Page 6 of Witch's Exile
"How do you figure that?" she chuckled.
"If it weren't for you, I never would've been a father, a philosopher, or a king. I never would have fallen in love or discovered anything new." My lips grazed her ear. "And I never would have known the heaven of being buried inside you."
She shuddered in my arms and I distinctly felt her body temperature rise a few degrees.
"Goddamn you, demons." Her soft lips brushed against my neck. "All these years together and you still never fail to charm my panties off."
"I mean, we didn't used to. But that was before panties were invented." I grabbed her ass playfully and kissed the side of her neck, eliciting another shiver on her sensitive skin. "We'll have fun out here, but first I want to see if I can find anything in your shadows." I cupped the sides of her face and lowered my forehead to hers. "Maybe my love can sleep peacefully tonight."
"That would be nice," she muttered. "I'm ready when you are, angel."
"Before I start, let me ask you this. Have you found your Air magic yet?"
She shook her head. "I've tried but my focus is just so shaky from... everything."
I nodded. "It's the hardest elemental power to grasp, and rare to find in any witch. Some say it's rarer than finding a witch who's a shadow master."
"Really? Why?"
"Air is the link between all the other elements," I said. "It's present in all of them, so to wield Air is to have complete magical control. Think of your earth magic. Nothing can live without breathing. A fire won't ignite without oxygen. And what is a water molecule made of?"
"Two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen," she said.
"Exactly. Like your Earth magic, it doesn't have to be literally the air we breathe but any gaseous substance and its properties. That's why it's so difficult to control. It's all around us but you can't always see it. And trying to manifest its power is like, well, trying to capture air with a net."
"What's that got to do with my dreams?" she asked.
"I have a theory," I answered. "They've figured out by now that you can control all the elements. But they're hedging their bets on you not knowing Air yet because of how difficult and rare it is. They know that's the one shadow you haven't read yet in your mind, so they're purposely planting your worst fears there, where you can’t reach."
I took her hands in mind. "I'm going to help you shine a light on it so they'll have nothing left to use against you. After that, it's just a matter of practice before you're the most powerful witch alive again."
"But how can they plant that in my head from far away?" she asked. "Seth read my shadows when he touched me. I thought you needed skin contact with someone to see their shadows."
"Normally, yes." I gritted my teeth uncomfortably. "I'm not sure how exactly they're doing this."
I had my theory on that as well but it wasn't something I could prove yet. And it was something I hoped with all my heart wasn't true. Telling Deja now would only upset her more, and I refused to add to her misery until I was absolutely sure.
