Tallis said, "Because they have no light—no aura. After the betrayal of the changers, it was a rule made while Isis was still alive. No magical being can enter a committee site without knowing with absolute certainty they are pure and loyal. No one that can be tainted with out one's knowledge can be present during any meeting. Iris would never ignore her mother's cautious rule. I agree with her. I feel safer about my mother being there when I know everyone has to be on our side."
Then Henry added, "Chris is a guard that is bonded to Aster—and her light is unmistakably pure. He's the only guard they can be certain is on our side. Just as Edmond is bonded to Allaysia. They want the added power of Chris."
"Why do they have to be so cautious all the time?" Amelia asked, edging forward in her seat.
Tallis answered, "The number one objective for Graven is to destroy our committee."
I sucked in a sharp breath, my eyes moving to Amelia as I worried my bottom lip. "Why?" I asked in a rasp.
"If you destroy the committee, then you weaken all of our crests. All of us—followers of Isis and purity—are linked. Not only do they weaken the crests, but you also lose the leaders. People tend to panic when the strongest fall and leave them to lead themselves. If they weaken the crests, then they can see better, and they can most likely break through the crests. They would also be able to start finding Guardian sites.
"Most all homes have a failsafe. If their house is breached, they have a spell that has been cast which will burn any and all documents that would lead to the guardians that have protected their family witches. If the crests are too weak, however, the spells will also be weaker. There is a good chance that the failsafe wouldn't work."
I was starting to regret asking about this. It was so not a morning coffee conversation. I also worried about so many of my family members being so deeply involved with the committee. Then Tallis interrupted my worries. "Let's go shoot some pool."
Amelia tilted her head, confused. "How did I miss a pool table in this small cabin?"
Tallis laughed. "We don't have one yet. Just give me a minute, though."
Amelia clapped her hands together as she looked at Henry with fascination. Her excitement bubbled out as she squealed, "Hey, you can make stuff? I want a hot tub, too."
Everyone laughed as we headed back in, and my heavy breaths grew exhausting. What a messy world I was living in.
Time to leave came far too soon. Desmond had come by to tell us that my house was safe. Five wonderful days had flown by. Everyday had been as it had before the kiss we never spoke of anymore.
I was happy he was mine again—well, as much as possible. I had read every book I could get my hands on, trying to find the solution to our no-kissing problem. Nothing. Not one time in the history of magic had something like this been recorded. Everyday I was ready to burn another book that had left me with more questions than answers.
Amelia had been working hard with Henry to control her power, especially after I told her about what Tallis had said about her projecting without even knowing she was doing it. But last night with Tallis was unbelievably amazing even with her projecting.
We had entwined our bodies so close that it felt like we were one person. Our lips had brushed each other's accidentally twice. He never backed away, though. We were unable to keep our hands off of each other, and it had been fantastic. Every fiery touch was so craved, needed. His eyes had stayed locked on mine for hours, and he had kissed my neck and shoulders so many times.
My lips had only touched his chest and neck, and it was exquisite torture. It was so incredibly hard not to just say to heck with the burning and kiss him anyways, but I knew he would disappear again if I did.
We packed up all of our stuff and loaded up in Tallis's car. I dreaded each step made away from the cabin. I wasn't ready to risk losing him to the spacious outside world.
Amelia must have been projecting my emotions again, because Tallis reached across and took my hand as we made our way down the driveway, and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"I know. I feel the same way," he said quietly, his beautiful blue eyes soft and reluctant, just like mine.
Like an idiot, that made me grin.
It took longer to get home than it had taken to get there, since we weren't going warp speed this time. It was less urgent to get back, and I was glad. I was still living in our world of fantasy. Reality seemed dull by comparison.
We
pulled up to my house, and Tallis carried my stuff to my room. I followed him, plotting my plan of attack. The second his hands were free, I reached over to hug him, not giving him any warning.
He hugged me so tightly, picking me up off the floor, and I smiled against his shoulder as we got lost in our moment. The sweet taste of his neck was at my lips when I turned my head. I didn't kiss it, though. I couldn't make things harder on him.
He pulled me back and set me down on my feet.
"I have to get home. I've got some things I have to take care of."
His smile wasn't the real one I had seen all night. It was forced, back to looking guilty and weary again.
"You'll be back, right?" I felt a twinge of worry trying to spread through me.
He didn't say anything. He just kissed my cheek—dangerously close to my lips—and flashed out of the room.