I take a deep breath and slip inside the secret walled garden. My heart skips, flutters, and then steadies as my mind registers the sight before me. It’s just Luci. The magic of the shrine must have called to him and made him curious.
What a relief. My shoulders relax and I let my shields drop.
He looks as adorable as ever in his too-big wellies. The jeans are a nice tight fit to show off his lovely legs and that pink fluffy jumper is insanely cute.
But wait a minute. What is he doing? It looks like he has set several small crystals around the shrine and is working on some sort of incantation. But that can’t be right.
Suddenly, Luci whirls around to face me. The crystal in his hand falls. His face drains of all color and his green eyes grow impossibly wide.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
I watch, dumbfounded, as Luci slowly sinks to his knees and bows his head. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers so softly that I only just hear him.
Somewhere a crow caws loudly and a breeze creaks through the ivy.
“You’re not a Revivalist,” I say numbly.
Luci shivers and wraps his arms around himself.
“I’m sorry,” he repeats.
My mind has stuttered to a complete stop. Not one of my brain cells is working. Luci can’t be a Revivalist. He can’t. I refuse to believe it.
“Is someone making you do this?” I ask.
He shakes his head. His silky hair moves and shimmers from the movement.
“I don’t believe you,” I say weakly.
He looks up at me and oh my, the sadness in his green eyes is going to break my heart.
“The fey are the ancestors of all magic weavers. If we give them this world back, they will overthrow the mundanes and reward us greatly,” he says.
But I know that tone. That’s his, ‘repeating something verbatim from a book’, tone. It’s not what he truly believes.
“Did your parents teach you that?” I ask.
“My parents are respected members of society. My father has a seat on the Council. They are not Revivalists. This…this is a path I chose for myself.”
I stare at him in horror as everything clicks into place. My poor sweet Luci. How could I have doubted him? Even for one heartbeat? He has never chosen a thing for himself in his entire life. I know this too damn well. His parents are cruel, abusive, and apparently, Revivalists. It all makes horrifying sense.
I fall down to my knees in front of him and pull him into a hug. He resists at first and then clings onto me. He feels so damn good in my arms. It is where he belongs.
“You’re supposed to arrest me. Not hug me,” he says.
A half-laugh, half-sob comes out of me. “I’m not arresting you.”
“Why?”
Oh gods, he sounds so bewildered. I never, ever want to hear that tone in his voice ever again. I’m going to love him, protect him and cherish him so fucking hard that it forces confidence and self worth into him. He’ll be an arrogant, narcissistic tosser by the time I’m done with him.
But in the meantime, I need to reassure him. “I’m not handing you over to the Council for questioning. Nobody will ever know about this.”
He shudders in my arms. “But I’m a Revivalist.”
“Not anymore you’re not,” I growl. “You are never coming near the shrine again, and that will be the end of it.”
“But…but,” he begins.
“If you are truly working alone, then it is as simple as that, isn’t it?”
He falls silent.
A grin tugs at my lips. He has walked right into my trap. He will never betray his parents. Ever. Despite them not deserving his loyalty. But I understand. Blood is still blood. And Luci is a good person, and good people are loyal. Even to those who have not earned it.
But I can still feel Luci’s fear. It is pouring from him in waves. Does he not believe me? Wait. No, that’s not it. He is scared of his parents coming after him. I need to put his mind at rest. He needs to understand that it is over. It’s done. He is free.
“I’ll use all this delicious power I’ve been gaining from you to strengthen the wards and sigils guarding my property. No other Revivalist will be able to get anywhere near.”
Luci starts to tremble, so I hold him even closer. I’ll protect him with my dying breath. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to get close enough to him to harm him. The stupid Revivalist cult can fume all they like about Luci not doing whatever it is they want him to do.
He is mine now. They can’t have him. And there is not a thing they can do about it.
“So problem solved,” I say sternly.
His arms tighten around me, and he sniffs quietly. But I can feel all his terror draining away. He believes me. He trusts me. Luci is putting his faith in me.
It makes me want to puff out my chest and bellow my pride like a caveman. Earning this sweet, damaged boy’s trust feels like the greatest accomplishment on earth.
