Rogue Queen ➵

Sunsets on Us

One - Sleeping at Last ^

July 3rd, 2028, 1:00pm

Chase's POV

Magic stems from ordinary places. And sometimes the simplest places have the most magic.

Magic stems from ordinary places. And sometimes—

Magic stems from ordinary places.

Magic stems—

"Screw off, Changeling!"

"I don't want to, Fury."

Zaine smiles innocently, continuing to poke at my head and twirl my hair. It's annoying and irritating and I can't focus. I've read the same passage thirteen times and I can't process it because my stupidly irritating brother-in-law won't leave me alone.

I suppose this is where my power comes in handy. The ability to create barriers like force fields is incredibly useful when you have people who won't take a goddamn hint. It's so nice to be able to block out sounds or light or just people trying to provoke you into breaking their goddamn fingers. Or I could just cast a barrier around him and lock him in a bubble instead...

A smirk crosses my lips. Out of the corner of my eye, I glance up at the older warlock perched on the arm of the couch next to me and summon my magic. My smirk widens as a shimmering, transparent, gold-coloured barrier surrounds Zaine in a bubble. He's so close to me that he's at the edge of the bubble, there's more space behind him, and as I move the barrier back, he's forced to go with it.

His eyes widen as he realizes what I'm doing and he tries pushing against the barrier. It doesn't work, of course, and I move the bubble out of the living room to the front foyer of the pack house. Killian and Rei should be back from talking with Daring soon enough and the front foyer is the easiest place to leave Zaine. I adjust my magic and tweak it so that Rei's touch will let the little shit out and shove the mildly draining feeling of constantly maintaining the barrier to the back of my mind.

Finally, I can get some semblance of peace.

"Nicholas J. Fury, let me out!"

I roll my eyes and tweak the barrier again so sound from inside the bubble can't be heard, but he can hear others. Of course he uses the namesake of my nickname when he's annoyed like an angry child. As for the nickname itself... Something about Fury being the director of SHIELD and I cast barriers or shields. Rhea picked it, said Captain America was too boringly obvious.

As if Warbird is any better.

A small huff passes my lips at the thought and I try to focus my attention back to my book.

Magic stems from ordinary places. And sometimes the simplest places have the most magic. It's whether we choose to look deeper, past the simplicity, that matters. A simple world still has the magic to inspire—

I close the novel with a small snap and a quiet groan. Now I'm too out of it to finish the chapter. Great.

My thoughts flicker to Amarant for a second before I drag them back. I can't see her now.

With a long sigh, I leave the book on the coffee table, trusting it won't be disturbed as I wander towards the back patio door. Rhea should be out here, right? I pass a few pack members on the way, giving them polite smiles and small nods as I go. I see a few small smirks of amusement and I know they must have seen Zaine pouting in the front foyer.

Rhea is indeed out in the backyard. She's currently a good ten feet off the ground too, floating in the air. She can't fly, she floats. She needs a fan or something to actually move through the air. Hence, Warbubble would be more appropriate in my opinion.