Kayden had decided to go herb-picking for two reasons. The first was that scrying had been quite boring; staring at a bowl of water for over two hours had yielded nothing but a desire to drown the advisers who thought they could see something that clearly wasn't there. The second reason was to ditch Vincent. Constantly batting his arm away from her waist was extremely annoying. She also found it tedious to carry on a conversation with a soulless being who had once tried to kidnap her.

But Kayden had no desire to speak to Blaze either. She had tried to finagle herself into a different car, but Walter had gone out of his way to ensure they all were in his car together. And so that was how Kayden found herself wedged in the backseat of an eco-friendly clown car, squished between the window and Blaze, trying to minimize skin contact as much as possible.

She knew it was stupid to be mad at him. All he had done was try to make the best of a bad situation. The fact was, she wasn't particularly upset; she was tired. The day had been much too exhausting for her liking, and as much as she wanted to help out the Congregation, there was an equally large part of her that just wanted to curl up into a ball and fall asleep.

Once I get more sleep, I'll apologize, she thought, but she knew she was just making feeble excuses for herself. In all actuality, she found it easier to be slightly annoyed with Blaze at all times. That way she could ignore any feelings she had for him. She shut her eyes and pretended that she couldn't feel his arm brushing her bare shoulder and the gentle thrum of magic flowing through his skin.

When we kissed, there were sparks, came Lexi's voice floating through her head.

Shut up, Lexi, Kayden thought tiredly, thinking of her cousin asleep in bed, dreaming about who-knows-what. Keep living in your little fantasy world.

And not for the first time, Kayden found herself envying her cousin, though she couldn't pinpoint exactly what she was envious of.

They reached the farm in record time; a car, it appeared, could travel much faster than a school bus. The man who owned the farm split them up into groups of two to cover the list of ingredients, and Kayden was not at all surprised when she was paired with Blaze and sent off to the distant mint field.

Blaze carried their shared basket while Kayden shone a flashlight on the rows of cabbages and the lines of small trees bearing fruit. It was easy not to talk; Kayden spent most of the time watching her footing, trying not to trip in the darkness. She didn't want to look like a complete idiot in front of Blaze. Not that it matters, she reminded herself.

"Did we go too far?" Blaze asked after a few minutes of walking. Kayden turned towards him and accidentally shone the flashlight in his face. She smiled when his eyes slammed shut in pain.

But he had asked a logical question. She directed the beam towards the little white signs that marked the specific fields. "Carrots... juniper... Illicium ani—God, I can't even read that one."

"Oh, never mind," he said, pointing at a field just beyond the juniper patch. "It's over here."

They walked for another minute in silence before Blaze set down the basket besides a group of low-growing green plants. Kayden turned to see where everyone else was located, but the only person she could see was Walter; she caught a glimpse of his white hair in a field not too far away, but he was already hard at work picking leaves off of the trees around him. The other advisers could have been invisible for the most part; she couldn't see them at all.

"Shine some light over here?" Blaze asked. He didn't look at her as he spoke; he seemed to have gotten the hint. "I want to make sure I'm not picking weeds. I'd hate to ruin the potion component the second time around."

"Hmm." She directed the beam and knelt down. She was wearing jeans, but her top was just a thin white camisole, and the nighttime air was crisp, raising goosebumps on her arms.

For a while, they worked in silence. Kayden would pick a few leaves and then carefully direct the beam of light before Blaze could ask her to reorient it. She didn't know how much time passed, but it felt like forever; she hadn't realized how much she had relied on talking to pass the time while they volunteered.

"Can we move to the other row?" Blaze asked after a long while, jerking his thumb behind him. "This row doesn't seem to have enough plants."

Kayden glanced around and nodded. Blaze got up first, taking the basket and easily stepping over the low row of mint plants. Kayden picked up the flashlight, shone it on Blaze to see where he was, but her foot caught a stone as soon as she took a step in his direction. She tripped into the mint, arm flailing, knee bent awkwardly, about to slam against the ground...

The next thing she knew, Blaze had caught her, both arms wrapped around her body. Kayden grabbed onto him instinctively and looked up. She had dropped the flashlight and his face was hidden in darkness.

"Are you okay?" he demanded, the concern in his voice apparent even if she couldn't make out his individual features. "Do you need to lie down?"

"I'm fine," Kayden protested, regaining her footing. But Blaze didn't let go. She saw his face twist in the moonlight.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She took a step away from him and his hands fell off her shoulder, the buzz of magic dissipating with the relinquishing of his grasp. He turned away from her for a second and she wondered if he was blushing. She certainly was.

She picked up the flashlight and trained its light on the dirt. Blaze had dropped the basket when he'd gone to catch her and the leaves were scattered all over the ground. "There's all the mint. Can we use it?"

"I don't know. Let's just keep whatever stayed in the basket and we'll pick whatever else we need. It shouldn't take too long; there're more plants in this row."

She nodded and knelt back down. "Sorry for tripping."

"Not your fault," Blaze murmured, reaching for a mint leaf and plucking it cleanly from the plant.

Kayden snorted. "Of course it was my fault. Who else's would it be? The magical tripping faeries? Don't tell me those exist too."

Blaze smiled; Kayden felt her stomach twist. She suddenly couldn't remember why she had wanted to be mad at him in the first place.

"I meant," Blaze said, "that you can't really apologize for tripping. Blame the rock, or..." He rubbed his forehead. "I'm not making sense anymore. I'm exhausted and my head's pounding."

Kayden frowned. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Don't know," Blaze said truthfully, his dark eyes sweeping across her face. "Sometimes I wonder if magical healing is really what it's cracked up to be." He pressed his hand to his forehead again. "It'd suck if I had a fever tomorrow."

Kayden couldn't stop herself. She pressed her hand to his forehead, checking his temperature. "You feel all right to me. But when we get back, if you still have a headache, you should take some ibuprofen. My mom keeps a bunch in her purse. That stuff works wonders."

Blaze laughed. "Non-ers and their drugs."

Kayden began to draw her hand back, but her fingers brushed the slight scar on his forehead and she paused. It was as if time had reversed and she was back in the closet, pinned against the wall, powerlessly watching Blaze and Naven battle it out for a piece of chalk on the floor.

"That doesn't hurt, does it?" she asked, pointing to the small scar.

He shook his head. "No, it's fine."

"Okay," she nodded, finally pulling her hand away. "It was just... it was scary seeing you and Naven like that earlier. Fighting for the chalk. And then when he was writing on you..." She trailed off.

Blaze snorted. "How do you think I felt when I barged into the closet and saw you? He hurt you a lot more than he hurt me. Are you sure you're okay? I..." He hesitated, as if unsure whether to continue. His eyes fell to her shoulder, where Naven's mark had been just hours earlier. "I feel like you may have left some holes in your story, about what had happened between you and Naven before I got there."

Between you and Naven. The words carried extra weight. Kayden shook her head, feeling her hair tickle her upper back. "No, I didn't leave anything important out. I just didn't want to elaborate too much on when Naven was...drawing on me." She decided "drawing" had a much nicer connotation than "torturing." "I didn't think the details mattered."

"Of course they matter!" Blaze said, looking stunned. "Anything that hurt you, even for a second—!" He broke off. His words settled into the air around them, mixing in with the breeze. He looked down. "Listen," he said finally, "I'm sorry for snapping at you when you were looking at Naven earlier. I know you weren't going to do anything stupid, but I was worried that he would somehow wake up and hurt you again. I just didn't want to see that."

Kayden felt a half-laugh escape her mouth. "You don't have to apologize for that. I'm the one who's been a total bitch for the past month." She shook her head and looked him in the eyes. "I can't believe I acted so standoffish just because you offered up your illusion; I honestly don't know what came over me. You were just trying to help." She smiled weakly. "Sorry I'm such an annoying non-er."

"Don't say that," Blaze said.

"Say what?"

"The non-er thing. Don't apologize for being a non-er. That's stupid."

"It doesn't change the fact that I am a non-er."

"But you're not just a non-er," he said exasperatedly. "You're..."

In the pause, Kayden noticed just how close they were. Their knees were touching and his hand was on top of hers, pressing her against the cool earth. She could feel the thrum of magic through his skin, hear it ringing in her ears like the softest of chimes. Her wrist burned contentedly where the symbol glowed light green, the mark of their bond.

The sky was clear and in the starlight she could finally make out Blaze's features; his eyes were locked on her own, his dark hair tumbling over his forehead. His face was inches away.

And that's when it happened. He leaned in and she eagerly met his lips halfway, and suddenly they were kissing, lips pressed and bodies melded against the other. His mouth was firm against hers, yet surprisingly gentle, and she realized that she wasn't the only one who had wanted this. He had wanted her. She let him pull her towards him, felt his arms cradle her back. She wound one arm around his neck, twisted her fingers in his hair, and pulled him closer. The kiss was neither fast nor slow, light nor deep. It was a mixture of everything they had gone through, culminating in the meeting of lips and skin.

And Lexi had been right; there were sparks. As he kissed her, Kayden could feel the tingle of magic, more intense than when his skin had brushed past hers, more intense than the touch of Vincent's grip. It was a different, more powerful sort of magic that was wild and soothing at the same time. It made her want more.

Suddenly Blaze pulled away, just an inch or so. "This is bad," he murmured. His cheeks were red, but his eyes never left hers. "It's the spell, isn't it?"

The spell. The thought made Kayden feel uneasy, but she pushed the feeling away. She looked Blaze directly into his eyes. "I've kind of stopped caring."

Blaze grinned at her. "Me too." And he leaned in again.

This time the kiss was a little more urgent, and little harder—but Kayden didn't mind. It was only while kissing him that she realized how much she had wanted him during the past few weeks. Spell or no spell, it didn't matter to her. All that mattered was here and now; the smell of the greens around them, the feeling of starlight and magic dancing across her skin, the pressure of his lips, the touch of mint leaves tickling her back through her thin camisole...

Suddenly she felt something roll out of her pocket. She broke the kiss and drew back from Blaze, who looked confused as to why she had stopped.

"Hold on," she said, reaching out behind her to find what she had lost. "Something fell out of my pocket." Her hand brushed over it almost immediately, and she pulled it into view: it was the small metallic sphere Walter had given her. The small light display read 6:32. Six hours, thirty-two minutes remaining until the spell.

Blaze shook his head. "Less than seven hours—"

"It's humming," Kayden interrupted, staring at the ball. The sound was faint, but she could hear it and feel the metallic sphere vibrating in her hand. Suddenly, the small device began to change, layers of metal melting and reforming in her hand. She glanced at Blaze, who looked just as confused as she was, and when she looked back down, the ball had become a delicately folded metal flower. The petals were thin and gently cradled by a cup of metal leaves.

"Jasmine," she said, recognizing the flower.

"You know, jasmine is used often in love potions," Blaze said.

Kayden shook her head. "Why did this thing change? Do you think Walter suspected...?" She felt her cheeks rouge and frantically glanced over to the other field to see if Mr. Voyle was watching them. But the inventor's back was to them and he was picking leaves, oblivious as usual.

Blaze laughed. "Maybe that's our cue to finish picking?"

Kayden nodded. "I think you're right."

Blaze set the basket between them and began to pick a few more leaves. Kayden watched him for a moment, her eyes on the curve of his jaw in dim light. She wanted to kiss him one last time, but she knew the moment had passed.

Shaking her head, she reached for the metal flower andcarefully slipped it back into her pocket. But when she began to pick theleaves, she could feel that the corners of her mouth were pinned upwards in asmile. And though it was dark, she could have sworn that Blaze was smiling too.

- - -

It only took 25 chapters, but finally, a kiss for you guys ;) What did you think of the scene? I had a lot of fun with this one and hope it didn't disappoint you!

Please vote if you liked it and make sure to leave a comment with any questions or comments for me! I promise you, I read every one of them!

Have a lovely day everyone!

~Bdicocco