“Would you like a bath?”
Even Maggie wasn’t too proud to say yes. Not entirely comfortable with the inky black liquid I summoned, she still sighed in contentment as she got in and that was enough. I proved a gentleman and bathed behind a screen that might have been all but transparent with the firelight behind it. Clean, I jumped on the bed and covered my eyes as Maggie put on a fresh tunic to sleep in.
“Come here, Pumpkin.” I slid up the bed to rest my back against the headboard.
“I don’t think that’s how you ravage me.”
“Well, that’s just a lack of imagination.”
She crawled onto my lap. I kissed her with all the easeand grace I never thought I would find in my life. Mine was made to be difficult by the very shape of it.
“Why do we feel so different, Noth? I don’t laugh at guy jokes. I don’t cuddle. I don’t sleep with men.”
I raised a brow.
“You know what I mean.”
I summoned a flip response, but it died in my throat when she used my name. What would she say if I told her that somewhere between the murder attempts and her fumbling redemption, I fell in love with the idea I would end the world for her?
“We’re mates.” I clamped my mouth shut. That wasn’t what I meant to blurt out. I had never tasted the fear my Nightmare injected into people, but I assumed it worked something like that. What would she say? What did I want her to say? Her face remained blank. What if she tried to kill me again? Or worse, what if she started crying?
A line of confusion creased her brow. “Huh?”
My brain stuttered and then poured a river of words out of my mouth. “Elves left that behind long ago. You would have to be an idiot to believe in all that Fate and Destiny and star charts, right?”
Her expression closed off at the insult and she climbed off my lap, her shoulders hunched.
I heaved a sigh of relief. Couldn't go around shoving my desperation in her face. I wouldn’t have her think Iwas a mindless monster. My Nightmare snorted at the affront.
She pulled the blankets rather hard around her. “Let’s just get some sleep. Maybe then I can dream about killing you.”
There. That's how my Pumpkin and I did things. Holding her anger close was my specialty. We climbed under the covers and she edged to the furthest corner of the bed until my shadows slipped over her and hauled her against me. Her annoyed huff gave way to her even breathing.
She would get over it. I just needed some time to get my act together before I confessed I would die without her.
Chapter 14
Maggie
Why did he have to ruin everything? Noth’s hovering wasn’t appreciated after a stiff night of holding on to his insult like it owed me talons. Yaya’s warm kitchen made my head swim with disorientation. Memory flickered in and out of the present when the morning light slanted just right. Rue, lecturing me. Yaya taking my hand to draw sigils on the kitchen table. Rue brewing me tea to see if that concoction would finally open my well of power. Noth setting a cup in front of me with a hidden apology in his eyes.
With Rue, something always seemed missing. Now, my magic waited for me if these two would leave me to it.
He and his grandmother repeated the illusion sigil while my mind frothed.
Since he protested for all the time I’d known him that Elves did not have mates, I didn’t know what tomake of Noth’s declaration. I thought that concerned bears or wolves, not the thing he shifted into. Of course he had to be an ass about it. It was like watching my own reflection push away all the people I wanted to pull closer. Noth’s dismissal of everything I believed churned up more hurt than I was used to over a guy. Toss that in with a casual dash of “we’re forever”. Add that something definitely appeared different about my magic after the fight on the bridge. Why did hurting him hurt me?
I didn’t dare think it had anything to do with Noth’s mates declaration, because that seemed like setting myself up for even more pain. I couldn’t be a mate if I tried. The blade confusion cut especially deep when my magic hummed under my skin, waiting for my command. If Noth was responsible; would Fate take my magic back when Noth and I didn’t complete the bond?
I sat for a moment, tempted to try something. Noth’s mouth still moved a mile a minute and I reached into my magic and found the little thread that spun away from my well, glaringly obvious when I looked for it. I yanked and watched Noth jump before he started up his lecture again. Goddsdamnit. Wewereconnected.
Jax sat across from us, munching on toast. I would rather wonder how much it would cost to keep him around than figure out what I was supposed to do with Noth. That the mercenary didn’t rush to leave probably said more about Noth’s gold than Jax's character.
Noth slapped his hand down on the kitchen table. “Are you paying attention?”
“Yes-”
“The more complex spells require you to hold your hand at a certain angle,” Yaya said, more gently than Noth.
