Karizma
Chapter 20: Ryleigh

Ryleigh jolted awake with a gasp. Her magic was burning her horribly as the cloaking spell worked even harder to mask her scent. Now that she had ascended into the fullest extent of her magic, it had to work even harder to hide it. Sweat began to roll down her skin in an attempt cool herself. She instantly looked beside her and found Kristopher asleep on his stomach, his arms entangled in the pillows. She exhaled in relief. Her magic felt like lava in her own veins, she feared what it would do to Kristopher right now. She tossed the blanket off her body and rose to her feet.

Her and Kristopher had only been in their new motel room for a few hours. After Kristopher’s friend had found them, they packed up their belongings and ran four towns over this time. Kristopher’s speed was an advantage to running from their enemies, but Ryleigh knew that it was only a matter of time before someone else found her. Kristopher kept swearing to protect her, and, while Ryleigh appreciated his words, she knew that he could not truly hold to them. There were vampires hunting her that were much stronger than he was, and it terrified her; one of those vampires would replace her, and he would kill Kristopher to get to her.

Ryleigh’s sweat-drenched body entered the cold shower. She gasped as the ice-cold water caressed her skin. She rested her forehead on the wall beneath the showerhead, and the ice water blanketed her scorching back. She felt Bailey’s magic tug at her own, and Ryleigh smiled. She sent a light response to Bailey’s magic, just to assure her that Ryleigh was still alive. Ryleigh longed for her sister, but at least their connection was there. Their magic allowed them to communicate with each other, but, if absolutely necessary, they could track each other that way as well. Ryleigh had made Bailey swear to never replace her after her ascension, and Ryleigh vowed to never replace Bailey, either; their connection made them stronger, but it was also their weakness, and they could not afford any weaknesses after their ascensions.

Kristopher is my weakness, Ryleigh thought bitterly. She closed her eyes and sighed. She would do everything in her power to protect him, but she knew that he would need to live without her. If she could trade herself for his life, she would. Before him, the only person that she cared for was Bailey, and she was able to leave Bailey behind after years of training her to be ready for a life without her. But Kristopher is different, Ryleigh thought. Kristopher has lived centuries alone and has found something with me. She knew that Kristopher would rather die than to live without her, and her heart ached at the thought. I’ll be doing the dying for the both of us, she thought.

“Don’t,” Ryleigh whispered as her magic flared. Her magic sensed Kristopher as he entered the bathroom. “I’m sorry for waking you.”

“Your magic is incredibly restless, pet. Are you all right?” he asked.

“As all right as I can be,” she muttered. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.” She rolled her shoulders as the water attempted to penetrate the tension between them. Guilt, worry, fear, remorse for what is to come exploded within her, and she choked back a sob. His death will be my fault, she thought. I can’t let that happen. Her magic flared again in response to her emotional state, and she heard Kristopher speed into the shower.

“Dammit, I told you not to,” Ryleigh snapped. “I need to cool down.”

“Baby, I don’t think you can in the shower,” Kristopher said softly.

“What makes you say that?”

“Open your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Baby, please, just do it,” Kristopher whispered. Ryleigh sighed and pushed herself off the fall. She turned around to face him and opened her eyes.

Steam clouded the entirety of the shower and spilled into the bathroom. Ryleigh looked down at her skin at the steam that erupted from her skin. The water continued to land on her skin, but steam sizzled in response. “I didn’t even notice,” she mumbled. She raised her hand to her face, and her magic crackled again in acknowledgment. She looked down at her feet and saw the water at the base of the bathtub undisturbed. So my heat isn’t that far yet, she thought. It’s contained just to me. For now.

“What happened, pet?” Kristopher asked softly.

“Nothing happened,” Ryleigh sighed. “After ascending, my magic has to work twice as hard to keep me safe. It’s in constant overdrive, and it will be until I die.”

“Your magic can rest with me.”

“It’s not that simple,” Ryleigh smiled lightly. Her emerald eyes found his warm, brown ones. Her hand twitched instinctively to touch him, but she brushed it away. “Especially while we’re sleeping, my magic will be like this. I have a death sentence, Kristopher. It doesn’t just go away because we’ve decided not to kill each other.”

Kristopher’s jaw hardened at Ryleigh’s words, and his auburn eyes flashed to the surface. As harsh as they were, they were true, and she need to remind him of that. She was happy, but she was also being realistic; more would come for her, and they would not stop until she was dead. Ever since Kristopher tracked her down and found her in the motel room, and loved her rather than killed her, she had considered revealing the rest of the truth; who Bailey really was. Ryleigh had no hope that she would survive this war, but, if she wanted to ensure that Bailey did, she had a sliver of hope that Kristopher would protect Bailey afterwards.

Ryleigh turned around to shut off the water for the shower. Kristopher is right, she thought. A cold shower is not cooling me off. She jumped suddenly as a pair of strong arms encircle her waist from behind. “Stop, Kristopher!” Ryleigh scolded. She grasped at his arms in an attempt to tear them away from her, but his grip simply tightened. She heard his skin sizzle as her magic began to strip it from his bones, and she struggled against him. “Please,” she begged. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Do you know why I’m doing this?” Kristopher’s deep voice rumbled.

“Because you’re fucking crazy,” Ryleigh snapped.

“Because you need it, my love,” Kristopher retorted. “You do not see it, because you are always so guarded and alert.”

“See what?” Ryleigh’s panicked voice asked. Her magic had stopped sloughing his skin off his body, but the heat remained. She felt the lava of her magic boiling her blood, but the boiling was contained beneath her own skin. Kristopher was experiencing an intense sunburn from her, but that was better than his skin being eaten away by the acidic strength of her magic.

“That the only thing that truly calms your magic is me,” Kristopher whispered. “Even now, your magic is not as reactive as it was.”

“That’s because I don’t want to hurt you.”

“And your concern for me forces you to focus,” Kristopher said. “You control your magic, my love, not the other way around.”

“Kristopher—”

“Ryleigh, focus. Baby, you control it. It does not control you.”

Ryleigh opened her mouth to fight Kristopher, to force him to release her so that she could finish stabilizing her magic, but she instantly closed her mouth. He was right. Her magic finally settled beneath her skin, the boiling lava replaced with streams of a hot spring. The warmth of her magic settled on her skin like a hot summer day. She turned around in Kristopher’s arms slowly and looked at him. His brown eyes were soft as he smiled at her. “I told you.”

“Because of you,” Ryleigh whispered. “Every time that my stress and fear fuel my magic, you’re there to talk me down. I didn’t think about it before.”

“Because you’re a warrior who does not rely on help, but I had to help you, baby,” Kristopher whispered. He kissed her forehead softly. “You need to stop fearing your magic and take charge of it. I don’t doubt your strength or ability to wield it, I have seen it firsthand, but you need to separate your emotions from it. Only then will you truly wield all of it. Imagine who you could become.”

“I would be stronger,” Ryleigh whispered slowly. Her emerald eyes studied Kristopher’s brown ones in fascination. He was helping her to better wield her magic, to make her stronger. To make a Karizma stronger, she thought.

“I’ve killed many Karizmas, and none of them were as strong as you are now.,” Kristopher said. “And you will be living longer than any of them have. Baby, you could be the strongest Karizma witch that has ever lived.”

“It’s…amazing,” Ryleigh whispered. “A vampire, encouraging a Karizma to not only survive, but thrive.”

“I’m encouraging my Karizma to do all of those things.”

“You know that it will only put you in more danger,” Ryleigh said. “The stronger I get, the stronger it will reflect in my being. I will be easier to track.”

“I didn’t stay with you because it was the safe option, pet,” Kristopher teased. “I’m here because I don’t want to be without you, no matter the risks that we shall face along the way. Besides, I promised you that I would kill for you. I meant it.” He released her from his grasp and gently ran his thumb along her bottom lip. “I will always mean it.”

Ryleigh’s heart throbbed within her as she looked into the eyes of the man that captivated it. “Kristopher…” She whispered. “Promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“When I am found—”

“You won’t be.”

“When I am, please, keep living. For me.”

“Baby,” Kristopher said as his hands cupped her face. “I live for you now. If you are ever found, my life will be meaningless without you. I can’t—”

Ryleigh kissed him desperately as she fought tears that welled in her eyes. This conversation was not going to end the way that she wanted it to, and she did not want to spend what little time she had left fighting with him. She knew that he would risk his own life for hers; she would do the same for him. Both of them would go hoarse fighting over this, but none of that mattered right now. I will be found, she thought as she wrapped her arms around his neck. I don’t have much time left. I want to spend it experiencing true happiness, true love, before I die.