Shimmer |✓|

//Burn// Part 2

Chandler had a yacht on the water. The Village seaport was miles worth of docks, the Midnight nestled in a group of fishing boats, stark black in a row of white and beige. The sky splayed above it all like a painting, dawn a rose eruption in the east, shooting flares of pink-orange through the powder blue sky. Chandler took my hand, escorting me on the bow of the yacht–a fine, sleek instrument, a steed of the sea.

"Glad to see you on your feet." He gave my fingers a squeeze and let go. "Hope you don't mind the set. I crash here from time to time."

"Right." I nodded, toeing my boot against the ship's immaculate sole. "So you dragged me on this leaky boat because all Witches are secretly afraid of water, or because you don't trust me at your real place?"

"It's your friends I don't trust, Naomi. I risked my neck to save yours, remember? And I took on the Alpha because you asked me to. Now you're asking me to teach you magic, and while I'm obliged..." He shrugged. "Your friends made it pretty clear I'm supposed to stay away."

"Can you blame them, Mr. Shifty? So, what made you change your mind?"

"You said something--on one of your incessant voicemails." Chandler stuck his hands in the back pockets of his jeans, squinting at the beautiful sunrise. "If Tidus is right, if you are a demigod, then you have the power of the Fae. That would be crazy for anyone in this town to ignore."

"Well, as long as you're not secretly using me to write some story for the Herald, take as many notes as you need. Just... fix me. Make me better, something."

"I'll do what I can, promise."

Chandler led me below deck, to a small, refined space with a cot in one corner and a mini kitchen in the other. A marine sectional occupied the leftover floor space,  along with a few barrel chairs, an ottoman scattered here and there. I took a seat on the sectional, leaning forward and sliding a candle aside to to run my fingers across the navigation star painted in the center of the marine teak table. Chandler wasn't far behind, two steaming mugs of tea in each hand. He stopped short.

"Did you light those?"

"What do you mean?" I followed his glance around the room, to the candles in every corner. All of them were lit, including the white candle on the teak wood table, flickering pleasantly within it's dish. "Whoa. I wasn't trying to, I'm sorry--"

"Don't be." Chandler passed me a mug and took a seat. "You did it without thinking. It means you're different than most Witches. They channel magic. Not you, you attract it, you create it." He paused, his expression softening from excitement, to concern. "Your power really is Otherworldly."

"So are you." I took a sip of his piping hot, bittersweet tea, then set the mug aside. "Is that why Tidus and Ethan don't trust you? Because you're Fae?" Like the Seelie and Unseelie, there were two sides to Chandler–light and dark interwoven. When we first met, all I noticed were the sunrays, his darkness hidden with the shadows. But in the blackest parts of our souls, especially, there is power. "Chandler, I've seen what you can do. I've felt it. Admit it, you don't need me to find Leda, you could find her yourself. What's holding you back?"

Chandler exhaled, setting his own tea to the side. "Leda's important, but she's also my cover--a reporter just doing his job gets more leniency than an outsider."

"Until people find out he's a super-powerful Incubus. You could annihilate those Witches. So, what are you really up to, Chandler--if that's even your real name."

"It is in this decade." He smirked. "Look, it's one thing for me to take out a Witch or two on the side, but an entire coven--that would attract attention I can't afford. Leda's... a project. But she's not the mission."