Page 56 of Knot My Wonderland: Part Two
"Fine," I conceded, shifting slightly to accommodate Chi as he settled on my other side. The silver bond between us pulsed with quiet contentment as his tail draped casually across my waist. "But I'm not tired enough to sleep."
"Then we'll keep you company," Heart said, his ruby eyes meeting Chi's teal ones over me with shared understanding. Through both bonds, I felt their protective concern wrapped in affection. The pattern beneath my skin responded to their proximity with gentle waves of silver and gold, creating intricate designs where our bodies connected.
"This is becoming a habit," I observed, finding myself sandwiched between them. "Not that I'm complaining."
"The pattern appreciates physical connection," Chi replied, his tail tightening slightly around my waist. "And so do we."
Heart's fingers traced gentle patterns along my arm, golden light following his touch. "Besides, you're much less likely to overthink everything when properly distracted."
I raised an eyebrow. "And this is your idea of a proper distraction?"
"It's working, isn't it?" Heart countered, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "You've stopped cataloging all the ways you might fail and started focusing on the present moment."
He wasn't wrong. The warmth of their bodies on either side of me, the gentle pulse of our bonds intertwining, had pushed my anxieties to the background. The pattern beneath my skin hummed with contentment, silver and gold light dancing in lazy spirals where we touched.
"You're both impossible," I murmured, though I couldn't keep the smile from my voice. The pattern's contentment flowed through me like warm honey, making my eyelids grow unexpectedly heavy despite my earlier restlessness.
Chi chuckled, the sound a low rumble against my side. "We prefer 'strategic' to 'impossible.'"
"Hmm," I hummed noncommittally, feeling myself relaxing deeper into the mattress as their combined warmth enveloped me. The silver and gold light beneath my skin pulsed in perfect harmony with Heart's golden glow and Chi's silver shimmer, creating a cocoon of gentle radiance around the three of us.
"See?" Heart whispered, his breath warm against my ear. "Your body knows what it needs, even when your mind refuses to listen."
I wanted to argue, to insist I wasn't actually tired, but the pattern's gentle pulsing combined with their warmth wasmaking it increasingly difficult to keep my eyes open. Through our bonds, I felt their shared satisfaction as my resistance faded.
"Just a short nap," I mumbled, already feeling myself drifting. "Then more training."
"Of course," Chi agreed, his voice a soothing rumble against my ear. His tail adjusted its grip around my waist, securing me between them as I began to slip toward sleep.
Heart pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead, his golden light dimming to a comfortable glow. "Rest, Alice. We'll be here when you wake."
The last thing I registered before sleep claimed me was the harmonious resonance of our intertwined bonds—gold, silver, and my own silver-gold pattern pulsing in perfect synchronicity. For the first time in days, my mind quieted completely, and sleep overcame me.
Chapter
Twenty-Three
ALICE
After a long and frustrating day I was once again on the bed in the cabin. I’d come a long way but some of the magic can be volatile and today had been filled with me failing. I stared at the ceiling, trying not to dwell on my failures. The pattern beneath my skin pulsed erratically, reflecting my frustration. Earlier, I'd attempted to create a shield capable of repelling blood magic, but instead of forming a stable barrier, the energy had collapsed inward, nearly taking my arm with it. Only Vee's quick intervention had prevented serious injury.
"Stop berating yourself," came Dee's voice from the doorway. I hadn't heard him approach.
I didn't bother sitting up. "I should have mastered this by now. We only have four days left in the pocket."
Dee crossed the room, his silver eyes studying me with that unnerving temporal awareness that seemed to see not just who I was, but all the versions of who I might become.
"Mastery isn’t done in a few days' time," he said, settling on the edge of the bed. His opalescent patterns pulsed gently beneath his skin, casting subtle rainbows across the cabin walls."It took the First Queen decades to fully understand what you're attempting to learn in weeks."
I sighed, watching the pattern's light shift beneath my skin. "We don't have decades. We barely have days."
"You don't need to master everything," Dee replied, his voice carrying that peculiar harmonic quality that reminded me he existed partially outside normal time. "You just need to master enough."
I turned to face him properly, struck by how rarely I'd been alone with him since our initial bonding. Unlike Heart's passionate protection or Chi's steady presence, Dee maintained a certain distance—not cold, but measured, as if constantly calculating probabilities beyond my comprehension.
"What if 'enough' isn't enough?" I asked quietly, trying to not let my fears take over my mind and make me spiral into an emotional mess of panic.
A rare smile touched his lips. "That's a redundant construction," he said, his silver eyes reflecting amusement. "If it's enough, then by definition it's sufficient. The real question is whether you trust the pattern's judgment."
