Devil or Divine || Completed

Chapter Thirty-One: Worth Dying For

Packing two dates into one day was bad enough, but of course, Jack felt left out and took us back to the beach for breakfast by the sea. He barely got us back in time to see Kieran.

With my skin still warm from pancakes in the sun, Kieran's greeting kiss on my cheek was cool and soft. He made a show of saying hello every time we saw each other. He'd had the least time of them all, yet I definitely liked him more than the others. It was more than him being a witch. Despite knowing he was just playing a part, there was something comforting about him, something that made me want to believe everything he said.

He smiled as Lilu led Jack away then flashing me a wink. Once the two were out of sight, he announced he'd prepared a magic show for me, not waiting for a response before a shimmer of color danced around us. This was no display of his alchemical skill, but of his magic I had not yet seen. Whispers tickled my ears as the swirls of color blended together, pulling into intricate shapes. Like an old film, the images flickered, displaying dancing fair folk with glittering wings. They danced around me, leaving trails of iridescent smoke in their wake.

Kieran clapped his hands together and the fairies blinked out in tiny puffs. A soft chant began again. This time smoke swirled, billowing from a fire kindling from his fingertips. The smoke poured impossibly into the shape of a mighty dragon that consumed the space around me. It snorted rings of smoke into the air in front of my face before launching forward and disappearing back into his hands.

Then, he brought his hands wide, a new string of words spouting from his lips. Water trickled down his arms. Unsurprisingly, the liquid poured into a contained pile, slowing forming itself into a merrow. The beautiful creature leapt from the floor to dive back down with a splash. It was as if the ground had become the ocean as it poked its head back up. The merrow shot me a wink before disappearing again. Suddenly, it leapt up again, arching over my head while droplets of salty water rained down. When it hit the floor again, the liquid fell into a puddle and quickly evaporated in a cloud of steam.

"What was all that?" I breathed, a little awestruck.

"Since you cannot go across the veil yourself, not yet, I thought I would show you what you're missing." He smiled warmly as his magic settled in the air around us. It lingered like smoke, its sweet scent clinging to my skin.

I was going to miss him, once this was all over. Even if he was only doing this because Lilu was paying him, I enjoyed our time together the most. With any luck, he would fall for my charm and stick around after the full moon. A girl could dream, right?

"I only wish I could give you more, but I fear Ilutu wouldn't like me growing a garden in her home." He chuckled and brought me to sit beside him.

He brushed a stray hair from my face with gentle fingers what tickled my cheek. There was nothing but warmth in him. No hint of deceit or scheming. Maybe he really did want mean everything he said, maybe this was more to him that a game.

Then, his eyes clouded with pain. He forced the smile back onto his face. "How about another trick?"

***

Kieran was the Prince Charming he promised to be. It was so easy to lose myself around him. His sunny aura wrapped around me with comforting warmth, and we spent the last hour lying together silently. Well, not silently, we just didn't talk. The whole time he hummed beautiful tunes that lulled me into a dreamy state. When Jack showed back up, he wasn't happy to find the two of us clinging together.

He was even less happy about the wolf-god tailing him.

Fen lumbered in cheerfully, brushing right past Jack to slide into the space next to me. I frowned and quickly moved to stand. Not letting that happen again.