The Arcane Rebellion- The Arcane Series #1

Chapter 34

Xavi

Layla was waiting for me in my room. We agreed to meet there tonight.

I wanted to suggest something to her and I didn't know how she'd react, but I thought it was worth a try. After what had happened in the House of Rosera, I always felt sick when thinking about what Layla and I were forced to do in front of dozens and dozens of people. I wanted to fix that.

For days, any time we were getting intimate we'd just back out completely, out of fear, paranoia, whatever it was and we were both getting frustrated in more ways than one. We wanted to fix that and I was pretty sure I'd found a solution.

I went to my workroom to get the little vial. I had prepared a potion, an aphrodisiac. Not like that drug that was sprayed in our faces in the cult. It's weak, but at the same time strong enough to get us a little bit high, just so we could forget out fear. I knew we both wanted to do it properly, but after the cult, it's been a little bit hard. I was going to ask her if she wanted to take the potion. It's all natural and the effects wear out relatively quickly, so we won't stay high for too long.

I searched for the vial on my shelf. When I finally found it, I put it in my pocket and made my way to my bedroom. The hallways were surprisingly empty, even though it was the middle of the night. Usually, there's always a couple of people running around in the Sanctuary, no matter what time of day it is. The Tavern, on the other hand, was empty and it was eerily quiet as I climbed up the stairs to my bedroom.

I contemplated knocking, but then I remembered it is my room after all so I slowly opened the door. Layla was on my bed reading a book and when she saw me, she smiled and put the book down.

"Took you long enough.", she joked and I chuckled. I was getting a little bit nervous and was questioning whether I should show her the potion or not. "Is everything okay? Why'd you want to meet here?", she asked, noticing my mental battle.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, I just- I wanted to ask you something.", I said, a little bit more confident. I took the vial out of my pocket and I showed it to her. She tilted her head to the side and reached out with her hand. I gave her the vial and she opened it, putting the dropper aside.

"What is it?", she asked, curiosity lacing her face and voice.

"Smell it.", I told her as she looked up at me through her lashes, making it hard for me to contain myself. She kept looking up at me through hooded eyes as she smelled the contents of the vial. She had to know what she was doing to me.

"Lavender, rose...", she smelled it again, the concentration evident on her face. "And... poppy?", she asked and I nodded. 

"Amongst some other things, yeah.", I replied. 

"But what is it?", she asked.

"You don't know?", I asked and she shook her head. I smiled a little, happy that I could still surprise her. "It's an aphrodisiac.", I explained. "I thought maybe it could help us a little."

"Oh?", she asked with a smirk on her face.

"We don't have to use it if you don't want to. It was just a thought.", I told her softly and she nodded.

"What makes you think I don't want to use it?", she asked as I started walking toward her, towering over her as she looked up at me through her lashes. Oh, how I wanted to touch her and hug her and kiss her and do so much more.

"So you do want to try it?", I asked and she nodded before speaking.

"Yeah. Why not?", she smiled at me. I smiled back, taking the vial and the dropper in my hands, putting a few drops of the potion in the dropper. I cupped her face with my hand, parting her lips with my thumb. She opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue a little, her gaze piercing.