Descent - Mattheo Riddle

Chapter forty-two *

This chapter contains mature content.

Lucia

June 23rd, 2:00 a.m., Sand ship

The desert stretched endlessly around us, the cool night air a welcome relief after the suffocating heat of the day and the disaster in the library that had nearly cost us our lives. The sand ship sailed smoothly through the dunes, its gentle rhythm doing little to quiet the storm of thoughts swirling in my mind. I leaned into Mattheo's chest, his arms still wrapped around me, his warmth a stark contrast to the chill that had settled deep in my bones. He had covered us both in blankets, the soft fabric a feeble barrier against the cold that wasn't just from the desert night but from the ancient magic still pulsing beneath my skin, a constant reminder of the relic I had absorbed.

But despite the power swirling inside me, my mind kept circling back to one simple question: What now?

Everything we had come here for—the relic, the library, the secrets hidden beneath the sands—was over. We had done what we came to do. The relic's magic was mine now, a part of me, though I still wasn't entirely sure how I felt about that. I hadn't planned on absorbing it, hadn't even known it was possible until it happened. But it had saved us. And for that, I was grateful. I just needed a way to handle it.

I glanced over at Mattheo, who was sitting at the edge of the ship, his wand still flicking occasionally to keep us on course. His posture was relaxed, but I knew him well enough by now to recognize the tension in his shoulders, the way his eyes stayed sharp, scanning the horizon for any sign of danger. He had always been like that—constantly on guard, always calculating the next move.

For a moment, I just watched him, feeling the strange mix of emotions that had been simmering inside me since we left the library. Mattheo was a puzzle I was still trying to figure out. He had been so many things to me—enemy, ally, protector... lover. And yet, even now, after everything, I still didn't know exactly where we stood.

The thought brought me back to our conversation earlier, the one that had caught even me by surprise. Marriage. I hadn't meant anything by it—hadn't been thinking about actually getting married. But it was a question that had been gnawing at me, something I hadn't been able to let go of since the library. Not because I was thinking about a future with Mattheo, but because I was starting to realize how fragile everything was. How quickly things could change. And because I wanted to know Mattheo's opinion on that, for whatever reasons.

I wasn't thinking about marrying him. But I had been thinking about what came next. About what life looked like beyond the desert, beyond this constant struggle to survive.

I shifted, pulling the blankets tighter around us as a soft breeze swept across the deck. Maybe that was it. Maybe that's why the question had slipped out. Because I was curious. Because, for the first time, I was starting to think about a future that wasn't dominated by war or ancient relics or dark magic. A future that had possibilities. A future with... a happy ending?

Mattheo's heartbeat thudded steadily against my ear, grounding me as we sailed through the endless expanse of sand. After what felt like an eternity of silence, I spoke, my voice barely more than a whisper.

"Where are we going now?" I asked, tilting my head up to look at him. "How do we get back to London?"

Mattheo's eyes flickered down to meet mine, and I could see the gears turning in his mind, calculating every detail, as always. "We can't use the portkey we had when we first arrived," he began, his voice low but steady. "It's lost somewhere deep in the desert... and even if we had it, it would only take us back to the Ministry, which isn't exactly where we want to show up."