightforward—so straightforward that she found herself wondering if it could be used to heal her leg. Her limp had spontaneously gotten much better several months ago when her magic had come rushing back to full strength, but her leg had improved only a little bit since then. Dominic said that it might be her own magic healing her, so if her power could do so much unbidden, why couldn’t it do the rest if she directed it to? She knew it must be more complicated than that—otherwise Dominic would have shown her how to fix her leg already. She closed the book.
“I think I’ve got it,” she said, deciding not to mention her leg right now. She could talk to Dominic about it at another time. “It seems a little too simple, though.”
Dominic smiled. “The concept is fairly simple,” he agreed, “but the implementation is not quite so easy. Go ahead, give it a try.”
Leesa placed her hand over the scrape on Cali’s arm, putting her palm as close to the wound as possible without actually touching it, the way the book instructed. She silently mouthed her trigger word, “breathe,” to enter the everywhere/nowhere state and then concentrated on picturing Cali’s arm healing itself.
“Ouch!” Cali cried, yanking her arm away. “That hurt. It felt like someone was sticking needles into my skin.”
Leesa looked chagrined. “I’m sorry.”
Cali laid her hand on Leesa’s forearm. “Don’t worry. It didn’t hurt that much—it just startled me is all.” She twisted her arm so she could check out the scrape. “It’s still bleeding, though. I think it looks pretty much the same as before.”
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