“Definitely not boring,” he murmured.

She grinned and nipped his lips affectionately.

Deciding he couldn’t put it off any longer, he let out a deep breath.

“I’m meeting with Mona tomorrow.”

Lilly sat up straight and waited for him to continue.

“I’ve got to keep her thinking I’m going to help her, but I’m going to come up with a way to stall.”

“How?” Lilly asked brightly, obviously liking his plan.

“I’m the only being who knows how to open the Veil to the underworld.”

“Why only you?” Lilly interrupted.

“Can you imagine the danger of having a bunch of supernaturals running around with that knowledge?”

Lilly nodded, “I can see how that would be dangerous, but how did you end up being the one with that responsibility?”

“It’s always been the burden of the warlock King to keep the secret of the underworld. The King before me held it and when he passed I inherited it.”

“So it’s one of those 'this is just the way it is' things?” Lilly asked.

“I guess you could say that. My race is deeply magical and very old. But, as I mentioned, the Fae have left this realm, and our magic is waning as a result.”

“Wait, what? The Fae have left?” Lilly asked, confused. Apparently she hadn't been listening. She didn’t know anything about the Fae other than that they existed, but found it interesting and a little unnerving that they had chosen to leave this realm.

“After the Great Purge, the Fae faded out of view. They stuck to their side of the veil and since there have been no healers; they haven’t bothered checking in much. They are the very epitome of magic and since they have pulled back so has the magic.”

“So are you weaker because of it?”

“Yes,” he repeated. Cypher saw the worry in her face and quickly added, “But I am still very, very powerful.”

Lilly grinned. “Nice save.”

Cypher smiled back. “I like you,” he told her.

Lilly let out a bark of laughter. “Good to know. I like you too.”

In an instant Cypher’s face grew serious again, the romantic moment gone. “Mona doesn’t know what it takes to open the Veil. If I can convince her that there is something I need in order to open it, something I don’t have right now...”

Lilly made an “ah” movement with her mouth. “You can buy yourself time,” she finished his thought.

“Exactly.”

“Okay, so what is it that you are going to need?” She made little quotation marks around the word “need”.

“Usually in any sort of spell there is a sacrifice. There is in the case of opening the Veil– it requires blood, my blood. But, again, she doesn’t know this.”

Cypher was quiet for a moment too long and Lilly tilted his head until he was looking at her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I just thought about something that could either work in our favor or be a liability.”

“Oh?” Lilly’s brow rose.

“Magic is finicky, Lilly. It lives and breathes on its own. We, my people, the Fae, the wolves, and so on, are simply the wielders of it. We do not own it, nor do we always control it.”

“What are you trying to say, Cypher?”

“I know the magic it requires to open the Veil; I know the sacrifice. But that was before you.”

“What do I have to do with it?”

“You have changed me and that is no small thing. I’m very old, little one – ancient. And to change something in me at this point... I don’t know how that change will affect what the magic requires of me,” Cypher explained.

“So, you're telling me that you don’t really know what it will take to open the Veil?”

Cypher’s lips tensed. “Not yet.”

“Then you won’t have to convince Mona, or lie at all. You can truly tell her you aren’t sure what it’s going to take.”

Cypher nodded in agreement. “That should buy us time. But now that I’ve realized that I do not know what the sacrifice will entail, I need to figure it out. I don’t want any surprises.”

“When do you meet with her?” Lilly asked as she stood from his lap. He let her go reluctantly and watched as she stretched her arms above her head, stretching out her back.

Cypher glanced out the window and noted the lightning in the night sky. “In a few hours.”

Lilly grabbed his hand and pulled him from the couch. He stood and looked down at her curiously.

“Good, then we have a few hours to get some rest.” She began pulling him in the direction of the staircase.

“You’re going to lay with me?” he asked her slowly.

Lilly choked down her laughter. “You make it sound so biblical. We’re going to sleep in the same bed. I’m tired, but I would like to hear some more about you and your people, so I’m going to let you talk to me until I fall asleep,” she informed him with a grin.

“You’re going to 'let me'?”

Cypher chuckled as he let her pull him up the stairs and down the hall.

Lilly kicked her shoes off and climbed into the large bed. She tried to get her breathing under control as Cypher’s large body lay down next to hers. It had been a very long time since she had been in bed with a man – to sleep or otherwise.