10

Cross-legged on the floor of her gym, Effie linked her fingers together and stretched her arms toward the ceiling to try and relieve the ache in her back. The pink silk dressing gown slid down her shoulder a little but she didn't pay it any mind. Her skin was still warm and slightly reddish from her shower and she felt better than she had in days, certainly better than when she had woken up on that hospital bed, her head full of cotton, to find Haymitch staring at her with worried eyes and a three days beard.

She couldn't suppress a shiver when she remembered what could have happened. She could have ended up dead. She had been lucky. Her body still feeling sore was a small price to pay compared to what could have been.

That afternoon training session hadn't really been challenging for her, Haymitch had insisted she took care of Prim and taught the girl how to use a stake, which wasn't actually straining. He was the one who had taken the brunt of the session, simultaneously putting both Katniss and Peeta through drills before tackling more physical fighting techniques.

She wasn't sure she was happy about Peeta training like that, she mused, dropping her arms and focusing back on the supplies she had spread around her. Self defense was one thing, one very useful thing, as she had told Prim, but she had the feeling Haymitch was grooming Peeta to become… like him. Someone who could handle their own faced with demons and vampires. A watcher to be, perhaps, even though it would be a long shot given how closed the Council was to strangers.

She woke up her IPad and read through the whole page again, humming slowly under her breath. She checked and rechecked her preparation, made sure she had enough coarse salt, dried petals and herbs… She carefully lit the three sticks of incense that formed a large triangle in the room before sitting back down on the spot she had chosen.

"Is this a booty call or a magic call?" Haymitch snorted from the threshold. "'Cause I can't tell."

She looked up with a small smile, waking the tablet again. "Does it have to be mutually exclusive?"

He made his way past the running mill, tossing his jacket on one of the handles, and avoided stepping on her yoga mat. She had picked her gym because it had the most northern exposure and the book said it would help. Haymitch's grey eyes embraced the incense triangle, the empty copper bowl in front of her, the map of town, the ingredients she had left in easy reach, the little iron bell that seemed so outdated nowadays, and he sat down in the space she had designated for him, facing her, on the other side of the supplies.

"What are we doing?" he asked. "Doesn't look like a location spell."

He would think of location spells because of the map, she supposed. And they could have tried to spot the Careers that way if they had had something of theirs. But without that connection, she couldn't do much more than guess work.

"I found a protection spell." she explained, handing him the tablet so he could see for himself. "It is supposed to ward against evil. It should cloak the house to everyone with evil intentions. It is perfect because not only will it ensure the Careers, and Snow if it comes to that, cannot find us but it should protect us from further dealings with demons who think they can attack our homes."

Haymitch quickly perused the text and lifted his eyebrows. "Does it work on humans?"

"It should work on anyone with evil intentions." she repeated. "Everyone else will be able to see the Village without troubles."

He looked up with a frown. "You're gonna ward off the whole Village?"

She brushed her fingertips against the map, she had circled the whole Village with a red felt-tip pen. "Yes."

"That's a lot." His frown deepened. "You're sure you should be using magic again so soon?"

She bristled a little even though she knew he was asking because he was worried and not because he was questioning her abilities. Unlike Coin who had implied she was incompetent for getting herself out of commission for days at a crucial time…

"I feel fine." she promised. "It is a simple enough spell. It could have waited after patrol. I am surprised you didn't go with Katniss, by the way… I was going to ask Peeta to assist me originally but it seems to me he has a lot on his plate right now."

Of all of them, Peeta was the one who was having the most troubles recovering from the Lachnoc demon's influence. That seemed terribly obvious to Effie. Haymitch had shrugged off the while demonic influence thing apparently easily enough, perhaps because even though he didn't usually see the ghosts, he always carried them with him wherever he went. Katniss was closed-off as usual and if she kept an even keener watch over them all than before, it was subtle enough not to be glaring. Prim's fear of abandonment had seemed to abate a little once she had really settled in her new home – and Haymitch's not so clueless constant reminders that she was his favorite helped, she figured. As for herself… She had chosen not to look at her hidden desires too closely, to ignore how good it had felt to be so powerful, how greedy she had been for more power, how desperate she had been to be… more.

"Yeah, patrol… Seemed to me the kids could use some alone time to talk." he admitted. "And… Can't be with her every minute of the day. Got to trust she can… handle herself."

Effie studied him, barely controlling the amused twitch of her lips. "She told you she didn't want you hovering like a mother hen and that you should watch Prim, didn't she?"

He rolled his eyes. "That girl's a pain. And Prim's gone to bed so…"

She ducked her head to hide her smile and handed him the little bell. "Read the spell over if you wish. I will handle the actual magic, I just need you to repeat after me and ring the bell when needed. I trust you can handle it?"

"I've done magic before." he grumbled and then he smirked, his eyes twinkling. "Got to get naked too or what?"

"I am not naked." she denied, tilting her head with a coy look.

She was pretty much naked. The pink silky dressing gown was loosely tied at the waist and barely kept her decent. She hadn't felt the need to get dressed when she knew how she wanted that night to go.

"Yet." he pointed out, his smirk widening. Still, he grabbed the tablet and read the instructions more carefully. "You know I hate doing magic, yeah? Always creeps me out."

"Well… You will be happy to know I am back to my usual limited abilities so there is no need for you to feel scared." she replied.

He glanced up at her and back down at the tablet. "Never felt scared."

She shivered when she remembered the needy pull of her own magic tugging at her mind, how deep the power had run, how corrupting… The call of the Hellmouth, almost too tempting to ignore…

"That makes one of us, then." she huffed. He put the tablet down and watched her for a moment, his face blank. She held his gaze for a minute and then averted it. "What is it?"

"I've got a theory." he said, calm but a bit sarcastic. "But you ain't gonna like it."

She crossed her arms in front of her, almost hugging herself. "A theory?"

"I've been reading up on Lachnoc demons…" he hesitated. "They create illusions, exploit latent fears… But they can't create the kind of power you've been showing, sweetheart. Losing control of your magic, the Hellmouth thing… Seems legit. But there's no way the demon increased your power."

Her stomach churned with dread and she hugged herself tighter. She knew what he was getting at, he had been adamant she was more powerful than she let on since she had first performed magic in front of him. However, he was wrong. Her mother would have known if she had been. Her mother would have loved her more if she had been.

"I am not a strong witch." she refuted but it sounded weak. Because he had a point. The power hadn't felt borrowed, it had felt like it belonged to her but… No. It couldn't be. She had never shown that much ease or…

She resisted the urge to summon her cigarettes. The air in the room needed to remain clear for the ritual. She could stress-smoke once they would be done.

"Magic creeps me out." Haymitch offered casually, placing the tablet back in front of her. "Always has. Hates how it feels on me. Your magic though… It's warm. Tingles. Like a kiss." He shook his head at his own bad metaphor. "You shine gold when you do big magic, sweetheart. Gold doesn't strike me as an evil omen. You shouldn't be scared of yourself. Don't know what your mother is or not but you ain't like her."

There was a lump in her throat and she nodded her understanding but the idea that she might have been so scared of her own powers that she had subconsciously buried them deep inside herself? It was disturbing and not in a good way. Was it even possible? She already knew she wouldn't be calling her mother to ask. Her mother would laugh and tell her to stop confusing her wishes with reality. Caesar though… Caesar might know. And her former Watcher would not mock her for the question.

Either way, it was not something that would be cleared up that night and they had work to do.

She forced herself to relax, uncross her arms, put a smile on her face, fake some cheerfulness. "Shall we?"

He sighed but nodded.

She closed her eyes, tried to find the inner peace she needed – and that was always so hard to achieve – let herself feel the gentle soothing hum of her magic… Then she licked her lips and started.

"Goddess, hear me." she demanded, pausing only long enough for Haymitch to echo her words and ring the bell. "Goddess, I call to thee." She slowly poured the dried petals into the copper bowl, waiting until Haymitch had repeated and rung the bell to continue. "Goddess, heed my prayer." She added three pinches of herbs, letting Haymitch ring the bell once between each offering. "Goddess, protect your supplicant." She let the coarse salt slowly slip through her fingers and into the copper bowl. Once Haymitch had echoed her words and the bell had chimed, she placed the map on top of the bowl. "Goddess, bless this abode." She closed her eyes, outstretched her hands over the bowl. This was the crucial moment. "Goddess, let it be free of evil."

She summoned magical fire to consume the content of the bowl. The flames were burning an emerald green. She opened her eyes and nodded at Haymitch who repeated and rang the bell one last time. The moment the bell chimed the three stick of incense flared and the magical fire died.

She felt the tug of her magic down to her navel, she felt the pulse washing off her and spreading like a wave of power…

She knew the spell had worked.

She felt high on magic for a second.

"Well…" Haymitch chuckled, licking his lips. "Shit. That felt…"

"Warm and tingly like a kiss?" she teased, lowering herself on her back because she felt a little light-headed. It was better lying down. Definitely better.

"Depends where we're talking about kissing." he snorted. She heard him push everything aside and she wasn't really surprised when he hovered over her on all four. "Magic's still better than sex, sweetheart?"

She couldn't help but grin. "Still not over that comment?"

"Ain't sure I'm ever gonna be." he retorted.

"Perhaps you should try to convince me, then." she challenged.

She distractedly played with the buttons of his shirt. He shifted his weight on one hand, his free one immediately tugging on the belt of her dressing gown. She shivered a little when the air hit her naked skin but she didn't have time to be cold for long, not when his mouth immediately closed on her nipple.

"You're so fucking gorgeous." he muttered, tracing a burning path down her stomach.

She loved the raspy feel of his stubble against her skin.

She loved what he could do with his tongue even more.

Afterwards, once they were both very naked and so sweaty she would be forced to take another shower before going to bed, they laid side by side and stared at the ceiling. Effie wanted to bask in the afterglow but her mind was too busy to shut down, even after breathtaking sex. She knew he was rummaging his own problems too, the very tangible probability that Snow would be rising too much to be ignored.

"Are we still casual?"

The question slipped out before she could hold it back, brought up by the memory of their non-date at the diner, the dread of seeing the Master vampire rise and her own fear at powers she may or may not secretly possess. The same way he was apparently scared of seeing her hurt because of their affair, she was scared she would end up hurting him with her magic. Accidentally or not. She had lost count of the number of times she had seen her mother do something drastic for her own gain.

Perhaps it was easier to think it was magic that had corrupted Elindra than to accept her mother had always been so greedily selfish.

"Yeah." he said immediately, without even pausing to think about it. "Why? You wanna stop?"

Was she projecting the relief beneath the question? She couldn't imagine what it was like. Losing first your mother, then your brother, then the love of your life only to see your charges die one after the other… Terrifying probably.

"I think it is too late for that." she whispered.

She didn't see them stopping any time soon. Not when her whole body seemed to hum every time he stood next to her. Not when she couldn't help but smile at his lame jokes. Not when he infuriated her so much she wanted to claw his eyes out or kiss him senseless or both.

He didn't answer.

Maybe because he knew it too.

She felt his head roll to the side so she turned hers. They stared at each other for a while and she was so sure he was going to say something important, something that would change everything – and she was both scared and elated – that she was disappointed when he closed his eyes and went back to looking at the ceiling. She didn't try to probe though. She snuggled against his side to keep warm and hooked a leg over his thigh, simply happy when he wrapped his arm around her, tugging her even closer.

They stayed like that for long enough that she was contemplating suggesting they took this to her bedroom. The floor really wasn't that comfortable.

"You think I did right?" he asked suddenly. "About the boys in the bedroom rule, you know?"

He sounded unsure, out of his depths, but it took Effie a moment to decipher what he was talking about. Forbidding Katniss from being alone in her room with boys. Well… Peeta.

"Honestly I thought it was an obvious rule." she hummed. "Caesar would have killed me."

He would not have been surprised but he would have killed her if he had caught her sneaking boys in her room.

And thankfully for everyone involved, he had never caught her.

"It's just…" He sighed, tangling his fingers in her hair in what was quickly becoming a habit of his. He liked playing with her curls, she had noticed. "Feel like a fucking hypocrite. When I was her age… Mabel and I were at it like rabbits. She was a real fan of the we could die tomorrow idea, you know."

It wasn't hard to imagine. She already had troubles keeping her hands to herself now, she couldn't imagine not wanting to have some naughty fun with him at sixteen.

"What did Mags say?" she asked.

"Mostly she pretended she didn't know." He shrugged. "Saved us all unnecessary drama, I guess. Should have done the same really. Ain't my business what Katniss does. She could die soon. Should enjoy life."

She hated the sadness in his voice just as much as she hated to think about losing their current Slayer. She let her fingers drift on his chest, tracing random patterns toward the big scar on his side, the one he didn't like her to touch.

"Did you get involved in your other Slayers' love life?" she enquired.

He remained silent for a long time, probably because it was painful to talk about. "Not really. Maysilee cut herself off from everyone. Alina only had school crushes. Cecilia had a steady boyfriend but she never talked to me about it. Jo… Jo had one-night-stands." He snorted. "So many. Made me furious 'cause they were older guys and she deserved more but she was…" He stopped and shrugged. "Jo was Jo. She had her issues." Her fingers were dancing on the huge swollen scar when he replaced her hand higher on his chest. He didn't even seem to realize it. "And Annie… Annie was a mess from start to finish but she and Finnick… It was obvious. Nothing to say about it. Reminded me of…"

He let the sentence trail off but she understood it well enough. The Watcher in training and a Slayer. It had reminded him of himself and Mabel.

"I could talk to Katniss about contraception methods if you wish." she offered. "I am assuming nobody had the talk with her…"

"Safe bet." He scowled. "You know… Ain't sure taking the girls in is the smartest thing 'cause I ain't parent material but then one of them's gonna say something sometimes and I think they're better off with me anyway, even if I'm gonna fuck it up eventually. They've been on their own for a long time, seems like."

"Given that your first impulse was to ban Peeta from Katniss' room despite your own personal experience, I am going to say you are actually parent material." she teased, softening that with a kiss on his shoulder. "But you are right, they do need someone and with this spell now the Village will be the safest place for them. For all of us." The only problem was… "Did Peeta talk to you?"

"About what had him so terrified of getting too angry to control himself?" he deadpanned. "Not a pip. He talked to you?"

"No." she admitted. And yet the boy had visited her every day at the hospital, brought her flowers and get well cards from the Art class students… She hated the shadow she could glimpse in his eyes still. The fear. The guilt. It made her furious. Furious enough to want to hurt someone. "At which point do we decide it is enough and storm that bakery?"

Haymitch rubbed his face and sighed. "We can't prove anything."

"There are bruises and burn marks." she snapped. "Do not tell me…"

"Effie. We have zero proof." he cut her off. "And he ain't talking. We can report it to Heavensbee but then what? It won't lead to anything cause the boy's gonna deny it and that's only gonna make his parents more angry which is gonna put him in danger. And he might decide he doesn't trust us anymore and he won't come to us if he needs help. It has to come from him. We can do shit until he talks to one of us."

She bundled her hand into a fist and propped her chin on his shoulder so she could look at him. "I am warning you. When he does talk, I will unleash the fires of hell on that bakery."

She wasn't entirely sure she wasn't being literal.

He couldn't have had a problem with that though because he only snorted. "I'll hold your purse while you do."

She replaced her cheek down on his shoulder, satisfied. That was what a good not-boyfriend ought to do.

They're still casual alright XD Will the bakery survive Effie's wrath? Next week is the last chapter of this episode and, yes, it only has Katniss and Peeta in it so you will get everlark content. Be patient, my lovelies, everlark is a slow burn when Effie is a blaze, not my fault. What did you think of this chapter? Let me know!