“Mm-mm.”
Jaga straightens with effort, her eyes focusing on my face. This time, she speaks clearly.
“No.”
“But you want me,” I say, confusion mixing with resentment. “What do you mean, no? I gave you my blood!”
“No. Mm-mm.”
She shakes her head, and my thwarted lust turns into anger. I hold back insults, just barely, and try to watch her instead. This is a symptom. There’s something wrong with her, something she keeps from me, and I need to find out what it is.
We’ll fuck later.
“Why not?”
She shakes her head again, bracing herself, and slides off me in a clumsy, stumbling way. I steady her, and she lurches toward the arch leading out of the alcove. It crawls with my shadows, and she stops, swaying on her feet as she takes it in.
“Let me out.”
“Not before you answer me. Why not?”
Jaga presses her hands flat against the shadows. I strengthen the barrier until it’s as solid as the wall next to it.
“Let me out.”
“Answer my question.”
She breathes faster, wheezing as sweat slides down the backs of her bare thighs. I realize she’s overheating, restless. My love is out of her mind with terror or something else, my blood giving her body more energy to fret and panic.
“Love, it’s only me,” I try to reassure her, my shadows caressing her damp, cold arms. “I’ll let you out as soon as you tell me. I promise.”
But she shakes her head so violently, her hair flies around it. A whine pours out of her throat, choked by her clenched teeth.
“Let me out!”
My heart wrenches with guilt, but she’s strong. She can withstand it.
“Tell me what’s wrong with you. Why are you so… So off?”
Her hands drop to her sides, curling into fists. She’s silent, her back heaving, and I sit forward, excitement and dread curling in my stomach. I’ve wondered this ever since I freed her from her grave. She came back wrong, with something missing or misaligned, something beyond the natural scope of human suffering, fury, and betrayal.
I’ll finally learn what it is.
Jaga raises her fists in front of her, trembling. She grunts, a sound of deep effort.
“Let. Me. Go!”
Her fists explode outward and punch through my impenetrable barrier.
“What…” I stare in astonishment, not understanding what I see. It shouldn’t be possible.
Firelight from the outside spills in through two large holes in the fabric of my magic. Lines of cracks speed away in every direction, twin spiderwebs of fractures, and the wall of shadows falls apart, melting into the air. Jaga huffs angrily and storms out.
A second passes. Another. I blink away my shock and rush after her, my shaft hard and pointing the way.
“Wait!” I growl, reaching for her with all my power until she’s wrapped in a cocoon of shadows. She squirms in it, hissing like an angry cat, but she’s contained.
“How did you do that?” I ask, grabbing her hair until we’re nose to nose, her head tilted back as I hunch over her.
