Page 58 of Quiet
There was nothing else in the world. There may never have been. There was only Isa and Briar and a never-ending rush of magic that seemed to pulse back and forth between them, tying them together until Isa didn’t know where he ended and Briar began.
The synesthesia from Briar should have been overwhelming, but the spell pulled something from Isa he hadn’t been aware he had. It was soft and anchoring, and it sheltered their combined consciousness as the spell wove its way through them, allowing Isa to wallow in the joy of being joined with the best person he’d ever met. Briar was warm, lazy, summer afternoons resting under a tree, eating ice cream, and being one with the world. And Isa was welcome to stay there forever. There was no thought in their shared space. Nothing to fear.
It was better than anything.
After far too little time, the spell began to wind down, and Isa became aware of two separate sets of thoughts and emotions—his and Briar’s. With the separation of their minds, came a flood of impressions. There were happy moments as a child discovering new types of media to work with and less happy times when Briar ran into people who didn’t even attempt to understand him. And intense thoughts, like how much Briar wanted to press Isa against the bench and fuck him within an inch of his life.
Cold registered against his back, and he realized that, at some point, his shirt had ridden up and exposed his skin to the cold concrete bench they’d been sitting on. How had he gotten here?
One minute he’d been caught up in the fairy spell and the next he was sprawled on his back, frantically tearing at Briar’s shirt, while Briar was busy trying to get rid of Isa’s pants.
A low chuckle drifted into Isa’s awareness. “You know, a kiss on the head would have done the job too, but I’m not going to complain about a free show.”
In unison, they both froze. They’d completely forgotten they were out in the open with an audience. A seemingly perverted one.
“Fuck,” Briar said against Isa’s neck.
Isa was panting like he’d run a marathon, but he didn’t have time to worry about figuring out how to breathe. He needed to button his pants and then work out the logistics of moving to Canada. No. Canada wasn’t far enough away. South Korea. South Korea sounded better.
“Briar, do you think I’m pretty enough to join a boy band in Korea? Because I’m going to need to support myself after I move there. Staying here is clearly no longer an option.” Isa pushed at Briar’s chest, signaling him to let Isa sit up. Isa did his best to button his pants as unobtrusively as possible but knew he’d failed miserably.
A flare of amusement pulsed from Briar to Isa.
“I can support you if we move to Korea.”
Isa gulped. “We?”
“Isa, I can’t let you go now that I know.”
Isa skittered backward until he was in danger of falling off the bench. “Know what?”
Briar’s eyes burned into him. “Everything. What happened to you as a child. That you love me as much as I love you.”
Isa’s throat closed off as panic raced through him. How did he know?
“Oh, did I forget to mention?” the fairy asked in an annoyingly airy voice. “During the time you were placing the spell on him, the connection went both ways. I did say my spell would be better than the original, after all. Have fun with that.”
Oh no.
Isa had read Briar like a book when they were connected. If Briar had done the same, he’d know exactly how obsessed Isa was with him. And Briar was so single-minded with his fixation on Isa . . . No no no no no. He really meant it when he said he’d never let him go.
Isa had just doomed Briar.
“W-was there anything else you failed to mention?” Isa croaked. His throat was doing its utmost to strangle him now. Stupid fucking fairy.
“Hmm . . .” The fairy tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I’m going to need to get my name back from you at some point. Also, you may experience some side effects from sharing blood with me. Oh, and that spell your uncle put on you might combine with my spell to do some weird things to you now that you’re part fae. Hope that’s okay. Feel free to contact me if anything happens.”
“My uncle? Part fae? Don’t you dare leave right now!”
But the fairy was already walking away, smiling like he’d just watched the best play of the year.
“Wait, how am I supposed to contact you?”
The fairy shrugged. “Bye now!” He took one more step and vanished into a beam of moonlight.
Chapter23
Briar
